“Are you a parrot?” I tossed the box back to him. “You heard me.”
He narrowed his eyes and reached out to grab me, but I jumped up and stepped backwards. He jumped up with ease and smiled his wicked grin. “You always have to do things the hard way, don’t you?” He lunged towards me, but I slipped away.
I ran out of the room with him on my heels, dashing down the grand staircase. I rushed through the double corridors, past the parlor, and into the kitchen—hoping to hide in the two-roomed pantry. Before I could slip inside, I felt myself being lifted into the air and tossed over his shoulder.
“Next time I won’t give you a head start.” He playfully smacked my ass. He carried me outside to the pool deck and set me down on a plush lounge chair. He reached into his pocket and handed me the ring box again. “Now.”
I sighed. I flipped the box open and saw a folded sheet of paper sitting in the ring slot. “A note?”
“Read it.”
I unfolded it and cleared my throat. “Dear Ms. Gracen, on behalf of Vintage Consolidated Loan Company, we are writing to inform you that the balance on your outstanding mortgage and student loan accounts is officially zero. We are enclosing the history of payments that were recently...” I stopped reading aloud and read the rest to myself.
I felt tears forming at the corners of my eyes. “You paid off my house? And my student loans?” I felt like I needed to say it out loud to confirm it.
“I should’ve done it sooner,” he said softly.
“I—” I was speechless. “Thank you so much...I don’t even know what to—I can’t believe you—”
“Now you don’t need to work overtime and you can spend all your extra time with me. This was more so a gift for me than you.” He smiled. “Wasn’t that way better than a proposal?”
I laughed and let a few tears fall. “Thank you so much...”
“You’re more than welcome, but the next time I give you a gift and you even think about not opening it when I tell you to—”
I pressed my lips against his and bit down on his tongue. “If you’ve fulfilled your ‘I-must-make-Claire-do-whatever-I-say’ quota for the day, I would like to end your birthday properly. And by properly, I mean f**king you against this chair until you can’t walk...”
I slid a pair of shades over my eyes and lay back on a fluffy yellow blanket. I held my e-reader in front of my face and continued to read through one of my favorite books—Fahrenheit 451.
When I’d woken up this morning—exhausted from everything Jonathan and I had done last night, he’d suggested that we have a breakfast picnic at the park. I thought we were going to cook the food ourselves and bring it along, but we drove to the park.
Shortly after we arrived, trays of Belgian waffles, organic strawberries, bacon, eggs, and toast were delivered from an exclusive restaurant.
“Are you planning on reading all day?” He kissed my cheek.
“Will that be a problem?”
“Not until tonight.” He lay down next to me and took the e-reader from my hands. “You haven’t said much to me all morning. Are you okay?”
Why is he so good at noticing stuff like that? “I’m fine.”
He rolled on top of me and looked into my eyes. “The truth...”
I wish I could tell you...“Nothing’s wrong...I’ve just been thinking lately and I—Okay...I honestly like you a lot, and I know you said that I shouldn’t worry about...” I sighed. “Can I ask you something?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Why did you want to go on a date with me so badly after we’d already had sex?”
He arched his brow. “What do you mean?”
“You kept asking me to go out every day and I kept turning you down...I would think that a man would rather accept ‘no-strings-attached’ sex rather than trying to pursue—”
“I liked you the first day I saw you. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen...And there was—and still is, something about you that I couldn’t get over. When you turned me down at the grocery store and at work—not to mention standing me up after I thought you’d said yes, I decided I wouldn’t take no for an answer. The sex was exceptional, but I wanted to get to know you better.”
“But you could’ve gotten anyone.”
“I wanted you.” He kissed my lips.
“Why? You barely knew me back then. You—”
“Do you slip into these insecure ruts often?”
Is once or twice a week often? “Why?”
“Because if you do, I’m clearly not doing my job, and I need to do more to make you understand how much I care about you, how I’m willing to do anything to make you happy.”
My heart fluttered. “No, it’s not—I’m not doubting that you care. I just want to be fully prepared for when you finally wake up and realize that you and I aren’t—”
“Stop it.” He cupped my face in his hands. He pressed his forehead against mine and whispered. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever. As a matter of fact, you’ll leave me before I leave you.”