I consider it a date.
I have no fucking clue how Bianca is viewing this mid-day meet-up.
Stealing a glance in her direction, I catch her staring at me.
I wave the flowers in the air before I motion at the vendor who is busy talking to a man who can’t seem to decide between a large bouquet of red roses or a smaller arrangement of pinks ones.
Impatience drives the next words out of my mouth. “Buy her both.”
He turns to me, and I immediately notice that I’m face-to-face with a college-aged kid. He can’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old. “I wish. I can’t afford both.”
I shove a hand in my back pocket to retrieve my wallet. I pull out a hundred-dollar bill and hand it to the vendor. “This should cover all the roses in his hand and the daisies in mine.”
The gray-haired woman smiles as she takes the money. “Let me get your change.”
“No need,” I tell her.
She thanks me with a smile before she moves toward a woman holding a lavish bouquet of what looks like wildflowers.
“I can give my girlfriend all of these flowers?” The guy standing in front of me asks. “Did you seriously just buy them so I can give them to her?”
“You bet.”
“I need your number so I can get in touch.” He tries to hold both bouquets in one hand while he fishes in his pocket. “I’ve got my phone. Give me a minute to find it.”
I shake my head. “Consider it a gift.”
He huffs out a nervous laugh. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Are you sure you don’t want me to pay you back? I get paid a week from Wednesday.”
“Buy your girlfriend another bouquet then,” I suggest.
“Will do.” He smiles. “I’m going to do a good deed for a stranger today too. I’ll pay it forward.”
“There’s a plan,” I say quickly. “I need to run. I’ve got a beautiful woman waiting on me.”
He glances over my shoulder. “I think I spot her. She hasn’t taken her eyes off of you since you walked over here.”
That’s music to my ears.
I spin around to find Bianca on the approach. A smile lights up her face.
“Thanks again, man.” The kid with the roses pats my shoulder. “You just made my day.”
Mine was made the moment Bianca showed up at Crispy Biscuit. It’s only going to get better from here on out.
***
Bianca’s gaze volleys from the daisies in my hand to the back of the kid with the roses as he takes off in a sprint down the sidewalk.
“What just happened?”
I glance down at the flowers. “I bought you daisies so I can score a first kiss before this day is over.”
She brushes her fingers against my bicep. “Did you pay for that guy’s flowers, Roman? From where I was standing, it looked like you paid for those roses he was holding.”
“I did.”
“Do you know him?”
“No,” I answer honestly. “I know that he wanted to put a smile on the face of a woman who is special to him, so I helped him out.”
Her blue eyes search my face. “Do you do stuff like that often?”
“Stuff like what?” I ask, knowing full well what she means.
“Buy something for a stranger?”
Someone once told me that the key to a good man is his willingness to do what’s right for others. I try to live by that.
With a hand on her lower back, I guide her away from the flower stand. “He was short on cash.”
She walks beside me slowly, contemplating what I just said. “Most people wouldn’t do that for someone they’ve never met.”
“I try not to concern myself with what most people would do.” I smile. “I do what works for me. He needed a hand, so I offered what I could.”
Her steps slow as we near the spot we were standing at when she plucked the daisy’s petals off. “The world needs more people who feel that way.”
I turn to face her. “You can get to work pulling these flowers apart, Bianca. I’m hoping luck will be on my side, and I’ll get that first kiss we were talking about.”
Her gaze drops to the daisies before she looks into my eyes. “Luck is on your side.”
I take a step closer to her because if that’s true, I’m about to get a taste of her lips. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” She perches on her tiptoes and grabs a fistful of my T-shirt to tug me even closer to her.
I don’t say a word.
I scoop my hand around her waist, pull her body against mine and press my lips to hers for what I hope to hell is just the first kiss in a million more to come.
Chapter 19
Bianca
His lips are as soft as I’ve imagined they’d be. I fall into the kiss, letting myself feel everything that has been building inside of me since the first time I saw Roman’s face.