CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I promised we would do something fun before I go back to work. And I also promised we’d go to Mr. Reynolds grave. So, this is what I picked for us. Something light and fun and sincere after a day of explosions.” Alaric tightened his hold around my waist, keeping my body flush with his. “What do you think?”
A gentle smile curved on my lips. “I think I love the way your mind works.”
“Thank you, thank you. I’d like to stop where God’s ashes were scattered, so I’ll be participating too.” He kissed the top of my head and then opened the door for me. “I’m at your service, m’lady.”
I snickered and walked into the flower store.
But it wasn’t any flower store.
It was a build your own store—the high wooden tables in the center of the room where multiple individuals sat working on their arrangements. Vases ran up and down the walls on our left and right on shelves. An entire cooled area was at the back of the room, the glass allowing the vibrant colors of the flowers to be the backdrop of the room.
I inhaled and sighed in pleasure.
It was like walking into a rainforest.
Alaric paid the clerk. And we went to work.
Since these were flowers for gravesites, no vases were needed. We headed straight for the flowers, all their hues making my eyes widen in wonder. The air chilled our flesh as we stepped inside, but it was no different from the outdoors right now. We were still bundled up as we perused the silken petals.
“I think I’m going with the colors of the sea.” I gulped and breathed through my initial panic. I eyed the varieties of blues and greens they had. “Butch would like that.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’m going for golds and yellows and browns. Like his fur was.”
I stood up on tiptoe and kissed his lips softly. “That sounds beautiful.”
“Yes, God’s vain.” He blinked, and corrected himself immediately, “God was vain.”
I kissed his lips again. “It takes a while. It’s okay to slip.”
He shook his head and sighed, then peered down at me. Much more jovial, he teased, “One more kiss?”
“Just one. Then we get to work on our masterpieces.” I jumped up and kissed his lips mid-flight. I landed easily and patted his ass. “Get to it. I want to see your creative side in action.”
Dark brown eyes gleamed. “Prepare to be dazzled.”
“Like you dazzled everyone out of our home last night when they kept peppering me for more information about the bastard?”
He winked. “Just like that.”
“I’m pretty sure you broke Wolfe’s leg.”
“Well, he was pissing me off. We were all covered in ash, you had just been dead for the past five days, then you kindly answered their questions, and you told them you wanted to go to bed. You’d had enough for the day.” He shrugged a massive shoulder. “So I made them leave my mate alone.”
I blinked. “Said like that, I guess you did well.”
“Fuck yeah.”
I kissed him once more—just because. Then I grabbed handfuls of the four choices I picked and kneed him in the butt as I walked out of the cooling unit. We were set for the middle table, so I sat down, placing all the flowers in front me. Delicately, I started arranging the four colored flowers, all their different petals stunning.
Thump.
My head jerked up. “Holy crap.”
Alaric’s chest puffed up. “I’m going to make an arrangement worthy of God.”
I thought I’d picked a lot of flowers. My husband had so many they rose up to my chest on the table. My lips trembled in humor, but I mustered a respectable reply, “I bet it’s going to be stunning.”
“You’re damn right it is.” The chair creaked under his hulking weight as he sat down. Dark brown eyes twinkled as he watched me place each flower carefully. “I bet yours will be better than mine, though.”
“It’s not a competition.” I kept my eye on the prize because it was definitely a competition. “These are for the people we cared about.”
He chuckled quietly and started arranging his flowers in front of him. “I like it when you lie. It’s adorable.”
I blinked, my hands stalling over my flowers and my eyes meeting his. “Cass never told me you can sniff out lies.”
“We can’t.” His grin was mischievous. “You just told me.”
I tossed a broken flower at his smug face. “You are going to get it later.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “I hope so. Bruise me up, beauty, and I’ll make you a stunning breakfast tomorrow morning.”
My cheeks turned pink, but I held his stare. “I’ll want eggs benedict.”
His lips trembled. “Those aren’t even made anymore.”
“I read it in a book I liked once.” I shrugged and peered back down to my work. “It had Rake in the title, but it sure as hell wasn’t about gardening. Unless his rake was busy gardening her loins. That author was talented. We don’t have enough creative people anymore in the world. Hopefully, we’ll be around when the population grows and becomes more diverse again.”
Alaric grunted, cocking his head as he arranged the flowers, studying them. “You have a real love for literature. Why don’t you try your hand at writing? As you said, we need more authors.”
I puckered my brows in thought. “Maybe. If the muse hits, I’ll try it. I have plenty of ideas, but not one strong enough yet to pull me into it.”
“Beauty, you can do whatever you want. Once you decide, I’ll help you get there.” His hands started working fast as if an idea had detonated inside his mind, and he couldn’t work fast enough.
I shook my head and went back to delicately placing my flowers down. Everyone worked at their own pace. I guess I was on the slower side.
Alaric tilted to the side and got his string to wrap around the bottom, his eyes on his flowers. “This is perfect.”
My lips twitched, but I didn’t peek yet.
Once I was through, I placed my own ribbon around my arrangement and gradually made a few tweaks to it. Only then did I look up at my husband’s finished work, my eyes widening on it.
Alaric grinned and stood. He placed his hands on his hips, and asked, “Do you know what it is?”
My head bobbed in affirmation. “Wow.”
His smile widened. “Do you think it’s fitting?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Very fitting.”
It was two golden angel wings.
Absolutely breathtaking.
I hid my arrangement behind my back. “We should probably get going.”
He snapped his fingers at me. “None of that. You can’t weasel out. You have to show me.”
“I’ll take the defeat quietly.” I peered down my nose at him. “I don’t have to show you.”
“Faith, show me your flowers. I promise I won’t laugh or anything. I’m not that cruel.” He paused. “Even if I did win this one.”
I chuckled. “You are ridiculous.”
“Show me. Please?”
“Fine. But don’t laugh.”
I held up my arrangement for him to view.
Alaric stood frozen in place, then he glared at me. He pointed a sharp finger at my flowers. “You were going to let me take the win when you obviously won? I’m a big enough boy to admit when I’ve lost, beauty.”
I blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Rolling waves the color of all the seas? Of course, that beats my angel wings.” His narrowed eyes gradually relaxed as he studied my expression. He whispered, “You really didn’t think you’d won.”
I glanced at my flowers. “Um, no.”
He rolled his expression-filled eyes. “Thank fuck we have forever for me to educate you in the delicacies of an ego. I’ll have you roaring your awesomeness to the world eventually.”
I slipped off my chair and carried my flowers around to his side of the table. I snickered. “Delicacies of an ego?”
“Yes, M’lady. It’s an intricate process to become…,” he waved a hand down his frame and back up, “…all that is me.”
The woman behind us snorted over her flowers.
My chin trembled trying to hold back my laughter. I grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the front door. “We better go before these poor customers get caught up in all that is you. I’ve got it on pretty good authority that I’m the only one who can handle it.”
He nuzzled the side of my neck. “You bet your ass you are.”