She turned back around and slid her arm through mine as we walked through the door and headed for the table I had arranged a few hours earlier.
I pulled out her chair, and she sat down. Her long, delicate hair brushed against my hands and caused my heart to beat faster. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a woman so utterly beautiful.
After lighting the two candles in the middle of the table, I brought out our dinner on plates that had been warming in the oven. Earlier, I had ordered takeout from a local, five-star restaurant and hoped she would enjoy it.
I poured us both a glass of wine, and we began to eat our food.
“This is absolutely delicious,” she said.
All I could focus on were her red lips, which perfectly melted into the red sauce on the lasagna.
“Well, I can’t exactly take credit for it. It’s from Mangenelli’s.”
“I can’t believe you went to all of this trouble,” she said, looking into my eyes.
I suddenly found it hard to speak. She was so gorgeous.
“I would do just about anything for you, Julianna.” I stretched my arm across the table and held her hand.
“Caley is simply crazy about you,” she said. “She was so sad that she couldn’t come with us tonight, but I’m happy that it’s just the two of us.”
“Something tells me she’ll be just fine tonight,” I said. “She sounded really excited about making pizza.”
Julianna laughed while taking another sip of wine. “She’ll either grow up to be an artist, model, or a chef. Or all three.”
“Does she have one of those kiddie ovens?”
She shook her head, no. “Are you kidding me? I have a hard enough time getting her to not eat so much sugar, the last thing I need is for her to have an endless supply.”
We both started laughing, and I thought about how cute Caley was when I took us all out for ice cream.
“Well, maybe we’ll steer her away from becoming a pastry chef then.”
Julianna tilted her head and looked at me a bit more intensely. “We?”
I blushed, realizing what I’d said. I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a smile, letting her know that I was head over heels for her.
“Speaking of sugar,” I said while clearing our plates, “I hope you enjoy the tiramisu.”
“Mmm,” she moaned. “That’s my favorite dessert!”
“It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come,” I said while putting our dessert plates down and refilling the wine glasses.
Julianna nodded.
“I always had a crush on you,” she whispered. “But you were also my best friend, and I didn’t want to lose you.”
I paused, grinning. “Now, you have me.”
We spent the time eating our dessert, talking about all of the things we’d done together over the last two months. Our outings with Caley, ice cream trips, movie nights at her house, and even random drives through our hometown. She even ran her foot up and down my leg a few times, getting dangerously close to my private area up north.
“Hey now,” I said, massaging her leg underneath the table. “Will you dance with me?”
“Yes, but I don’t think my feet can take these shoes anymore.”
Both of us laughed, and I took off her shoes. I then spent a few minutes just massaging her feet. I not only wanted them to feel better but also because her moans drove me absolutely crazy. So that she wasn’t the only one dancing without shoes, I took mine off as well.
As the moon rose over the lake, I reached into my pocket and pressed an app on my phone that started playing music on the hidden speakers. It was just the two of us in that very moment, looking into each other's eyes as the sounds of a piano played in the background. Eventually, the crickets began to chirp, creating the perfect ambiance. Her body melted into mine.
