I wanted to be around her all the time, not just for work reasons. I wanted to talk to her; I wanted to laugh with her.
More importantly, though, I wanted to keep kissing her, over and over, every night, every day, and every time in between. I have never wanted that with anyone before.
But I very much enjoyed that with Tessy.
So, when she asked if she could skip a meeting to go over some stuff a few days later and just go Christmas shopping, I was all for it.
She said she needed a few more presents, but she also wanted to spruce up her place with a few more lights.
I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
So, here we were, bouncing along in her car, to the mall.
I wasn’t even sure the last time I was in a mall. But I was with her, so I was okay with it. I even had my disguise, not that I thought I’d be hounded.
“Do you still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do?” she asked, pulling into a parking spot. I gave her a smile and she groaned. “Do not tell me you are one of those last-minute people, they drive me crazy!”
“Okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut on that subject.”
She rolled her eyes as she climbed out of the car and I laughed, because seeing her annoyed was downright cute!
“How is that even possible? Like, I remember going shopping for your mom once.”
“You did. And she loved the gift. But that’s because my mom’s birthday is at the start of December. She was really surprised when I had a gift for her before her birthday and told me I had to keep the PA who knew just what to get and when to get it.”
Once more, Tessy rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t help but kiss her. She was just so dang cute when she was annoyed. And this flaw of mine was really pushing her buttons.
“Joshua,” she hissed as we pulled away.
“What?”
“You can’t do that in public.”
“Oh, hell no, Tessy. I can’t screw you every which way in public, but I can most certainly kiss you. And I have no problem doing that.” I paused, tapping my finger against my cheek. “Actually, I guess I could screw you in public if you wanted. Hadn’t done anything like that before. It could be really hot.”
“Oh my gosh, will you stop?”
Her cheeks were on fire, but the merriment in her eyes was worth it all.
Not that I was lying, because if she wanted to, I think I’d be up for really anything.
“Nope, won’t do that.”
I took her hand, adjusted my hat, and led her into the mall, not sure what she needed or what we were looking for, but happy all the more to just be with her.
Three hours later, I was questioning my sanity and saying yes to this woman. Don’t get me wrong, watching her face light up over gifts to get her mom or her sisters was beautiful. But helping her pick over items that all seemed the same to me was a bit too much.
This was why I was happy stressing over shopping for just a few hours, not overtime, where I could second guess my choices.
“Do you really think your mom would like the necklace? I know you said she liked the earrings.”
“Tessy,” I warned, putting the bags in the trunk of the car. “My mom will be overjoyed. And chances are she’ll know exactly who picked them out. I thank you for taking me but stop stressing over my family. We’re easy people to please. And really all my mom ever wants is just us all home with her for the holidays. Anything else is just an added bonus.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
We both climbed in the car, but she didn’t start it. Instead, she sat there, chewing on her lip and I frowned. We had spentcountless hours together, but something was bothering her. And it was new because this look hadn’t been there the whole day.
“What is it, Tessy?”
