Page 73 of For Emery

I laughed.

He tugged on my hand. “Come on. The captain’s gonna take us out so we can watch the sun set.”

My feet remained planted as I gaped at Jordan.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You’re taking me on a boat?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

“Why?”

I nodded. “Yes, why?”

A confident smirk spread across his lips. “Because it’s your perfect first date.”

I laughed to myself, still amazed by how much he remembered. I let him move me to the side of the boat. I was definitely floating on cloud nine.

An older man stood by the ropes holding the boat to the dock. “Hello,” he offered us a warm smile.

“Hi,” we said as he bent down and untied one of the ropes.

“Come on,” Jordan said to me, slipping off his shoes and leaving them on the dock before stepping onto the boat.

I slipped off my shoes and followed him on board, taking in the surroundings. It wasn’t a big boat. But there was a table set up with a black tablecloth and two place settings that took up most of the back-deck area. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

He stepped up behind me and slipped his hands around my hips, pulling me back into his chest. “I’d do a lot of things for you.”

A delicious shiver rolled through me as he bent his head and pressed his lips to my neck, peppering my skin with open-mouth kisses that sent my eyes rolling into the back of my head.

“You ready to sail,” our captain asked.

Jordan lifted his head, leaving my skin bereft. “You bet.” He led me over to a cushioned bench seat at the back of the boat and we sat. He slipped his arm around my shoulders as our captain started the engine. The boat roared to life, quieting as we slowly pulled away from the dock and drifted toward the horizon.

There was a comfortable silence as we moved through the water. Trees lined both sides of the lake while the sun inched beneath the horizon in front of us. I breathed in Jordan’s scent, something that was becoming familiar again. It wasn’t the cologne he wore in high school. It was manly now. Strong. Bold. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he nervous like I was? Scared we’d mess this thing between us up?

“This is a beautiful view,” I said, trying to break the silence.

“It sure is,” Jordan said, though I could sense he was looking at me and not the sun.

I glanced to him. “Oh, you’re just full of lines, aren’t you?”

He snickered. “Only the best for you.”

“Seriously,” I said, pulling away from his arm and turning to look at him. “Is this how you treated the other girls you dated? Sunset cruises? Corny lines?”

“First of all, my lines aren’t corny.”

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering with a response.

His features sobered and his voice became serious. “Em, you’re not other girls.”

I cocked my head, calling bullshit.

“I’m serious. With you, I can be myself. My old self. The one you followed around town every day. The one you never doubted would play college football. The one—who even when he was too stupid to see what was right in front of him—you hung on for the both of us. You deserve every line. Every amazing first date. Every good thing in this world.”

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