Irresistible In Love

Then she looked at him and felt the immensity of what he’d done for her, the tenderness in his gaze, the joy of having his body so close to hers, sharing this moment with her. “Thank you so much. You didn’t need to do this for me, but I’m so glad you did.”

“I needed to do something for you, just you. Remember that special we watched on PBS? You said you’d never made it down here to watch the migration, but that it was just as good to watch it on TV.”

“I was wrong. It is so much more magnificent out here.” When had they watched that show? It had to have been years ago. Maybe three or four. Yet again he’d been listening to her, storing up her likes and preferences. “You couldn’t have given me anything better.” In a way, it was like telling her he loved her. Just without the words. And it renewed all her hope that he could eventually say them.

“Here.” She shoved the glasses at him. “You have to look too.”

They sat there for an hour, maybe more, exclaiming every time there was a huge spout, pointing out new sights to each other. “Oh look,” she cried out. “There’s a school of dolphins too.” She had never felt so special. Or so appreciated.

“Are you hungry?”

“Not if I have to miss a moment of this.” A moment of sitting here beside him, sharing this special event he’d planned just for her.

He laughed. “You can have both.” Fishing his cell phone out, he made a call.

Minutes later, their driver, carrying a big basket, passed their little nook in the rocks. He disappeared down toward the beach below them.

“What have you arranged now?” Her heart raced just contemplating his next revelation.

“Another surprise.”

She adored his surprises.

He’d gone to so much trouble. And when had he organized it all? Yes, she’d seen him on the phone during the flight, but she’d thought that was work. She didn’t ask, though. It was somehow more special to simply accept that he’d been thinking of her all day.

On the way back up, the limo driver saluted them.

“It’s all ready.” Taking her hand, Evan helped her down the rock steps cut into the cliff face.

Down on the beach, it was cooler and slightly windier. She was glad she’d worn jeans and her jacket. A blanket was spread out on the sand, its corners anchored. A bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket, and the basket sat in the middle along with two extra blankets. The waves crashed on the shore, the sun heated the sand, birds flew overhead, and the whales frolicked with dolphins out in the ocean. It was perfection.

“You’re amazing.”

“I thought the whales were the most amazing thing.”

She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him quickly. Then she flopped down beside the basket. “What have we got here?”

He sat beside her, spreading one of the blankets over her legs. “To keep you warm.” He uncorked the champagne, poured some into two crystal glasses, and handed her one. Then he clinked with her. “To making sure you don’t get thirsty.” Finally, he opened the basket. “Brie and crackers. And spring rolls. And this tub looks like spinach dip.” He moved things around in the basket. “And cold, roasted chicken. Along with fruit.”

All her favorite picnic things. He’d thought of everything.

“Look at this.” He flourished a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries. “Where do you want to start?”

With him feeding her the strawberries. Her licking the chocolate off his fingers. Then he could lick it off her lips.

But as much as she wanted his touch and his kiss, this was too perfect to rush into anything physical. Just as it wasn’t the time to talk about his mother or his siblings or Whitney or his past.

She didn’t want anything bad or difficult to intrude in this special place. Only good things. Only the romance of being here with him. Only love.

“First a spring roll. Then some brie.”

He served her on china packed in the lid of the basket, with cloth napkins to wipe their fingers. She dipped a chocolate-covered strawberry in her champagne, relishing the fizz. They ate all the food out of order, talking, laughing, jumping up when they saw a whale spout above the waves. Everything was delicious.

Just being with Evan was delicious.

“So I want to know more about the crazy things you and the Mavericks did when you were teenagers. I loved hearing Susan and Bob’s stories this weekend.”

Evan dipped a bit of French bread in the scrumptious spinach dip and handed her the piece, their fingers brushing with a zing of sensual awareness. “I wouldn’t call us crazy. We were…boisterous.” He cleaned a bit of dip from the side of her mouth and licked it off his finger. Just as if he were licking her.

She laughed to cover the surge of heat through her body. “Come on. Spill.”

“Well, there was the time we were hot-rodding in Will’s souped-up Chevy. The cop barely caught us.”

“Oh no.” She put a hand over her mouth. “Don’t tell me you got arrested.”

“Not with Sebastian in the backseat. The glib SOB told the officer we’d just spent a year fixing up this baby, and we’d gotten carried away with our triumph. If anyone else said a word, the cop would probably have hauled us off to the pokey, but Sebastian had noticed the look in his eye. And the policeman simply ran his hand over the paint, said, ‘Good job, boys. I had one of these beauties when I was sixteen. But slow it down, ya hear?’ And he let us go.”