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For a brief second, they broke away from their kiss for air, and they cried one another’s names, trying to invoke all the adoration and maybe even love they were feeling for one another.
“Dios mío, corazón mio, eres perfecto.”
“God, Matt, you’re perfect.”
Mateo, my name is Mateo!
But even that discordant thought could not stop his feeling of pleasure beyond measure as he continued to move in ways that continued to bring Lainey to higher and higher peaks. Her cries became undecipherable, but Mateo didn’t care. All he knew was that at any moment they were going to reach the sun together.
Every muscle in her body clamped around him.
“Yes!” she screeched.
Mateo was lost as they shot into the sun.
20
“I can’t believe you did this,” Lainey marveled as he helped her up the gangplank. “No wonder you knew we wouldn’t be late for our reservation.”
“I wanted to do something special for you, and after all the amazing meals you’ve cooked for me.”
“I’ve only cooked you three meals,” Lainey protested.
“Three meals from my home country. You don’t know how much that has meant to me.”
When she stepped onto the boat she was met by a table covered with a white tablecloth. Above it was an arbor that was filled with fairy lights. There was also a beautiful bouquet of pink roses in a low vase, so that they could still see one another across the table.
Matt pulled out a chair for her, and then, instead of sitting across from her, he sat in the seat next to her. She felt cherished. As soon as that word entered her mind, she shook her head. Surely that wasn’t Matt’s plan. She was blowing things all out of proportion.
“What? Have I done something wrong?”
Leave it to him to think he had done something wrong when he had been nothing but perfect. “No, you have done nothing wrong. I’m just amazed by all of this.” She waved her arm at the lights and the table. “I don’t want you to think this was something I would ever expect.”
“Lainey, you’ve never given me a reason to think that you expect this kind of treatment, but I wanted to do this for you. For us. I wanted a special night for the two of us.
“Well, you’ve succeeded.”
“We haven’t even started. Let’s see if the meal lives up to the hype, shall we?” He waggled his eyebrows, and she giggled.
Then, like magic, a server appeared out of nowhere and brought them their water glasses and a breadbasket of warm bread. He also handed them each a small menu. “This is what our chef has prepared for you tonight. You’re in for a treat. He has selected different wines with each dish, and you will not be disappointed.”
My God, this must be costing Matt a fortune!
As soon as the server left, Matt leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss that made her heart melt.
“What was that for?”
“Because you look beautiful sitting there with your wide eyes sparkling under the lights. But after dinner, when the music starts and we dance, I want them to turn the lights off, so it will be just us, the stars, and the moonlight.”
Lainey felt like she had been transported to a different dimension. When the first course came out with the buttery chardonnay to complement the crab, she sighed with pleasure. Next came a glass of Riesling to go with the scallops. Each course was small, each glass of wine was small, so that she was ready to sample the next scrumptious course. When the Malbec and the lobster Thermidor came out, Lainey could only eat half.
She glanced over at Matt, who had already finished his serving. “I don’t suppose I could talk you into eating this other half, could I?”
“No, take it home. It’ll be good left over,” he insisted.
“If I gave you a polygraph right now, and I asked you if you were lusting after my Thermidor, what would it say?” she asked.
“That’s not a fair question.” Matt’s voice was low and deep. “If you asked me any question with your name and lust in the same sentence, I’d break the machine.”
