Chapter Five

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off. I looked up and met Tony's gaze. I jumped a little and nearly slipped on the floor, but I caught myself on the towel rack.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn't mean to startle you.”

“You're fine. I just didn't expect to see you standing there. Trying to sneak a peek at all of this?” I gestured to myself and laughed.

“No,” he said. “Well, yes, But that’s not why I’m here. I was thinking—" He shuffled his feet awkwardly.

My stomach dropped. He was thinking that he had to leave. Go on his trip early. Cancel our big date for the night. It's not a date. I reminded myself.

“What is it?” I said.

“Well, I got to thinking about tonight. Does it really make sense to get a massage and then have dinner? Aren't we going to be like mush after being prodded and pulled and all that? But having dinner first doesn't make sense either, because then we're going to be full and that won't be very comfortable being massaged while our stomachs our full. What do you think?”

I stared at him, my eyebrows raised, as he rambled. This was a completely new side of Tony that I'd never seen before. Was he nervous?

“I think having the massage first will be fine. I think you're right about being too full after dinner. We're likely to fall asleep on the table if we do that.”

“All right,” he said. “So, I'll keep the appointments as they are then. How long is the drive to the spa?”

“Ten minutes or so,” I said. “I should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” he said. “I'm going to wait in the living room. Unless… Do you want me to pick you up at your door? I can walk around the block really quick.”

I laughed. “No, that won't be necessary.”

He nodded with a jerk of his head. “Yeah, you’re right. That would be silly.”

I smiled to myself as I watched him walk away. He wore a pair of khakis, and a green button-down shirt with a green striped tie, which really brought out his sparkling blue eyes. He’d shaved this morning and only had a slight stumble across his chin.

Once I was dry, I put on my clothes. I'd picked out a pair of khakis as well, only I'd opted for a green polo shirt that matched his. It was brand new, so it was crisp and clean. I spent a little extra time making sure I looked perfect. There wasn't much to do, just comb my hair. Which was what I normally did on any given day, but this night was special. And even though I didn't want to get lost in the idea that Tony would be sticking around and be my mate forever, I did want to enjoy tonight and let myself be pampered a bit. Who knew when the next time that would happen? Besides, I needed to release a little bit of stress if I was going to be prepared for the Valentine’s Day photo shoot tomorrow.

Our first session was at eight in the morning at the gazebo. I’d be taking photos of the different couples throughout Vale Valley. We had thirty-two couples scheduled to arrive in fifteen-minute intervals throughout the day and I couldn't wait. We had the props ready and packed, all we had to do was load them in the car and go.

But first, we needed to go on this date.

Once I was ready, I exited the bathroom. Tony stood smiling broadly at me, his eyes shining.

“Ready to go?” he said.

“Yeah, I just need to grab my wallet.”

He tossed it at me and I stuffed it in my back pocket, then he lifted his arm and I linked mine into his.

“Let's do this,” he said.

I smiled and looked up at him. “Thanks,” I said.

“For what? The night hasn't even started yet.”

“I know, but I already know it's going to be amazing. You're amazing.”

He kissed me. “I think you've got me confused with someone else. You're the amazing one in this relationship.”

My heart leapt at the word. Relationship.

If only.

I tugged him toward the door. “Let's get going. We've got an appointment to keep.”

***

The spa was absolutely amazing. They ran a special for the month of February for a couple’s massage, which was the package that Tony had booked for us. We were in a room together as we got our massages.

I tried very hard not to let his moans and groans get to me. I succeeded, mostly, but I also savored those noises and made a mental note to try and illicit the same reaction later. I enjoyed the massage; it helped to relieve the stress I’d been harboring since I’d started my business, but damn, I wanted Tony’s hands on me. I wanted to make those noises come from his mouth.

My cat yowled within, upset that our mate was being touched by someone else.

Once we were done, we visited the gift shop and Tony insisted on buying me some bath bombs and other homemade soaps the owners had to offer. I'd never splurged on that sort of thing before, and I was excited to try it out. Though my cat hated water, maybe we would enjoy a luxurious bath. I made another mental note to give Tony a worthwhile thank you for those gifts later.

We sat down for dinner as soon as we got to the restaurant. Thankfully, Tony’d made reservations. Our table was ready, though the place was quite busy.

“This has been very nice. Thank you. I'd never spend money on myself like this. I feel awful that I'm letting you do all this for me.”

“Letting me?” he said. “I want to do this for you. I want to pamper you, treat you this way. What makes you think that you don't deserve this sort of treatment? What kind of boyfriends have you had that you haven't been pampered like this before?”

Terrible ones, clearly.

“It's different with you. We're friends.” I shrugged. “I feel bad that I can’t return the favor.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are we just—”

The waiter came up to the table. “What can I get you to start off with this evening?”

I smiled. “Just water for me, thanks.” I opened the menu once he handed it to me and my eyes widened at the prices listed next to everything.

