Chapter Thirty-Seven
Josh
I was surprised at how quickly I had gotten used to having Reagan around. I didn’t like not being with her. So, even though we hadn’t made any plans to meet up that night, I couldn’t help myself from arriving at her house and surprising her. She opened the door wearing her pajamas and big slippers in the shape of Yoda. She didn’t have a scrap of makeup on, and her hair was a little all over the place. She was, without a doubt, the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life.
“Oh no!” she said when she saw me. “I look a mess.”
I reached over and kissed her. “No, you look gorgeous. And these are for you,” I said and handed her some flowers.
“They’re beautiful. What’s going on? Did I forget about a date or something?”
I shook my head. “No. I came to surprise you for dinner. I hope you didn’t have plans.”
She laughed and pointed to her outfit. “Clearly not,” she said, and I laughed back. “So, come in. I’m going to have to change.”
“Ah, that’s a pity. You look adorable.”
She chuckled. “Thank you. But this is not quite restaurant attire. Where are we going, by the way?”
“Well, we were going out to the diner. But I’m thinking of calling Dana and telling her we’re going to be an hour late.”
“An hour? Oh, I can get ready quicker than that. I assure you.”
I smiled. “I know. It’s just . . .”
She smiled back. “Oh. Are my Yoda slippers that attractive to you?” she said and tapped her feet together so that the noses of the Yodas touched.
I walked up to her. “Oh, Reagan, I’ve never been more attracted to you in my life.”
Just then my phone rang. I groaned when I saw it was Dana. If she was calling to tell me that there was a problem with my reservation, I wasn’t going to mind at all. I picked up the phone and sighed.
“Hey, Dana,” I said brightly. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. I just wanted to let you know that I have to go out quickly, but that your table is all booked. It’s under your name. There’s already a bottle of wine on it with your name on. And I’ve organized a few surprises for the two of you. Mostly, I just need people to test out a few of my new meals, but I didn’t think you’d mind.”
I laughed. “We won’t mind. Great, well, I just got to Reagan’s, so we’ll be there soon.”
I looked at Reagan and groaned. “You better get out of those clothes and into some normal clothes very soon. Dana is expecting us, but if I have to look at you like that any longer, I’m going to completely cave. You’re too adorable.”
Reagan giggled and ran up the stairs to get ready. Five minutes later and she was back downstairs wearing jeans, boots, and a pretty yellow shirt. I smiled at her.
“That was quick.”
“I’d say it’s because I want food, but it’s really because I want to hurry up and get this dinner over with so we can come back home.”
“That’s my girl.”
We made our way over to Dana’s and found the corner table that she had set out for us. The moment we sat down, a waiter came by with a few samples for us to try as starters. He also poured us a glass of wine out of the bottle in front of us. I grinned at Reagan.
“Now I see why you don’t want to go anywhere else but here. Does she often make you sample her new food like this?”
“Oh, all the time. Lucky, huh?”
“Yeah. And now I’m lucky too. Speaking of me being lucky, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming year. Now that the campaign is over, I wanted to find out what your thoughts were about staying on the team? I’d love you to stay.”
“Really? I’d love that job. I was hoping to stay on, but I wasn’t sure if you needed me.”
I laughed. “Are you kidding me? I couldn’t have won without you. And there’s no way I want to give you up. Also, everyone loves you in that office. Ralph would be mad if I didn’t get you on the team. I’m not sure exactly what it is that you’ll be doing though; it might be something else, but either way, I wanted you to know that if you were interested, I’ll make sure to find you a spot.”
She smiled. “I’m interested.”
We spent the next two hours talking about the upcoming year and what plans we had. It was nice being able to talk to someone that I liked about work. Usually the girls that I was with weren’t interested in that side of my life at all. Dana stopped by a little later and asked for our opinion on all the food, and by the end of the night we had probably eaten a little too much and sampled a bit too much wine. But it was wonderful, and we left the restaurant happy.
The moment we got back to Reagan’s house, she told me to wait in the living room, and she ran up the stairs. I wondered what was going on and chuckled when I saw her coming back down the stairs moments later. She was wearing her pajamas again, and was battling to walk down the stairs in her Yoda slippers. I grinned at her.
“Better?” she said.
I smiled. “Oh much better.”
I walked up to her and kissed her. I looked down at her slippers and back up at her beautiful face and smiled. “I love you,” I said softly. It was the first time that I had said the words out loud, and I think it took both of us by surprise. I saw her eyes widen, then sparkle with contentedness and joy.
“I love you too,” she whispered.