Page 141 of Don't Look Back

“No. You left it on the nightstand.”

She turned and saw her phone was indeed charging next to the bed.

They made love to celebrate passports and engagements and afterward lay together, making plans for their life together. “I have another gift for you.”

She smiled dreamily and ran her hand down his sculpted body. She’d attempted to paint him a few times now. She still wasn’t satisfied she’d done him justice, but he was an inspiring artist’s model. “I’m going to need at least a few minutes’ recovery time.”

He chuckled. “Not that.” He rolled over and reached into the nightstand. “I figure it’s not every day someone turns thirty-seven for the second time, so I wanted to make this birthday special.”

“You might want to be careful with that. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve also turned thirty-eight and thirty-nine. You could be setting a dangerous precedent.”

He shrugged. “I can handle it.” He handed her the papers. “Now that you have a new passport, how would you like to spend your second thirty-seventh birthday in Italy?”

She jolted. “Really?” She looked at the papers, multiple hotel reservations. “Florence and Rome?”

“I sort of crashed your last vacation. I was thinking I owed you a new one.”

She laughed. “You can crash my vacation any time.” She looked at the dates. Ten days in Italy. “The Navy is giving you leave?”

He nodded. “The trip to Malta…didn’t really end up being leave, and the dates land right between my transition from the teams to NSWC.”

She kissed him and held the papers to her chest. She and her fiancé were going toItaly. In one month.

He grinned. “I was thinking I might set a book in Italy. So we can call it a research trip.”

She laughed. “We probably need to buy art while we’re there. For research.”

“I’m not sure I can justify that, tax-wise.”

“It’s okay. You can hold on to it and give it to me for my second thirty-eighth birthday next year.”

“Oh, Ihavecreated a dangerous precedent.”

“Too late. No backsies.”

He ran a hand over her butt. “Speaking of…”

She laughed and pushed him onto his back and slid on top of him. She kissed him deeply and then gave a happy sigh. “I love you, Rand. All I really want is to be with you. I don’t need art or trips or anything but you to be happy.”

He ran a hand down her spine. “Same. But also, seeing your face light up as you look at art that speaks to you is my favorite thing in the world. I want to take you not just to Italy, but everywhere. So I can share your joy.”

She brushed her lips over his. “Okay then. Let’s travel the world together.”

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