Page 67 of Where You Go (Whisper Lake 5)

His phone buzzed and he looked down and saw that it was Paige, whom he’d recruited to keep him in the loop today, telling him that Liv was saying goodbye now and would be out in just a few minutes.

Shit. He’d cut this too close for his liking. But thankfully, it looked like he’d be able to pull off part one of his surprise.

He parked in front of Well Brook, grabbed his flowers and hopped out of the truck. He’d just gotten in place, leaning against the bed when she walked out. When she saw him, her jaw dropped and she put her hand over her mouth. “What are you…this is just like…”

“Hope Floats and Sixteen Candles, I know.”

Her eyes widened and tears filled them. “You figured it out. Why they are my favorites.”

In fairness, he hadn’t just realized what scenes the two films had in common. He’d watched the movies the day that she’d driven back to Chicago and had kept it in the back of his mind that if an opportunity struck, he wanted to give her a Jake Ryan in front of his corvette waiting for Sam in front of the church and Harry Connick Jr. leaning on his truck with flowers in front of Sandra Bullock’s job moment.

She rushed down the walkway and threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you figured it out.”

“I had to watch them both again,” he admitted.

“That’s even sweeter, that you took the time to do that!”

He wrapped his arms around her and inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo. He’d grown quite addicted to the floral notes that were uniquely her. He’d grown quite addicted to her.

She leaned back and stared up at him. “What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at Lanterns.”

“Well besides ripping off Jake Ryan and Harry Connick Jr. I have something I want to show you.” Grady still couldn’t believe how everything had fallen into place over the past couple of weeks. He’d never felt like he’d lived a particularly charmed life; he’d worked hard for everything he had. But since meeting Liv he felt like his life had been charmed. He grabbed his handkerchief from his back pocket. “But first you need to put this on.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a blindfold.”

“I thought you said you wanted to show me something. That’s going to be a little hard if I can’t see.”

He grinned and turned her around.

“Close your eyes.” He felt a tremor roll through her as he placed the dark material over her face and secured it behind her head. That gave him ideas of things he’d like to do to her in not so public places.

Grady helped her into the truck and put her seatbelt on. When he got in the driver’s side, he could feel excitement radiating off of her.

“How’s Arthur?” Grady asked as his heart thudded loudly in his chest and he turned the engine on.

“Sleeping. He actually handled the move really well. He seems...relieved.”

“Good.” Grady had hoped that the transition would be smooth. He’d wanted so badly to be there with her, but Liv had been adamant that she wanted to take care of it herself. Plus, he’d been able to sign some paperwork this afternoon that had enabled the surprise they were currently en route to.

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Liv shifted restlessly in her seat. “I’m not dressed for anything nice.”

“You’re dressed perfectly.” Although, if Grady had things his way, she wouldn’t be wearing anything soon.

He knew that he was being quiet, but there was a lot riding on the next few minutes and he was having a difficult time coming up with small talk.

In what felt like forever and just the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination. He shut off the engine and Liv started to reach for the blindfold but he stopped her. “Nope. No peeking.”

She smiled. “Sorry.”

He got out and went around to the passenger side. Before he opened the door, he took a deep breath. He really hoped that this wasn’t going to backfire on him. He’d never been a big gesture sort of guy in his relationships and this was the biggest of all the gestures. The ink was barely dry, but the deal was done now. He just had to believe that it had been the right thing.

She giggled as he opened the door and helped her out of the truck.

“Okay, ready?” He wasn’t sure if he was asking himself or her.

“I mean, I think so. I don’t know what it is,” she chuckled.

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