I reached up, my hand coming to rest on his face. “I could never hate you.” I paused, knowing what I wanted to say but unsure about saying it on a first date, even if we had known each otherforever.
“Say it, please,” he whispered, his eyesclosed.
I smiled to myself, thinking he obviously knew me better than I knew myself. “Open your eyes Josh,” I said quietly, dropping my hand from his face. I waited until his eyes were open and fixed on me. “I could never hate you, because I love you. I’ve loved you since I was 15, and I will always love you, JoshMiller.”
“I love you too baby, more than you’ll ever know.” I’d waited so long to hear those words from him, I could barely breathe. I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I grinned up at him, and his fingers brushed my face, wiping it away. “I hope these are happy tears?” he asked with afrown.
“The happiest,” I told him, my hands reaching around his neck as I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him, losing myself in him. He broke the kiss, dotting smaller kisses around my jaw and down my neck. I moaned as he kissed the side of my neck, heat building in the pit of my stomach. He kissed back up around my jaw, finding my lips again. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Josh rested his forehead on mine. “Who’s that?” Iwhispered.
“It’s probably our bags,” Josh said, kissing me softly before heading for the door. I listened as he chatted with the bellboy before thanking him and closing the door. “Let’s go Sav,” he called from the otherroom.
“Why don’t we just stay here? We could try out that walk-in shower?” I suggested, poking my head around the doubledoors.
“Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time for that later. I want to take you out and treat you.” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward thedoor.
“You don’t need to treat me Josh, you’ve spent enough!” I exclaimed, gesturing around at the room we werein.
“I’ve got years of spoiling you to make up for—let me, please?” I smiled and nodded, following him out into the hallway. “How do you feel about bats?” he askedcryptically.
“Bats?” I exclaimed as we walked down the long hallway. “As in the small black flyingthings?”
He nodded, grinning at me. “Yep, you gotit.”
“I dunno,” I replied, wondering why the hell he was asking me about bats. “How do you want me to feel about bats? You don’t have some sort of weird bat fetish or something, do you?” I watched as he threw his head back andlaughed.
“No Sav, no weird bat fetish, just checking that you weren’t terrified of them,” he said mysteriously as we waited for the elevator to arrive. “You’ll see later on.” I looked over at him, wondering what he could possibly have planned that involved bats. It really was a first date I’d neverforget.
Walkinghand in hand with Josh was a relatively small thing, but it was something I never thought would happen, and I was loving every minute of it. We’d eaten a slice of pizza for lunch as we walked through downtown Austin, and although I went to school there, there were still huge parts of the city I’d neverexplored.
Josh took me to a maternity store and insisted on buying me a bunch of clothes. I tried to pay for them myself, but he handed over the cash before I could stophim.
“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear as the assistant folded and bagged theclothes.
He turned and kissed me softly on the lips. “You’re welcome, beautiful,” he murmured against my mouth. Just then, my stomach rumbled loudly and he chuckled. “Let’s get you some food,” he said, taking the bag from the assistant and guiding me out of theshop.
We stopped at the nearest bakery, and I ordered a huge piece of key lime pie. I was starving—it was after 4 in the afternoon, and I hadn’t eaten since the pizza earlier in the day. The restaurant was booked for 8pm, so I just needed something to keep me going until then. Finding a small booth in the back of the bakery, I sat down and Josh squeezed in next to me, his hand finding my bare leg. I was wearing a short skirt, one of the few things I could still fit into, and I shivered as his fingers drew lazy circles on myskin.
“Cold?” he asked with a wink, knowing exactly the reaction his touch had onme.
“You know exactly why I’m shivering,” I sassed, and he laughed and squeezed myleg.
“I love how your body lights up when I touch you,” he murmured, kissing me on the cheek. The waitress arrived at the table with our order, placing the pie in front ofme.
“Are you not eating?” I asked Josh as I picked up myfork.
He had ordered a coffee and as he added some sugar, he shook his head. “Well, I thought we could share since that piece of pie is big enough for two.” He nodded toward myplate.
Horrified, I pulled my pie toward me, breaking off a piece with the fork and eating it. “You can’t take food from a pregnant woman,” I told him around a mouthful of pie. I watched as he burst outlaughing.
“I’m joking sweetheart, I wouldn’t dream of taking yourpie.”
Feeling guilty, I looked down at the piece on my fork and held it out for him. Leaning across the table, he opened his mouth, and I fed him the pie. “Only because I love you,” I said, blowing him akiss.
“I love you too,” he replied, his face lighting up with a smile, and I couldn’t help but grin back at him. I would never tire of hearing those words, words I’d never thought he’d say tome.
After finishing our drinks and with my pie long gone, he stood up and pulled me into his arms. “Should we do that boat ride now?” he asked, gazing down at me, smiling. I nodded excitedly. “I just need to…” He trailed off as his head lowered and his lips found mine. I reached my arms around his neck, lacing my fingers through his hair as I pulled him closer toward me. He growled against my mouth and as his tongue swiped across my bottom lip, I opened up to him and his tongue crashed against mine. He kissed me like I was the air he needed to breathe, and I kissed him back with the same intensity. We stood wrapped in each other’s arms, the world around us disappearing as we got lost in each other. Suddenly remembering where we were, I broke the kiss and rested my forehead on his chest. I could feel his heart pounding, and I knew mine was pounding just ashard.
“Wow,” I whispered into him, my cheeks flushing with heat, knowing the whole bakery had seen ourkiss.