Day Three

This actually turned out better than I had planned. It’s always more romantic when it’s spontaneous and unexpected.

Irving and Yanina set us up with a candlelit table for two on the large flat rocks in front of the ocean. The wine is flowing, and the food is delicious. But the best part is the company.

Julia has had a gorgeous smile plastered on her face since we saw the dolphins. It feels good to see her enjoying herself, and she looks absolutely stunning in the candlelight, even with the plastic bib around her neck.

“I love lobster,” she says as she cracks open a large claw. “But damn it’s messy.” She laughs as juice sprays out on her arms.

“The best dates are always a little messy,” I say with a grin.

“Lobster juices are the only kind of messy you’re getting,” she says, pointing a huge claw at me. We’ve been talking and laughing nonstop since we’ve sat down. She’s been telling me all about her kindergarten class and all the funny things the kids say.

She tells me about one little boy who was furious at her because she told him he couldn’t marry a walrus. He refused to look at her for the rest of the day.

I told her all about my time with my Uncle Jack and how he whipped me into shape. I told her about my time up in Canada and how I built my business from scratch. The conversation has been flowing great, and I can’t believe that we’re already almost finished dinner. The time just raced by.

I fill up her glass of wine as she starts telling me another story about one of the kids from her class. She starts cracking up halfway in, and I just stare at her in awe, wondering how I could ever have been mean to someone as amazing as her. I hate myself for it, but it’s time to put all of that behind us. We’re here now, and right now couldn’t be more perfect.

“And then she asked me if I could marry her divorced father,” she says, stopping to giggle. “I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually considered it for a second.” Her slim shoulders shake as she tries to compose herself, which makes me start giggling too. Two bottles of wine will do that to you.

Her face is flushed, and her eyes are watering as she takes another sip of wine. She’s perfect. I vow in that moment to never cause her any harm again. I’ll spend the rest of my days showering her with love and trying to make every moment of her life better than the last.

Irving walks over with another bottle of wine. “How is the lobster?” he asks as he opens it.

“Ah-ma-zing,” Julia says, shaking her head as she looks down at the hollowed-out carcass on her plate. “I can’t possibly eat another bite.”

“What about drink another drop?” he asks, holding up the open bottle of wine.

She grins as she slides her empty glass over. “Keep it coming.”

Irving’s big belly shakes as he laughs. He fills up her glass and then offers the bottle to me.

“I shouldn’t,” I say with a sigh. “I have to drive back.”

“We don’t have a car,” Julia says with a laugh. “What are you going to drive us back on? One of those dolphins?”

“Where are you and your wife staying?” Irving asks.

I’m about to correct him that we’re not married yet, when Julia places her hand on mine, stopping me. “My husband is making me sleep in a broken-down car in the middle of the rainforest. He’s not very romantic.”

“We have a perfect room overlooking the ocean that has your name on it,” Irving says, motioning to the sleepy inn behind him.

“What do you say, Mrs. Connor? Want to sleep in an actual bed tonight?” I ask Julia with a grin. “Let your husband make it up to you.”

“We’ll take two rooms,” Julia says, smirking at me. “You still have a lot of making up to do, and I’m not that drunk.”

“Not yet,” I say, grinning at her. “We’ll take two rooms,” I say to Irving. “And two more bottles.”

Julia blushes as she takes a sip of her wine, watching me with the sexiest eyes imaginable. Irving fills up my glass and clears the dirty plates from the table.

Julia finally takes off her plastic bib, which has been cruelly hiding her cleavage all throughout dinner. Now I have a hard time keeping my eyes from darting to her breasts every few seconds, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“Have you ever thought of moving back to Buffalo?” she asks, not meeting my eye as she asks the question.

I take a deep breath and watch her face as she slowly turns back to look at me. I wonder why she’s asking. Is it to make conversation or because she wants to know if more nights like this lie in our future.

“I’ve thought about it.”

“And?” she asks, leaning forward with interest.

“I would under the right circumstances. Or for the right person.”

She tries to hide her smile with her wine glass but I see the tips of her lips curl up. It’s the answer she wanted to hear.

“Where are you living right now?” I ask.

She turns red and looks embarrassed as she turns away. “I’m in between apartments right now,” she says, looking uncomfortable. “I’m just staying with my parents until I can find something.”

She stands up suddenly and grabs her wine glass. “Let’s go walk around down by the water,” she says, not waiting for me to respond. “I need to walk off all of this food.”

A moan slides from my lips when I see the tempting curve of her ass under her sleek black dress. This is not the Julia I knew from my childhood. Her bony arms and long skinny legs have filled out into some luscious curves. My hands tingle, wanting to explore every inch of them.

