Talk? After what he was just doing to me out on the sofa, was that really what he expected to happen once we shut the door and no one was watching? I was nervous, and I knew he could sense it. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the reason for my hesitation in taking things further with him. Well, actually I was, but when I looked at him and my hands made contact with his warm skin, all reasoning seemed to fly right out the window.

“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I know this has to be hard on you too.” By now we were both sitting on the edge of my bed and the nearness of his body heat made my skin break out in goose bumps. I couldn’t help but shiver in response.

“Are you cold?” he asked tenderly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I shook my head.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Brooke. Being this close to you, knowing you’re feeling the same way, it’s hard. I know you have your reasons for wanting to wait, and I really do respect them, but please know that no matter how hard I try to put on a brave face, it’s killing me inside.” He nuzzled my jaw with his nose and lightly kissed my neck, and I swear I think I actually purred.

“Oh my…” I stammered. “I do want you. I mean I really, really want you.” My breathing was shallow, and it took everything I had to fight giving in to the desire. “But you’ve had a lot of women over the years. You have a lot more experience at this than I do. I’ve only been with one guy, and that was a long time ago.”

“You mean there hasn’t been anyone since him? How is that even possible? I mean, you’re gorgeous. You must have to fight guys off with a stick when you go out in public.” I shook my head, disagreeing with him. “Come on, Brooke, remember the guy at the nightclub?” I shivered at the mention of that horrible evening, and he instantly apologized for bringing it up. “I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to remind you of that, but you know what I’m saying, right?”

“My life isn’t like yours, Sebastian. I don’t meet gobs of men who have sexual fantasies about me, or who have posters and T-shirts of me to stare at. You’re surrounded by that nearly every day of your life. Until I met you, I never spent this much time talking with a guy, not even Devon.”

“I’d pay good money to have a poster or T-shirt with you on it,” he muttered. “Seriously, babe, is that what you think of me? That I have all these women falling at my feet on a regular basis? That may have been the case before I met you, even before I went into rehab, but that’s all in my past.” He took my hands in his before he continued speaking, making sure that our eyes were connected, and I heard each word he was saying. “I don’t care about any of that anymore. All I care about is being with you, and I’m not talking about just being with you intimately. I’m talking about you being a part of my life, my whole life; in fact, at this moment you are my life. I know that you are unsure, and I’m okay with that. I truly am. The way I see it is I’ve got the rest of my life to experience that moment with you. Just knowing you love me and want it too is enough for now. Sex isn’t everything to me, Brooke. Having your heart means much more to me than simply having your body.”

“Ugh,” I groaned into his chest. “Isn’t it enough that you’ve got looks and money? Now you’ve cornered the market on romance as well? You’re the best, you know that, don’t you?”

“Well, I wouldn’t go getting too used to it. If I keep having to fight off these urges, I’m afraid I’ll eventually run out of romantic comebacks.” He chuckled, drawing my lips to his.

* * *

I didn’t want Sebastian to leave without getting to see the restaurant, so that was how we came to be there bright and early the next morning, just as the first shift was arriving to begin prep.

“Hey, Brooklyn, what are you doing here today? You’re not working again, are you?” asked Marcus, one of our line crew.

“Not today, Marcus. I’m just showing my boyfriend where I work.” I smiled proudly, holding on to Sebastian’s hand as if it were a small trophy.

“Boyfriend, huh? So this is him? What’s your name, buddy?”

“Sebastian.” He stuck his arm out to grip Marcus’ outstretched hand, shaking it firmly.

“You look kind of familiar. Do you dine here often?”

“No.” Sebastian smirked. “I’ve never been here before today.”

“I could swear I’ve seen you someplace. You work out at the gym down the road? I think I’ve seen you there; that must be where it is. Am I right?” Marcus prodded.

I couldn’t help but laugh and quickly glanced at Sebastian, making sure I had his permission to give him away. “Oh, you’ve seen him at the gym, but not in the way you’re thinking.” Sebastian furrowed his brow, unsure of where I was going with this. “You know the hallway that leads up to the women’s locker room?” Marcus nodded. “There’s a large poster that hangs just outside the door; all the women touch it for good luck before going in…” I could tell he wasn’t following me. “He’s one of the guys in the poster.”

“What do you mean, like a male model or something? Yeah, you look the part,” he replied, eyeing Sebastian up and down casually.

“No, Marcus, he’s not a male model.” I turned and gave him the same once-over. “Although he most certainly could be. That poster advertises the band Paradox, a rock band. He’s one of the guys in the band.” Suddenly, Marcus’ eyes reflected his understanding, and then he looked over at Sebastian once more.

“That’s pretty cool, dude, but if you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down.” He waved a hand over the rest of the kitchen crew, who by now were watching intently. “We all will.”

