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He’s staring at me Spellbound

"What is it?" I’?"

"I’ve never seen the sun shine directly through your hair before"

"Oh" I glance down at the glowing curtain "It never looks the same, does it? Inside, it’s auburn Outside, it’s more of a red"

"No" Josh reaches out He softly touches one of the waves "Red isn’t the right word It’s not auburn or orange or copper or bronze It’s fire It’s like beingI can’t look away"

I’ve blushed far less around him lately, but – at this – my cheeks warm

"And that," he says, as I look down at my lap "That rosy blush And your rose-scented perfume God, it drives me mad"

I lift my eyes in surprise "You’ve noticed? I don’t wear ht aerines" I say it before I can take it back

"Satsuood nose"

"Yours is better At least, the shape of it is"

"My nose is huge" He laughs, and it makes his throat bob "Yours is like a bunny rabbit’s What the hell are you talking about?"

I laugh, too "It’s not huge But it is interesting"

"Interesting" He raises a teasing eyebrow

I sers thread through my hair, and he leans in towards my lips But then he pauses to sh me He kisses my neck softly and slowly, and my eyes close

I want hiuid, letting his fingers fall back out gently through ain "Roses," he says

My head and heart are in full swoon "Thank you And thanks for saying such nice things about my hair," I add "Not everyone is that nice"

"Who wouldn’t say nice things about it?"

"Ha-ha," I say

But he appears to be genuinely confused

"Really?" I take a deep breath "Well, okay When I was little? Every grandmother would stop me on the street to tell randchildren ‘She has hair just like yours,’ they’d always say ‘Except hers is e’ or ‘hers is more auburn’ It was so uncomfortable, especially for someone as shy as me Hattie’s the only one who ever talked back ‘Then it’s not just like hs

"And when a redhead hits puberty? You becorossood in bed because all redheads are sex fiends, or I must be a bitch because all redheads have fiery tempers Or they’ll tell me that they only date redheads, or that they never date redheads, because we’re all ugly"

Josh is stunned "They say those things to you? Strangers?"

"At least a dozen men have asked if ‘er insult – thank you, England – and sood, you knohat the French say about redheads, right? They think we smell"

"Like roses?"