Besides, it's only a few more hours before I can see Nate again.I can manage that.
Chapter20
I'm exhausted by the time the ball comes to an end, but that doesn't stop the excitement from growing within me as I make my way down to the kitchen and knowing that Nate is there waiting for me.
It's two in the morning, and no one else is here, but the light from the smaller kitchen is still on, making my heart skip a beat.I pause in the doorway to watch Nate as he looks over everything, moving around with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what he's doing in this space.
Nate looks up and smiles at me, making the whole world slip away.I never expected to feel like this about anyone, even Nate, and yet there's no doubt that he has me captivated in the best way.
"Hey," he says.
"Hi," I respond as I make my way into the kitchen.He's changed out of what he was wearing at the ball, but looks no less handsome for it."Thank you for coming to dance with me," I say as I slip my arms around him.
"I'm glad you liked it."He kisses the top of my head."I was a little worried when Veronica suggested it."
"There's only one thing that would have made it better."
"Oh?"
I look up at him."I wish you could have kissed me."
"We can change that now," he murmurs.
"I did hope you would say that."
He leans in and brushes his lips against mine.
I don't stop at a fleeting kiss, and respond by deepening it, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.His hand rests on my lower back, reassuring and firm.After a lifetime of not wanting people to really touch me, I find that I want him to do more of it.
The kiss ends, but I don't move out of his arms.I don't want to.
"Better?"he asks.
"Yes."I look up at him.
"Are you going to let go of me so that I can give you your birthday present?"he asks.
"What if I say no?"
He laughs."Then you can't have it."
"You know you didn't have to get me anything, right?"
"You're the one who says that you give gifts to those you love," he says."And you'd never let my birthday pass without sending me a present.I know that, I have five and a half years' worth of them that arrived even when we were apart."
"I wanted you to know that I was thinking about you."
"I know."He brushes a strand of hair out of my face."And I want you to know that I'm thinking about you now."He pulls back, and I let him go, partly because I'm curious about what he's gotten for me.
He heads past a collection of ingredients and hands me a wrapped package.
Curiously, I pull off the ribbon and unwrap it, revealing a beautifully embroidered apron with tiny cakes and spoons stitched along the hem.I know that this kind of thing has to have cost him a lot, the work is exquisite."Nate..."
"Don't say it's too much," he counters."I traded for the embroidery.I make one of the maids' bread for her family every week, and she did this for me."
"It's beautiful.I've never had one of my own."
"I know, you've just been using one of the aprons from down here.But now you don't have to."He takes it from me and shakes it out so that he can put it over my head."Turn around?"