Once the waiter walked away, I opened my mouth to protest but Tony held his hand up. “Don't even say it. Get whatever you want. It's on me. This is a date. Eric, I don't know what you thought it was, and I’m starting to think we have different ideas on what a date is and what we are to each other.”

Probably. Especially since Tony was beginning to be my everything. “It's all right. You don't have to explain. I know that you'll be leaving soon and that this is just another vacation to you. If you really insist, I'll let you pamper me. But when I make it big and famous as a photographer, you'll let me pay you back, right?”

“Right,” he said slowly, and then looked at the menu. “Let's just pick out our food, all right?”

“Okay,” I said.

I could sense that the mood had shifted. I shouldn't have brought up the future and what we were to one another. I needed to find a way to turn this evening around and fast, before I ruined everything.

“You haven’t told me much about your travels this year. I saw the pictures you emailed me but tell me about the things you saw.”

That got Tony talking. He told me about his trips to Paris, London, Nepal, and Australia. It was crazy to me that he'd been around the globe and I’d almost never left Vale Valley. I was just content to be home.

He pulled up pictures of his trip on his phone.

“Do you always just go by yourself?” I asked as I scrolled through his photos of the Palace of Versailles.

“Yeah,” he said. “That way I can make my own itinerary and I don't have to worry about anyone else.”

“Well, Egypt should be fun. I can’t wait to see those pictures,” I said. “Seeing the pyramids up close will be amazing. I’m all for a civilization that's founded on the worshipping of cats.”

He broke out in laughter and other people turned to look at us.

“Yeah, I can see why the Egyptian people would be your kind of people. I like to think of myself as a worshiper of cats as well. One in particular.”

I grinned. Thankfully, the tension from before seemed to have slipped away.

We finished our meal and walked to Vale Lake, hand in hand. The moon light reflected on the lake, creating a sparkling effect as the water rippled.

“If I liked to swim, this would be a great night for skinny dipping,” I said.

“That's all right,” Tony replied. “I'm not much for water either.”

“Really?” I said.

“Nope. I'll travel by boat, but only if I absolutely have to. And though I've seen every ocean, I've never swam in any of them. I just don't like swimming.”

“Me neither.” I shuddered at the thought of being wet.

We sat on a bench overlooking the lake and I shivered. Tony slipped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. I leaned into him and nuzzled against his neck.

“This is really nice.” I said. “Thank you for today.”

“You’ve already thanked me. Thank you. I’m glad that you let me do this.”

I sighed and relaxed against him. My guard slipping. “I wish it could be like this forever.” I immediately wanted to take those words back. Stage five clinger right here.

I tensed hoping that he wouldn't turn tail and run at my absolute craziness.

“You know that it can be like this forever, right?” he said.

I pushed away from him and looked at his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I can stay here in Vale Valley with you.” He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. “I can be your mate, be with you forever.”

“Why would you want to do that?” I asked.

He flinched. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I want to stay here with you?”

“You are a world traveler. You'd never be happy settling down in Vale Valley. And I'd never be happy jet-setting across the world. I mean, I barely like to go outside some days.”

“You don't think that I could be happy here with you?” He narrowed his eyes and the tension in the air kicked up a notch.

“I don't know how I could possibly make you happy here and I don't want you to resent me for keeping you stuck in one place.”

“It's called compromise, Eric. I live here in Vale Valley with you. We live happily ever after and once in a while, we travel.”

That seemed possible and like a plan I could get behind. But still, my doubts remained. What did I have to offer that could make him happy? I shook my head. “I don't have anything to offer you here in Vale Valley.”

He took his arm away from around my shoulder and pushed away from me, sliding across to the far side of the bench. I immediately missed his touch, his closeness.

“What do you think it is that I’m looking for? I'm pouring my heart out to you here, Eric. If you don't want to be with me just say it. Don't come at me with all these excuses about how you can’t make me happy. I'll decide what makes me happy and I would appreciate if you would trust me when I say that it's you.”

“But—”

“No,” he said. “Let's not talk about it anymore, all right? Just think about what I said. C’mon on.” He held out his hand as he stood. “Let's get back to your house. We've got a big day tomorrow, and we should get some rest.”

I slipped my hand in his and walked along with him back to my apartment. A million thoughts ran through my mind of what I could say to defuse the situation, to make it better. But it was my mouth that had gotten me in trouble in the first place and I had no idea how to fix it now. In trying to keep myself safe from heartbreak, I’d managed to hurt Tony, which was the last thing I ever wanted to do.

Tony remained silent for our walk home as well and when we got back to my apartment, I went to the bedroom, but he sat on the couch.

“I'm just going to watch a little bit of TV,” he said. “I'll be in in a little bit.”

I nodded. “Thank you for today,” I said.

“You're welcome,” he said as he flipped on the TV.