I sat down and pulled her onto my good knee, holding her tight, running my nose along the column of her neck, inhaling her like I always did. She smelled like soap and lavender, which calmed the racing in my heart, of which she was both the cause and effect.
“Okay. Kiss.”
Her lips caught mine, surrounding them, giving me only the briefest of strokes with her tongue, before she pulled back and left me wanting more.
“You’ve got six hours to prepare yourself for this evening.”
“What’s this evening?”
I held my finger up. “No, you don’t get to ask questions yet. Kiss.”
She started where she left off and this time I was ready, holding her head so I could take her deeper, tasting her, caressing her for longer than she gave me last time.
“Brooke is going to cover for you later because I’m taking you out.”
I tipped my head up and she knew the drill by now. I was enjoying this game. A lot.
“Now, the bag. I know you won’t have time to go home, so in those bags is what you’ll be wearing.”
She leaned back, looking at me with a furrowed brow. “You think it’s going to take me six hours to get ready?”
I laughed. “No, I think it’s going to take you six hours to get used to the fact that you won’t be on call and have the evening off.”
She softened in my arms, her face dropping ever so slightly. “I can take the evening off; I don’t work all the time.”
“I know, but this way you have the afternoon to prepare for taking the evening off.” I grinned at her. “And I thought you’dwant to work on your birthday, but I want to have a proper wake up with you on your birthday morning, so Brooke will be covering your rounds too.”
Her eyes opened wide, the dark amber softening into gold as they glistened with emotion. “I’m so lucky.”
“You are, but not as lucky as me.” I kissed her again, this time with no end in sight planned, until her pager went off.
She looked down at it and groaned. I shifted her to standing before she had time to tell me she had to go.
I stood up next to her. “Okay, I’m going to go home and leave you to continue being brilliant. I’ll be back later to pick you up. Seven p.m. sharp. Be ready, Marks.”
She ran her hands up the back of my neck. “Thank you, Lex. Can’t wait. I love love you.”
I walked out with her, heading toward the elevators as she went off to the patients’ unit, and I stole one more kiss before we parted ways.
“See you later, baby. Have a good afternoon.”
When I turned back around, I clocked Doctor Reyes staring from across the reception area, his jaw twitching from how hard he was clenching it. He plastered on the fakest smile I’d ever seen as I saluted to him.
That guy was such a fucking douche.
Ralphie pulled up in front of Little Owl, a tiny restaurant in the Village that served the best meatballs on the planet, and tonight I’d managed to swing it so it would be just ours. Through the windows, I could see the giant balloons which adorned every chair rising above the curtains along thelower windows, so passers-by couldn’t peer in. Also blocking Molly’s view from what was waiting inside.
“Here?” Her head spun from looking out of the car to back at me, her thick lashes fluttering in excitement, the sparkly stuff she’d put on her eyelids catching the light and twinkling.
In fact, every part of her sparkled. She looked so fucking beautiful.
Even though I’d known what she was going to be wearing, I was unprepared for how she’d look in it; like a fucking knockout, hitting me harder than anything Anthony Joshua could deliver. She was in a knee-length dress of navy-blue sequins, which puffed up at the bottom in a way that made her legs appear infinite, and with the sky high heels she was wearing, I’d need a ladder to get to the top. And aside from her knees and calves, there was no skin on show, only making me more desperate to find a patch and touch it, stroke it, lick it, taste it. Taste her.
Freddie had helped me pick it out, and I made a mental note to send her a giant bouquet of flowers, or giant vat of coffee, as a thank you, because I would never have managed to come up with anything as perfect.
But I’d picked out what she had on underneath. Underneath… I tried not to think about what was underneath, because otherwise dinner would be very uncomfortable. It might have been her birthday, but I’d definitely given myself a present.
“Yeah.” My grin mirrored hers.
