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wasn t about to spoil the surprise by telling him until they got to where they were going.
She led him into a small park, along garden paths hemmed in by greenery on both sides so that
it felt like a space cut off from the rest of the world, even though they were still just a little way from
the restaurant.
 Have you spotted them yet? she asked.
 Spotted what?
Gareth looked around, glancing over flowers and shrubs, a tree or two and not much else. What
did Anne want him to look at? He tried looking again, more carefully this time, slowing down as his
eyes scanned the space around him.
Finally, he saw something unexpected.
Plants were flowing up out of old sneakers, high heels, men s dress shoes, even a few tall
boots. They were bedding plants, mostly, but a few larger specimens poked up out of open-backed
shoes that let their roots spread more.
 It s beautiful, isn t it? Anne said.
It should have looked like just random littering. It should have looked too odd to be beautiful. It
should have been pure chaos.
Yet, Gareth had to admit that the flowers made the shoe garden a riot of colors, while the shoes
in between blended with those colors. It was strange but also very beautiful indeed. He found himself
smiling as he looked around the place. At the thought that someone could have done this.
 Who put all this together?
 People just come along and plant shoes.
 But that should be chaos, he told her when he couldn t make sense of it.
Anne smiled.  I suppose so, but fortunately, it seems to work anyway.
She led the way around another bend in the path to a spot where there were trays of bedding
plants along with soil. Gareth could guess what she intended.
 Oh no. No way.
 Everyone should do it at least once. She took off her own shoes without hesitating. They
were beautiful heels that matched the dress she was wearing. Gareth guessed that she d either
customized them herself or made the dress to fit the shoes.
 You re really going to plant a flower in those shoes?
 Of course. Come on, try it. You won t regret it.
He thought he might, given how much the shoes he was wearing had cost, yet Gareth found
himself bending down to untie them and pick out a plant.
Anne planted hers beside his.  There, she said.  Doesn t that feel good?
It did. Better than he d have thought. And as they padded out of the park together, Anne in her
bare feet and Gareth in his black dress socks, in that moment he felt like he could tell her anything.
But he really didn t want to talk about the case just then. Which really left only one other
thing&
 Do you remember before, when I mentioned leaving the precinct?
 Yes. From your tone of voice, I was wondering if something happened to make you want to
leave.
 My partner, Brian, met a woman. He fell in love with her.
 That doesn t sound like a reason to leave your job.
 It wasn t. Gareth kept walking.  Except she had a kid, and the kid was in trouble. He d made
the kind of friends who didn t think twice about having him transport drugs for them. Brian looked the
other way. No, Gareth thought, he had to tell her the full truth.  Actually, it was worse than that. He
 lost some evidence.
 He did that just because he loved someone?
 Yes, but it was also illegal. In the end, even though I knew the right thing to do was turn him
in, I couldn t. So I left the force instead.
Anne paused, looking up into his eyes.  Why are you telling me this?
 I need you to know how important the law is to me. How I can t just ignore it, even if I want
to.
 Because you want to do the right thing, Anne said, reaching up to touch his face.
 Because I have to do the right thing. It isn t just my job; it s who I am.
 And what s the right thing to do now? she whispered.
 I should go, he whispered back,  but I can t.
And then he kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
Anne melted into Gareth s kiss, and when they finally pulled apart, she stared at him
breathlessly. She knew Gareth was a man who believed in doing things the  right way, but who d
have thought that extended to his kissing?
Because his kiss had been more than right.
It had been perfect.
 You realize it s going to be a long walk back to my car without any shoes? Gareth said, but
even though he was clearly conflicted over his feelings for her, he said it with a smile.
Anne s heart leapt at his grin when he usually seemed so very serious, like the world wasn t
something to be enjoyed.
 I didn t think we were in a hurry, are we? she asked.
 No, Gareth said slowly,  I guess we re not.
Anne liked the fact that he was making time for her.
She liked the fact that he held her hand as they walked, while rubbing the pad of his thumb
against the inside of her palm in unconsciously sensuous circles. And she liked the way he looked at
the city around them as if he was seeing it for the first time but still kept looking back at her. Oh yes,
she most definitely liked him.
She might even, she thought with a giddy little inner twirl of her heart, be starting to fall in love
with him.
 When we get back to the restaurant, she suggested,  how about we go back in for some food?
I don t know about you, but I m hungry.
 That s because we never got around to ordering or eating lunch.
 I couldn t wait another second to show you around, she pointed out, laughing.  I think it was
worth it, don t you?
 Absolutely.
When they got back to the restaurant and finally ordered, she was so incredibly tempted to
reach over the table, pull Gareth forward, and kiss him again.
Only, she wanted to savor the moment. And build up slowly to what she hoped would come
next.
Their physical attraction was key, of course, but she wanted to get to know everything about [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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