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“You’re cute when you’re losing balance.”
“Ha. Ha,” he said, scooching in on the comfortable bench. I put my arm around his shoulder. There was a cheeseboard and a bucket of chilled wine in front of us, which our captain generously poured for us before she started the ride, standing at the tip of the gondola and giving us some privacy.
“This is so nice. Seriously, thank you,” Caleb said, clinking his wineglass against mine.
“Like I said, I wanted to do something special for you. I feel like we’ve gotten really close since we started working this case together. And I wanted you to know how much that means to me.” I made sure his gaze was locked with mine. “How much you mean to me.”
“Madds, all of this… it was all really unexpected. I wasn’t looking for any of this when I set off looking for the paintings. But I’m really glad I found you.”
I grabbed a grape and popped one in my mouth before I did the same for him, my finger lingering on his bottom lip. The eclectic collection of homes slowly floated on by, becoming a beautiful backdrop that I fully ignored. The only thing I could focus on was Caleb. His dark brown hair was freshly cut and styled, his beard trimmed, his neck shining with a thin golden necklace I had bought him.
“I never want to lose you, Caleb. Now that I’ve found this, I don’t want to lose it.” I took both his hands in mine. “We haven’t talked about it, but I want you to know that I consider this serious. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
“Good.” Caleb bit his bottom lip as he grinned. “Because I’m not letting anyone else have you.” He kissed me again, like a signature being scrawled over the dotted line.
That was it. No playing games, no more wondering, no more what-ifs. Caleb and I were officially boyfriends, and that put me directly on top of cloud nine.
I held him tighter and kissed the top of his head, smelling the flowery paste he must have used to style his hair. Tourists walked down the thin sidewalks next to the canals, some of them waving at us as we went by. There were people at home, sitting in their yards, reading and chatting over fences with their neighbors.
“So, back to those kids,” Caleb said, refilling his glass with white wine. “You were actually really good with them. Do you ever see yourself having any?”
“Damn, we just became boyfriends five minutes ago. You move fast.” Before he could protest, I kissed him. “I love it.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m just asking a question.” But he was blushing.
“I know,” I said and nudged his leg with mine. “I’ve thought about it. I think I would want one. Or two. Probably not more than that.”
“Same,” Caleb said. “Although to be honest, lately I’ve been thinking it’s less and less of a possibility.”
“And how does that make you feel?”
“I don’t know… pretty neutral? I guess not having kids or being around any means I have nothing to really base my disappointment or my want for them. I do like the idea of having a little kid to take to Disney, to relive all those experiences again through their eyes. That kind of stuff gets me.”
I had a drink of my chardonnay. The gondola took a turn into another canal, taking us under a curving bridge full of locks attached to the railings. “Would you adopt?”
“Definitely,” Caleb answered. “Not that I have anything against surrogacy. I think I’d want to go that route for the second one. But I want to give that chance to someone who needs it first. I don’t know, it’s just me.”
“It’s not just you,” I said, kissing the top of his head again, leaving my nose buried in his hair this time. “Because I think the same thing.”
He cuddled into me as we continued our trip through the canals, the wine and cheese disappearing as our conversations became sillier and sillier. By the time we reached the dock, we were debating whether or not wearing socks with sandals was a bigger sin than cargo shorts.
“I don’t know,” I said, hopping back onto dry land and helping Caleb do the same. “Cargo shorts are pretty distressing to me. Socks with sandals are kind of hot. It gives hung straight guy energy that likes to fool around sometimes.”
Caleb laughed at that. “You know what, I think you’re right.”
Our gondola captain hopped too. Literally. She was a rabbit shifter. She landed with an extra spring in her step, turning to us and accepting my tip money with a big smile.
“That was the perfect date. Thank you, Madds.”
“Thank you for being the perfect date to take.”
“The night’s not over, right?” Caleb asked, glancing at his watch. “I wouldn’t mind treating you to dinner. I might be able to get us last-minute reservations at Nobu.”
