Daddy's Little Girl

Chapter 15

"Where is out?"

"The botanical garden."

"Any particular reason?"

"Sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses, Dani."

I smile.

"Yeah, I guess you are right."

~~~~~

We are walking down the winding paths through the lovely gardens when Nico asks

"Do you have any headphones in your bag?"

"I think so."

I say digging around the inside of my purse before I find and pull out the earbuds.

"Why?"

"Let's go through our music. You play a song then I'll play a song. You can learn a lot about a person by the music they listen to."

He says plugging the headphones into my phone and holding it out for me to take.

"Why not."

I shrug accepting the phone and opening my list music. I scroll down trying to find a good song.

"Okay, here's a good one."

I say tapping the song.

"Frank Sinatra, 'I've got the World on a String.' Classic."

He smiled recognizing the singer and song. We continued down the path which led us around a clear pond where water lilies floated. The song ends and I pull out the plug and hand it to Nico.

"Your turn."

He takes it and almost immediately finds a song on his phone.

"'Here I Go Again' by Whitenake."

I smile in approval.

"You like classic rock?"

"Of course! Journey, ACDC, Kiss, you name it. When I was around 12 I even wanted to play in a band. I was always saying I would either become a bass player or drummer. But damn, did Whitesnake come out with some great songs! There was this one album.."

I say going into an excited rant. It took me a moment before I even realize that I was blabbering on and Nico was just looking at me. But it wasn't just any look. Nico looked at me in the way that every woman wants to be looked at. There was pure adoration in his deep blue eyes. I quickly felt embarrassed so I looked away. The song was coming to an end and my cheeks were still flushed red. The next song that automatically played on Nico's playlist was 'Come and Get Your Love' by Redbone. The funky 70s song was very unbefitting to the mood, but I was nevertheless grateful that it brought Nico's attention back to his phone. He was about to skip it when I say

"Leave it. This is one of my favorites."

He smiled and let the song play. As the chorus played, we both couldn't help but to mouth the words. Once we caught ourselves both doing it we let loose and sung a little louder.

"Cause your mine
and you're fine
and you look so divine"

We sang to each other doing a little dance and some hand motions following the lyrics. I had a smile that I simply couldn't wipe off. I was so happy, the happiest I have been in a long time. I'm just so confused as to why I am only just now realizing all of this. Nico naturally takes my hand in his as the song ends.

"Oh! Check it out, food trucks! You hungry?"

Nicholas says pointing to the picnic area where the food trucks were parked.