Page 12 of Seized by Love at Seaside
Her webcast aired tonight, and she liked to watch the first few minutes to make sure there weren’t any technical issues, but she could do that on her phone in the privacy of a bathroom while they were out. She didn’twantto cancel seeing him. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more excited she became.
She replied with a quickyesbefore she could change her mind, silently praying that there would be no technical difficulties to deal with. There rarely were, but it would be just her luck to have something go wrong this evening. She pushed away the nerve-racking thoughts and retrieved the flowers that hadn’t sold, debating what she’d do with them. Lizzie didn’t believe in wasting anything and gave to others as often as she could. That was why she dropped off the goodies she baked for her webcasts at the homeless shelter on the way to work the mornings after she filmed. When it came to doing something with the flowers that hadn’t sold and would soon wilt, she had several options, but today was cemetery day.
Her phone vibrated with another text from Blue.Great. Looking forward to getting to know you even better. See you in twenty mins?
The truth was, she wanted to get to know him better, too. Her chest tightened with the reality that there was a whole side of herself that she couldn’t share with him or anyone else, but just this once she wasn’t going to let that stand in her way. She’d had a great time last night, and didn’t she deserve just one more night out with a friend? It’s not like she was going to jump in the sack with him—even though the idea had run through her mind a thousand times today.
If he really wanted to get to know her better, why not start right now? She typed in a quick response.
I’m running late. Sorry! Heading to Shore’s Edge Cemetery before going home. Meet me there?She sent it off and gathered the flowers in her tote. As she walked out the door, she realized she was way too excited to be going to a cemetery—and she really needed to get her emotions in check now, because as she found out last night, getting her emotions in check around Blue was not an easy feat.
Lizzie pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery and parked beneath an umbrella of trees. She gathered the tote of flowers she’d brought, and as she stepped from her car, Blue’s truck pulled into the lot. A shiver of delight ran through her as he parked and stepped from the truck with that sexy smile that made her forget to keep her distance.
“This wasn’t what I imagined when I asked you out, but I’m game.” He pressed a hand to the small of her back and kissed her cheek. He smelled fresh, as if he’d just showered, which made Lizzie realize that she hadn’t.
She’d been so intent on getting to the cemetery—and seeing Blue—that she hadn’t slowed down enough to think about proper dating etiquette.
Way to go, Lizzie.
This isn’t a date.
Maybe not, but it sure felt like one.
“I can’t believe you came,” she said honestly.
He stepped in closer, sucking all the air from the space around her.
“You don’t think I’d pass up time with you, do you?”
She inhaled a jagged breath, filling her lungs with his fresh, manly scent, and smiled, which was about all she could muster at the moment.Thiswas definitely a date. She may have been able to fool her mind into accepting the offer, but her body knew the difference.
Her body craved the difference.
Her body craved Blue.
She cleared her throat and tried to shake off the craziness that was sending her thoughts into overdrive. “I’m glad you did.”
“Are we visiting a particular grave?” Blue fell into step beside her, and they walked up the slight incline and across the lawn, toward the sea of headstones.
“Sort of. When I have flowers that don’t sell, sometimes I bring them here and place them on the graves that go unattended.” She’d never shared this with anyone before and wasn’t sure how he’d respond—or why she had invited him to join her when she’d always kept this private.
He placed his hand on her back again and didn’t say a word. She liked his quiet acceptance—and the feel of his hand sending heat and awareness through her like live wires.
“Some people find cemeteries scary at night, without the sunshine to give them a feeling of safety,” Lizzie said as they weaved through the headstones. “But when I come here I think about all the people who are buried, and I can’t help but feel like they would have wanted to be remembered.”
“Everyone wants to be remembered by those they love. Which graves do you put the flowers on?”
She liked that he was interested enough to ask. “I’ve been coming here for years, so I’ve gotten to know which graves are visited and which aren’t. Some people leave painted stones or letters, but some graves never have anything left on them. It can be tricky to figure out, but, for example, that one over there.” She pointed to a child’s headstone. “That one looks like all the others, right?”
His eyes slid over a line of headstones. “Sure.”
She walked over to it and crouched. Blue crouched beside her, their thighs brushing as their eyes met and held. He was doing it again, looking at her like she was all that mattered, like she was his total focus. She forced herself to focus on the explanation, when all she really wanted to do was get lost in the depths of emotions she saw there.
“This grave gets visited every other week. Sometimes I find remnants of flowers.” She pointed to the grave beside it. “But that one? I’ve never found anything there.” She pulled a rose from the tote and laid it across the headstone. Her fingers lingered on the cool marble. “I wonder what they were like. Was this person pensive and shy or aggressive and obnoxious?”
They walked between the headstones, his hand resting on her back, and it felt natural to share her thoughts with him. “I wonder if they were loved and who they left behind.”
Blue took a flower from the tote. “May I?”
