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Billie’s face when we pulled up in front of the bed and breakfast was priceless. She looked happy, impressed, in spite of herself. I grinned to myself. “What do you think?”
It was a warm, rustic looking place, the kind that had a sort of old-fashioned charm not because it was legitimately working poorly or run down but because it was styled to look that way. When we walked inside, we found a large, spacious downstairs area with a warm fire going and a giant, beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner. Everything was done up in the kind of Victorian style—I remembered it from a book that my mom had every Christmas, all about how the Victorians did things. Apparently, thanks to A Christmas Carol by Dickens, the Victorians lost their goddamn minds over Christmas.
“What do you think?” I whispered.
Billie smiled, looking shy, almost. “I love it. I think it’s beautiful.”
The woman at the reception desk looked up at us and smiled as we walked over. “Hi, welcome! You have a reservation?”
“Ah, yes, Transcom, for two. We have the suite?” It had only been a little more expensive to get the suite, and it was going to be worth it for Billie’s face when she saw it, for getting that extra big of comfort.
“Of course! Welcome.” We signed in, and the lady gave us our key, and we got our luggage up to the room.
Billie’s face when we walked into the room was just what I’d hoped it would be. The room was comfortable and cozy, smelling like pine and cinnamon—Christmas scents—and there were some chocolates waiting for us on the pillows.
“This is amazing!” Billie burst out, grinning and turning around, trying to see all of it, almost like a kid again. “Pike, seriously, you didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course, I did.” I set our bags down as Billie turned to look at me, beaming, her whole face lit up. “I wanted to do something for you, babe. To show that you’re special—to show that I’m—fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m not good with words.”
“What are you talking about?” Billie grinned at me. “You’re the most charming person I know.”
“Flirting, yeah, but, saying shit from the heart…” I shrugged. “I want you to know that I’m serious. About us. I wanted to do something nice for you. Something to show how much you mean to me. I want you to feel special. Spoiled, even.”
Billie’s gaze softened. “Pike.”
She walked up to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me softly. My hands fell to her waist automatically. It was automatic to touch her at this point, to have her reach out to me and have me reach back.
“You didn’t have to do this to make me feel special,” she told me. “But I’m really, really touched. It does make me feel special. Thank you.”
She kissed me again, slow and deep, and it felt like my heart was sliding out of me and into her, lodging there forever.
“You should enjoy this,” I said, playfully pushing her away. “There’s a gigantic jacuzzi for the tub, to start with.”
Billie’s eyes lit up with delight and she darted into the bathroom. “Not too long!” I warned her. “I made dinner reservations for us!”
I heard the water starting up and grinned, taking off my clothes to join her. Finally, we could relax and enjoy the luxury of time alone, of a warm gigantic bath, just be stupid romantics for a little while.
When I came into the bathroom, Billie was already lying in the tub, her head resting back on the lip of it, jacuzzi jets bubbling. She looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, like ten pounds of stress had fallen away. I hadn’t even realized just how much stress she’d been carrying until now that I saw it gone.
We were going to figure this out, I vowed to myself. There was no way I was going to continue letting her be so withdrawn and stressed all the time, especially not over me. I wanted our relationship to be a source of happiness for her, not a source of frustration.
I slid into the bath with her and Billie gasped in surprise. I chuckled. “What, did you think I was going to leave you here all on your lonesome?”
Billie relaxed as I pulled her into my arms, kissing her temple. “I thought you were going to do something else while I soaked in here.”
“Oh, I’m going to do something all right,” I promised her, kissing her jaw this time.
Billie turned in my arms, making the water slosh a little, and rested her hands on my chest, her thumb swiping back and forth over the tattoo. “You never did tell me why you got it.”
“I mean, I thought it was obvious. A star? Lone Star State?”
