Page 93 of Picking Daisies on Sundays

“Hi Daisy,” he exhaled like it was his first breath of air all day.

I pressed a kiss to his neck and felt him shiver. “You finished work early,” I said with joy, moving back to see his face.

“I know PDA is popular in France but that doesn’t mean you need to join in!” Misha shouted from across the street making us both laugh.

He pressed a quick kiss to my lips that made me lightheaded, squeezing my hip before putting me down. “I did. I thought it’d been a while since we spent a Sunday night together.”

I beamed at him. My heart was jumping in my chest at the sight of the handsome, loving man in front of me. A thousand flower petals falling to the bottom of my stomach.

“That sounds perfect.”

“Ready to go home?” he asked.

“With you, always.”

Chapter 23

(Levi’s Version)

One moment, we were dancing—her soft hand on the back of my neck and I was telling her she looked beautiful—and then I was left in the middle of the room alone. She was trotting away in her heels with a distressed look while I stood there speechless thinking over and over,what did I just do?

I went too far; I made her uncomfortable. Already asking her to pretend to be my girlfriend and hold my hand and spend time around my family every Sunday—that wasa lot. And then I go ahead and tell her how she looks as if this relationship was real.Idiot.

My feet start moving in the direction of the stairs before I can further my list of internal insults. I’m rushing down the steps and out the front door.Please be here, please be here. One sweeping glance and I found her getting into a cab.

“DANI!” I shout, running down the grand steps. She turned,she turned. My heart ached watching her lack of hesitation as she stepped away from the cab and came towards me. I felt overwhelmed watching her striking figure move towards me, meeting me halfway up the stairs. She looked so gorgeous. Her dress touched every curve on her body and her lips held this natural color of pomegranate juice. If she knew what it did to me, she’d be horrified.

But she looked bothered, and it was my fault. I did that.

She turned away as I asked her what I did, what I could do to fix it. My hands gravitated towards her by habit without me even realizing it, lifting her face up. She was crying, and it felt like I was shot in the heart with an arrow.

“Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no, don’t cry. What’d I miss? What’s wrong?” Words were tumbling out. All I could think was how do I stop her crying? How do I take her sadness and make it mine?

“I’m not beautiful, Vi,” her voice cracked, along with my strength. How…how could she not think she was beautiful? How could that be possible when she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. It couldn’t be real, and I questioned it aloud. And then she tried making a joke,a joke, and it almost would’ve made me smile if it weren’t for the fact that my heart was cracking down the middle.

The only thing I knew to say next was the truth, and it rolled out like dice in a crowded casino. “Everywhere we go, people are,”I am, “infatuated by you, looking at you and yearning to talk to you. I…I am infatuated by you.” My heart was burning behind my ribcage. I had never gotten this close to telling her the truth. But she didn’t believe me; I could see it in her eyes. “Every time I see you, I think about…” my words fell short, because I had no idea what else I could say to make her believe me.

But seeing her upset when I spoke to Brianna—a past student—Dani almost looked jealous, and the hope that gave me, the switch that went off in my head that saidmaybe she feels something too?Well, it was enough of a kick in the ass to try.

I don’t know what I was thinking. All I know is that I was an absolute idiot for doing it. To look at her like this when she wasn’t mine, and yet still kiss her.

I told myself no weeks ago when I saw her in the bar with that short hair and joyous smile on her face. I told myself no when I saw her at Senior Prom with Jeremiah Sullivan. To kiss her would be to obliterate all the self-control I had been harnessing since sophomore year of high school.

But when I saw her in that dress, and she looked up at me in that ballroom with those full lips and brown eyes, and then ran out of my arms. I couldn’t let her go again.

So, I leaned in and kissed her. And when I felt her lips press against mine, I lost all self-control. She was kissing me, and her hands found their way into my hair, and they were tugging on strands, and it was making me go wild.Fuck.

Seslèvres étaient si douces.Oh my God, I was going insane. Listening to podcasts in French as I fell asleep has come to haunt me because I couldn’t even think straight to the point that I was thinking gibberish in another language. This is what she’s done to me, what’s she’s always done to me. Andkissing her, kissing her felt like night swimming in a summer ocean.

Oh. OhGod. “Daisy,” I moaned.My Daisy. The way her hands gripped my hair and the way her waist felt under my grip. It was home, she washome. How did you tell someone that you wanted this every day, every morning, hour, and night of your life? I’m pathetic. If she knew just how weak I was when she dragged her hand up the back of my neck, let alone when she kissed me, she’d be horrified. Seeing her with Ethan earlier made me want to rip my eyes out. Having to watch as some man flirted with her and pretending that it didn’t flood my chest with jealously was like standing on hot coals.

She dragged her tongue across my bottom lip, and I must’ve groaned because she pulled me in closer—no, held onto me tighter. Was I imagining it, or did she want this as much as I have these past years?

The small sounds she was making between our lips was ripping me apart inside. I couldn’t get enough of her. I cradled the back of her neck, tipping her head backwards to get full access of her jaw and kiss every spot. She gasped and clung onto my arms. She smelled like vanilla and roses, and I wanted it all. I’d get on my knees and worship her if I could have this every day. Her hips my altar and her lips my religion.

I didn’t even know what I was saying before it came out of my mouth. “You intoxicate me, Daisy. The scent of flowers lingers on you everywhere you go, and I always want to follow.” She felt tense under my hand.Jesus, why couldn’t I say something normal?I’ve been in love with her since I was sixteen, daydreaming about kissing her, and now I was fucking it up.

Then, as soon as I was pressing my lips against hers, she was pulling away.