Southern Desire (Southern Heart 2)

“Thank you. Let me put these in some water and we can go.” She holds the door for me and I follow her inside.

“So where are we going?” she asks.

“Nothing too fancy, just a local steakhouse.”

“You know I don’t need all of this, right? Dressing up and going out.”

“I know that, but humor me. Oh, I meant to tell you. I ran into Mike today in town. He was asking about you. He also wanted to know if I’d talked to Jamie.”

“Jamie?”

“Yeah, seems like he has a crush.”

“You know, come to think of it, every time I’ve talked to her this last month, she also asks about him. Well, she covers it up by asking about everyone, but yeah, that sneaky shit has been asking too.” She laughs.

“Did they hit it off when she was here?”

“Yeah, they stayed up after everyone went to bed and went swimming.”

“Huh.”

“You didn’t notice that they were always beside each other?”

“Not really. I was more worried about you and where you were.”

“I was on your lap the majority of the night.”

“I know. That’s exactly where I wanted you to be. Hence the reason no one else mattered.” She laughs as she heads to the kitchen to put her flowers in water. I watch her go. My life has changed so much since I met her.

“Ready?” she asks.

“For you? Always.” I place my hand on the small of her back and lead her out to my truck.

“Stay there,” I say as we pull into the lot. I quickly hop out of the truck and make my way to her door.

“Aaron, I can open my own door.”

I slap my hand against my chest as if I’m appalled. “This is a date. You will do no such thing.” I wink and she laughs. Taking her hand, I help her down and lead her into the restaurant. This is a small town, so reservations are not possible, but luckily we beat the crowd so the hostess says it’s only going to be about a ten-minute wait.

“How was your day?” I ask once we’re sitting on the benches they have for waiting customers.

“Good. I did the cutest shoot. A one-year-old. Her dad is in the military and we dressed her up in his gear. I can’t wait to start editing them.”

“Aaron? Hey, man, how you been?”

Looking up, I see Alan Jones. Evan and I graduated with him. “Alan, good to see you. I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“Just visiting my parents, still living in Charlotte. This is my wife, Clarissa.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Clarissa. This is my girlfriend, Whitney.” We all exchange pleasantries, and then the little device we were given turns red and starts vibrating in Whit’s hand. “Looks like we’re up. It was good to see you. Nice meeting you, Clarissa.” We wave and follow the waitress to our table.

“Am I?” Whitney asks once the waitress has taken our order.

“Are you what?”

“Your girlfriend,” she says, her voice low. She wrings her hands together on the table.

“Hey.” She doesn’t raise her head. “Whitney, look at me please.” When she finally does, I can see the worry on her face. “Of course you are. I mean, I know we didn’t discuss it and make it all official. Hell, if I’m telling the truth, that title doesn’t really do it for me. You’re more than that.”

“Okay,” she says, her voice still soft and uncertain.

I can feel the panic setting in. “Whit, is that not what you want? I mean, we don’t have to label this if it’s an issue for you.” It would gut me. At least with the title of girlfriend, it’s known that she’s mine, and all these other fuckers who ate her up with their eyes on the way to our booth have to keep their hands off of her.

“No, I want that. I just wasn’t sure.”

Fuck! How did I screw this up? “Let me help you understand.” Her green eyes watch me, waiting for what I’m going to say. “When I wake up in the morning, you are the first thing I think about. During the day, I wonder how your day is going. I have to make myself not call or text you because I know you’re busy. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what we do, but I want to do it with you. At night, when I climb into bed, when you’re not there, I feel it here.” I place my hand over my heart. “I want to spend every minute of every day with you and every night with you in my arms.” I reach over and cup her face. “So you see? Girlfriend is not a strong enough word. You’re everything, Whitney.”

Her eyes well with tears.

“Here you go,” the waitress says, setting our salads in front of us.

Whitney gives me a watery smile and I know we’re good. The rest of dinner is just like every other time I’m with her. I’m captivated by just the sound of her voice. Everything and everyone else fall away and it’s just us. Me and my girl having dinner.

“It’s still early and I’m not ready to go home yet,” Whitney says once we’re back in the truck. “Olivia’s home tonight.”

Mom and Dad are too. Shit, I really need to start on my house or rent my own place. I run ideas through my head until it comes to me. “So, I know I said a night out on the town, but I have an idea. You up for it?”

She laughs. “Of course, but I don’t even know what it is.”

“Trust me.” I reach over and grab her hand.

“Always.”

I drive us back to my parents’ place. “Okay, I need to run in the house really quick. You want to come in and say hello?”

“I think I’ll just stay here, if that’s okay?”

Leaning over the console, I kiss her. “I’ll be right back.”

I hear the sound of the television, so I stop in to say hi to my parents. “Hey,” Dad says softly.

Mom is stretched out on the couch, her head in Dad’s lap, sound asleep. He’s watching some hunting show with the volume down low. “Yeah, just grabbing something really quick.”

“I thought you had a date with your girl?”

“I did, I mean I do. She’s waiting for me in the truck. I’m just grabbing some blankets. I’m taking her up to the loft. She needs to see the sunrise from there.”

“That’s your mother’s favorite place to watch it.”