Power Switch (Power Play #3) - Kennedy L. Mitchell Page 0,80
a sweatshirt?”
My reflection twists left and then right as I do. “It's off the shoulder. It's cute.” Turning back straight, I slide my hands down the soft cotton and slip them into the front pockets of my favorite jean shorts. “He knows you,” I whisper to my reflection, giving her a pep talk. “He won't expect anything fancy.” But the longer I stare, the more doubt slips into my confident words.
I give my head a quick shake, dislodging the growing unease. This is me, and it is what it is. It’s not like I have much else to choose from in my small bag.
At one minute till eight, I tiptoe across the room, hoping Taeler won’t look up from her phone and make this awkward.
“Have fun on your date,” she calls out as I tug open the door. “Don't do anything I wouldn't do.”
I whip around with an expectant expression. “Which is what exactly?”
She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Go have fun. You deserve it, Mom. You both do.”
A single hand glides down the smooth banister as I descend the stairs of the rental. I inhale a deep fortifying breath. Tae’s right. I do deserve this one night of carefree thoughts. Of love and passion and feeling normal after so many days of constant pressure. So does he. We've both had unending distractions and things pulling us apart since we met.
Not tonight. Tonight, it’s just us.
A heavy floral aroma causes my foot to waver as I lower from the final step. The lush scent fills my lungs as I take a deep breath and force my bare feet forward, padding along the stained concrete as I follow the smell through the darkened house toward a flickering light.
A soft gasp slips past my parted lips as my feet pull to a stop of their own accord.
Hundreds of roses fill the living room, vases upon vases of crimson long-stemmed roses in every nook and cranny. Candles flicker on each flat surface, making the living room seem to move with the shifting flames.
I startle at movement in the corner until Trey's handsome face comes into the light.
“Trey,” I breathe and scan the room once again, taking in even more detail than I did with the first glance. “How…? When…?”
A nervous smile pulls at his lips. He dips his head and looks up through his dark lashes.
“I'm sorry it's taken me this long to do this.” He shakes his head like he's fighting some kind of war in his own mind. “You deserve this kind of wow every day, every second.”
I shake my head as I move toward him, a smile spreading up my cheeks and happy tears prickling in the corners of my eyes. “No one has ever done anything like this for me,” I admit. “It's beautiful.” I cringe, remembering what I'm wearing and my bare feet. “I should go change.”
I don't get one step away before I'm tugged against his chest and held tight.
“Don't you dare. I've had wet dreams about these shorts for months, and tonight”—his nose slides into my hair as he takes a deep inhale—“if you let me, I'll get to turn those dreams into reality.”
Well, when he puts it that way….
I bite my lip as I grin up at his answering one.
His attention flicks to something over my shoulder. I follow his gaze toward the kitchen. With a hard press of his lips to my forehead, he steps back, tugging me to follow him.
“Since we still don't know how Whit is getting to you, I didn't want to risk ordering in or having someone we don't know cook, so….” He waves a hand toward the spread of bread, cheeses, and other various toppings.
“It just so happens that grilled cheese is my new favorite food.” Butterflies erupt in my gut at his soft grin.
“Good,” he says, tugging me deeper into the kitchen. Hands on my waist, he lifts me onto the counter and steps between my legs, which I widen to accommodate his larger frame. “Because it was either that or bacon.” His grin widens at my laugh. “Do you know how lucky I am?” His tone makes it clear it's a rhetorical question. “Of all the women I've dated, your easygoing nature, the joy you find in small gestures, is… refreshing.”
I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “That's not a small gesture. It's like the Disney World of romantic gestures.”
He just shakes his head. “That right there proves my point.”