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“Sorry.” I rubbed my eyes from the stupor, and Lizzie’s touch stilled.
“What’s going on?” she probed, moving to kneel before me. As soon as my eyes met her gaze, I softened again and patted my thigh, helping her up to sit on my lap.
“It’s happening this time,” I admitted softly, twisting my arms around her waist until she was pressed against me. “I deploy in March for two months.”
“We have some time then,” Lizzie muttered before kissing my forehead. “Do you think I should wear my black dress or the blue one?”
I leaned back, gaping at her. “How are you being so calm about this?”
Her sparkly red fingernails scratched the stubble on my jaw while Lizzie grinned at me. “I love you, Noah.”
I took my right hand from her thigh and held it around the back of her neck, pulling her face to mine while kissing her. Lizzie’s lips were warm, soft from the shower, and perfectly parted for my mouth and tongue to pour every emotion I felt into her delicate skin. I could’ve stayed there forever, but we were going to celebrate Lizzie’s promotion, and I wouldn’t have missed honoring her for a second.
“Blue dress,” I answered her earlier question with a grin.
Fortunately, it was only the pre-dinner cocktail hour that we stumbled into half an hour late. I swore I tried getting us out of our bedroom on time, but Lizzie was persistent and impossible to refuse in that blue dress. I was still humming from the high of her body as she greeted coworkers and board members, smiling and laughing while intertwining our fingers. I felt strangled in the suit and tie, but Lizzie kept telling me she liked the way my butt looked, so it must’ve been doing something for me.
“Do you want something to drink?” I whispered into her ear once she finished talking to an old guy I didn’t recognize.
“Yes, please,” she grumbled. “Oh! You remember Declan?”
I followed Lizzie’s gaze to her boss, watching him approach us with a grin plastered on his face. Lizzie pulled away from me to throw her arms around him, but she hadn’t completely unlatched our fingers, and I ended up being part of their hug.
“Hey, Noah.” Declan laughed politely. “Good to see you again.”
“Dec,” Lizzie interrupted, “you look super hot! Just for me?”
“You’re one lucky lady,” I teased her while wiggling free of the group hug.
Declan rolled his eyes. “Of course, Lizzie. Your boyfriend and boss are dressed in suits and ties just for you. What’re you two drinking? I need a bottle of gin.”
“My kind of boss,” I joked.
Declan snickered, winking playfully at Lizzie and me. “It’s going to be a long, cold winter. We need to stock up. I’ll be right back.”
Lizzie turned to me, wrapping her arms around my back with her chin pressed against my chest, blue eyes gazing up at me. “I love you.”
“I love you more because I’m older,” I teased, sticking my tongue out at her.
“I love you more because you have more tattoos.”
“You’re so competitive,” I laughed, lowering to kiss her.
Lizzie’s giggle vibrated against my stomach before she looked up at me once more. “Want to see who can get undressed first at home?”
I looked around the banquet lobby. People clung to tables and wine glasses, in suits and dresses, lost in chatter. Everyone was distracted in their own thing, Lizzie and Declan’s work, and their cocktails. Nobody would notice if we disappeared until the dinner.
I leaned forward, nibbling on Lizzie’s left earlobe. I could feel her skin blossom with goosebumps as I whispered into her ear. “Why do we need to wait until we’re home?”
She caught my grin when she moved to face me, pressing her hands against my chest. “Waiting is for idiots.”
My skin was burning within her touch as our fingers intertwined. Playing it cool was causing a migraine, but anticipation was half the fun with Lizzie. We casually walked through the guests, smiling curtly as we contained the throbbing impulse to devour each other right there.
“Stairs?” Lizzie nodded to the exit just a few feet away, playfully lifting her eyebrows with her plump bottom lip between her teeth.
“Elevator,” I replied, taking my knuckles to her jaw with a wink. “Faster.”
Lizzie pounded her thumb against the elevator button, as eager as I was to get lost in each other. Waiting was torture, but just because I didn’t want to wait. The doors separated, and I heard Lizzie’s sharp intake of breath at my side. An old guy who sort of resembled my dog lethargically exited the elevator, and we were quick as sin to get inside and get the door closed.
