Just One Kiss (22 page)

“British accents are possibly the biggest turn on in the
world,” I tell him matter-of-factly.

Brayden smirks and wriggles his eyebrows at me before
leaning to whisper in my ear. I’m not sure if it’s the way his breath feels on
my skin or what he actually says that makes me shudder, but I find myself
resisting attacking him again. “Let’s dance,” I tell him, struggling to stand
up.

“Us?” he asks, shocked as he takes the hand I’m offering
him.

I nod, a little nervous. “Yeah.”

I turn toward him so we’re facing each other. The strobe
lights are flashing quickly, making everything look like a jumpy movie. Brayden
takes my hands and pulls me closer before resting them around his neck. I feel
his fingers trail lightly down my sides until they settle on my hips, making me
shiver all over. He’s grinding into me and I’m stuck between trying not to
giggle and being so incredibly turned on that I can’t speak. I never would have
made us come here tonight if I’d known he’d be this sexy.

“I’m thirsty,” I call out to him after a long time of
dancing. He nods and begins pulling us toward the bar where he orders us a
couple of waters. Once we have our drinks, the two of us walk outside. The
freezing air is startling on our hot skin.

“That was awesome,” he says, grinning like a kid as we lean
against the building.

I smile and nod my head. “I liked that a lot,” I tell him.

“Do you want to do it again?” he asks, nodding toward the
doors.

I shake my head and bite my lip. He looks so confused that I
giggle a little bit. “I want to go home,” I tell him.

He frowns. “What? Are you sure you don’t want to stay to
watch the ball drop? You know they put it on that huge screen in there, right?”

I shake my head and grab his hand as I begin walking
backward. “Brayden,” I add a syrupy note to my tone. “I want to go home,” I
say, giving him a pointedly lusty look. His eyes widen as realization finally
dawns on him.

I send a text to Ro, explaining that we left early so
Brayden and I could go home to celebrate the New Year just the two of us.

Valentine’s Day

“Happy Valentine’s day, Cutie!” Brayden practically yells as
he marches into Starbucks. His arms are full of balloons, a huge teddy bear,
and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. I burst out laughing; I can’t help
smiling like an idiot.

“Oh my god,” I giggle, running around the counter to pull
him into a hug. Well, almost a hug, since it’s awkward with all the stuff between
us.

He bends his neck past the bear and I meet him for a sweet
kiss. Obviously it’s nothing too romantic since we’re in the middle of
Starbucks and Ernie—I’ve already decided that’s the bear’s name—is kind of
blocking us from getting closer.

“What on earth are you doing here?” I ask, pulling back and
taking Ernie into my arms, hugging him like I wish I could hug Brayden.

He smiles his cheeky grin. “Well, I figured that since this
is the first Valentine’s Day where you’ve actually had a boyfriend, I would
make it the best one ever.” I can’t help blushing a bit at the mention of my
lack of previous boyfriends to celebrate with. To be honest, I used to hate
being single on this holiday. In fact, I was one of those people who complain
about it.

“You are the sweetest guy in the world, do you know that?” I
ask him, going up on my toes to kiss him lightly again.

He places one more kiss on my forehead before I pass Ernie
back to him and head behind the counter again. Brayden bids me one last good-bye
before leaving to stuff my gifts into my car and go home. Liz and Ro are
staring at us with their hands cupped under their chins, looking like total
idiots. I smile at them and apologize to the customer I was serving before
Brayden walked in. He just grins at me and nods, showing me that, despite the
good twenty years he’s got on me, he understands what young love feels like.

I asked Jon weeks ago for the day off but ended getting
called in last minute. I only have to work for a couple of hours, though. Then
Brayden and I are going out on a date. He won’t tell me where we’re going,
despite my many pleas and various attempts to seduce it from him. For once in
his life, Brayden wouldn’t say a word.

Finally, after what feels like years, I untie the apron from
my waist and give a small wave to the girls. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Ro,
have fun on your adventure,” I snicker as she groans. It seems as though Carlos
is just as sneaky as Brayden. He planned a treasure hunt or something for them
to go on, but refused to give actual details. She’s going crazy because she
can’t stand surprises.

