Facial Recognition

by Jennifer Peel

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing us face-to-face. Tears trickled down my cheeks.

  Brooks whispered against my lips, “Please forgive me for being so blind and scared.”

  I brushed his lips. “I forgive you.”

  “I love you, Grace.”

  My heart sang, and my soul felt whole. “I love you.”

  “That’s good news.” He let down my hair from its messy bun, and it cascaded all around us. “I think we should dispense with the facial and break the rules.”

  “How very unlike you, counselor. What about the review?”

  “I have no doubt we will have a five-star experience.”

  A shiver of delight went through me. “I do aim to please my clients.”

  “Grace, I plan to please you for the rest of your life.”

  Holy crow. “I accept.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “I think I need to get you a T-shirt that says, Brooks’s Girl,” Brooks spoke directly into my ear so I could hear above the crowd of people surrounding us all trying to get Rick Springfield merchandise. Brooks was in desperate need of a concert T-shirt. At least, I thought so. While he looked fantastic in his charcoal button-up and dress pants, it didn’t really fit with the concert vibe.

  I looked down at my Jessie’s Girl shirt and grinned. “I would be up for a Brooks’s Girl tee. Just make sure it has your body on it, and you’re shirtless,” I teased. “I’ll be sure to wear it to the first company party you take me to.”

  Brooks’s brows shot up before he figured out I was joking and his beautiful face relaxed into a smile. “Life will never be boring with you, will it?”

  I stretched up onto my tiptoes and kissed his smooth cheek, taking in a whiff of his spicy aftershave. “I hope I never bore you.”

  He brushed my lips with his own. “That isn’t possible.”

  “Good. And to prove the point, you’re changing your clothes. So which shirt do you want? The retro raglan or the snake one?”

  Brooks half grimaced. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Uh, yeah, you look like you’re headed to the country club for drinks. Though I give you huge props for how fantastic your butt looks in those pants.”

  Brooks shook his head like he had no idea what to do with me, but his smile said he was happy to take a lifetime to figure it out. “You choose.”

  “Ooh.” I tapped my fingers together evilly. “I’m thinking snake shirt with a leather vest. If only they sold jeans here.”

  Brooks pulled me to him and kissed my head. “I do love you.”

  I reveled in his words and his touch. I almost pinched myself to remind me this was all real. Before I could, we were next in line, and I was not only getting Brooks the snake tee but a few more to add to my collection. I grabbed my credit card to pay the astronomical yet well-worth-it price, but Brooks beat me to the punch and wouldn’t hear otherwise. It was weird to have someone take care of me in such a manner. I certainly didn’t expect it of him, but it was sweet. Brooks was sweet. He always had been—I think he’d just forgotten it somewhere along the way.

  “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

  He grabbed the receipt. “I wanted to.”

  I took the bag in one hand and his hand in my other. “Let’s get you changed.”

  He looked around at the noisy venue filled with wall-to-wall people. The only bathrooms had lines out the door, for the men and women. Not to mention they probably weren’t the most sanitary of places.

  “How do you feel about public indecency, counselor?”

  He swallowed hard.

  His trepidation was adorable. “Come here.” I pulled him toward one of the less populated arena entrances near the nosebleed seats. We darted into the semidark arena and found only a few people waiting for the opening acts to start while staring at their phones. I began unbuttoning Brooks’s shirt.

  He cleared his throat.

  I stepped closer and enjoyed undoing each button. “Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’ll be gentle.”

  He leaned down and for my ears only said, “What’s the fun in that?”

  My brow quirked. “Ooh. I like this side of you.” I undid all the buttons, and, be still my heart, his torso was a work of art. All rippled and hard, yet smooth. My mind wandered back to some of the moments we had shared earlier today in treatment room one. Holy crow. It was definitely a five-star service. Bringing myself back to the present, I took advantage of the situation and let my hands glide down all his glory. A trail of goose bumps followed my touch. He had no idea how happy I was to be able to elicit such a response from him.

  Unfortunately, we had an audience. Apparently, me feeling up my boyfriend was more interesting than whatever was on their phone screens.

  Brooks quickly removed his button-up, and I handed him his new T-shirt. I was sad to see his chest go, but ooh la la, did he look good in the tight tee with the snake on it. So good I wanted to rip it off, but I got ahold of my hormones, barely.

  Brooks tucked in his shirt before holding out his arms. “How do I look?”

