“Please,” she said, blushing. “Your work is what brings people in. I just made it easier to access.”
I squeezed her shoulders. “Don’t be modest.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay fine. I saved you.”
My grin widened as I dipped down to plant a kiss on her lips. Damn, it felt good to do that. Despite both of our busy schedules, Lila and I had managed to spend nearly every free minute together the past few weeks. Much to Oliver’s dismay. He had even tried—successfully—to crash our dates on several occasions. But even though it ate into his time with either of us, no one was more thrilled we were together than he was.
“Getting a tattoo today?” Shane asked.
“My first.” She shot me a nervous smile, and my chest puffed out with pride that she trusted me enough to ask me to do this.
“It’s gonna look great.” Shane walked toward the door, smacking my shoulder on his way out. “Your boyfriend is the best in the business.”
“Oh, we’re not—I mean he’s not—I mean...” Lila’s cheeks grew even redder as she stumbled over her words.
My eyebrows drew together. “We’re not what?”
“I mean, we just haven’t talked about it.” She twisted a piece of her hair in her hands.
Shane chuckled and threw me a wave goodbye. “I think that’s my cue to leave.”
The door shut behind him, allowing me to focus all of my attention on the woman in front of me, the one with whom I was completely enamored in every way.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up in front of him.” She groaned and held her forehead.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
I froze, watching her gather herself. It was moments like these where I wished I was better at all this. For my sake, sure, but mostly for hers. I hated the thought that I confused her in any way. Especially when to me, my feelings for her couldn’t be clearer.
She sighed. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure. Labels are pointless. I’m so happy with how things are going.”
I paused, not fully understanding what she meant. “Labels are pointless,” I repeated. Did she not think of me as her boyfriend? Because I had referred to her as my girlfriend numerous times, to my parents and to my coworkers. Was that not right? I had just assumed...
“Right. I’m just happy with you. With us.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “We can worry about all the other stuff later.”
“Shit. This is embarrassing.” I blew out a breath and scratched the back of my head. “I definitely thought you were my girlfriend.”
Her eyes widened. “You did?”
“Yep.” I watched her carefully, but it only took a second for a smile to creep across her lips.
She tossed her head back and laughed. “Why didn’t you say anything? I’ve been wondering when you were going to ask me for, like, two weeks.”
“Why didn’tyousay anything?” I asked, appalled that I had been so dense. I hadn’t even realized these sorts of things required a conversation.
She laughed harder. “I didn’t want to scare you off. I knew we were exclusive. That was enough for me.”
“Look at me,” I said sternly, tipping her chin up to meet my gaze. “Nothing you could do would scare me off, alright?”
She nodded, and I dipped my head down to steal a quick kiss.
“If forcibly sharing a room together in a foreign country and getting dragged to every touristy destination known to man didn’t scare me off, nothing will.”
She smirked and shook her head. “You loved it.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Now, Lila. I know I’m already the worst boyfriend in the world, but I’m hoping you’ll be able to look past this oversight.”
She bit her lip and waited for me to continue.
