Play Me That Song

33

"I had a little help this time," Beau whispers in my ear before dropping his lips to my neck. He places a few kisses down the side of my neck and on my collarbone while I stare at my house through the windsheild of Beau's truck. "Come on," he murmurs in my ear, his tone making my heart race. He grabs my hand in his and pulls me across the cab.

I look at the candle lined walkway in awe as Beau leads us up to the front door. It's even more beautiful than the last time. I'm suddenly glad I had been able to hold it together until this point. I was so tempted to jump in his arms and declare my love for him at least ten times since I made my mind up in that make up chair earlier.

Beau pauses to look back at me once we reach the front door. I hold my key out to him with a small smile, wondering what's going to happen once he opens the door.

I can't help but laugh once I realise the candles inside the foyer are the same fake, LED ones that Beau used to decorate the bed of his truck that night. Beau turns to give me one of his signature smirks. I barely register that we've made it down the hall towards my bedroom until him startd to swing the door open. I gasp again when I see my room bathed in a soft glow. The remaining candles that aren't outside are lit and covering every hard surface in the room. I drop Beau's hand and turn around to take it all in, noting that he has somehow placed a bouquet of flowers identical to the last two in a vase on my nightstand. I am in complete awe that Beau has remembered and recreated so many things from this summer.

I feel Beau come up behind me before I feel his strong arms wrap around my middle. My head falls back to rest on his shoulder and my eyelids flutter closed. Beau takes full advantage of my now exposed neck, taking his time as he tantalisingly trails his lips from my collarbone to my jaw. A jolt of electricity shoots through me with every kiss. He places his hands on my hips and expertly spins me around to face him. My arms fly up to land in their favourite place around Beau's neck.

"McKenzie, I..." Beau's eyes shift to the side as his voice trails off. I reach up to place a kiss on his jaw. I notice him smiling in response even though he keeps his gaze adverted. "Here, just..." Beau's voice trails off again as he pulls me over to the bed.

He places his hands on my shoulders and gently pushes until I sit down. He kisses me quickly before going to sit in the reading chair in the corner of the room. He pulls his guitar from its resting place propped up against the arm of the chair and settles it into his lap. I look on in amazement, wondering exactly how much help he'd had in setting all this up.

I smile as he sets his fingers in the right places to begin to play, anticipating My Favorite Song. Instead, Beau begins to play the beginning of the new song he was working on earlier this summer. My smile grows as I get excited for a different reason: he's finally ready to let me hear it. He stops after a moment and looks over at me nervously. "I should have told you this before," he admits sheepishly, "but it never seemed right."

"What do you mean?"

"Just...this song is going to be released soon, and I don't want you finding out with the rest of the world."

"Beau, what are you talking about?"

Beau takes a deep breath and begins to play again. I feel my brows furrow together as I wander what he was trying to tell me and why it was so hard to just tell me. And what did he mean he should have told me before? Did this have anything to do with that conversation I overheard between him and Luke that night after we got home from the lake?

"She's stoppin' by real late tonight, just to talk," Beau's smooth voice cuts through my thoughts. "She said, 'I got some things that've been weighing on my mind, and I know I can come here.' and we just sit, and we talk awhile, while she spills her heart in these arms of mine. And then she'll say," Beau lifts his gaze from the guitar to look me in the eyes for the first time since he started playing.