My love for Daniel was like an avalanche.
I met him, and one little piece of my resolve broke away. Then he came to Dallas, and then to California, and again, little pieces of my resolve began to crumble and fall away. Then I spent time getting to know him from across the miles, and more and more tiny pieces started falling away.
And then there was Memphis.
My time in Memphis shattered me into smithereens and sent me freefalling into the gorgeous abyss called love.
I loved Daniel before I ever went to Tennessee, but something about meeting his family and getting to know his roots sealed the deal in such a way that I just couldn’t leave there and go back to my life in California.
Yet, there I was at the end of my two-week trip.
I would fly back to L.A. the following day.
But I knew in my heart that it wasn't an option.
I had no plan other than not sticking to the current plan.
Daniel and I had just finished eating dinner at his parents'. They all knew that I was flying home the following day, so it was a sort of 'farewell to Courtney' gathering with some of the extended family.
It was a beautiful afternoon, and a group of us went for a ride before going to his parents' house for dinner. There were seven motorcycles in all. Some were carrying passengers and others weren't, so I think there were a total of ten or twelve people who went on the excursion. I had done some cool things in my life, but traveling in a big group with the very family who made the beautiful machines we were riding was perhaps the coolest.
I felt like I was a part of the most awesome motorcycle gang that had ever walked the face of the earth—and we didn't even have matching jackets.
I smiled at the thought of it.
"What are you smiling at?" Daniel asked as we walked into his house at the end of the evening. We had just gotten back from dinner, and I couldn’t stop thinking about everything we had just done and wishing I could reenact it every night for the rest of my life.
I reached out for Daniel and we wrapped our arms around each other as we walked.
"I was thinking about getting matching jackets," I said. "That was so fun riding in a big group like that. I wish we all had jackets like the T-Birds and Pink Ladies."
"You can be my Pink Lady any day," Daniel said, unlocking his door. He held it open for me and we walked inside.
"How about today?" I asked.
He tossed his keys onto the counter and I swung myself into his arms, forcing him to catch me.
"How about every day?" he asked, smiling at me when I landed in his arms.
"I thought you'd never ask," I said.
We stared at each other with completely serious expressions for several long seconds.
"Never ask what?" he asked, finally.
"Ask me to be your Pink Lady everyday."
"You already know I want that," he said. "Or did you just need me to call you a Pink Lady?"
I shook my head. "It has nothing to do with the Pink Ladies and T-Birds," I said. "It's the every day part I'm talking about."
Daniel wrapped his hands around my waist pulling me close to him. "Courtney, baby, you must know by now that I want you to be mine every day. I would feel terrible if I hadn't done enough to assure you of that."
"What about tomorrow?" I asked.
"You'll be mine tomorrow just the same as you were mine today and yesterday."
I loved it when he called me 'his'. It wasn't the first time he had done it, and each time the word sent a rush of anticipation through me.
"I know, but I won't be here tomorrow," I said. I furrowed my eyebrows and gave him a disgruntled expression that made him smile.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you won't be mine," he said.
I wrapped my arms around his midsection, hugging him tightly. I loved the way his body felt—the way muscles lined his back and sides. I wanted to feel him pressed up against me like this for the rest of my life. I never wanted to let him go.
"Can't you see that I'm trying to get you to beg me to stay?" I asked.
His smile faded and he regarded me seriously. "Courtney, if I thought for one second that begging you to stay would make you do it, then I would beg. I would have no shame. I would fall to my knees and beg, right here right now."
My heart began racing because I could see that he was serious. He honestly thought that I had to go back to California—or that I wanted to.
I lifted my hand and touched his face. His dark eyes were so endless and mysterious that I felt like there were elements of him I might never know.
"Ask me to stay with you, and I will, Daniel," I whispered, still touching his face.
"Stay, Courtney," he said without hesitation.
He said it so earnestly that I had no other choice but to smile. "Do you mean it?" I asked.
His expression shifted to one of slight confusion like he couldn't believe I would even ask such a thing. "Of course I mean it," he said incredulously. "I am so sorry you even feel the need to ask that," he added sweetly. "I want you to stay with me. I want you to stay tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that. Stay by my side and never leave me, Courtney. Just go ahead and marry me and wake up next to me every single morning. If I had things my way, that's what would happen."
"Then, let's do it your way," I said.
