Lavender stopped walking and turned to him. "A date?"
Diego looked toward where they'd been sitting. "I don't make out with just anyone. Sorry. I kind of assumed… Lavender… lavender blue, lavender green, when I am king, will you be my queen?"
That was a nursery rhyme with his last name in it. "I'm not Lavender Greene yet."
Diego barked out a laugh and slid his fingers between hers. "Would you like to be? Lavender Greene?"
His puppy-dog eyes pulled at her heart as he asked the impossible. And the improbable. They had just met. "I'm too young to get married."
"Yet," said Diego. "You are too young to get married yet. When you're old enough, I'll be waiting."
For just a little while, Lavender would let herself believe.
*~*~*
Diego walked to the car slowly. This night should never end. One week wouldn't be long enough. She was between him and the ocean. The moonlight off the water silhouetted her. He could be with her forever.
He'd liked people in the past, sometimes liked them a lot, but not like this. Lavender was attractive, both in her looks and the way she pulled him close and pushed him away at the same time. Complex. He'd always liked complex.
Lavender's pretend indifference was cute, too. It was pretend, wasn't it? She wouldn't look at him the way she did if she wasn't interested, right?
He didn't want this to be just a late summer fling. She might not feel the same way, but he had a week to change her mind. Even after he went home, she'd only be a phone call or text away. He wouldn't let this relationship go until he'd tried every way to save it.
Now, he just had to get it started. He took her hand. "When should I pick you up?"
"For a date?"
"Unless you really don't want to go."
Lavender looked away.
Diego's heart sank. Maybe the indifference was real. But then why had she kissed him like she couldn't get enough of him? "Humor me. Please."
"You haven't asked me for my number or address or anything. Doesn't that come first?"
"I was going to walk you to your door tonight. I'll probably be able to find it tomorrow. Plus," He held up his phone. "I have your number and your friends' numbers, too, in case you don't call me back."
Lavender looked at him through her eye lashes. "Insurance?"
She was a Bond girl, a sexy spy, and she was flirting with him.
"You are worth any cost."
She rolled her eyes and tilted her head perfectly to be kissed.
He started tender, then pulled her against his chest with his hips back a bit. No sense scaring her with how hard she made him. Her breasts rubbed his chest. He used all his willpower not to cup them again.
He kissed her until he was at the edge of his self-control. She was even more beautiful with kiss-swollen lips. "Let me take a picture of you."
She backed away. "Why?"
"To tide me over until I see you again." And help out tonight when he went to bed. He wouldn't be able to sleep until he'd eased this ache a bit.
He took her picture. She turned and looked down, her hair covering part of her face. He took another. She glared at him. Click. She pouted. Click. She turned almost all the way around, exposing her beautiful neck. Click. She looked over her shoulder. He could fall in love with her from that look alone. Click. She pulled out her phone and took a picture of him. He lowered his phone so she'd get a good shot. She took another, then closed her phone. "So that's how to get you to stop."
Diego slid his phone into a pocket and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She stiffened until he moved his hands up to just under her breasts. She was as skittish as a newly-out boyfriend. Most girls let him get a lot farther south before they balked.
Lavender wasn't like the other girls Diego had dated and she certainly wasn't like any of the guys. She outshone the lot.
Lavender waited in the car for Diego to open her door. Would he be able to find her building tomorrow? If he was really planning to come get her tomorrow.
He walked her to the door and took her hands. "Is five okay? For our date?"
She nodded. She should eat something before he arrived, so she wouldn't gorge on expensive cinema candy.
"After the movie, I'll take you to the restaurant Patrick mentioned."
It better not be one of those fancy places. She'd make a fool of herself. Besides, she had nothing to wear.
He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "If you don't like the place, you can veto it."
"I might."
He smiled. "You're so beautiful. I want to show you off."
Lavender turned her head. The neighbors were watching through their windows.
He touched her cheek. "Lavender, lovely Lavender."
She met his eye. Fire coursed through her. Despite the audience, she didn't pull away from his kiss. His moan sent a thrill through her. He leaned back with a sigh. "Until tomorrow."
