Page 122 of Just Ten Seconds

And he does.

With a grind of his hips, he joins our bodies together.

With the stroke of his hands, he fuses our souls into one.

And with the kiss of his lips, he gives me his future.

Time stops when you’re in love.

There is no hourglass spilling the seconds.

The looks are long; heartbeats are quick.

A touch lingers for a lifetime.

And the feeling is something that rests in your heart forever.

“I can’t believe you would lie to me like that.”

I cross my arms and try to defend myself from his accusation. “I didn’t lie. It just wasn’t important at the moment.”

Dean leans back in his chair, making it tilt on the back legs. He tosses his arms up in annoyance. “Not telling me it was your birthday wasn’t important?”

Amanda looks up from her plate of pancakes. “Birthdays are the most exciting thing. Everyone should know it’s your birthday at least a month in advance.”

“I agree,” Jackie says with a smug smile as she hands me and Dean our omelets.

It’s been over three months since Dean and I rekindled our romance, and it’s been amazing. We spend nearly every day together, enjoying a typically quiet life.

I say, nearly every day because while Dean seems to want to spend every available moment with me, I know the two of them have been alone for too long to suddenly have their lives upended with a third wheel. So, I come over on days when Amanda asks for me to be with them, which is most days. If she doesn’t bring it up, I stay home.

I’ve learned that having a child in the house is like being a teenager again. We have to hide the gropes and inappropriate touches. And when we hear the squeak of the floorboard, we separate before we get caught. It’s annoying and yet oddly exhilarating.

I refuse to sleep over or do anything too frisky while Amanda’s home, but she spends most weekends at her grandparents’ house. Those nights, Dean doesn’t hold back. He tackles me in the bedroom and holds me hostage until I’m sore and sated. The rest of the time is spent dating.

Since we had a dramatic start to our romance, we thought it would be wise to date for a while. Movies and ice cream, and even an adventure walk in Bear Mountain. There are a few breweries in neighboring towns that have become a regular thing for us, and once the weather warms up again, he plans to show me the vineyards not too far away.

While we’ve spent so much time together, we are still learning a lot about each other. Like today, when we sat down at Harvest Café to have breakfast and Dean realized he didn’t know when my birthday was. When I told him it passed, a month ago to be exact, he got really upset.

“There was actually something bigger happening that day. We were”—I try to think of a better word—“busy. Confessing things.” I lift my brows and quickly skirt my eyes to Amanda, letting Dean know I’m talking about something inappropriate.

He doesn’t seem to get it.

Jackie rolls her eyes as she hugs her empty serving tray against her hip. “The night she went to the meeting.”

His eyes widen as a wide grin lines his face. “That was your birthday?”

A blush creeps up my cheeks as the twinkle in his eyes lights up the damn room. “Best present I could have ever gotten.”

He leans over and kisses my neck. A chill rolls down my back. “I’ll never forget it.”

“Oh my God, you two are adorable!” Jackie squeals as she walks away with a ponytail swish to a nearby table to see if they need anything.

Connie passes by with coffee. She tops off Dean’s with a smile and then mine, still with a smile just for Dean. He, however, has his eyes on me.

“We’re gonna have to remedy this.” He opens a sugar packet and pours it into my coffee. “I’m gonna do something special now for the birthday that I missed,” he states rather emphatically and then takes a bite of his eggs.

His hand moves to my thigh and gives my hand that’s resting on it a squeeze. He doesn’t do that often—finding my hand and just holding it. He doesn’t need me to do anything but give a little squeeze back.