by A. D. Ryan
I nodded toward the ring. “It’s starting. You’re right. I’ll drop it until we know.” And that was the end of the conversation. I knew I was acting a little childish, which was why I was giving myself a time-out before I said something I would regret. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what he was trying to say—I did—it just wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Hence the childish behavior.
Sitting there in silence as we watched rider after rider complete the course, I felt my mood lighten again as my rationality started to return. Ultimately, he was right. Why get my hopes up when in two weeks’ time I could have them crushed just as quickly? “I’m sorry,” I whispered, turning to see him deep in thought as he watched Eric Lamaze start the course.
“Me too,” Jensen replied, moving his hand from my knee and holding my hand.
I let a small smile form. “Let’s just go back to not worrying about it?” I posed it as a question instead of a statement, giving him the option to go back to how things had been the last two days. Was it healthy to not talk about it? Probably not, but the way I saw it, we didn’t know if there was anything to talk about.
With a smile, Jensen nodded and kissed my temple. “I never stopped worrying,” he confessed, pressing his forehead to the side of my head and squeezing my hand. “And the only reason I worry about it is because, deep down, I know you miss this. And if we did fuck up, you’ll be putting it on hold. Because of me.”
“Us,” I corrected him, unable to let him take sole responsibility. “Because of us.”
“We’ve only been together a little over a month, and I don’t want you to resent me if things don’t work out … ideally for us.”
“I would never resent you, Jensen,” I assured him before tilting my head up and kissing him softly. For the moment, everything between us was the way it should have been.
“Where did you want to eat?” Jensen asked when we got into the car after the competition ended for the day.
I thought about it for a minute after turning the car on. I wasn’t as familiar with which restaurants were vegetarian friendly, so I knew I’d have to just pick one and hope. “I don’t know,” I replied. “Honestly, I’m still pretty wiped. I wouldn’t mind going back to the hotel and ordering in.”
Jensen nodded. “Sounds good to me. You drive us back, and I’ll pay,” he told me with a smile and a wink.
Traffic was a bit of a nightmare, but we finally reached the hotel and entered our room. Seeing the huge, luxurious king-sized bed in the room made the muscles in my body ache from exhaustion, but I was still starving.
“Why don’t you go change, and I’ll order room service?” Jensen suggested, unpacking my laptop.
My eyebrows pulled together briefly. “What do you want to do on the computer?”
He smiled sheepishly. “Well, I’m going to look up a list of restaurants for dinner tomorrow night. I want to take you somewhere special.”
“Okay, but nowhere too fancy. I didn’t bring anything super dressy. I’ve got some nice tops and dress pants, but that’s about it for dinner apparel,” I said, pulling out of his arms to grab my pajamas from my suitcase.
After agreeing, Jensen hooked up the laptop while I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and changed into my shorts and Star Trek tee. When I emerged from the bathroom, I found Jensen at the desk, scrolling through Google or some other search engine.
I stopped to wrap my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder before kissing his cheek. “Did you order dinner?”
He nodded. “You bet. They had a veggie burger and fries option. I hope that’s okay?”
“Sounds good. How long until it gets here?” I asked, sliding my hands down his chest and kissing his neck. He smelled incredible, and I was feeling needy again.
“About half an hour,” he told me.
Smiling, I reached forward and closed the laptop. “I wonder what we can do to pass the time?”
Chapter 28. Fairy-Tale Date Night
No one could blame me for allowing my eyes to slowly wander over Jensen’s body when he climbed out of bed and stretched. The black flannel pants he wore hung low on his hips. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip as I stared at his naked upper body, muscled and toned from years of taking care of himself. The muscles in his arm flexed beneath the vibrant tattoo on his right arm, and I sighed audibly.
“What are you looking at, creep?” Jensen teased with a chuckle after spotting me eye-fucking him.
There was no use denying it; I’d been caught, and I really didn’t mind getting caught ogling him. He was hot, and he knew it. “I was looking at my sexy, half-naked boyfriend.”