I grab the half-full wine bottle along with my glass and follow her to the water. It’s a full moon and it looks impossibly bright. I thought she looked stunning in the candlelight, but she looks absolutely mesmerizing in the moonlight.

Her black hair is dancing around her face as the Caribbean breeze cools us off. She looks at me and smiles shyly as the light sound of Spanish music plays from the kitchen behind us.

“Don’t you love the smell of the ocean?” she asks, breathing in deep.

Normally, I love the salty smell, but right now I wish it would disappear so I could smell her delicious perfume.

We walk for a while and then sit on the smooth flat rocks, watching the dark water. “This is nice,” I say, enjoying every second of it. “I didn’t think it would be once our car exploded, but this is nice.”

She smiles as she looks up at the stars. “I thought I would last ten minutes before throwing a drink in your face and storming out of the restaurant.”

“Come on,” I say with a grin. “I usually make it to twenty minutes before that happens.” I glance at my watch. “I’m going on four hours, so I can’t be doing that badly.”

She raises her eyebrow as she looks up at me. “The night is still young.”

“Then I better tell Irving that we’ll skip the coffees.”

She laughs. Fuck, I love that sound.

“Well, I have to agree. This is nice,” she admits.

“Wait until those soggy tacos start kicking in,” I say with a laugh. “Then it won’t be so nice.”

She smiles as she looks down at her wine glass. “The alcohol will kill any bacteria we ate.”

Our eyes meet and the smiles fade away from our lips, replaced with something else. We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment as something new and exciting passes between us.

It’s over too soon as she turns away, taking a deep breath.

My heart is pounding as I watch the side of her face.

“So that time you ripped the streamers off my pink bike,” she says as she stares at the water. “That was because you loved me?”

“Was that too subtle of a message?”

She laughs.

“Damn,” I say, shaking my head. “I should have slashed your tires too. Then you would have known how I felt.”

“You had a strange way of showing your feelings, Mother Tucker,” she says, stealing a glance at me.

“I must have learned it from my father,” I say, feeling embarrassed once again. “But I’ve picked up a few lessons along the way. I’m not as hopeless anymore.”

“I can see that,” she says with a quick lick of her lips. “I’m excited to see what else you’ve learned.”

I glance back at the inn. “There’s a room with our name on it, Mrs. Connor.”

She turns a scarlet red and my heart starts thumping a little harder. “I didn’t mean that. And besides, I reserved two rooms. On your card, of course.”

“I was just playing. I like to see you blush.”

She narrows her eyes on me playfully and then turns away with a smile on her face.

We sit there in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the sound of the waves, the soft gentle breeze, and the bright stars overhead. It feels as natural and content as sitting with a lifelong friend, and I couldn’t be happier. Until I am.

She shifts a little closer to me until our bodies are touching. “It’s getting a little chilly,” she says, even though the temperature hasn’t changed.

“Are you cold?”

“A little,” she says, rubbing her arms. “But I don’t want to leave.”

I fill up her glass with the red wine and then sit behind her with one leg on either side of her. “Just to keep you warm,” I whisper in her ear as I wrap my arms around her, keeping her close to my chest.

“Mm-hm,” she hums, pretending that she doesn’t like it, but she melts into my arms, resting her back against my chest.

I wonder if she can feel my heart thumping against her back.

The fruity scent of her shampoo swirls through my nostrils, and I have to focus on something else before I get hard and scare her away.

We sit like that for a long time, just enjoying the silence. We’re pretty good together when we’re not fighting. It’s too bad we waited so long to figure that out.

Just when I’m wondering if she’s fallen asleep, she shifts in my arms. “Tucker. Are you sure you’ve changed? Tell me this is not some evil game you’re playing.”

I touch the tip of her chin with my hand and gently turn her face until she’s looking into my eyes. Her face is so close to mine, her perfect lips closer than they’ve ever been. I can feel her breath tickling my lips, making my mouth water. Her eyes are different. They’re full of… I don’t know. I’ve never seen them like this before.

“I promise,” I whisper and then seal it with a kiss. Our lips touch softly at first, and I’m so overjoyed with the thought that I’m actually kissing Julia that I forget to enjoy it.

She turns in my arms and sits up on her knees so that we’re face to face. Her delicate hands caress my cheeks as she pulls my face close to hers until our lips touch again. We kiss deep and passionate this time, her tongue sliding over mine, and we only pull away when our heads are spinning.

“Actually,” she says as she takes my hand in hers and stands up. “I am a little cold. Let’s go inside.”

“All right,” I say, a little bit upset that the night is going to end. I want it to last forever.

I stand up, and she pulls me toward the inn. She takes the key that Irving gave her and lets go of my hand.

“Go give your room key back to him,” she says, giving me a seductive look as she walks to the inn, swaying her hips with every step. “Tell him that Mrs. Connor will be sharing a room with her husband tonight.”