Chapter 22

Julie pulled her overnight bag onto her bed and placed her clothes inside. She didn’t actually plan on wearing any clothes tonight. Not even the black lace lingerie she’d packed. She glanced down at the long-sleeved shirt and jeans that she was wearing, hiding the naughty surprise underneath. She couldn’t wait to see Lawson’s reaction to this. Or his reaction when he found the note she’d hidden strategically on her body. He was a man who wasn’t comfortable talking about his feelings, and that was okay. She wanted him to know how she felt, though. Instead of saying those three little words that had been true for a while, she’d written them on a pink square Post-it note.

With a giddy shrug of her shoulders, she zipped her overnight bag and headed to the front door. Ten minutes later, she rang Lawson’s doorbell. Before she could process the door opening, he’d pulled her into his arms and shut the door behind them, laying her bag on the floor and pressing her against the closed door with his rock-hard body. “Hard” being the key word.

“I think someone missed me,” she teased, letting her hands rest on his shoulders.

“Like a drug,” he said. “If I ever had any interest in drugs.” He kissed her neck. The stubble along his jawline tickled and aroused her.

“Let’s go to the bedroom,” she suggested.

He pulled back and grinned. “Sounds like someone missed me, too. But not so fast, cowgirl. I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Um-hmm. I cooked you dinner.” His hands slid down to rest on her waist.

Dinner? She wasn’t hungry for food. She was hungry for him. But there was a proud spark in his eyes. “You didn’t have to do that, Lawson.”

“Yes, I did.” He grabbed her hand now and pulled her toward the kitchen, where she could smell the aroma of something wonderful—something other than Lawson’s cologne. He pulled out a barstool and picked her up under her arms. She laughed lightly as he set her down, then handed her a glass of wine that he had waiting for her on the kitchen counter.

“You relax,” he ordered. The order didn’t rub her wrong the way it had in the past.

Then he slipped a camouflage USMC apron over his neck and winked back at her as she laughed again. Either the wine was going to her head at record speed, or he was. He flipped the steak in the frying pan and grabbed a large wooden spoon to stir a saucer of black beans. Beans wouldn’t exactly go with the romantic evening she had planned, she thought, sipping more wine. As he worked, she let her gaze drop to the fit of his low-riding jeans. They wouldn’t exactly go with what she had planned, either.

Lawson glanced back over his shoulder. “You’re mentally undressing me right now.”

Her mouth fell open and she nearly dropped her wineglass. Shaking her head, she contradicted herself. “Yes, I am.”

“I was thinking after dinner we’d watch one of those old black-and-white movies you like. I picked up a few after I left the grocery store.”

Her heart sank, as did the smile on her face.

He set the wooden spoon down and stepped toward her, kissing her mouth for a long moment. “I suppose we could watch it in bed afterward.”

“You mean after you undress me and find the surprise I have waiting for you?” she asked.

He pulled back and looked at her, his blue eyes darkening. “For me?”

“Let’s just say I’m wearing layers,” she said, biting her lower lip.

He groaned. “You don’t play fair, Ms. Chandler. Here I am doing my best to make you feel special.” He ran a soft finger along her cheek. “Now it’s going to be torture to sit through a candlelight meal.”

“Aww. You bought candles?”

He smiled. “I also made dessert. It involves chocolate.”

“You do make me feel special, Lawson.” Julie held her tongue from saying what she wanted to say next. That she loved him. Loved him so much it felt like she might implode with all the warm, snuggly, hot and bothered feelings she had coursing through her. She wanted those words to be part of her surprise.

“Good. And I’m glad everything went okay in Charlotte today. I was worried about you.” Something shifted in his expression.

He wouldn’t have to say he loved her back. She didn’t need to hear it to know it was true. Here he was cooking for her, treating her like a queen. He’d worried about her today. His actions spoke volumes. He loved her, too.

“I’m sorry I worried you. I needed to do this on my own, though.”

He tipped her chin toward him and kissed her mouth again. “I’m proud of you.” Then he turned back to the stove and continued cooking, dancing slowly to the soft music she hadn’t even realized was playing in the background.

Her throat was suddenly tight, thinking about what she’d done earlier. She was proud of herself, too. Damn proud. Nobody’s doormat anymore. This was how she deserved to be treated from now on—like she mattered.

“Thank you,” she said, staring at Lawson’s back. Her words were so soft that she doubted he could hear her over the sizzle of the frying pan and the vent above the stove. “I love you,” she added quietly. Then she sipped her wine and let her eyes continue downward, back to those low-riding jeans with the silky black boxers playing peekaboo.

Lawson lit the candle on the table between them and sat. “This is about as romantic as this cowboy gets.”