Jensen let his arms fall back to his sides, a devious grin suddenly starting to form on his face before he rushed around the bed and pounced on me, forcing me onto my back. His scruffy jaw tickled the bare skin of my neck as he nuzzled it, and I broke out into a fit of giggles as I struggled against him futilely.
“It’s no use,” he murmured against my neck, his warm breath causing goose bumps to arise all over my body as I tried to break free.
His scruff was soon joined by his soft lips as he planted deliberate kisses below my ear, along my jaw, and down my throat before he tugged at the neckline of my T-shirt to expose the swells of my breasts to him. He groaned in dissatisfaction when he was unsuccessful, and I stopped struggling, instead, running my fingers through his hair to gain his attention.
“If you want to make it to the grounds on time, you’re going to have to get ready. It’s a full day, and if you figured out where you’re taking me for dinner tonight, then we’ll need to make the most of our time. There’ll be time for this later, baby,” I assured him as I continued to stroke his soft hair.
Narrowing his eyes accusingly, he propped himself above me. “Et tu, Madison? What’s with all the cock-blockage?”
I giggled. “Hey, if you want to miss out on an epic day of awesomeness to fondle my boobs, that’s fine, too.”
While I expected him to say that was definitely what he wanted to do, I was happy when he pushed himself to his feet and offered me his hand to help me up. “Shower with me?”
I arched an eyebrow at him skeptically. “Only if by ‘shower with me’ you actually mean ‘shower with me.’”
His eyebrows pulled together and his mouth hung open, seeming taken aback by what I had said. “Madison Landry,” he chastised, “I am appalled that you would even consider I implied otherwise. I’m not an animal.”
Laughing, I dragged him behind me to the bathroom, where we showered and nothing more …
Kind of.
After a quick coffee run, we were on our way to the Meadows. We had made it about thirty feet inside the grounds when Jensen stopped us suddenly. “Oh! Did you grab the camera?”
“Shit. I left it in the car.”
“That’s okay,” he said, freeing his hand from mine. “I’ll go grab it.”
Before I could even offer to go with him, he was jogging away from me. While I waited, I observed all the families walking by with their kids, and I felt a tiny bit of my worry over our possible situation slip away as I imagined what it might be like to bring my own family here one day.
I dropped my gaze to my clasped hands, glancing only briefly at my abdomen and suddenly feeling a little silly. I mean, we weren’t even sure what the hell was going on in there. Without warning, I was imagining a little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, or a handsome little boy with deep brown hair and my hazel eyes. While Jensen and I hadn’t been together long, I couldn’t deny that these reflections weren’t slightly appealing and worth putting my career on hold for.
“Okay, I’m back.” Jensen’s smooth voice drew my face up to him, and I must have looked distressed, because the smile fell from his lips as he dropped to his knees and clasped my hands in his. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Taking one of my hands back, I brought it to his face and smiled, leaning in for a gentle kiss. “Nothing. I was just thinking about some stuff. I’m fine.” I wanted to t
ell him what I was thinking about, but I really didn’t want to get him excited in case there was nothing to be excited about. Or worse, freak him the fuck out because he was just as aware as I was that it was far too soon for any of this.
“You’re sure? Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head softly as he stood, pulling me with him. “It’s nothing we haven’t already discussed. My mind wandered.” I paused, taking a tiny breath, and smiled. “I’m fine. I promise. Come on, we should go. We don’t want to miss anything.” I looked down at his hands, my eyebrows pulling together quizzically. “Where’s the camera?”
Jensen shook his head. “Oh, it’s in my pocket,” he said, reaching into his left pocket for the slim device.
Once he had it in his hand, I took it from him and curled into his side as I turned it on. “Okay, smile.” I snapped the picture, flipping the small camera around and checking out the picture before deeming it acceptable. There was still a hint of uncertainty in Jensen’s eyes, but I wasn’t ready to dissect my confusing thought process.