He kissed her hand and walked to his car, but he didn't get in it until she'd gone inside.
Lavender went up to her room and fell back on her bed. She'd done it. She'd been kissed. Her breasts were touched, and enjoyed, if his attention to them was any indication. She'd spent time with a handsome man and she had a date for tomorrow.
Her dream was coming true.
But morning would arrive and spoil it.
She fished out her phone. The girls had filled her inbox with reminders to make Diego wear a condom and other irrelevant things. She sent one to Vish saying she was home.
She took off her clothes in the bathroom and carefully shook them out over an old newspaper. She'd save the sand and maybe glue it to a paper heart with today's date, so she'd always remember the one day in her life a man made her feel loved.
*~*~*
Diego drove back to Patrick's mother's house. Travis and his friends hadn't returned yet, but Mrs. Raleigh told him not to worry. She fed him homemade cookies and asked him all those questions he'd been too tired to answer this morning, like how he liked his job, how his parents were doing, and if he was seeing anyone.
He used that as an opening to ask her which of two flower arrangements might best express that he'd had a great time and looked forward to seeing Lavender again tomorrow. He was pretty sure which one he preferred, but mothers enjoyed being involved in these little things. At least, his mother did.
Mrs. Raleigh studied his phone and handed it back. "I know her name is Lavender, but that doesn't mean she likes the color."
He went with the most purple arrangement with lavender in it. It also had green hydrangea, purple lilacs, and stargazer lilies with some things called stock, lisianthus, and wax flowers in a white basket. He asked it be delivered at nine the next day. "She was all in purple. Pale purple top, deep purple skirt, purple ribbons on her sandals, purple eye shadow, and a purple silk rose in her hair."
She smiled. "I guess she likes purple, then."
Diego flipped to the pictures of Lavender. "It might be too dark to see."
The pictures had turned out well and the darkness lent a mysterious air. He needed some alone time, maybe a shower, so he could be a noisy as he liked. How waterproof was his phone?
Mrs. Raleigh oohed and aahed over Lavender's pictures, then returned his phone. He bid her goodnight and sent Patrick the two best pictures and one to Jessica, Patrick's girlfriend.
He got a response from her moments later. Jessica agreed Lavender was pretty, but that she might feel out of place at the restaurant Patrick had told Diego about. She gave another suggestion.
Diego wasn't sure. Lavender was beautiful, and no matter what clothes and makeup she wore or how she wore her hair, she would be beautiful, but girls were sensitive to things that Diego was still learning to notice.
He could take her to a different place, only he itched to show off his beautiful woman to his peers. No. He'd let her decide because, ultimately, the most important thing was her comfort.
He stripped and hopped in the shower. Beaches were great, as long as they stayed at the beach. If a few ounces of sand stuck to every person who visited, how was any beach left?
Lavender had looked so beautiful. She did look so beautiful. He closed his eyes and saw her bright eyes, high cheek bones, full lips, her graceful arms, thin waist, long legs, and the way her long, dark curls cascaded around her body. She'd be perfect when he got her bare.
He cleaned himself and the shower wall. He was too polite to dirty Mrs. Raleigh's sheets. At least on purpose. Only this relief might not last him very long if he thought of Lavender tonight.
He hummed all the way to his room.
*~*~*
Lavender woke from her favorite dream of walking hand in hand with a man down a beach or across a meadow. Before the man had always been faceless, but last night, or rather this morning, he had Diego's face, his large hands, his smooth voice, his warm mouth, and his hard body. They'd spread a blanket on the ground and made love. He'd told her she was beautiful and that her body was perfect, so she must have been a normal woman in the dream. Diego was on her and in her and she'd been so close to coming… that she hated Vish more right now than in all the time they'd know each other.
"Flower Girl, wake up."
Lavender rolled over and covered her head.
"Tell me, was he any good?"
"What?" She was too tired for ambiguous questions.
"Sex. Did he touch you in all the right places?"
Lavender sat up and arranged her frilly nightgown to cover her properly. "He was a perfect gentleman."
