Secret (Betrothed #9) - Penelope Sky Page 0,46

those blue eyes that looked into mine in all my dreams. My hands planted on his chest, and I rose on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He grinned against my lips. “So, you need me for sex and food.”

I had no shame. “Yep.” I pulled away and noticed that his hand was still behind his back. “What are you hiding?”

“Something for you.”

“Ooh…a surprise.” I rubbed my palms together. “I wonder what it is.”

He pulled his hand forward, revealing an arrangement of sunflowers.

I stared at the yellow petals and the deep black color at the center, taking a few seconds to understand what I was looking at. It was almost the end of October, and these kinds of flowers had disappeared a long time ago.

His confidence started to wane, which was a first. “You don’t like them.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I just don’t understand… Where did you find them?” The weather had been dreary and cold, forcing me to ditch my dresses and wear jeans and sweaters, which was so depressing.

“It’s a secret.”

I took the flowers from his hand and brought them to my nose to smell them. They smelled so good, fresh, like it was still summer.

He watched me smell the petals, his blue eyes transfixed on mine. “You’re my sunflower…”

I opened my eyes and looked at him, my fingers holding the long stems.

“You’re my summer—all year-round.”

I lowered the flowers because I couldn’t believe what he’d just said. It was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard, from any movie, book, or anything I saw on social media. And the fact that this rock-hard, cold man said it made it even more romantic. “They’re beautiful…I love them.” I rose on my tiptoes again and kissed him, feeling my heart ache at the gesture. I turned around and grabbed a vase so I could display them on my counter, adding water so they would live a long time. “Thank you.”

He stood on the other side of the kitchen island, staring at me with those blue eyes that reminded me of the summer sky. He watched me shift the flowers in the vase, arranging them perfectly.

“Why is it a secret?”

He shrugged.

“Heath.”

He continued to stare at me with the same intensity, but he dropped his gaze for a moment, as if he was preparing to give his answer. “Remember when I told you I have other residences?”

“Yes.”

“I have a home in the countryside, twenty acres of land.”

I had no idea where this was going. He couldn’t grow them in the countryside because it wasn’t sunny and warm anywhere.

“I built a greenhouse…so I can grow them all year-round for you.” He didn’t look me in the eye as he made his confession, like he was embarrassed to say that out loud, even more irritated to hear himself say it.

I suddenly couldn’t feel my fingers. Couldn’t feel my own heartbeat. I watched him stare at the counter to avoid my gaze, watched him deal with the sudden intensity that had entered the room. Now I couldn’t look at him the same, couldn’t see him as the sexy piece of man that occupied my bed. He was so much more now…I knew he’d always been more. I just didn’t realize.

I moved around the counter and stepped up to him, my hands gripping the sides of his face to force his look on me, to look at me with those blue eyes that were oxygen to my lungs. I pressed my forehead to his chin and closed my eyes, my heart suddenly aching like I was in pain. When I opened my eyes again, I kissed him, kissed him slow and soft.

His arms secured around my waist, and he pulled me close, his large hands digging into me to keep me against his beating heart. He kissed me back, turning into the confident and powerful man I knew. His hands were all over me, his kiss was authoritative.

I jumped up, knowing he would catch me without even looking at me, his mind and body so in sync with mine. His strong arms caught me, and he lifted me onto the island counter, my legs circling his waist.

My hands yanked his shirt over his head, our movements speeding up now that we grew more impatient, more desperate. My nails clawed at his bare back, and I pulled him in to kiss me, my ankles digging into his ass through his jeans.

His lips moved to my neck, and he kissed me as I undid his jeans, his hot breaths in