I needed to change the topic before I drove myself crazy. “So, where are we going for dinner tonight?”
Jensen smirked, and I could tell that he wasn’t going to tell me. Damn him and his ability to keep secrets. “While I’d love to tell you, I can’t.”
Like yesterday, the competition was incredible. So many talented riders that only made me long to be in the ring again. Naturally, this just awakened my inner conflict.
By five, Jensen and I were on our way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I was glad we got to see everything and that Jensen and I got a few more pictures together, and judging by the smile on his face all day, I felt it safe to assume that Jensen had a great time.
The second our hotel door closed, Jensen pulled me into his arms and lowered his face to mine. “Thanks for a great day, baby,” he whispered, kissing me softly.
“You’re welcome,” I responded with a smile, right before my stomach growled quite audibly. “Sounds like I’m starting to get hungry again.”
Cocking an eyebrow and smiling crookedly, Jensen looked at me suggestively. He didn’t have to say anything for me to know exactly what he was thinking. With a laugh, I shoved him playfully. “You’re incorrigible.”
“You bring out the best and the worst in me, sweetheart,” Jensen joked, sitting on the end of the bed.
“So you’re blaming me?” I asked as we exited the parking lot. “Well, that doesn’t seem right. I’ll have to ask around about your character just to be sure.”
“If you feel that’s best.”
“So, you’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked, rifling through my suitcase for clothes to wear to dinner.
“Nope.” Jensen stood and walked toward the washroom while I dug though my suitcase.
I huffed in exasperation, prepared to admit defeat and request a quick trip to the nearest mall before getting to the restaurant. “Why didn’t I think to bring something dressier than—” My words caught in my throat as I turned around to find Jensen holding up a white garment bag. “What are you…? What is that?” I asked, stepping toward him slowly and folding my arms across my body.
“Well, it’s not new. I wish I’d had the time to go out and buy you something for tonight. I did know I wanted to take you out somewhere nice, so I grabbed this and put it in my suitcase before we left.”
My eyes moved between the white bag and his eyes several times as he began to undo the zipper, revealing the blue dress I wore to his sister’s wedding. “That was so sweet of you,” I told him, taking the dress from him and tossing it to the bed before throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him.
He wouldn’t allow me to deepen our kiss, his hands gripping my hips before smiling against my attempts. “Our reservations are for seven, so we should probably focus on getting ready.”
“Right.” I nodded, licking my lips and backing away a few steps to grab my dress and retreat to the bathroom to fix myself up for dinner.
I quickly washed my face and applied a little bit of makeup before pulling my dress on and curling my hair. After taking one last look in the mirror, I stepped out of the washroom to find Jensen fastening the last few buttons on his shirt. He turned to me with a wide smile, dropping his hands to his sides.
“You’re a vision.”
Even though he said things like that daily, hearing it still caused warmth to creep across my face. “Thanks.” I looked down at my bare feet. “I don’t have any shoes though.” I should have known better; with another impish smirk, Jensen turned to the bed again and grabbed my black stilettos and a rectangular, blue velvet box.
“Willow was kind enough to help me pick out your shoes when I called her the other day,” he told me with a wink.
“What’s that?” I asked, taking the shoes and gripping his right arm as I slipped them on one at a time.
Jensen looked at the box in his hands, raising only his eyes back to me. The way his blue eyes burned into mine as he slowly opened the box made my heart skip a beat, and I was dying to know what was in the box. “Just a little something I did have time to pick up for you the other day.”
As he opened the box, I saw a gorgeous sapphire and diamond, seven-stone pendant on a solid, white gold chain. “It’s called a journey pendant,” he said, holding the box out to me. I assumed he wanted me to take the necklace from the box, but I had seen Pretty Woman enough times to know that shit wasn’t going to happen.
Chuckling, I raised my eyebrow, telling him with a look that I didn’t trust him, and he lifted the delicate necklace from its box. “May I?”
