He frowned. “Gabriella, you don’t need to do that.”
“But I want to. Besides, you were the one saying we needed to look like a real couple. And real couples go out for dinner.”
I could see a hurt expression cross his face. “You don’t need to thank me for anything that I’ve done. And I don’t want to make you do something you’re clearly not comfortable doing. You said you wanted space.”
That was true, but I also had his mouth in between my legs last night, so clearly I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I groaned. “Just agree to have dinner with me, Westley. We could argue about it, or you could save both of us a lot of time and just say yes.”
I batted my eyes, trying to give him a sweet smile. He eventually sighed. “Fine, but I’m paying.”
I scoffed. “That entirely defeats the purpose of my thanking you.”
“Good, because I already told you that there was no reason.”
“Fine,” I said, crossing my arms. “You can pay. This time.”
Chapter 12 - Westley
I took a deep breath as I waited for Gabriella to come out of the bedroom. I had decided to wear something nice. I put on slacks and a pressed white shirt, then a nice navy blue jacket. I combed my hair back and cleaned my face up.
I rubbed my hands together, nervous. We were in weird territory right now, and I didn’t know how this was going to go. I hoped things were well, but after how the other night went and the stuff afterward, we didn’t seem to know how to talk to each other.
I heard her door open, and she stepped out. She was wearing a short black dress with tights underneath. She threw on a green jacket and had on black heels. She looked stunning in a green hat with a puffy ball on the end.
I felt my mouth drop open slightly, and she blushed. “I didn’t know what the plan was for tonight.”
She had dressed right for being outside. “They have a Christmas light showing downtown that I thought we could go see and dinner at that French place.”
“That sounds nice.”
I looked her up and down once more. “You look nice.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “You look dapper.”
We left and parked a block away from the restaurant. The entire area was lit up, and parents had kids running around. There was a hot chocolate stand at the corner with a line. I watched Gabriella’s eyes sparkle as she looked at everything. “This is beautiful.”
“I’ve been told they do this every year.” I looked around. “It’s nice. Townsie.”
She chuckled as she got out of the car. I followed her and swallowed nervously. “So, where should we start first? I guess everyone is having an open late shopping night. Everyone has discounts.”
“We could just start at the first one and go down.” She pointed to the first shop.
I nodded and followed her. We headed to the first store, which was a cute gift shop. I watched as she walked around looking at things. I felt like it was awkward as she showed me cute things, and I nodded, not sure what to say.
My wolf growled as my eyes dropped down to her ass.
Do you not want to know what she feels like? You could have had her the other night if you’d just let yourself, like you wanted.
“This is cute,” she said as she grabbed a small glass tree. “We should look for stuff to decorate the house.”
I shoved my hands into my jacket, feeling them shaking now. Fuck this was hard. I shook the thought down, trying to focus.
“I have decorations. They are just put away.”
“Oh,” she paused. “I didn’t know that. Why don’t you have them out?”
“Westley! Gabriella!” We both turned at our names, spotting Nora and Kaleb coming toward us. “I didn’t think I would see you guys out here.”
“We’re having date night,” I said, stepping closer to Gabriella. She leaned against me, resting her head against my shoulder like she’d done it a million times. “What are you guys doing?”