  “Perfect.”

  That earned me a peck on the lips.

  “Thank you, Brooks.”

  “For what?”

  “Giving me this night. Giving me you. The person I fell in love with.”

  He rested his warm hand on my cheek. “I know I have a ways to go. Thank you for seeing me for who I can become.”

  “I see you for who you are. Now, let’s go live out my fantasy.”

  “This is your fantasy?”

  “One of many that you’re in.” I flashed him a seductive smile.

  He put his arms around me and pulled me close. “I think I’m going to need a list. I don’t want to miss anything.”

  “Oh, you won’t.”

  He groaned. “You’re going to be my undoing.”

  “You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Not at all.”

  With every word and touch, I knew what I had always known—we belonged together. It became more apparent when Brooks showed us to our seats. Not only were they in the front row, they were front row center. As in Rick and I would be making eye contact and he might fling some of his sweat on me.

  “How did you score these tickets?”

  He brought me closer and nuzzled my neck. “I can’t give away all my secrets. I like that I can surprise you.”

  “Baby, you can surprise me like this anytime.”

  “Challenge accepted.”

  Holy crow. I was in love.

  The lights onstage began to flash, and several band members from the opening act I wasn’t familiar with jogged out. Soon the arena was thumping and bumping. I hardly paid attention to the unknown band. I was too busy getting lost in Brooks’s eyes and enjoying everything about him, from the way he held my hand as if he were planning on it forever, to the way he tasted like the limes he loved to squeeze into his water.

  Admittedly, though, when Rick came onstage with his red guitar, I set my sights on him. I was on my feet and cheering the loudest. I swore Rick and I locked eyes for half a second and he winked at me. But, honestly, it had nothing on the way I felt when Brooks wrapped his arms around me from behind and held me all night while I sang along to every song Rick belted out. I had to give the man props; he was seventy years old and still a rock god in looks and talent.

  The best part of the night, though, was when Rick Springfield said, “This one goes out to Grace. You know who you are.” My heart pounded wildly, wondering if it was me he was talking about. The synthesizer went wild, and Rick started singing “Affair of the Heart.” I knew then that it was.

  I turned around, in shock. “How?” I shouted, so Brooks could hear above our song.

  Brooks wore a smug smile, so pleased with himself. He wouldn’t say how he’d pulled it off. He just wrapped his arms around me and sang in my ear every word of my favorite song. He left no doubt we were having an affair of the heart.

  Epilogue


  Valentine’s Day

  “So are blindfolds going to be a new thing for us?” I reached up and touched the one Brooks had placed on me when he’d picked me up for what I thought was our Valentine’s Day date.

  Brooks chuckled while leading me out in the cold to who knows where. His arm was firmly placed around me so I wouldn’t fall and kill myself. Which would have been a tragedy, considering I had just had the best seven months of my life. I guessed at least I would die happy.

  “You didn’t answer me. Now I’m worried this is the beginning of some slasher movie. Me in an evening gown, traipsing through what feels like grass, while my lover leads me on to my death. On Valentine’s Day, no less.”

  “Was that a plotline in General Hospital?”

  I had to think about it. “Possibly. You still didn’t answer my question.”

  “I thought you trusted me.”

  “I do, which is why I’m worried. It isn’t like you to dress me all up and blindfold me.”

  “Perhaps I’m more fun than you think.”

  “Oh, honey, no one would ever accuse you of being fun,” I teased him.

  He stopped and nuzzled my ear before whispering, “You seem to always have fun when we’re together.”

  The chill of the night had nothing on the goose bumps he could produce. “I do,” I stuttered.

  “Plan on more tonight.” Maybe he wasn’t fun, but holy crow was he sexy.

  We carried on. Wherever on was.

  “Have you heard from your parents? Are they having a good time on their honeymoon cruise?”

  “I imagine so. But we have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy.”

  I laughed. “I suppose that’s for the best.” I thought about how cute his parents had been as they got married last weekend in their living room. Tom’s health had significantly improved. He looked like a new man with all the weight he had lost. June had been all bronzed in her spray tan glory. And she’d glowed from happiness. Brooks had given away his momma at the wedding and been his daddy’s best man. His toast to them had brought me to tears. My favorite line was, “Thank you for teaching me about the power of forgiveness.”

