He stops at the top of the stairs and twists to face me. “I’m open.”
“Open to thinking about it or open to…”
“Having them with the right person,” he murmurs.
“Okay.” With a gentle squeeze of his bicep, my mouth lifts into a small smile.
It’s too early to know if we are therightpeople for each other. We still have so many more chapters to write in the unfolding story of us, but the flutter in my chest has hope.
“Though, if I don’t get a chance to be a mom, I’m okay with being the best damn aunt to Anker’s future children. Especially now that I know he’s got a kidney on reserve,” I tease.
“I should let you know that in that same poker game, Anker forfeited naming rights of his first child to me.”
“Oh god.” I laugh. “So, what did the dean get out of you?”
“For the dean, I just had to agree to sit on their medical school interview panel.”
“Hope this is worth several weeks of interviewing Type A overachievers.” I crinkle my nose, remembering how much Garrett complained about doing resident interviews each spring.
“This—likely not. Here’s our seats.” He places my hand on the seat. “You—always.”
“Smooth!” I place my other hand on my forehead and mock-swoon, causing him to laugh.
We’re at the top of the rows of seats encircling the small stage. It’s not a large theater—hence the reason for tickets selling out quickly—but the acoustics are fantastic. They tend to do instrumental concerts or Shakespearean shows done in the traditional style. The intimate setting makes it my favorite theater on campus. Each show somehow feels like a private spectacle just for you.
My only complaint about this theater is how cold it is. It’s making me rethink my sexy little black dress and pull tighter on my jacket.
“Cold?” he asks, running the back of his palm over my bare knees.
“A little…” I lean into him. “Just means you get to snuggle me close during the show.”
“That was always the plan, but also…” He shifts forward, slides his jacket off, and drapes it over my bare legs.
“Won’t you be cold?” I wave at my lap.
“I think I’ll survive the sixty-five-degree, climate-controlled room.”
I roll my eyes. “Ha.”
My mock laugh is demolished by the flutter in my chest accompanying the way he secures the jacket around me as if he’s tucking me in at night. Even if he teases me about what a wimp Iam anytime the temperature drops below seventy, it’s clear that my comfort is his priority.
“Thank you.” I snuggle into his side, his muscular arm folding around me and keeping me close.
Chamber music may not be Garrett’s thing, but you’d never know it. Contentment wafts from him. His muscles are relaxed as he holds me close. As the quartet flows into more romantic songs, his hand strokes up and down my side, and he periodically kisses the top of my head.
Definitely best date ever!Eyes closed, happiness sighs through me. The romantic melody twining around me nestles me into both the reality of being with Garrett and little fantasies of future dates. All the things I want to do with him. Dancing. Splashing in the waves at the beach. Kissing.So much more kissing.
The first notes of “Give me Everything” play, causing heat to zing up my spine with the memory of the steamy carriage scene from the show. Even with the show’s robotic audio description, my cheeks flushed with what happened when I watched that episode. I may have watched it a few times.
As the music waltzes around the room, my breath shallows imagining Garrett and I replacing Penelope and Colin in that carriage. Instead of a carriage bumping along the streets of Mayfair, it’s Garrett’s SUV parked in the campus lot. His capable hands skating up my bare thighs. His mouth sucking at the base of my throat. His fingers skimming along the lacy trim of my panties, before sliding beneath the satin fabric.
“Soon,” he murmurs in my ear, his husky voice slinks through me, igniting my nerve-endings into tiny bonfires.
“What?” My whisper is breathless.
“You think I don’t know what you’re thinking of with this rosy complexion?” He trails his finger over my cheek, pastmy chin, and down my neck. “You don’t think I watched that carriage scene after you mentioned it?”
Pressing his smirking mouth against my cheek in a chaste kiss, he slips his hand beneath the jacket and rests it on my knee. With a featherlight touch, he makes lazy circles against my bare skin. Heat simmers beneath each swipe of his fingers.
