Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,111
of champagne chilling in a silver bucket. “Champagne?”
Daisy's eyebrows shot up. “Yes, please.”
I wrestled with the bottle, popping the cork and catching the foam in a glass while Daisy strolled around the room, sniffing the flowers. She came to a stop beside the bed, freshly made with a mountain of pillows and a fluffy white duvet.
I handed her the glass and cleared my throat. Why this should make me nervous, I didn't know. Daisy was living with me. Maybe she hadn't finished moving out yet, but what did that matter?
I tried to tell myself that, but it did matter. I wanted more. I wanted it all. It was too soon for everything—we hadn't been together long enough for that— but I needed to move us one step closer. I just had to hope I wasn't going to scare her off.
“Let's sit at the table,” I said. I'd planned this out, but now that we were here, my plan seemed forced and awkward. I sat, waiting for Daisy to do the same. She did, dropping into my lap instead of the seat across the table.
That would work. Not like I was going to shove Daisy off my lap when that was exactly where I wanted her. Clearing my throat again, I reached into the picnic basket Savannah had left on the table and pulled out an envelope and a small velvet box. Daisy eyed the box with a flare of alarm in her brown eyes, then narrowed those eyes on the envelope.
“What's that?”
I handed her the envelope. She opened it slowly, brow furrowing as she read it. “A change of address form?”
Printed from the DMV website, it was the form she'd need to permanently change her address to Heartstone Manor. “I want you to move in. For real.”
Daisy laid the form out on the table, smoothing her hand over it, back and forth, saying nothing.
“You can do it online, I think, but I wanted to give you this, to show you—” I shut up. Where was all my charm? The change of address form had seemed like a good idea at the time. Watching her squint down at it, mostly it just felt lame.
I wasn't expecting her to lean in and kiss me softly, her champagne-flavored tongue tasting mine. When she pulled back, she was smiling.
“I'm sorry, I've been dragging my feet. It wasn't about you. At all. I was just worried about everything with the bakery and if I was going to have to find work somewhere else. I didn't feel like I could settle in until I knew I had a job.”
“Just for the record, I don't care if you have a job.”
“I want to support myself, Royal. I'm not—”
I leaned in to kiss her, stopping her words. “I know. And I get it. I really do. But life isn't always smooth, and I'll love you through the hard times along with the good. Job or no job.”
Daisy didn't answer me in words. Setting her champagne on the table, she framed my face in her hands and kissed me. Thoroughly. I was breathing hard when she pulled back to say, “I'll go to the DMV on Monday and change my address. Maybe after I’m done you can help me pack up the rest of my stuff from the apartment.”
“Sounds great to me,” I agreed.
“What's in that basket?” Daisy asked, shifting on my lap to brush against my erection. It never failed. Kissing Daisy always made me hard. “Can it wait until later?”
My cock insisted it definitely could not wait until later. It took me a second to realize she meant the food. “Finn cooked us dinner, and yes, it can wait.” Truthfully, I wasn't sure if it could, but it was going to.
Daisy's eyebrows shot up. “Finn cooked for us? Finn doesn't cook for anyone.”
“I know. I had to beg and bribe him with a favor to be redeemed later.”
“From the smells coming out of that basket, it was worth it.” She leaned in for another kiss. I hated to do it, but I held her off.
“One more thing.” I set the velvet box in front of her. Reading the alarm in her face, I covered the box with my hand. “It's not what you think. I'm not dumb enough to try to give you an engagement ring when I'm still trying to get you to finish moving in.”
A sheepish smile curved her lips. “Sorry, it was knee-jerk. So, it's not a ring?” The smile faded. “Not that I