A Sweet Mess - Jayci Lee Page 0,62
a little at the price tag, but she just couldn’t walk away from them. They’d be perfect for her moonstones, and she wanted to give one to Landon for the wonderful day trip.
Well, you only live once. Aubrey picked out a green bottle for Landon and a light blue one for herself. She marched with determination to the cashier but had to take a deep breath before she could actually put the bottles down for her to scan and wrap.
“I didn’t mean to neglect you for so long. We might actually start shooting as scheduled if the stars line up for us.” The bottles were safely packaged and stored in a sturdy shopping bag when Landon walked in with an apologetic smile. “Been shopping? What did you get?”
“Oh, just a small souvenir.”
Landon cocked his head at her but didn’t pry. He took the shopping bag and linked his fingers through hers. They strolled hand in hand, glancing at the shops lining the street. Aubrey couldn’t help her heart from fluttering from the simple pleasure. He’d been incredibly attentive and sweet the entire day and found ways to touch her every chance he got—holding her hand, guiding her by the small of her back, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. All the while, Aubrey’s heart beat—more, more, and more.
“So are you ready for your olallieberry pie?”
“Yes, please.” Anything to stop this day from ending.
He chuckled softly while his eyes lingered on her face and his thumb traced a circle on the palm of her hand. She exhaled a quiet sigh. He wanted time to slow down, too.
* * *
The famous olallieberry pie was famous for a reason. The bakery was housed in a converted two-story cottage that was bursting with cozy charm and pie-hungry customers. Their table was on the second floor, overlooking a trinket shop that Aubrey wanted to clean out. It was cuteness overload.
“There you go,” their server said, placing two picture-perfect slices of pie in front of them, then bustling off to serve the other slices of pie balanced on her arm.
“Wow,” Aubrey said. “Their definition of a slice is a quarter of the pie?”
“Trust me. It’s the perfect size. A wimpy one-eighth slice would leave you licking the plate, consoling your stomach’s unfulfilled need for more pie.”
Aubrey laughed and broke the golden, flaky crust to scoop up her first bite. She stopped laughing. She stopped talking. It was all about the pie as she savored the intensity of the tart and sweet filling and the richness of the buttery, short crust. Olallie-berries looked similar to a blackberry but had the soft skin and delicate seeds of raspberries, so the deep, royal-purple filling had a fun, slightly chewy texture.
When she finally glanced up from her plate, Landon was watching her with the Smile. Of course she smiled back. She couldn’t stop herself even though she suspected her teeth were tainted purple and dotted with olallieberry seeds.
“Good?” he said.
“So, so good.”
Aubrey exercised a heavy dose of restraint at the gift shop and kept her purchases to an olallieberry refrigerator magnet for Tara and a jar of olallieberry jam for herself. Landon casually strolled the shop, stopping here and there, then lined up at the register. She waited for him by the door, dying to know what he’d gotten, but she kept her curiosity to herself in case he asked her about her purchases from the glass store.
Landon tucked her into the passenger seat, then slid into his seat and turned to her. “You want to see what I got?”
“Yes.”
He pulled out his find with a flourish and dangled it in front of her nose.
“What is that?” Aubrey said, drawing back to get a better look. Then she burst into a belly laugh. “Is that an olallieberry pie air freshener?”
Grinning broadly, he broke open the plastic packaging and hung the cartoony pie behind his rearview mirror. He looked so mischievous and gleeful that Aubrey bit hard on the inside of her cheek to stop from mooning over him. This adorable and carefree Landon might be worth risking everything for.
The stars filled the sky, and a sliver of a crescent moon lit the road on their drive back, and Aubrey retraced the details of the day, committing them to memory. Landon drove at a leisurely pace. Perhaps he wanted to prolong the day as much as she did. It really was a perfect day, and a part of her wanted it to lead into a perfect night.
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