“Is everything all set?”
Nat nods. “All of it. Are you just going to wait here until he’s out of the shower then?”
I shrug. “Yeah. Just go out and mingle or whatever.”
“Scream if you need back up, shark.”
I growl quietly as she walks out and slides the back door closed. I take to cleaning up the island a bit while Christian showers. Two minutes later, the bathroom door opens and he walks across to the guest room with just a towel around his waist. I gave him a kiss for his birthday but he nearly gave me a full frontal. I swallow and look away from the lines of his abdomen and toss away the disinfectant wipe.
“Alright,” Christian sighs, shaking out his damp hair as he exits the bedroom. “I’m dressed.”
I smile and come around the island. “You’ll need shoes.”
“You’re going to start allowing shoes inside the house?”
I scoff. “Never. But I’ve made the exception for today and will viciously clean the floors later. Now, shoes.”
Shaking his head, utterly confused, he grabs a pair of sneakers from his room and ties them, sitting on the couch. “I’m fully dressed now.”
“Perfect.” I chew on my lip for a moment. Blind folding him would have been stupid. Making everyone shout surprise would also be stupid. That is why none of those things are happening. Instead, I just slip my hand into his, locking our fingers, and tug at his arm. “Come with me.”
“Wait.” He tugs me backward and my body smacks against his chest. His large hand comes to hold my steady at my hip and the other, still holding my hand, puts it over his heart.
My breath hitches.
Christian does not speak, he doesn’t move. His eyes are soft, adoring, simply watching me—just because he can. Because he wants to. The corners of his lips twitch and I press my palm harder into his sternum, feeling his heart working harder push out blood.
“What?” I breathe.
“Can I get another one?” Christian asks. “You know, as a birthday gift.”
The corners of my lips pull up slightly. “Now? You sure you don’t want to save it for later?”
He smiles. “I’ll save it.”
Damn it. I don’t want to be mad at him anymore and I’m doing a shit job at it anyway. What’s the fucking point now? I mean,damn it. The garden, the date. I’m so happy. Happier than I have been in years and I’m not mad anymore.
Whether or not I should be, I don’t care anymore. I want him, I want this. I trust him. He has a sponsor, someone he can talk to who understands better than I do. He’s smiling and it’s an extraordinary smile of pure happiness that he didn’t even have before he left.
Christian was becoming a shell of a man in front of me, even as I tried to get him help. He only smiled like this before the drinking. And he’s smiling like this, right at me, right now.
“Is that okay?” Christian asks.
“Yeah,” I rasp, matching his wide grin. “Yeah, that’s okay.”
“Lana, I love you,” he says.
“Christian—”
“No, I love you, and every time I look at you I need to tell you because it feels like…”
“An overload?”
He huffs a laugh. “Something like that.”
I smile. It’s just like that.
“I love you, baby,” he breathes and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Now show me this surprise.”