“It’s nice. Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He lifted his fork and started to cut his steak, his hands a little shaky. He was out of his element here. A date for him usually consisted of going to a restaurant and paying the bill. He’d put in extra effort here, buying candles and groceries. He’d spent an hour cleaning his home before she’d come over, too.

So this is what it felt like.

“It’s good,” Julie said.

“You wouldn’t let me go with you today, so I wanted to do something. To show you that I was thinking about you. You’re sure he didn’t hurt you?” He ran his gaze over her one more time.

Julie smiled softly, her colors beautiful against the glow of the candle. “I’m fine. Daren said he’d give me a good reference when Mr. Banks calls him.”

“How’d you manage to get him to agree to that?”

Julie shrugged. “I turned the tables on him.”

“Well, let Mr. Banks call me and I’ll talk his ear off about all your positive qualities.”

“Thanks. I know Allison wants me to have the job, but I think I could still be a hard sale to Mr. Banks.”

Lawson looked up. “Why is that?”

“The whole yoga thing. He still doesn’t exactly seem impressed with the idea. Even if he does think coming to my class that night saved his life.”

Lawson reached out and stroked her hand on the table. “Well, he’s as big a fool as I was when I first joined your class.” The simple touch made him want to feel more of her in his arms. “You won me over. I’m sure you’ll do the same to Mr. Banks. Well, not exactly the same.”

She lifted a brow. “Did I mention that I have a surprise for you?”

He was only halfway done with his meal, but he set his fork down. The huskiness of her voice told him her surprise wasn’t wrapped in paper. Even Lawson Junior had a sense of what her surprise was. “What kind of surprise?” he asked.

“Oh, you know…” She moved her food around on her plate, looking up at him under her dark lashes. “I wrote you a note.”

And his libido took a kick to the groin. “A note?” he asked, trying not to sound disappointed. He’d read her wrong. Her surprise was sweet, not sexy. “Can I read it?”

Julie’s lips curled softly. “Yes. But you’ve got to find it first.”

His libido kicked back up. “Where is it?”

She shrugged a shoulder, still swirling her fork on her plate. Finally, she set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. “It’s hidden somewhere on my body.”

His pants tightened around him. He stood.

“You haven’t finished eating yet.” Her eyes widened.

“Oh, I’m finished here. I need to do a thorough search for this note you wrote me. Sounds important.” And he needed to get his hands on her. Pulling her up to stand, he kissed her, pressing his hands around her waist. He played with the hem of her shirt for a moment and then pulled away from the kiss to lift it over her head. “Mmm,” he moaned, laying eyes on her black lace bra. “Now there’s a surprise.” He liked the image, but not nearly as much as seeing her with nothing on. He kissed her softly again, running his hand along her sides. “This could take a while. I might need to lay you down.”

“The bedroom?” she asked.

“Too far away,” he growled. If he had to wait one more second he was going to explode. “Here. Now.” He dropped to his knees on the floor beside the kitchen table and started to peel off the rest of her clothing. Unbuttoning her jeans, he ran his thumb over her navel. “Not there,” he said, looking for this note of hers. He continued searching, and kissing, stroking. “Not there…Nope.” He pulled her down on the floor with him, loving how she looked in black lace and candlelight. His eyes stopped searching when he met hers. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”

“I know I feel beautiful when you look at me that way.”

He hovered over her. “Then I’ll keep looking at you. Now where is this note?” He looped a finger in the strap of her bra, making it fall and revealing the Post-it. “Aha,” he whispered, meeting her gaze again.

She lifted a hand to stop his. If he wasn’t mistaken, she suddenly looked nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just, you’re a man who prefers not to talk about his feelings. So, instead of talking, I thought…” She pulled that pouty lower lip of hers between her teeth.

“Can I read it?” he asked.

She nodded. “Okay.”

Unfolding the paper, he held the note up against the flicker of light from the table. I love you. Three small words. Lowering his body back over hers, he kissed her mouth.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know how I—”

Silencing her with another kiss, he stopped her nervous chatter. Then he pulled back and looked at her, as serious as he’d ever been. “I love you, too, Julie.”

He’d never said those words to a woman before. Never felt this way about a woman before. “I don’t mind talking about my feelings when it comes to how I feel about you. I love you,” he repeated, loving how easy it was to say. “I’ve said it. And now I’m going to love every inch of you, if that’s okay with you, darling.”

She smiled. “Only if I can do the same to you.”

His jeans were so tight now that the only thing to do was take them off. He unbuttoned and stripped down. Then they made love on the floor, and the couch. The shower. By the time they found their way to his bed, they were so spent that the only thing to do was hold on to one another, which was fine by Lawson. He planned on holding on to Julie longer than just tonight. A lot longer.