“You’re gonna buy me a new phone, you ass—” Cheyenne began indignantly before Hardy cut her off.
“So help me God,” Hardy hissed between gritted teeth, releasing Miracle’s hand to wrap his fingers tightly around Cheyenne’s upper arms. “If you so much as breathe in her direction ever again, you will regret the day you met me, Cheyenne. And please, please test me. I’m begging you.”
Hardy fumed as he stared down into Cheyenne’s face. When she looked adequately terrified, Hardy unhanded her and turned back to Miracle. Only she was no longer standing behind him. She had walked across the hall to pick up Cheyenne’s phone.
“Miracle, don’t!” Hardy managed, but he was too late.
Hardy held his breath when she looked at the phone’s screen. He prayed it was blank, that he’d broken it and the picture was gone. But when he saw the color drain from Miracle’s face, he knew it wasn’t. Rage against Cheyenne and agony for Miracle’s pain warred within him.
The hall was absolutely silent as everyone awaited Miracle’s reaction. No one said a word, breathed a breath or moved a muscle.
Finally, Miracle cleared her throat and walked back to Hardy’s side. Carefully, she handed the phone back to Cheyenne. “You know what. Cheyenne? I have neither the time nor the inclination to hate you. But I do have a favor to ask. The next time you Photoshop pictures of me in a bikini, give me bigger boobs.”
There was a short pause before snickering broke out all around them. Miracle turned to Hardy and said, “Come on. I don’t need my books today. I’ll just take good notes.” With that, she took his hand and led him back the way they’d come, head held even higher than when they’d arrived.
Hardy was certain he’d never loved her more.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Come on. I have a surprise for you,” Hardy said as he sat in his car trying to get Miracle to put on a blindfold.
“You’re not going to get us arrested are you? Because I look terrible in orange and I’m allergic to metal bars.”
“How do you know you’re allergic to metal bars?”
“Women’s intuition,” she answered, her expression all too serious.
Hardy grinned. “Just put it on. I promise, you’re gonna like this surprise.”
Miracle raised one brow suggestively. “Reeeeally?”
Hardy smiled smugly, watching Miracle’s eyes sparkle in anticipation and her smile widen in excitement. “Really really.”
They sat staring into each other’s eyes for a moment longer, sexual tension crackling in the air around them, before Miracle reached forward and grabbed Hardy’s wrists, pulling them toward her face. “In that case…” she said, urging him to blindfold her.
Hardy tied the thick piece of black material around her head and then started the engine. Less than ten minutes later, he was guiding Miracle across the grass at school.
“I hope you’re not leading me to a pagan sacrifice where I’m the…you know, sacrifice,” Miracle teased, reaching up to adjust the blindfold.
“No peeking!” Hardy warned, urging her slowly yet steadily forward.
“I wasn’t peeking. I was just adjusting.” After several steps, he heard her sniff. “Something stinks. And I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean it literally. Did you poot?”
Hardy laughed. She smelled the manure from the horticulture building. “No, I didn’t poot.”
“Did you shower?” she teased.
“Yes, I showered.”
“Is it me? Is that the big secret? That I smell like crap and no one has ever bothered to tell me?”
Hardy sighed loudly, dramatically. “No, the big secret is that you talk too much. Now you’ve ruined the intervention we’ve been staging. Happy?”
“Do I really talk—”
“No, Miracle. I was just joking. Now hush. We’re almost there. Be patient.”
Hardy brought her to a stop right outside the conservatory door. He pulled it open and the hinges creaked loudly, making Hardy grimace. He saw Miracle’s brow wrinkle and wondered if she knew where they were, if the sound had given it away. Not that it mattered; he’d be taking her blindfold off any minute now anyway.
“Mmm, it smells much better in here,” she observed. Hardy smiled. He’d made sure all the candles were lit before going to pick up Miracle. They’d heated the greenhouse and accentuated the aroma of the orchids, filling the entire room with their sweet scent.
Hardy led her down the narrow aisle between all the “normal” plants, as she called them, to the bend that would lead them to the orchids. He stopped and turned her around so that she was facing away from them.
Taking a deep breath, Hardy began, “I brought you here to celebrate.”
“Celebrate what?”
“Your mom agreed to let me tell you.”
Hardy paused, knowing it would drive her crazy. He was also smiling so broadly, he knew she would be able to hear it in his voice, so he waited.
“What?”
He waited still.
“What?”
And he waited still more.
“What? You’re killing me.”
“She heard back from the doctor.”
“And?” she prompted, practically vibrating with anticipation.
“They found a donor match, Miracle.”
Hardy hadn’t known what kind of reaction to expect, but he liked the one he got. Miracle squealed and threw herself into his arms. She half laughed and half cried as he swung her around and around. When he set her back on her feet, she squeezed him tightly and then leaned back, still smiling widely. “Can I take this off now?” she asked, raising a hand to the blindfold.
“In a second,” Hardy said. “Stick out your hands and cup them for me.”
Without question, Miracle stepped back and did as he directed. Hardy bent and grabbed the small pot from a shelf to his left and placed it in Miracle’s hands. Carefully, he removed her blindfold. As he watched her face, he tried to see his gift through her eyes, praying she would like it.
The violet and lilac-hued blossom of the orchid hung heavily from its delicate stem. Its oval leaves were tucked back, baring the colorful interior for only a few evening hours before closing up again to hide their beauty from prying eyes. A heavenly scent drifted from the petals, teasing Hardy’s nose.
He knew Miracle loved the flower. Her expression was perfectly discernible, even in the soft candle light. His eyes flickered from Miracle to the orchid and back again. Although the bloom was breathtaking, to Hardy, it paled in comparison to the magnificence of Miracle.