Page 88 of Chasing the Dream
He flinched at the term but quickly covered it up. “No.”
She was quiet for a few beats, and he was surprised at how badly he wanted her to say yes.
“Okay. I’ll go with you.” Then she gave him a full-blown smile, and he was amazed at how much better he felt.
A few minutes later, he’d pulled into Maria’s driveway when his phone buzzed with a text from her. “Speak of the devil,” he teased. Then he read her text aloud.
Meet us at Clancy’s Pub at six o’clock tomorrow night. Wear something nice and don’t be late!
“Even her text messages are bossy,” Morgan said.
He laughed. “The decree has been handed down. We won’t have time to come home and change, so I guess we should dress up for work tomorrow.”
She nodded, and he decided that whatever she chose to wear, he’d compliment her on it.
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” he said.
She glanced behind them at the road and then leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“What was that for?”
“For asking me.”
She opened the car door and stepped out. For some reason, he hated to see her leave even though he’d be seeing her all day tomorrow and into the evening. What more did he want?
He watched her walk away, and then she turned around and waved, her pretty face beaming. It was a major improvement over the past two days, and he smiled and waved back.
Instead of going directly home, he stopped at a local chocolate shop. He’d considered buying flowers, but Bryan had already ruined that for him. Knowing Morgan, she’d probably appreciate chocolate more anyway.
He went inside the store and quickly became overwhelmed with all the choices. He was considering aborting the mission and settling for a drugstore candy bar when the woman behind the counter approached him.
“May I help you?”
“Um…yes. I’d like to buy a gift for someone.”
“Ahh. Someone special, I presume.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“A woman, perhaps?”
Well, it certainly isn’t a man! “Yes.”
“Is it a special occasion like a birthday, anniversary, or engagement?”
“Engagement? No. Nothing like that.” He realized he sounded panicky, and that was because he was. He and Morgan hadn’t even gone on a date yet. Nobody should be mentioning an engagement or any other word related to it.
“Is she pregnant?”
“God, I hope not!”
The woman laughed. “I’m just trying to help you, sir. We have gifts suitable for every occasion.”
“It’s no occasion, really, unless you call apologizing for acting like a dork an occasion.”
She laughed even louder that time, and a few pairs of eyes glanced his way. Why couldn’t he have settled for a Reese’s?
“I have the perfect solution.” She reached under the counter with a gloved hand and pulled out some chocolates in the shapes of hearts and flowers. “We can make a bouquet of these. It’ll be like giving edible flowers.”