“Have fun tonight!” Liz says with a smirk, making me blush
despite my attempts to stay calm.

I drive home, smiling every time I look in the rearview
mirror and see those balloons filling the back seat. In my bedroom, I pull out
the outfit Ro and I picked out the other day. She’s convinced that it’s
perfect, and I hope she’s right. The dress is strapless with a tight bodice and
flowing bottom that ends just above my knees. The red high heels may be a very
bad idea, but they were on sale and matched my coat, so Ro convinced me to buy
them. The only accessory I’m wearing is a bronze bracelet with a stone the same
color as my dress in the middle.

I use the technique that Ro taught me to curl my hair and I
pin it off to the side, making it fall over my right shoulder without the
bulging of a hair band. Ro basically gave me a list of things to do and how to
do it. Apparently I’m useless without her. She also did my makeup for me before
we started work so, even though it’s a bit smudged, at least that’s already
done.

The doorbell rings and I feel a rush of butterflies in my
stomach. I’m not nervous, I’m excited. In the past few weeks, Brayden and I
have been so busy that we’ve barely had any time together. This is the first
decent date we’ve had in what feels like ages. I’ve actually missed him a lot,
so tonight is even more special than just Valentine’s Day.

I grab his gifts before going downstairs. Brayden’s sitting
in the kitchen with my parents, bonding over something weird. He always talks
to them and it still surprises me how close they’ve all grown. “Hey there,
Handsome,” I say, grinning as I lean against the entryway.

He jumps up and turns around to look at me, his smile
widening immediately. When he gives me that look, I can’t help but fall in love
with him all over again. It’s like he sees me and takes away all of my
insecurities. Well, mostly. I still have horrible moments when I feel like I’m
not good enough or like our feelings aren’t really mutual, but I’ve been trying
to control those. He’s been undyingly understanding.

“You look so beautiful,” he says softly. His eyes are
staring at me so intently that I can’t help the blush that takes over my
cheeks. Maybe I’ve been blushing a lot today, but he’s so incredible!

“Thank you,” I whisper when he’s so close that I can feel
his breath against my forehead. He leans down slightly and covers my lips with
his. I smile into the kiss and pull back to see that he’s happy too. “We should
get going,” I murmur, looking over his shoulder to wave at my parents.

“Have fun, guys! And be safe!” Dad says, waving back.

“We will! Bye,” Brayden shouts over his shoulder as I pull
him to the door. He laughs as we both stumble outside, me almost slipping in my
high heels. He catches me and helps me to the car, “You a bit eager to get
out?” he taunts playfully as he gets in the other side.

I wrinkle my nose at him. “Don’t tease me!”

He sticks his tongue out and I shake my head when I realize
that he’s still completely gorgeous. How can he do something that makes most
people look so silly, and make it look sexy? I suddenly wanted to do things
with that tongue.

We drive into the city and park in front of a restaurant
I’ve heard about a few times in passing. Apparently, the second floor is more
of a night club while the ground floor is where the food is served. “Fancy,” I
say, smiling at Brayden. A few months ago, I would have hated this. Now, I’m
only mildly cautious.

We walk inside and the maître d’ brings us to our seat
almost immediately. It’s much fancier than I expected, with dark wood floors,
pristine white tablecloths, and chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. Candles
create a wonderfully romantic atmosphere and, when the man pulls out my chair
for me, I have to suppress the urge to giggle. People like me don’t come to
places like this. I’m a bit surprised that Brayden brought us here. It doesn’t
really seem like his kind of place.

“So, do you like it?” Brayden asks as soon as the maître d’
is gone.

I nod and take a sip of the water already on the table.
“It’s beautiful, but why here? Don’t get me wrong, I love it, I just didn’t
imagine this,” I say, looking around the room.

I can see his pleased grin in the corner of my eye. “I
wanted to surprise you and I figured this would do it.”

I laugh. “Mission accomplished.”

We chat for a bit and order our meals. The food wasn’t all
that great, but Brayden made up for it by keeping me smiling the entire time.
Afterward, while we’re waiting for dessert to arrive, we decide to exchange our
gifts. I force him to open his first. As soon as he unwraps the first gift, he
starts laughing, and I know I chose the right thing.

