“Really? What about you?”
“I can smell it real strong. I asked her what she thought it smelled like because I couldn’t put my finger on it. She said it smells like nothing.”
“I think it smells like home. Like it’s the scent of somewhere I belong.”
“I think so too,” he says, setting his glass aside and taking my hand in his. “I mean, I think that this, right here, it’s where you belong, Ava.”
“I like to think that too. That there was a reason I bought that candle and a reason it let me here, to the yoga studio for my Tarot reading and outside where I dented your car.”
“Scratched. You can’t call that a dent.”
“Dented my car, then. But regardless of which car it was, we can’t deny that a chain of events led us to each other, led me to you.”
“The gods must be smiling on us,” Duke says, taking my glass from my hand and leaning in to brush his lips to mine.
We quickly fall into the kiss, a soft sucking that turns into a deep tangling of tongues and then limbs as we lie back on the blanket and give into this beautiful magnetic tension between us. Duke’s hand slides along the outside of my thigh, finding its way underneath my dress. I’m on fire.
“Duke,” I whisper, breathless in between kisses.
“Yes, kitten?” he murmurs, his lips moving to my neck then over my chest.
“I think there’s something you should know.”
His head pops up and his brow creases. “Please don’t tell me you’re already datin’ someone back home,” he groans, sitting back up and running his fingers through his dark, messed up hair.
“No. Gosh no,” I say, almost giggling. “There’s never been anyone else, Duke.”
“Never?” His frown deepens.
“Yeah. That’s what I wanted to tell you. This…thing we’re moving toward, you’ll be my first.”
His expression softens and his brows bounce from confusion to surprise. “You’ve never had sex before, kitten?”
My cheeks heat and I shake my head slowly.
He pulls back slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell you at all, if I’m honest. It’s kind of embarrassing, you know—being twenty-nine and still a virgin.”
“What? No. I think it’s…well, I think it’s amazin’. I’m genuinely honored that you want your first to be with me.”
“You are?”
He smiles and nods. “Yeah,” he says, taking my hand in his before pressing a soft kiss against my knuckles. “But this does change things a little.”
I pull back, my stomach going tight. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just…you’ve waited so long that I’d like to do right by you.”
“I don’t think I understand.”
“You’re gonna think I’m crazy here, but just hear me out, OK?” He takes in a big breath as he looks deep into my eyes. “I think we should get married.”
I shoot to my feet. “What?”
“I know what you’re thinkin’—this guy is insane. I just met him and he’s already thinking about marriage and babies.”
“You’re thinking aboutbabies?”
