Lauren pulled her face back. “You? Nothing at all. You’re rich and need no further material possessions.” Carly’s bottom lip emerged in a pout for the history books.

“Don’t level the Daniel pout on me. That’s playing dirty.” More pouting. “I’m not made of stone.”

“Then kiss me and give me a gift because I love gifts.” Carly looked so expectant in that moment that anyone would be an idiot not to fall for her immediately.

Lauren touched Carly’s chin and offered her a slow kiss that she hoped communicated Good show. I find you very sexy. Break a leg. I could kiss you for days. Surely, she’d succeeded on all four counts. “Now, about that gift.”

Carly grinned and clapped like a kid on her birthday. She went from beautiful to sweet to sophisticated to innocent and back again with such ease. The contradictions kept Lauren captivated. She went to her bag of survival kits and pulled out a separate gift that she’d wrapped up special for Carly.

“I believe this is what you’re looking for,” she said and presented the rectangular present.

Carly carried it to the couch, already enamored. “I was actually just kidding,” she said, sounding nervous. “You didn’t need to do anything special for me.”

Lauren shrugged and sat next to her. “I wanted to.”

The moment felt quiet, like the hubbub of the day had gone still for them for a few minutes. Carly unwrapped the gift and stared down at the inscribed frame that held a print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

“Lauren,” Carly whispered achingly, running her hand down the mahogany frame. That’s when she caught sight of the inscription. To the only other person I’d want to watch stars with. –L. Carly shook her head in wonder and then touched her heart. “This is an amazing gift. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say it goes with the décor in your home and that you’re not secretly scheming to ditch it in the deepest recesses of your garage. Which, of course, is very much your right.”

Carly was still admiring the painting. “It’s going someplace special where I can see it each and every day.”

“Really?” Lauren felt her heart reaching. She needed to be careful. Maybe because it felt like she’d climbed to a very precarious height? Things between her and Carly had started rocky but had steadily built to something she never in a million years would have predicted. Yet here she sat. Caring. Wanting. Reaching.

“Really.” Carly kissed her softly. “I will treasure it.”

“You smell amazing,” Lauren said. “How do you do that so consistently?”

Carly laughed quietly as she stood. “Magical shampoo. All part of my plan to woo you. You better get ready for Froot Loops in the morning. I make a mean bowl.”

“Post-it notes, magical shampoo, and Froot Loops. Who knew I was that easy?”