Heat flooded my cheeks and I attempted to hide it by taking another sip of my wine. “That was smooth, Mr. Michaels.”
He chuckled. “The fellow nerds will be thrilled to hear it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Were you talking about me in the group text again?”
“Maybe.”
“Good. Keep it up.”
I loved the back-and-forth with him. The fact that he could laugh at himself was a huge turn-on. Even more so than V-neck-casual Bowen. What I loved most was, despite the way things had started, there was an effortless comfort between us that I’d never felt with a man—at least not romantically speaking, and sure as hell not on a first official date.
Just when I thought he couldn’t get any better, the waitress arrived to take our dinner order, but I hadn’t even picked up the menu. Luckily, I didn’t have to.
Bowen ordered a boat.
No, seriously. A literal boat of sushi intended for four people, complete with steamed dumplings, edamame, tempura veggies, and enough sushi to feed a small army—or fleet, rather. It was a first date and I was now practically required to stuff my face because everyone knew leftover sushi didn’t keep.
He looked over at me. “Anything you’d like to add?”
It was a little too soon to ask for his hand in marriage, so instead, I looked at the waitress. “Is the tempura cooked in vegetable oil or peanut oil?”
“Uhhhh…” she drawled.
Robust laughter bubbled from Bowen’s throat. “Remi, relax. I’ve eaten here before.”
“Oh, okay.” Releasing his hand, I passed my unread menu to the waitress. “Can’t be too safe.”
“You are so right,” he replied, thoroughly amused.
I liked how he was as entertained by me as I was by him.
Swirling my wine glass, I asked, “Where are you taking me this fine afternoon?”
“After the reaction I got from gifting you Meredith earlier, I’ll be staying on theme with a trip to the botanical gardens.”
“Shut up. Seriously?”
He nodded. “You’ve probably been a million times.”
“Actually, I’ve never been. I’ve always wanted to though. Thirty acres of outdoor gardens, Bowen. It’ll make Peachtree Plants look like an herb garden. Your aesthetically pleasing rear could be in real danger.”
He shrugged. “As long as you’re willing to watch my six, I should be fine.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely watch your six, seven, eight, and nine. For a trip to the botanical gardens, I might even pull a Sharon and pinch your six too.”
“Money well spent.” He winked. “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You own a plant that cost more than your rent, but you’ve never made it across town to the holy land?”
“The whole horticulture obsession is kinda new. I didn’t get into plants until—” Shit. I shifted awkwardly in my chair. “So a boat of sushi, huh? How hungry are you?”
“Since the plane crash?” he said, filling in the blinking, neon blank.
I lifted my hand in surrender. “Door shut. Still locked.” I tossed a ball of air over my shoulder. “Threw away the key.”
His lips thinned. “It happened, Remi. Just because I’m not ready to talk about it doesn’t mean you have to avoid it completely. It’s bound to come up from time to time.”
Swallowing hard, I offered him a tight smile. “I know. With everything you’ve been through… I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”
He leaned forward and once again caught my hand. “The only thing that’s going to make me uncomfortable is you tiptoeing around me, giving me the highlights of you, when I want the whole damn experience. So let’s try this again. You got into plants after the plane crash, right?” He circled his free hand in the air, signaling for me to continue.
I crinkled my nose. I could lie and take the easy way out, sparing us both, but I didn’t want to do that with him. The plane crash had changed my entire life. It was a massive part of who I was. He probably wasn’t ready for the full experience the way he claimed, but I could gently wean him in.
“I was in the hospital for a while. Tons of people—some I didn’t even know—flooded my room with flowers. As sweet as it was, I hated them. I was stuck in that hospital bed, day after day, forced to watch them wither away. After all the lives that were lost, I couldn’t stand dealing with more death.” I paused to get a read on him. One of those souls had worn his ring and owned his heart. I didn’t know her name or what she’d looked like, but if this man loved her, she must have been incredible.
Confident from the earnest way he was listening, totally focused, I continued. “It was the opposite with the potted plants though. A little water every day and they thrived. In the most sterile setting imaginable, I watched them grow and flourish. Everything that I’d felt was impossible back then. When I was finally discharged from the hospital, Mark and Aaron had to make three different trips down to the car to carry all of them. They begged me to donate some, but by then, they were my babies.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “You did good with Meredith today. In my opinion, clipped flowers are overrated. There’s nothing worse than watching something so beautiful wither into nothingness.”
