Page 78 of The First Time

“I couldn’t stop laughing,” she giggles in delight.

We walk downstairs where we end up playing with her toys for a while. Then we settle down with some fruit and a TV show before bed. Josh gives her a kiss on the cheek before I take her upstairs.

She’s an easy kid who just needs a nighttime story and a kiss before bed. When I walk back down, Josh has two glasses of wine waiting.

He hands me one.

“Thank you,” I reply. “Would you like to sit out on the dock? I have the monitor so we can see if she gets out of bed.”

“Sounds great.”

We walk outside and down to the dock, where two adirondack chairs are positioned at the end. We take a seat together and look out at the beautiful sunset on the water.

He leans in until I smell his delicious cologne. “Cheers,” he says. “To our first joint babysitting venture together.”

I clink our glasses together and laugh. “We should start a business together. How much do you think they’re paying us for tonight?”

“It better be at least twenty an hour. I’m no fool at what the going rate is these days.”

I chuckle and take a sip of my wine. “Mmm, this wine is so good, but I miss my friend’s wine.”

“Oh, you got a wine person?” he asks slightly sarcastically.

“Shut up, it’s not like that. I met her at this networking event years ago. She’s in the wine business and obviously works with restaurants. But she lives in Cleveland, so I don’t get to see her very often. She just knows all of the good wine.”

“Well, why don’t you just buy the bottles she recommends?”

“It’s not that easy. She will recommend bottles that aren’t sold in our local liquor store. Although, I should call her up and tell her I want her to send me another case of bottles.”

“A case? That sounds like an alcoholic talking right there.”

“Oh, stop it. That is very common in the wine world.”

After we finish our glasses, he keeps looking at me funny. Could it be that he’s drunk?

No, that’s ridiculous. We only had one glass.

“Come here,” he says as he pats his leg.

“What?”

“Come here. I want to snuggle with you and watch the sunset.”

Swoon. I literally don’t think I can handle the way he talks to me so openly. I shiver a bit as I sit on his lap and lie back.

He wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek.

“Are you cold?” he whispers.

“It’s you,” I admit.

“Me? I make you cold?” he asks in confusion.

I turn my head up and look at him. “No, you make me shiver. Everything you do or say can make my body react like I’m seventeen again.”

We both exchange this intimate embrace with our gaze as the world around us fades away. The moment transcends words. It’s a silent conversation between the two of us, where our eyes reflect our soul’s deepest thoughts and feelings.

My heart races as my body is ignited with a spark that only he knows how to light.

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