“I’m curious, okay?” she says, exasperation evident. I chuckle and squeeze her thigh in response.
“Don’t worry about it. I just want to say thank you for taking care of me after my fall.”
Her eyes dart over to meet mine as we pull to a stop at a traffic light. “Finn, you wouldn’t have been injured if it wasn’t for me. Taking care of you is the least I could do.”
My hand cups her chin, even as I keep one eye out for when the light turns green. “Ash, stop feeling guilty. This isn’t your fault.”
She turns her gaze back to the road, but I see a small smile dance across her lips.
“Besides, if you hadn’t been such a sexy nurse, who knows if we would have ever gotten over ourselves enough to discover how fucking hot we are together in bed.” I punctuate my words with a slide of my hand up her thigh to lightly run up the crease of her hip, running close enough to tease her but not distract her.
“Finn…” She bites her lip and darts her gaze over to me.
“Mmm. We might need to check out the hotel room before we go out tonight,” I mutter under my breath, bringing my hands back to my lap. I’m not sure I can control myself right now. Ashley’s sweet giggle is sweet music to my ears.
When we pull up to the hotel, we climb out of the car. Well, I hate to admit it, but Ashley has to get out by herself, walk around, and get my crutches out of the back to hand them to me. Thankfully, a valet comes over quickly to unload our bags and carry them inside. I’m not sure how my pride would handle Ash having to carry them all inside for us.
When we reach our room, I’m nervous about what she’ll think. She comes from money and is probably used to much fancier places than this. But the excitement is shining from her when she walks over and wraps her arms around my waist.
“Careful, you’re hugging me,” I tease and she slaps my ass.
“Oh hush, you’re huggable.”
“High praise. I’ll take it.” I kiss the top of her head. “We’ve got an hour or so before we have to go out, what do you want to do? There’s a hot tub downstairs, or we could watch a movie, or…”
Her head tilts up and her eyes are hooded with desire. “I choose or…”
“Good choice,” I growl. Then, letting my crutches fall away, I push her down on the bed and show her exactly how I want to pass the time.
Part one of the evening I have planned involves dinner at a tiny bistro tucked away on a side street in the heart of downtown. It’s the kind of place you could drive past and never realize was there unless you knew about it. Their specialty is seafood, fresh from the boats that bring it into the harbour. I had a moment of panic when I realized I had no clue if Ashley even liked seafood, but the way her eyes lit up and her exclamations of interest as we read the menu reassured me quickly.
Over a shared starter of a steamer pot filled with seafood, and a bottle of Sauvignon blanc, we swapped childhood stories.
“Hold on, hold on. You’re telling me you spent an entire month in Spain as part of your Spanish class in high school?”
She has the decency to blush, and nibble on her lower lip. I reach over and smooth my thumb over her mouth, freeing it.
“I know I was privileged. But private school wasn’t all good, trust me,” she says drily.
“The princess nickname?” I ask quietly and she nods quickly. “I’m sorry I ever hurt you by saying that.”
“No, Finn, you didn’t know. It’s fine.” She smiles, and takes a sip of her wine. “Besides.” She lifts her shoulders up delicately. “I kind of was spoiled. In the best possible way. My dad is everything to me. I don’t remember my mother, she passed away when I was very young. So my father has been the only parent I’ve ever known. We’re incredibly close. He’s the reason I went to university here, and started my company in Vancouver. I didn’t want to move away from him.”
A dull thud echoes inside my mind at that statement. It doesn’t bode well for us and any future we might have together. Resolutely, I push that away and focus on the here and now. I’ve got more planned for our weekend, and I hope she loves it.
“Finn, this is incredible,” Ashley’s voice is full of wonder as she clutches my hand under the fleece blanket draped over our legs. We’re in a horse-drawn carriage, taking us along the streets of Victoria. There’s enough snow on the ground combined with the twinkling lights in the trees and lining the legislature building that it feels like a winter wonderland. Something out of a movie, even. I have to admit, it’s insanely romantic, far more than any other date I’ve been on. And the best part is, I’m off my feet, so it’s as if my knee isn’t even a problem. We’re cuddled up under a blanket, with some soft instrumental Christmas music playing and a thermos of hot chocolate. The driver is taking us on some long, windy route, and the views are spectacular.
“I’ve never been on a carriage ride,” I admit, smiling down at her. “But this is amazing.”
She sighs and rests her head on my shoulder. “It really is. Good job on the date planning.”
I tilt my chin so I can kiss her. I’ve found she always squeezes me just a little bit tighter if I kiss the top of her head. So I try to do it a lot.
We roll along in the dark, waving back at pedestrians who wave at us, smiling at the kids who are excited to see the horse. When one little girl calls out, “Look, Mommy, a prince and a princess!” Ashley buries her head in my shoulder to stifle her laughter while I smile gamely at the child.
“Well, that was ironic,” I snicker under my breath and Ashley lightly slaps my arm as she holds back her own laugh.
An hour later, we’re back in her car, driving to the hotel. When we get inside, and we’re in the elevator, I lean against the back wall and take a deep, satisfying breath. Tonight has gone perfectly.
