The doorbell rings and I take a moment to give one last look at the beautifully set table, ensuring everything is in place. I rush to the door and open it to find Tyler standing there in black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. I’ve never seen him in anything but a t-shirt and jeans and this is a sight to behold. It takes me a full minute to recover the breath he’s stolen so I can speak, but he beats me to it.

“You take my breath away, Ava Gillmore.”

I giggle like a little girl and for once, I’m not even ashamed to admit it.

“You’re looking mighty fine yourself, Tyler Branson,” I tell him, holding the door open for him.

Closing the door behind him, I take a few slow breaths to try and calm my racing heart. I am so out of my element here. I should have asked Charlotte to stand outside in the shrubs next to an open window so she could feed me my lines all night.

When I turn around, he’s clutching a square box in his hands that has a big red bow on it.

“I figured flowers were a bit too tame for a woman with sex toys in her blood and the rubber fisting mitten is just better suited for a second date, so this will have to do,” he explains, holding the box out for me to take.

With a smile I can’t contain, I grab the box and untie the bow. Lifting the lid, my eyes widen in surprise and my jaw drops when I see what’s inside.

“I hope those are the right ones. I remember you saying you’d been trying to get them for months but they were sold out everywhere,” he tells me quickly, taking the box back and pulling out the most beautiful pair of shoes I’ve ever seen.

“Christian Louboutin black suede Strass Decorapumps with Swarovski crystals,” I mumble in awe as I reach out and lovingly pet the shoes Tyler holds in his hands. “How in the hell did you find these?”

I watch as he gets down on one knee and wraps his hand around my calf, lifting my foot up to his bent leg so he can remove the black patent leather Mary Janes I put on earlier. He slides the Louboutin on my foot and I suddenly feel like Cinderella. He does the same with my other foot and then stands back up to admire his work.

“Damn, your legs look f**king hot in those things,” he says with a whistle.

“Seriously, Tyler, how did you find these and how did you afford them?” I demand.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but these shoes were even out of my price range and I’m a shoe whore.

“You’d be surprised what the guys in the warehouse at work can get their hands on,” Tyler explains as I walk around the foyer, testing out my new shoes. “Bill knows a guy who knows a guy. I’m pretty sure they’re stolen and quite possibly have the previous owner’s blood on them, but I didn’t figure you’d mind. Felicia asked me if I wanted any meth and Rob told me he could get his hands on some whale sperm. I passed on the meth but I’m seriously considering the whale sperm.”

I don’t even bother to question the absurdity of the need for whale sperm, instead launching myself into Tyler’s arms and peppering his face with kisses.

“This is just…I don’t even know what to say. I love… these shoes. I love them so much it scares the hell out of me,” I tell him, completely chickening out.

I have the feels. I have all the f**king feels and I can’t say it!

He wraps his arms around me and smiles. “It’s okay, babe. My love for these shoes freaks me out a little bit, too. They are fantastic and totally hot shoes. I’ve grown really attached to the…shoes.”

Oh, my God. What is he saying? Is he feeling all the feels with me?

Before I can analyze his statement, he pulls back and grabs my hand. “It smells amazing in here, what’s for dinner?”

I can do this. I can totally do this. I’ll wow him with my delicious food and when he’s in a food coma, I’ll tell him that I love him.

Piece of cake.

Chapter 22 – No Kink? No Problem.

“I never meant to put him in an actual coma! Oh f**k, I killed him, didn’t I?!”

Blinking my eyes open, I look up to see Ava pacing back and forth next to my hospital bed and I can’t help but smile.

“He’s going to be just fine. The important thing is that you got him here in time. As soon as we make sure he doesn’t have any adverse reaction to the epinephrine we gave him, you can take him home and he’ll be good as new.”

I watch the doctor pat Ava on the back and give her a sympathetic look before leaving the room. She turns to look at me, her face lighting up when she sees that I’m awake.

“Tyler! Oh, thank f**k you’re awake!” she exclaims, rushing to my side and placing her hands on either side of my face. “I’m so sorry. I swear I wasn’t trying to kill you.”

Laughing at her worry for me, I grab her arm and pull her closer until she’s leaning over top of me. “Ava, it’s fine. You had no way of knowing that I’m allergic to pine nuts.”

She reaches up and runs her fingers through my hair and I have to fight really hard not to purr like a f**king cat.

“It’s all Molly’s fault. I had her help me make the lasagna and she had to be all fancy and shit with her sauce instead of just using something out of a jar,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

I hate that Ava is so upset over this and I feel like shit for ruining the evening she planned. I knew as soon as I walked into the dining room and saw the table set with good china and lit candles that she put a lot of effort into making the dinner special and romantic. It’s not her or Molly’s fault that two bites of the delicious lasagna had me breaking out in hives and gasping for air as my throat closed up. Normally, I carry an EpiPen on me at all times because of this stupid allergy, but I was too worried about the gift I got her and trying to figure out a way to tell her that I love her to worry about a f**king nut allergy.