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I turned us south on 19th again toward our first destination. “You told me you’ve lived here a year already, right?”
“Give or take.”
“Anybody who comes to this city should take a day to see the sights, and that’s what we’re doing today.”
Instead of arguing, this time she pulled herself closer to my side for a few steps. “What sights are on our tour today?”
“The usual: the White House, the Capitol Building, the monuments—just a nice hike around the Mall.”
“You’ve been here four times as long. In that time, how many of the Smithsonian museums have you visited?”
I was stuck for an answer to that one. “None yet, but I’ve had a lot of weekend work.”
She stopped with me to wait for the walk light at the next intersection. “It’s only fair that I give you, I mean us, the museum tour, then.”
“Fair enough. Another day.”
* * *
Kelly
The sun was high,and we’d just finished the Lincoln Memorial after visiting the Washington, Jefferson, FDR, Korean War, and several other memorials I was already forgetting the names of.
Adam led the way out, stopping at the steps leading down. “Sit right over here, against the column.”
I had no idea what we were doing, but I settled down where he told me to.
He also sat on the marble step and put a strong arm around me. “See how everything lines up?” He pointed out toward the reflecting pond, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol beyond.
It was cute, but his arm around me reminded me the real reason we were here, and it wasn’t marble buildings with solemn engravings. This was about spending time together, us time, and I was grateful for it.
“Do you see it?”
I nodded, but where he saw an alignment of structures, I saw an alignment of paths. His path and mine had crossed, and come into an unlikely alignment—one that felt very right.
“Did you know the Washington Monument is still the tallest stone structure in the world?”
“I didn’t know that.” I also didn’t particularly care at this moment. “You’re talking too much.” What mattered to me was that we’d been able to bridge the family issues that had kept us apart. Now that I got to spend time with him, the setting didn’t matter, just the company.
He was quiet for a few seconds. “Sorry, I do that when I’m nervous.”
“Nervous? Why?”
His face came to mine, a mere inch away. “Because I don’t want to blow it with you.” The words roared over me like a tidal wave. He cared about me, us.
I closed the distance to initiate the kiss.
The people around us disappeared in a fog, and nothing mattered except the hold he had on me and his admission that he cared. The pine scent of his hair and the taste of his lips had me wishing we weren’t in public.
In what was becoming a signature move for him, his thumb traced the side of my boob. The sparks hadn’t subsided, and instead they intensified as each kiss had me yearning for more of his touch.
Eventually, I broke the kiss, fearing I might rip his clothes off. “You’ll only blow it if you don’t feed me.”
“We can’t have that.” He rose and pulled me up.
After a stop at the refreshment building south of the Memorial, I followed him and the food I needed to a spot on the grass north of the reflecting pool. We didn’t have a blanket to lie on, but otherwise this was the perfect picnic lunch.
We fed each other in the shade of a tree as we watched the tourists wander by. We guessed at where the groups came from and made bets on which way they’d look next.
