Still she just gave him a pout. "Can't we go on the date after?"
"No, I'm afraid we can't. Besides, I'm not letting you out of bed once we get in it."
"Promise?" she asked.
Lightly brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, he said, "Most definitely. I already told Leigh I won't be in early in the morning, either."
Grinning, Julie said, "Well, okay. When you put it that way…"
"Give me two minutes and we'll get out of here," he promised, disappearing down the hallway.
---
When Aaron brought Julie to the Navy Pier, she was a little confused.
In her limited time in Chicago, she had only been to Navy Pier once with Jack and some of his friends, but it didn't strike her as the type
of place Aaron would bring her on a date. For one thing, it was a big tourist area with plenty of shopping and food, but nothing about it seemed very romantic.
"So, may I ask what we're doing here? Are we going to eat?" Julie asked, holding Aaron's hand as they walked.
"Not right now—why, are you hungry?"
"Kind of, but that's not why I asked. I'm just curious as to what we're doing."
"We will be there in just a minute," he told her. "Then I will tell you."
Sighing, she followed him, wondering where he was taking her.
They were passing shops, so when Aaron slowed to a stop outside of the Build-A-Bear shop, she began looking at the nearby shops trying to figure out if they were going to eat or what was going on.
"We're here," he stated, when he saw she didn't immediately catch on.
Julie blinked at him, glanced behind him at the Build-A-Bear shop, and then she cracked a smile. "You brought me on a date to Build-A-Bear?"
"You say that like it's an uncool place for a date," he said jokingly.
"No, I just… it wasn't what I expected."
He smiled a little and said, "Okay, it's kind of corny, but… I wanted to bring you here so we could make the baby's first teddy bear."
Her insides felt all mushy at the admission and her grin grew. Without thinking about it, she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing up at him. "This is the best first date ever."
"This is the first half. The second half won’t be baby-oriented."
"And does the second half require clothes?" she asked innocently.
With a little laugh, he said, "Okay, the last third won't require clothing. I'm afraid the second third does though."
"Damn. Well, that's okay. Let's get to teddy bear making, Mr. Turner."
Once inside, they were greeted by the friendly Build-A-Bear employees. Julie thought the girl looked a little bit amused when Aaron informed her that they would be making the bear, not a child, but like a good customer service representative she merely smiled at them and showed them to the bears.
"She's really nice," Aaron remarked. "I wonder if she wants a different job."
"Hey, no shop talk."
"What? I could use another waitress. Or a hostess. Do you think she's cute?"