Page 31 of Promising You
He turns to me and tucks my hair behind my ear. “I don’t take baths. That’s more of a girl thing. How about a shower instead?”
“But it’s not like a regular bath. That thing is huge. And it’s one of those bubbly tubs. It’s more like a hot tub. Come on.” I smile. “I’ll be naked.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I would hope so.”
“You get the bath going and I’ll grab some snacks and drinks.” I head back to the kitchen.
“We’re eating in the bathtub? That’s disgusting, Jade.”
“Just some chocolate.” I grab a fancy chocolate bar from the basket and a couple bottles of soda from the fridge.
Being together in the bubbly bath somehow lands us in bed. I’m pretty sure Garret is just trying to prove to me that he can do it several times a day.
“I guess that bath thing wasn’t so bad after all.” Garret gives me a quick kiss, then gets out of bed and goes over to his suitcase.
“What are you doing?” I take a swig of my soda. “You’re not supposed to get up right after sex. You could at least lie here a couple minutes.”
“We need to get ready for dinner.”
“I didn’t know we were going out. I thought you wanted to stay here.” I get out of bed and pick his t-shirt off the floor and slip it on. It’s soft and comfy and smells like him.
“Wearestaying here. We’re eating in the hotel restaurant. It has a great view. Not as good as the view from the other night but it’s still good.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“I got the reservation but I wasn’t sure if we’d go or not. But I think we should go.”
“Aren’t you even going to ask me first? Maybe I don’t want to go.”
He walks over to me and holds both my hands. “Jade, would you like to have New Year’s Eve dinner with the guy who loves you with all his heart and would do absolutely anything for you?”
“Well, damn, if you’re going to put it that way, I don’t have a choice. But I’ll have to wear the same dress as the other night. I hope it’s not all wrinkled.” I go over and pull it out of my suitcase.
“Check the closet,” he says as he puts on his suit pants.
“Why? I didn’t put anything in the closet.”
“Just check it.”
I open the closet door. There’s a black dress hanging inside. “Whose is this?”
“It’s yours. I got it for you and had them leave it here for when we arrived.”
I take the dress out and hold it up. It’s a simple but elegant, black sleeveless dress, like one of those little black cocktail dresses everyone says you have to own. “Garret, why did you do this?”
“I wanted you to have it in case we went to dinner tonight. The shoes you brought should go with it, right?” He buttons up his white shirt, a tie hanging around his neck.
“Yeah, but I don’t need this. I could’ve just worn the dress I wore the other night.” It’s true, but this new dress looks a thousand times better than my old one.
“Like you said, it’s probably wrinkled. This way you have one that’s not wrinkled.”
I don’t know what to say to him. I love the dress, but I’m upset with him for buying it for me. It’s a designer dress and I’m sure it cost a lot and he’s already spent enough money on me this week. But I don’t want to ruin our evening with a fight. And maybe he knew that. Maybe that’s why he did this on New Year’s Eve.
I’m still holding the dress as I watch Garret knot his tie over his shirt. As much as I love him, I do worry he won’t be able to break away from the lifestyle he’s used to. The one in which people are always doing things for you and money is spent without even a thought. It’s a lifestyle I don’t want. Because as nice as it sounds, that lifestyle isn’t free. It comes weighted down with rules, and punishments for not following those rules.
Garret notices me standing there with the dress folded over my arm. He comes over and gently takes it from me. “I’m sorry, Jade. I shouldn’t have bought you the dress. I know how you feel about me buying you stuff. You’ve been really great this whole trip, not mentioning the money thing. And if it makes you feel any better, the dress really wasn’t that expensive. But I’ll just take it back.” He hangs the dress back in the closet.
It’s like he could read my mind. Now I feel bad, because I know he likes buying me things. That’s how his family shows love. Buying stuff for each other. That’s all he knows. And that concerns me, but I know deep down he understands that material stuff isn’t love. He’s proved that just now.
