Page 83 of Stay for Forever

Chapter 28

Love is a four-legged word.

Ifinish putting on my lipstick and step away from the mirror to check out the final product. Who is the sophisticated woman staring back at me? I’m wearing a blue sheath dress that hugs all my curves and high heels I’m certain are going to cause me to trip and break my ankle.

And then there’s the make-up. I hardly wear the stuff, to be honest. But now I have the whole smoky eye thing going as well as a ruby red color on my lips. Mav isn’t going to recognize me. Here goes nothing.

I make my way into the living room staring at my feet as I go to make sure I don’t trip. When Mav gasps, I look up.

His legs eat up the space between us until he’s standing in front of me. His eyes flare with heat.

“June Bug, you look beautiful.” His gaze drops to my lips and his head descends.

I smack his chest. “No! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get this make-up correct? I watched five – five! – YouTube videos about lipstick. You are not messing it up before we arrive at the restaurant.”

He groans before tugging me close and wrapping his arms around me. “I won’t ruin your make-up now, June Bug. But later.” He pauses to nip my earlobe and I melt into him. “Later, I’m going to worship every inch of your body.”

I do a full-body shiver before pushing him away. “Stop. You promised to take me out to a nice place for dinner. I’m holding you to your promise.”

“June Bug, you can hold me to the promise of worshipping every inch of your body later, too.”

I roll my eyes. “Such a man.”

He adjusts himself in his pants. “I’m definitely a man.”

“Let me say goodbye to my sweet things and then we can go.” I search the living room, but my fur babies are nowhere to be found.

“I already gave them their treats.” He points to the kitchen floor where Bark Twain and Indiana Bones are chewing on rawhide bones.

I bend down to pet them goodbye, but my dress stops me before I can come close to touching them. I hope I don’t drop anything tonight because anything on the floor is staying there. I can hardly scrunch my dress up to my waist in front of strangers. Not every place in the world is okay with nudity the way Winter Falls is.

“Bye, sweet things,” I call, but neither one of them pays me any mind. “I guess I know where I stand in priority in their lives.” It’s behind bones.

Mav places his hand in the small of my back to lead me out of the house. The material is sheer, and I can feel the heat of his body through the fabric. Suddenly, I don’t know why I insisted we go out on our date night. We can have a date night at home. Without clothes.

While I’m fantasizing about Mav taking care of business, he maneuvers me into his car. He kisses my forehead and ensures I’m buckled up before slamming the door and rushing around the front to the driver’s seat.

“Are you in a hurry?”

He growls at me. “Have you seen yourself in that dress? We need to get this dinner over before I combust.”

I giggle in delight. “And here I wasn’t confident about the dress.”

“Darling, the dress is perfect. And those shoes…” He clears his throat and switches on the ignition.

The V8 engine rumbles and I forget all the reasons why gasoline engine cars are forbidden in Winter Falls as I snuggle into the butter soft leather seats.

“Did you get dispensation to drive in Winter Falls?”

“Are you afraid Lyric is going to arrest me, and we’ll spend the night in jail?”

“One, we wouldn’t spend the night in jail as you’re the one driving. And, two, if you’re in jail, I guess I’ll have to drive this beast home.”

“You can drive my car anytime you want.”

I fast blink at his offer. “You’d let me drive your one-hundred-thousand-dollar car?”

He snorts. “The manufacturer suggested retail price on this baby is closer to two-hundred-thousand dollars.”

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