Vish laughed. "No one's going to believe that."
"And why not?"
"He kissed you on the stoop. Everyone's talking about it. Even people who couldn't have seen it."
Lavender longed to roll over and hide her head. She got up. What should she wear tonight? Maybe she’d better do laundry. Was she still going? Had he changed his mind overnight? Lavender picked up her phone.
He'd sent her a text last night saying he'd had a good time and that five o'clock couldn't come soon enough, but he hadn't sent her anything yet this morning.
"And there's another reason people are talking."
The last thing Lavender needed was people gossiping about her. Someone would tell her secret and that would be the last she'd see of Diego. Lavender picked out a shirt and turned to her dresser to find a bra to go with it. "Why?"
"You have to go downstairs to see." Vish was better than anyone at looking smug.
Lavender spotted the skirt she would wear on her date. It was long, black, and flowy. But what to wear in the meantime? She picked and discarded three skirts just to annoy Vish.
Vish's phone beeped. She texted back. A moment later, steps sounded on the stairs, and Ariel, Alana, and Caiside busted into the room all talking at once. "Is she coming? Are you coming yet? Get ready? Come on! Hurry. Make her hurry. You've got to see."
Vish shoved a skirt into Lavender's hands. "Get dressed. We're going."
But they didn't leave. Lavender carried her clothes into the bathroom. Miss Magnolia insisted the girls not come down until they were fit for company, no matter how pretty their nightgowns were.
Lavender took her time getting dressed and brushing her hair. The bathroom was the only privacy she got, but since she shared it with four other girls, she didn't get much time in it alone.
Diego had left a hickey on her left breast, right over her heart. He'd marked her as his own. He'd come back for her tonight and she might just let him go farther. As long as he kept his hands above her waist. She didn't want him running off until the end of the week. She could pretend for a while that he was hers.
The girls knocked on the door and texted her, but their impatience made her dress slower. The thing downstairs probably wasn't even about her. Vish shooed everyone downstairs. As soon as the stairs were silent, Lavender opened the door. She walked down as ladylike as possible.
The front room smelled of flowers. She refused to let herself hurry. Why rush just to be disappointed?
Everyone was already at the dining room table. The girls got up, but Miss Magnolia tapped the table and they sat again. A white basket full of blooms waited at Lavender's place. Hers? It couldn't be hers. Who knew her well enough to send her flowers? She'd only met Diego last night.
Lavender stood behind her chair. The bouquet was beautiful. That was lavender, wasn't it? She squeezed a blossom and breathed in. Wonderful.
"Lavender, dear," said Miss Magnolia, "read the card. Then we'll have breakfast."
The china clock chimed eleven. Miss Magnolia hardly ever got up before noon. Neither did the girls most days. Had whoever brought this woken everyone?
A small, clear plastic triton among the flowers held a tiny envelope with her name on the front. She opened it carefully. The other girls giggled and Miss Magnolia watched.
My Dear, My Darling, My Queen. Lavender for my Lavender. May every whiff bring thoughts of me, Your King
Lavender's face heated. Miss Magnolia held out her hand and Lavender passed her the card. Miss Magnolia lifted her brows. "He's a gentleman, then?"
Lavender nodded and took a deep breath. The world was flowers, and right now, flowers were him.
"But you were careful?"
"He was a gentleman," said Vish. "She didn't have to be careful."
Lavender shook her head before Miss Magnolia could lecture them about diseases and playing it safe. The morning was too beautiful to hear about all those people who died for lack of a condom or a clean needle. Lavender only wanted to think of good things. "He was a gentleman, so I had no opportunity to be anything but careful."
Miss Magnolia gave her that stare that said she had a lot to say, but was keeping quiet for now. If Lavender managed to go out every evening this week, she might not be home when Miss Magnolia let loose.
"So he didn't find out," said Ariel. "Did you have to keep moving his hands?"
"Like I said, he's a gentleman."
"You didn't tell him?" Alana said she'd tell a guy right away, but she'd never had a real boyfriend. Lavender just needed this week. After that, she didn't care.