Months ago now, my mom took a picture of Brayden and me
right before we left for the benefit where he kissed me. I got the picture
printed out ages ago but never thought of showing it to him. The other day I
was cleaning out my bedroom and I found it again. I knew immediately that I
needed to include it in his gifts. In the picture, I pretty much purposely made
it look like I was about to sneeze, with my eyes squeezed shut and my lips
parted to show all of my teeth. Brayden, however, steals the spotlight. I
remember feeling his hand move from my back right before Mom snapped the
picture and now I know why. With his cheeks puffed out and his eyes crossed,
Brayden used both of his hands to pull his ears out. He’s the cutest monkey
I’ve ever seen.

“Oh god, I forgot about this!” he exclaims, looking up at me
with excited eyes. “Next year this really will be our Christmas card. No joke.”

I grin and nod, agreeing wholeheartedly. “Now the next one,”
I demand, looking at the other gift. It’s actually more of an envelope than
anything, but it counts.

He pulls out the two plane tickets and looks at me
questioningly. “Helena called me the other day to see if we’d be interested in
doing another shoot. I talked to your boss and he said you could have the time
off. Now I just need to know if you’re willing to go to Acapulco with me.” I
offer a hopeful smile.

Brayden just kind of stares at me for a while and I start
getting nervous. Had I crossed a line by talking to his boss and asking for
time off without permission? Was he upset that I didn’t consult him before
agreeing to do the shoot? I really should have thought this through better. I
should—My thoughts are cut off by Brayden standing suddenly and leaning over
the table, pulling my face to his in a fierce kiss. I’m startled for a moment
and don’t react, but when I do, I’m kissing him back hard and I’m sure we’re
making a scene in this fancy place. Before things can get too heated, I push on
Brayden’s shoulders. His eyes are smoldering as they gaze into mine.

“You are perfect,” he murmurs just loud enough for me to
hear. I pull him to me for one more quick kiss before playfully shoving him
back into his seat. There are people looking at us, some with disgusted looks
and others with amused smiles. “Your turn,” he says, reaching into his pocket
and pulling out a medium-length thin, black velvet box.

I frown, hoping that he didn’t get me jewelry. As awful as
it is to hope something like that, the honest truth is that I rarely wear
accessories. Don’t get me wrong, I love the one he gave me at Christmas,
especially because of what it meant, but I can’t imagine what would cause him
to give me something like that. I scowl when I realize that my thoughts are
sounding like the kind of girls I hate. The ones who are too superficial to
appreciate that somebody put time and effort into getting them something. I’m
sure that no matter what is in that box, I will treasure it forever simply
because it came from Brayden.

“Don’t look at me like that, you haven’t even seen it,”
Brayden teases, putting my mind at ease.

I grin and take the box from his hand, brushing our fingers
together in the process. I slowly crack the lid off and gasp at what I see.
Yes, he did get me jewelry, but it seems that Brayden knows me better than I
know myself. “Oh it’s beautiful,” I say, looking with wide eyes at the necklace
in front of me. Attached to a gold chain is a locket studded with multicolored
jewels. They all come together to create a flower at the center of the oval
pendant. I struggle a bit with the latch but soon enough I’m opening it to see
two pictures that make me smile widely. On one side is a picture of me and
Brayden on New Year’s. We both look completely happy and in love. On the other
is Ro flipping the camera off. It’s one of my favorite pictures of her.

“I’m glad you like it,” Brayden says, standing up and
walking behind me to clasp it around my neck. It hangs to the middle of my
chest and I brush my fingers against it. I’ve never liked any gift more than
this. “My mom knows a woman from Israel who sells jewelry. She was looking
through some of her stuff online and I saw this over her shoulder. I knew instantly
it was made for you.”

I smile and shake my head. Here’s another moment where my
heart literally warms at the thought of how great he is.

Our dessert comes and we eat it slowly, enjoying each
other’s company more than the cake between us. When we’re done, Brayden runs
out to the car and I stand in the entryway, waiting. A stick thin girl with
light blonde hair and bright blue eyes walks up and stands beside me. I give
her a polite smile and shift to the side a little, trying to put some space
between us.