Page 92 of Forever Yours

Julien invaded my space and trapped me against the table. He reached around to pluck one of the roses from the vase.

“Did you know that lavender roses represent desire and love at first sight?”

I did now. Everything Julien had been doing, from the poems to the videos of the sunrises to the types of flowers he gave me, all held meaning. A significance.

I took the de-thorned stem from him and sniffed its fragrance.

“Are you remembering the rose petals in our hotel room on Valentine’s?” he asked.

“Yes.”

It was the first time Julien and I made love.

I sealed my lips to his, tasting their softness.

“Thank you for this.”

“My pleasure, Angel. You ready to eat?” he murmured against my mouth, kissing me again and again until I was dizzy and breathless.

My stomach perked up at the mention of food.

“What are we having?”

He pulled a chair out for me like a gentleman, and I swooned into it.

“I may have called and begged Pete to give me his recipe for your favorite pot roast.”

He walked over to the oven, grabbed the oven mitts, and pulled a casserole dish out.

Pete owned Ruby’s Diner, our favorite haunt back home. I couldn’t believe Julien had called him just so he could make my favorite meal.

My heart went full-on Grinch and grew three sizes bigger. “Julien, Jesus, you’re killing me.”

“In a good way, I hope.”

He set down the dish and went back for plates and utensils.

“In the best way.”

“Not a lot of drink choices.” He held up a large bottle of Perrier. “We got rid of all the alcohol, so I hope you don’t mind sparkling water.”

Tossing out all the booze proved that Jayson was serious about getting his act together.

I looked around, expecting to see him pop around the corner at the smell of food. We’d left the pool complex at the same time, but he drove his truck, so should’ve gotten here before I did.

“Where are the guys?”

Julien kissed the top of my head when he set the water down in front of me.

“Out to give us some privacy.”

He sat down across from me. The round table was small enough that it was easy to reach across and hold hands.

“To your first day on the job.”

With our free hands, we held up our sparkling waters and clinked them together in a toast. I didn’t care how cheesy it was.

“How did it go?” he asked, lifting the aluminum foil off the casserole. Steam billowed a delicious aroma.

---