Nodding, I turned and lifted my hair as Jensen reached around and fastened it around my neck. “Thank you,” I said, looking down at the wavy line of gemstones. “It’s beautiful.”
When I felt his lips on the bare skin between my neck and shoulder, I shivered. “Only the best for my girl,” he said, turning me gently and appraising the way the necklace looked. “You like it?”
My head bobbed lightly. “I really do. But you didn’t have to buy me anything else. You’ve already given me so much this week.”
Jensen shrugged. “I know, but I want to give you things.”
“Okay,” I said, poking the middle of his chest with my forefinger playfully. “But you realize that I’m starting to get used to this. You could be creating a monster.”
“I’m willing to take my chances.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Come on, we should head out.”
Because I had no idea where we were going, Jensen drove. I tried to do what he had done earlier and read the signs to try and figure it out, but he was apparently an expert when it came to distracting me, anticipating that I would somehow figure it out before we arrived. Sometimes he’d ask me a question about my lessons, other times he’d bring his hand over to rest on my bare knee—oh yeah, he was pulling out the big guns. Finally, I just gave up, deciding that I was enjoying the anticipation of the surprise for once.
I tried to figure out where we were going, but Jensen was really good at getting me talking. We talked about the weekend, the upcoming camping trip, and my plans for the ranch in the coming months. As he rounded a few more corners, our conversation came to an abrupt halt when he pulled the car to a stop. “Calgary Tower?” I turned to him, jaw agape. “You’re taking me to Sky 360?”
“I take it you’ve never been?” Jensen grinned.
My smile grew until my cheeks hurt, and I shook my head quickly. “No, I haven’t. Jensen, this is amazing.”
The pride in planning the perfect dinner out was obvious as he smiled and leaned across the center console to kiss me. “Well then, Miss Landry, shall we?”
Inside the building, Jensen and I waited for the elevator to take us to the restaurant. The elevator ride was short, and when Jensen led me off and toward the hostess podium, I looked around at the gorgeous restaurant. It was unlike any other restaurant I’d ever been to, and the sight of the sky, alive with
the colors from the almost setting sun over the mountains, was magical.
“Good evening,” she said with a bright, cheerful smile on her face as she looked at both Jensen and me. “How can I help you?”
“We have a reservation for two. Under Davis,” Jensen told her, pulling me closer to his side as she looked down at the book in front of her.
“Let’s see,” she said softly, clicking her tongue as she ran her pen down the length of her page. “Oh! Here we go. You requested a window seat?”
Jensen responded with a small nod. “I did.”
Glancing at me once more and smiling a little wider, the hostess picked up two menus and walked around her podium. “All right, then. Come along.”
It wasn’t surprising to see how busy the restaurant was as we made our way through the sea of bustling tables, coming to a stop at a little two-seater table against the floor-to-ceiling window. “Here we are,” the hostess announced, stepping to the side as Jensen pulled my chair out for me. “Marshall will be your server, and he’ll be with you right away.”
Jensen took his seat across from me while I turned to the right and took in the sight of the city below. I found myself completely entranced by the view of the mountains on the horizon.
“This is amazing,” I whispered, turning back to Jensen and reaching across the table for his hand.
He lifted my hand and pressed his lips to it gently, and my entire body reacted with a light tingle that worked its way from my head to my toes.
Just then, our server showed up. “Hi, there,” he greeted. “I’m Marshall, and I’ll be your server for the evening. Can I offer you our wine list?”
“Thanks,” Jensen said kindly, raising his eyes to Marshall. “But that won’t be necessary.”
Shaking my head, I gave Jensen’s hand a squeeze. “Jensen, you don’t need to do that. Have a glass of wine.”
Stubborn as always, he ordered us some sparkling cider instead and a couple glasses of water. While his gesture was sweet, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, but I wasn’t about to let those feelings sully a perfect last night here.
