Free Roses in June by Clare Revell Page B

ones. Mandy in the florist had teased him about becoming a regular customer and had taken great delight in pointing out that lavender meant love at first sight. This he already knew. He’d researched roses and colors on the Internet before leaving home and picked lavender deliberately.
    He rang the bell. A vision in mint green stood before him. The satin dress clung in all the right places, and he swallowed hard. He’d never seen such a vision of beauty. Her dark skin glowed. The color of the dress suited her perfectly.
    “You look amazing,” he said finally.
    “Hi, yourself.” Her perfect smile made her glow even more if that were possible.
    “Hi. I got you these.” He held out the roses.
    Dawn took them and inhaled deeply. “Thank you, but you shouldn’t have. You bought me some yesterday.”
    “I wanted to.” It was a pitiful excuse, he knew that, but he had this overwhelming desire to do things right and according to his research, flowers and dates went hand in hand.
    “I’ll put them in water. Will you come in?”
    “Just for a moment. We need to head off.”
    Dawn looked past him, and her eyes widened as she saw the car. “A limo?”
    “And driver,” he said. “But it does mean I avoid driving in London, which I hate doing with a passion.”
    “I don’t blame you.” She headed into the kitchen and put the flowers in the same vase as the yellow roses from the day before.
    Gabe followed in her wake and stood behind her, admiring her figure and the way the dress flowed around her as she moved. He brushed his fingers across the back of her neck tucking in the label that was sticking up. Her skin was soft and smelled of shower crème and perfume.
    She wriggled her shoulders. “That tickles.”
    “Sorry. Your label was showing. You look lovely.”
    She smiled. “Thank you. I didn’t know what to wear. I’ve never done anything like this before. A friend recommended this dress and where to get it.”
    “Your friend has very good taste.” His hands paused a moment. “You bought the dress especially for the premiere?”
    “I could hardly go in jeans,” she said.
    “The color really suits you.”
    “Thank you.”
    He glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. “We should go. I can’t be late for this, and the traffic can be horrendous at times.”
    Dawn reached for the mint green jacket on the back of the chair.
    He helped her into it. It molded tightly to the top of the dress, emphasizing her already curvaceous figure. His reaction surprised him. He didn’t have time for a relationship. He liked his bachelor status, but something about her made him long for more.
    She glanced at him, a questioning look on her face. “Is this all right? I wasn’t confident enough to go sleeveless, even though the girl in the shop said I should do.”
    Gabe realized she’d mistaken his admiration for doubt and took her hand. His fingertips slid over her skin before he kissed her fingers softly. “You look perfect.” He led her to the car.
    Peters got out and opened the passenger door for her.
    Gabe suppressed his grin as Dawn’s eyes just got wider.
    “Wow,” she whispered, sitting down.
    Gabe settled beside her and fastened his seatbelt. “I guess I just take all this for granted now. But like I said, not my first choice tonight.”
    The closer they got to London, the quieter Dawn became. Gabe looked at her in concern. “Are you all right? Not car sick?”
    “Not since I was seven. I’m just a little nervous. I don’t know what to expect tonight.”
    “Have you seen these on the TV?”
    Dawn nodded. “Yeah.”
    “It’s that from the other side of the barrier. It’s known as working the red carpet. There are lots of people, camera flashes, and questions being tossed at you. Autographs to sign, fans want photos. Once we get inside the cinema there is a champagne reception, a lot of people being super nice to each other, and then we go watch the film.”
    “Cameras?”
    “Plenty, film crews and