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“We’re not eating in here.”
“We’re not?”
“Nope,” he slyly smirks, “I’ve got a surprise for you. Just bring the wine,” he says as he lifts the tray. It looks heavy, and immediately, I want to offer to hold it. I'm not sure he should be exerting his injured arm this much. I bite my tongue because I know it's a sore topic for him.
“Could you get the door?” He asks.
“Sure,” I open it. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
We get into the elevator, and he presses the button for the rooftop where the pool is. I feel his eyes watching me as I hide my excitement. The doors open, and he leads me past the pool to a small section of tables. My feet slow, and I almost drop the wine.
I look up at him. “Julian...” I’m speechless. And that’s when I feel my feet slip and tumble down the slippery slope called falling in love.
Chapter 32
Poppy
What’s in front of me is the thing of fairy tales or a Hallmark movie. Is it possible my injured soldier is actually a romantic at heart?
There’s a table with two chairs entirely set like a five-star restaurant, white napkins and all. A vase with red poppy flowers is placed in the middle.
“You got poppy flowers?” I gape.
Julian steps forward. “It seemed more fitting than roses,” he replies, putting the plates with his spaghetti and meatballs on the placemats.
Twinkle lights sparkle overhead, creating the perfect mood lighting.
“I know we can't go out yet,” Julian meets my eyes with a warning that this secret is temporary, “but that doesn’t mean we had to stay stuck inside.”
“You shouldn’t have done this. It’s too much,” I take one hesitant step forward. If I walk closer, I'm scared I’ll wake up to find this all a dream.
He closes the distance and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “The fact that you think this is too much tells me you've never dated a real man before.”
He’s right. I only ever dated a monster. There are so many things Andrew did that I excused. I blamed his actions on me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, yet I kept making excuses.
Julian slowly puts his index finger under my chin and tips my face up. “I like you, Pumpkin. A lot. So, if I want to go out of my way to show you how special you are to me, you better get used to the shock and awe,” his pupils dilate.
“I’ll try to get used to it,” I whisper. I push up on my toes to meet his lips. “But this is going to make your job so much harder. How are you going to out-plan this date?”
“I wanted our first date to be special. Refined like your wine. Don't worry, we’ll have beer and liquor other times, but I’m going to surprise you now and then,” he responds.
I press my lips harder against his and slip my tongue inside. Kissing Julian Sterling is like stepping into a dream. It’s wonderful, thrilling, and makes you never want to wake up.
He guides us to the table and even pulls out my chair. “So, I have to admit Kent helped me with the lights,” he rounds the table and sits down. “He said ladies love the twinkly shit.”
“Twinkly shit,” I repeat with a chuckle.
“You know what I mean.”
“They do add something,” I look up at them. My smile feels like it's stretching ear to ear.
“I talked with Kent, too. He won’t make any more jokes about us, either. At least not at work.”
We both pick up our forks and begin to eat. My first bite is heavenly; the oregano with the pasta sauce makes it taste so fresh.
“Did you really cook this?”