Sebastian laughed and clapped him on the back, understanding completely what was going on. “Hey, that’s cool. I appreciate you looking out for her, but I promise I won’t do anything to hurt her.”

“Then, welcome to the family, Sebastian,” Marcus replied, fist bumping Sebastian’s raised knuckles.

I took him around and gave him the full tour, showing him every nook and cranny in the building, trying my best to make our time together stretch out. Somehow, after only two days, this parting felt like it might be even harder than our first. Now that I knew how hard it was to live without him, and after being teased by his presence again, I just wanted to smuggle him away in my closet and never let him leave my side again. During this visit I felt as if we had bonded even further. Our conversations had taken a different tone, like there was direct intention in every statement. I couldn’t help but notice how he spoke of our future together as if he had already drawn up a plan in his head and he was trying to figure out how to make it play out the way it needed to. I won’t lie, I had thought long and hard about a future with him. It was almost all that I had thought about. Even though we had only been together for three months, I knew, I could feel it deep in my bones, that he was someone I could spend the rest of my life with; and I knew that he would do everything he could to make me the happiest woman in the world. Now that he was with me, standing in my restaurant, I was actually looking forward to seeing that plan play out. If only I could bring myself to ask him what his vision looked like.

On our way out we passed by Donnie’s office. He was sitting at his desk on the phone, and when he saw me holding Sebastian’s hand, he motioned for me to come in and wrapped up his call.

“Brooke, glad to see your dedication, but seriously, you need to learn to stay away on your days off,” he joked. “Who’s this?”

“Well, Donnie, this is my boyfriend, Sebastian. Sebastian, this is Donnie, my boss.” I looked nervously at them. Sebastian stood a good two inches taller than Donnie, but Donnie was ten years older and very much my self-appointed big brother. For someone who had grown up an only child, I was suddenly inundated with surrogate older brothers.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Donnie. I’ve heard wonderful things about you and this restaurant.” They shook hands, and I saw Donnie’s face soften at the compliments. “I also want to thank you for allowing Brooke to spend that week with me. I guess we have you to thank for helping us fall in love,” he said, wrapping an arm casually around my shoulders, staking his manly claim.

“Well, I can say I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about you as well. Brooke tells me you took excellent care of her. As her quasi-big brother I want to thank you. You know, my wife and I are really big fans of your music.” And just like that they were at ease with one another and talking shop about music and travel. Before he left Sebastian signed a bunch of items for Donnie’s wife and kids and some of the guys in the kitchen.

“I’m glad you two hit it off,” I said casually as we headed back to the apartment.

“You and me both. I was nervous there for a second,” he admitted before grabbing me and hoisting me up on his back, for old-time sake.

* * *

“Attention all passengers, at this time we would like to remind you not to leave your bags unattended. In the event…” The woman on the intercom droned on and on about safety and security while in the airport and aboard the planes.

“I can’t believe you’re already leaving. It feels like you just got here,” I pouted.

“I know, but we’ll be together soon, at Nikki’s wedding. You got your invitation, right?”

“Yeah, I can hardly wait to see you in a tux.” I kissed his chin. He was so tall that unless I was wearing heels or stood up on my tiptoes, I couldn’t reach his lips.

“And I can’t wait to spend the night dancing and holding you in my arms. You’ll try to stay for the week when you come, right?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised.

“And I’ve got your ticket covered, so be sure to book first class again.” He smiled warmly.

“I don’t expect you to pay for my ticket. I want to come to the wedding. I don’t feel as if I have to.” Ever since our initial meeting, Nikki and I had been chatting off and on over the phone and Facebook messenger, and we’d gotten pretty close.

“I know you don’t expect it, but I want to do it, so please just let me take care of you. I like doing things for you, baby.”

“I know one thing you could do for me right now, before you go.” I pulled my lip between my teeth. “I haven’t had a bone crusher in a very long time.” A smile filled his face, and he locked his wrists tightly behind my back, pulling me firmly against him.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He kissed me one last time before heading down the terminal, looking back three times and mouthing the words ‘I love you’ as he disappeared into the crowd. I glanced over at Jade and saw a few tears escaping down her cheeks.

“Oh my gosh, I don’t know how you do it.” She brushed the tears away with a swipe of her hand. “That was so hard, and I’ve only known him two days!”

“So you two hit it off then?” I teased knowingly.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “He is quite the charmer, let me tell you.”

“I’m sure he is, but the question is, did his charms work on you?” I elbowed her in the ribs.

“Ouch! For your information, they worked beautifully, but not in the way you’re dirty mind is thinking,” she scoffed.

“Hey, my mind isn’t dirty. Our time together was meaningful.”

“Yeah, well, so was ours. Honestly, I would have thought rock stars would be more demanding.”

“I guess you can’t believe everything you read.” I shrugged.