“Good,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze before releasing it. “Take your time, listen to your gut, and all that good stuff. But when you get there, you’ll just know if he’s the one.”
“I think he is,” I said quietly.
“Don’t you have to go pick up your graduation paperwork today?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you say you had to be there before five o’clock?”
“Oh – yikes.”
“Come on, I’ll drive you.”
***
Paperwork in hand, it was strange that I was officially finished with school. Dale hugged me as soon as I was outside, swinging me around. “You did it, you crazy weirdo,” he grinned.
Then he turned me to face in the other direction, where Ben was standing with a bouquet of flowers.
Dale grabbed my shoulders and gave me a rough shake. “Go tell him you’re already in love with him.”
“I can’t,” I hissed. “He’ll think I’m nuts.”
“You are nuts. You might as well let him know what he’s in for early on.” Dale pushed me forward. “Go get your man, or so help me, I’ll do one of my flying kicks straight at your butt.”
I couldn’t help laughing as I walked toward Ben. He looked so hopeful, so absolutely earnest.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” he said softly, handing me the flowers.
“Thank you, they’re lovely.” They were peachy-pink rosebuds, like the ones on the teacup. Holding them aside, I gave him a giant hug.
“Chelsea, I’m sorry I had to stalk you, but you weren’t returning my messages. Will you come to my place so that we can have a talk? I feel that we should start from the beginning, and find out what we want, then find out how to make that happen.”
“Okay.” His huge grin was adorable.
He led me to his car, and I glanced over my shoulder to where Dale was making a flicking gesture with his hand as if to say, “Get going.”
As soon as we walked into Ben’s lovely house, he took my hand and spun me toward him. “Chelsea, do you want to work with me?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you want to be my girlfriend as well?”
The way he was looking at me with such hope in his eyes made my knees quiver. “Yes.”
“And from now on, you’re going to tell me if I’m being pushy, and be open with me about what you like and don’t like?”
I nodded. “Dale pointed out that men aren’t psychic, and I probably need to be more clear.”
Ben breathed a sigh of relief. “I like Dale. He sounds like a good man,” he chuckled. Then he grew serious again. “I was talking to the Blue Truck Advertising people and dropped by their office to chat with my contacts there. The copywriter and production manager were asking where I found the perfect model for this campaign. I told him it was the beautiful girl I had just begun dating, and they were nothing but happy for me. No judgment. No sideways glances.”
“Wow,” I breathed. I was incredibly relieved, and realized that he was honestly going to take care of things. Maybe I didn’t have to worry at all.
“So the public outing has begun,” he smiled. “Are you okay with that?”
“Dale seems to approve, and really, that’s the only opinion that matters in my world.”
“Good,” he said.