Page 110 of Stay for Me
“Oh! Is that from Murray’s?”
I nod. “It sure is.”
“Jacob! You got me a sandwich from Murray’s! This is only the single best grilled cheese I’ve ever had in my life. And it was once. And I . . . you remembered?”
Thank God I pay attention. “You said it was the best, so I had some brought out.”
“You had my favorite food ever delivered to a dinner in the woods. I don’t know what to say.”
“How about we eat it before it’s totally ruined.”
Every now and then it’s nice to be me, and this was one of those times. I called the owner who sent his chef here to make the grilled cheese so it was fresh. She will never know how much I just ended up paying for a sandwich, but it doesn’t matter, Brenna is happy.
She shakes her head and gets up, making her way to me. “I don’t care about the sandwich right now. I need to kiss you.” I pull her onto my lap, and her fingers are against my scruff. “This is the sweetest, most thoughtful thing that anyone has ever done for me. I love your surprise. I love . . .” She stops, leaving me to wonder how that statement was going to end. If it ends the way I expect it to, what will I say? Do I tell her that I’m falling in love with her and it scares the shit out of me? Instead of saying it, she smiles. “I love everything about this, and you’re making it really hard not to feel more for you.”
“What if I don’t want you to feel less?”
Brenna’s blue eyes are searching mine. “What do you want me to feel?”
“Special. Cherished. Desired. I want to make you smile and give you the world. This is our last weekend before we tell everyone and I want you to know what that means.”
I should tell her, but I don’t want to scare her. Fucking hell, dating is not fun.
“It means everything to me, and every time I’m with you, I feel that way. Thank you.”
“You never have to thank me for wanting to show you how I feel.”
A second later, her lips touch mine, and I never want this kiss to stop.
* * *
“I think they need to be a little closer in the shot,” Catherine instructs as she looks at the back of the camera.
I groan. “Cat, seriously. We’ve been at this for an hour.”
She glares at me and then gives Brenna a soft smile. “I’m sorry, but we need the image to say more than the story will.”
Needless to say, I was surprised to wake up to a short brunette with a bag of bagels banging on the door. Catherine had flown in to make sure I didn’t “fuck it up” with the photographer. She wants the photos to have a very specific feel to them. After a lot of arguing, we settled on which magazine will break the story. She wanted more of a newspaper, but after we talked, we both agreed on a celebrity magazine that focuses on the story and won’t sensationalize things.
And here we are, in the field with the mountains behind us and the slightest hint of sunlight on the horizon.
Brenna’s hand rests on my chest. “It’s fine. She’s thorough, if nothing else. Besides, it’s beautiful out here, and I’m getting to kiss and touch you a lot.”
I kiss the side of her head and sigh. “I guess that is the silver lining here. But we have rehearsal in fifteen minutes and opening night is in two days. Without the dictator here, the photos would have been fast.”
She leans back and looks up at me. “It’ll be fine. No matter what happens with the play, you being there is all that matters. Besides, this reminds me of our date night last weekend. Too bad you didn’t plan a bed then.”
Sometimes she says the exact perfect thing to make me smile and let it go. I’ve been worried sick over the play for the last week. The kids are getting better, but I’m terrified that it’s going to look like a joke. We sold out all three shows in under twenty minutes.
It lets you know what the hell they’re really coming for.
“And if I had?”
“We would’ve used it, of course.”
“I think we were quite inventive with the pit stop at my place.”
Brenna blushes a deep red and then buries her head in my chest.
