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“You don’t sound totally sure about that,” she said, her eyes looking a little hurt.
He squeezed her hand. “I’m not sure that it’s an adequate word for how I feel about you. Or what I think we could have. Girlfriend sounds too small.”
Reese’s smile lit up her face and made Sterling want to pull her into his lap and kiss her again. “Oh! That’s why you were hesitating? Could you ask me again? Just one more time so I can hear it and know you mean it.”
“Reese, will you be my girlfriend? I feel a little bit like I’m back in seventh grade or something. Check yes or no, please.”
Reese laughed. “Is that the last time you asked someone to be your girlfriend?”
“Back then it was ‘will you go with me,’” he said, and she laughed again. “Do I need to ask you that too? Just let me know what questions you need me to ask. I’ll ask them all.”
Her eyes glittered. “All of them?”
Sterling didn’t drop his gaze. “All of them. Now, have we done enough talking? I think I’d like to do more kissing.”
“I haven’t said yes yet!” She started to protest, but he had already pulled her across the couch to him. As he began kissing her, she was still giggling.
Chapter Nineteen
Reese had always thought that the idea of pinching yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming was stupid. In your dream, wouldn’t you just dream you were still pinching yourself? It was stupid. But as she stared at herself in the mirror of her beautiful suite, the setting sun’s light filtering through the open balcony doors along with the crash of the ocean, she was tempted to pinch herself.
“This is real,” she said out loud, then made a face. That was about as dumb as pinching yourself. But she felt like she needed some kind of reality check to get her feet back on the ground.
Sterling would be at her door in ten minutes and she had been ready for almost an hour in a black dress and heeled sandals she had bought at Ross. Her makeup was done and so was her hair. Waiting made her nervous. She was second-guessing everything, but at the same time, ached to see Sterling. They had spent the day together, always touching, so having him gone felt like something had been stripped away. Yep, she needed a reality check.
Reese grabbed her phone and dialed Staci, then went out to the balcony. “Oh my gosh tell me everything, “Staci gushed instead of saying hello.
Reese laughed. She had texted Staci the day before about the trip but hadn’t called yet. “I need help, Staci. I need you to bring me back down to earth.”
Staci groaned. “You did it, didn’t you? You—”
“It? No way! I most certainly did not give up my virginity to Sterling James! Do you not know me at all?”
“You should have let me finish. I meant you did it as in you fell for him. Hard.”
“Oh, well, yes. I did do that.” Reese giggled. “I’m like hopelessly fallen off the edge of the earth deep for him. I need you to help ground me. Tell me this is stupid. Tell me to slow down.”
“Girl, from the sound of your voice, nothing I could say will possibly stop this forward motion. Also, I’m pretty sure I told you so.”
Reese sighed. “You did. Now what do I do?”
“Does he feel the same way?”
“We kissed.” Reese felt her cheeks grow warm just thinking back to the first kiss on this balcony. And then the kisses on the sofa. And then out on the beach and in the private cabana by the pool.
Staci was squealing. “Okay, calm. I’m calm now. You kissed Sterling James. Wow. So, how was it?”
“If I say ‘life-changing,’ does that make me a really sad person?”
“It probably makes you a totally smitten one. Now you know that kissing doesn’t necessarily mean he feels the same way. Did you talk about this?”
“We did. And he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes.” Reese had to hold the phone away from hear ear because of Staci’s screaming. When she finally lowered the decibel level, even slightly, Reese asked, “Where are you? At work you’d be getting fired. At home and you’re getting us evicted.”
“I’m in my car. Unimportant. You are now Sterling James’ girlfriend. Are you dying?”
“Yes. I’m in complete disbelief. Again, this is why I’m calling. I need you to talk me down to reality.”
“No way. You enjoy every second of this.”
