Page 89 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“I’m not saying move in, but just keep doing what we’ve beendoing.” He trails kisses down my throat and peels the dress back, kneading mybreast. “Eating together, sleeping together, learningeach other.”

I can barely focus on his words with his hand at my breastand his eyes so intent on my face. Suspecting that’s what he’s counting on, Iforce myself to pull back until his hand drops away.

“I know this whole trip put the cart before the horse,” Isay, pulling my dress and my sanity back into place. “But I’d rather take ourtime.”

“You want to stop sleeping together?” he asks, hisexpression unchanging. “We can do that.”

“Oh, hell no.” I reach between us to palm him through hispants. “Give this up when I just learned to ride it?”

He smiles and caresses the cleft in my chin, his eyessoftening. “Then tell me what you want.”

I shrug, feeling self-conscious for some reason. Maybebecause it exposes the girl who through the yearsstopped believing in fairy tales but now finds herself in the arms of a prince.

“I want us to make plans and to feel anticipation as I getdressed, knowing the doorbell will ring and it’s you. I want to kiss yougoodnight and get the chance to miss you when you’re gone. I want to wonderwhen I’ll see you again.” I run a hand over the backof my neck. “It’s silly, I—”

“I’d like that, too.” He kisses my nose, smiling. “I want tospoil you.”

I tip back on his lap and laugh. “I hope you don’t expect meto stop you.”

A knock on the door interrupts whatever we would have saidnext. It creaks open to show Yari with her hand over her eyes.

“I’m not looking.” She peers through the crack of herfingers. “I mean, maybe a little.”

I swing my legs over and off Naz’s lap and straighten out mydress. “Nothing to see here.”

“If you say so.” She turns back toward the door. “I came tofind you because they’re about to cut the cake.”

“Oh, yay.” I move to follow her, but Naz pulls me up short.

“Hey, about what you asked for,” he says, his smile asdazzling as the chandeliers out front. “I’m going to court you like youdeserve.”

“You old school.” I laugh. “And old-fashioned.”

“You like it.” He pulls me toward the door. I dig my heelsin, stopping so that he turns a querying look to me. Ilook straight into his eyes. No teasing. No humor. No confusion or even guilt.

“I like you,” I say, squeezing his hand foremphasis.

“I know,” he says, stepping out into the hall and leading metoward the music drifting from the dance floor. “I mean, I got to third basewith you the night we met, so I figured.”

“Oh, my god!” My cheeks go hot, despite the fact that we’ve done much freakier things sincethat night on the roof senior year. “Mama would have plucked me like a chickenif she’d caught us.”

“Cliff caught us instead.”

I’m silent, letting the prickly situation with Cliff stillahead nick my happy bubble for a second.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make itwork with Cliff.” He lifts my chin and searches my eyes. “You trust me?”

The confidence and earnestness in his eyes settle the unease gripping my heart, even if only for thenext few minutes. How could I not trust him? I nod and lean into him for ourlast few steps into the main room. We melt into the crowd that’s waiting andwatching the stage. He pulls me close, my back to his front and his arms linkedover my middle.

“Good evening, everyone,’” Lotus says from the stagepositioned in the middle of the room. She wears a white floor-length cape dressthat bares one shoulder. “Thank you for traveling to celebrate Kenan’s birthdaywith us.”

Kenan stands beside her, watching her with so muchadoration, I feel like a voyeur. Like an interloper observing something sointimate between them, even though it’s just a glance. I wonder how long itwill take for me to look at Naz that way.

Unless I already do?

Two servers wheel a huge, multi-tiered white cake onto thestage.

“Before we cut this masterpiece of a cake,” Lotus says, “Iwant to make a toast to my husband, my best friend, my soul mate.”