My heart was about to beat out of my chest because I meant every word I was saying, and I knew Daniel did also. We were on the verge of making a real true commitment to each other, and we both knew it.
"I love you," I said. "I don't want to be apart. I don't want to leave tomorrow. I don't want to leave ever. I mean, I want to take trips and do stuff, but I want you with me."
"Do you understand what you're saying?" he asked.
I nodded. "Perfectly."
"What?" he asked.
"I hope we're saying I'll cancel my flight tomorrow and just go ahead and rearrange plans for the rest of my life—that I'll just go ahead and marry you and be your lady for good."
"Can you really do that?" Daniel asked.
"Can you?"
"Yeah, but you have a whole life and persona and everything over in California."
I was still barely touching his cheek with my fingertips. "Do I? Do I really? As it stands, the idea of leaving Memphis seems more dreadful than the idea of not returning to L.A. I know I have a life over there, but I'd rather not go back to it if it means leaving you, Daniel."
Daniel put his fingers to his ear and made a somewhat confused expression like he was trying to discern what he was hearing. "The words you're saying right now are the most precious, unreal words I've ever heard in my life. They are entering my ears and then somehow miraculously causing things to happen inside of me. It's amazing to me that words formed with your mouth and spoken into the air can cause a physical shift in my body like this. Please say I'm hearing you correctly when you say you're not getting on a plane tomorrow. Please say you're staying with me."
"I am," I said, smiling.
"Seriously?" he asked.
I nodded. "I don't want to leave you," I whispered.
"I don’t want you to leave, either," he said.
"Let's not do it, then."
"Great. Stay," he said.
"Fine. I will."
The hint of a grin touched the corners of his mouth, but otherwise we just stood there and stared at each other.
"Marry me," he said.
"Okay."
"Okay?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yes."
He scanned my face as if searching my expression to make sure I was serious.
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday," he said.
"Yesterday's gone," I said. "How about tomorrow?"
He smiled. "Don't tempt me," he said. "My granddad's a pastor. I could seriously make that happen. (a pause) Courtney."
"What?"
"I am a hundred percent serious right now."
"So am I, Daniel. So am I. My heart is about to beat out of my chest right now. I'm super serious. I want to be with you every day for forever."
"Let's do it, then," he whispered. "We don't really have to get married tomorrow, but let's do it. Let's do it soon."
I nodded. "Okay."
"Really?" he asked.
"Really," I said.
"So, you're not flying home tomorrow?" he asked, clarifying.
"I'm already home," I said.
Daniel's expression changed when I said that. It was subtle, but there was a change, and it caused warmth to spread through my body. He realized how serious I was. He realized I was giving him ownership of my heart, and he smiled at me like he was up for the challenge. He scanned my face with his gorgeous dark eyes, taking in every inch as if memorizing it.
I knew he was going to kiss me, and I got a tingling sensation in my lower abdomen as I waited for him to do it. I stared at his mouth waiting desperately for him to come closer—for him to close the remaining few inches that separated us.
"I'm yours, Daniel." I whispered the words, hoping that would send him over the edge, and it worked.
Daniel kissed me. He started with a couple of gentle, tender kisses, and then he opened his mouth to me, kissing me more deeply than he ever had before. He kissed me so fully and deeply that the action of it conveyed a promise of things to come.
I told Daniel Bishop that he owned my heart, and he kissed me as if he fully understood what that ownership meant. There was such urgency and passion in his kiss that it felt as though we were sharing something different than we ever had before.
I wrapped my hand around the back of his head, holding him closely and letting him know this was exactly what I wanted. He somehow poured love, tenderness, and possessive protectiveness into me during that kiss and I received it gratefully, letting him know with muted whimpers and clinched fists that I was his just like he was mine.
It hit me during that kiss that I was the only woman to ever receive that type of affection from Daniel, and the thought of it made a swelling sensation happen inside me. I held him tightly, conveying the fact that I ached desperately for more of him, and he kissed me deeply for a few more charged moments before breaking the kiss and pulling back.
I let out a moan of disappointment as he broke contact, and he smiled before letting his lips touch mine again like he just couldn’t resist. He kissed me three or four more times, all with great gentleness, before finally pulling back. I held onto his shirt with tightly clinched fists because I couldn’t bear to let him go.
"We better get married," I said breathlessly.