Once he was up, he sat beside her and spread a blanket over their laps. Even with the blanket she was still cold, delightfully chilly though, just the perfect amount. When Luke put an arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer, she didn’t even hesitate before relaxing into him and snuggling closer.
The clip-clop of the horses’ hooves filled the quiet night, and fairy lights had been strung around the sides of the carriage, giving it a warm glow. Summer was just about to say that all they needed to make the night more magical was for it to start snowing when snowflakes began to waft down upon them.
“This is so amazing, I love the snow. Every year when I was a kid, I would hang out for the first snowfall of winter, then I would beg my siblings to play outside with me. They’d always get cold and go back inside ages before I was ready to go in. Building snowmen was my favorite thing to do. Every year I would pick a theme and spend hours working to get the snowman just perfect.” She smiled as she recalled so many happy hours playing in the snow with her brothers and sisters and on her own.
“I saw the photos of you and your snowmen,” Luke told her.
Twisting around, she looked up at him. “You noticed those?” When she’d left her old life behind after Carlton’s death, she’d had a number of pictures framed and put them on the wall in her bedroom.
“Of course.”
Summer settled back against Luke, soaking up his warmth and enjoying the ride. They didn’t talk much throughout the thirty-minute journey, they didn’t need to, they could already settle into a comfortable silence.
When they entered the park, she could immediately see where they were heading. More fairy lights had been strung up around a small wooden gazebo, and a fire pit had been set up making the gazebo look as warm and cozy as if they'd been inside.
As they got closer, she gasped again.
“Oh, Luke,” she whispered. “I can't believe you did that. They are amazing.”
Beside the steps up to the gazebo were a snowman and snowwoman made like a king and a queen, and a snow castle. They were gorgeous, the detail was unbelievable, she had never seen anything like it before.
That Luke had noticed something as small as photos on her bedroom wall, then taken that and created the most amazing first date, touched her deep down inside, and warmed her in a way nothing else ever had.
Throwing her arms around Luke’s neck, she kissed him. Kissed him every bit as passionately as her kisses with her ex had been, but this time there was also something else there. Something stronger, something deeper, something meaningful. When she ended the kiss and looked into Luke’s eyes, she knew where this night was headed, and she couldn’t wait.
* * * * *
11:29 P.M.
The evening had been perfect.
Even better than he’d planned.
Luke didn’t want it to end. If it was possible, he would make this day go on forever.
Summer was snuggled up at his side, practically in his lap, and he loved the feel of her body against his. Every time she touched him, it sent electrical shocks up his body, and when she kissed him, he lost it altogether. The feel of her lips on his turned his brain to mush and made his heart beat so fast in his chest that he was surprised he didn’t have a heart attack.
The emotional connection he felt with her was growing stronger with each minute he spent with her. The whole night they had talked about themselves and their childhoods and their hopes and dreams for the future. He felt like he had never known another person as well as he knew Summer. Although he had been engaged three times before he had never felt this close to any of them, it seemed impossible that he had only known her one week.
When the driver pulled the horses to a stop outside his apartment building, he almost offered to pay them more to keep taking them around the city. The only thing that stopped him was that Summer was shivering in his arms. She was too cold to stay outdoors much longer.
He helped Summer down, thanked the driver, then led her into his building. Neither of them spoke, they didn’t have to, they were already comfortable enough with each other to just enjoy the companionship without having to fill the silence with pointless chatter and small talk.
Although as he unlocked his front door and let them in, he felt a little flutter of nervous butterflies in his stomach. He wasnevernervous with women, but Summer wasn't like any of the other women he had dated. His body screamed at him to take the next step with her, but he didn’t want to do anything that would scare her off. He knew she hadn’t dated in ten years and that the only man she had been with was her husband. When they slept together for the first time, he wanted it to be perfect. Every bit as magical as tonight had been. So he had zero intention of rushing her, well, his mind didn’t, but his body hadn’t quite gotten the message yet.
“Do you want coffee first before I take you home?” Luke asked, trying his best to keep his tone casual with no hint of the desire coursing through his body. He feared if he looked at her, he would have no choice but to rip her clothes off, throw her down on his sofa, and make wild, passionate love to her all night long. He groaned inwardly at himself. If Summer felt pressured, she was going to back away, and he wanted to give her all the time she needed. His stupid body just had to learn to cooperate.
“Before you take me home?” Summer echoed. She sounded disappointed, or perhaps it was just his imagination and wishful thinking.
“It’s late, and you’ve been on your leg all day. You must be tired.”
“Yeah, tired,” she muttered.
Was she mad?
How had he managed to make her mad? He was trying his best to be as non-threatening as it was possible to be. He understood that ten years was a long time and that it would take time for her to be ready to seriously commit to things, and he was fine with that. Summer was worth waiting for.
“So, was that a yes or no on the coffee?” he asked uncertainly.