  I had to admit, I was a little jealous they had beat me to the altar. But I supposed that’s what I got for being in love with a divorce lawyer who was skittish about taking the plunge. He’d assured me he would get on the same page as me about it. He’d better start skimming the pages. Though, thankfully, my ovaries were still functioning.

  My ears perked up. If I wasn’t mistaken, and I knew I wasn’t because I would know that voice anywhere, I heard “Affair of the Heart” playing in the evening breeze.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re almost there.”

  The music got louder the more we walked. It was nothing like seeing Rick in concert—especially up close from the first row, with my man holding me while Rick serenaded us—but this wasn’t bad at all. In fact, this was perfect, even though I had no idea what we were doing. Anytime I was with Brooks, I was in my happy place.

  Before I knew it, we stopped. Our song was playing on repeat, and I smelled something divine. Rosemary and grilled steak. I was more and more curious about where we were.

  “I’m going to let you go so I can pull out your chair.”

  “Okay.” I stood still, waiting for him to come back before he helped me to my seat.

  The seat had a soft cushion, but the back felt more like metal.

  Brooks kissed my cheek once I was seated. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Grace.” He whipped off my blindfold.

  Before me was a cute white candlelit table. I looked around to see that we were seated in the city park, under a tree that had been strung with lights. Our plates were filled with steak, rosemary potatoes, and asparagus. There were flutes filled with champagne that sparkled in the flickering light. The candles were doing their best not to go out in the light breeze.

  “When did you do all this?”

  “Colette and Lorelai helped,” he admitted.

  “It’s perfect.” I tugged on his tie and laid a lipstick-ruining, heart-pounding, slip-of-the-tongue kind of kiss on him.

  “Mmm,” he groaned. “I love when we have dessert first.”

  “Me too. I say we just skip straight to it.”

  Brooks kissed my forehead and lingered there. “We’ll get to dessert, but first, I have something to show you.” His voice wavered as if he were nervous. So unlike him.

  I leaned away from him. “You’re not thinking of any public shows of indecency, are you, counselor?”

  “Not exactly,” he swallowed.

  “Should I be worried?”

  “Just look over there.” He pointed out into the dark across the pond. Suddenly, a flash of light lit up the night and illuminated Pecan Orchard’s water tower.

  “It’s the water tower.” I was so confused.

  Brooks knelt next to me and tilted my chin up. The most beautiful words ever came into my view, surrounded by a giant red heart. Brooks loves Grace.

  I gasped and threw my arms around him, almost knocking him to the ground. “You broke the law for me?” It was the best gift ever.

  He cleared his throat. “Well, I got a permit from the city, and I hired a contractor to do the painting.”

  I giggled. “That’s my man.”

  “Grace,” he spoke low. “I want to be your man forever.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little blue box. Like Tiffany blue. My favorite blue.

  Before he even opened it, the tears poured down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe this was happening. After almost twenty-five years, the voice proved to be right.

  He carefully opened the lid with shaky hands to reveal a stunning round brilliant diamond with a platinum band. “Grace, will you marry me?”

  “Are you sure? I know how you feel about marriage.”

  “Grace, if there is one thing in my life I’m sure of, it’s that you and I are meant to be together. Will you be my wife and the mother of my children?”

  I gazed into the face I loved and recognized more than any other in the world. The answer was easy. “Yes. A million times yes.”

  Look for more books in the Serenity Spa Series coming in the near(ish) future.

  Couples Massage (Colette and Julian’s Story)

  Healing Energy (Lorelai and Dane’s Story)

  If you enjoyed Facial Recognition, here are some other books by Jennifer Peel that you may enjoy:

  Return to Sender

  My Not So Wicked Stepbrother

  My Not So Wicked Ex-Fiancé

  The Sidelined Wife

  How to Get Over Your Ex in Ninety Days

  Narcissistic Tendencies

  Honeymoon for One - A Christmas at the Falls Romance

  Trouble in Loveland

  Paige’s Turn

  Best of My Love

  For a complete list of all her books, click here.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Peel didn’t grow up wanting to be an author—she was aiming for something more realistic, like being the first female president. When that didn’t work out, she started writing just before her fortieth birthday. Now, after publishing several award-winning and best-selling novels, she’s addicted to typing and chocolate. When she’s not glued to her laptop and a bag of Dove dark chocolates, she loves spending time with her family, making daily Target runs, reading, and pretending she can do Zumba.

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  To learn more about Jennifer and her books, visit her website at www.jenniferpeel.com