Curvy Valentine Match

But this wasn’t supposed to be easy. It was important, it mattered, and that’s why butterflies took flight in my belly. “I need ten seconds,” I told him and shut the door in his stunned, handsome face. I grabbed the gift bag and a wrap I borrowed from Sophie to protect against the evening chill. “Okay. Ready.”

“Me too,” he whispered and put a hand to my lower back, guiding me down the stairs and to the passenger seat of his car. “Did I tell you how incredible your ass looks in this dress?”

I turned and smiled at him over my shoulder. “Incredible? Now that’s just what a girl wants to hear.”

“And exactly what a man wants to see.” His blue eyes were damn near black with desire and I had to turn away before my need for him took over.

On the front seat sat a bouquet of red, white and purple tulips. “Beautiful.”

“They’re nothing compared to you, Mara.” Xander reached across my body and slid the seatbelt across my chest, locking it in place as he dropped another soft kiss to my mouth. Before I could lean into the kiss, or spear my fingers through his thick black hair, he was gone, jogging around the car to the driver’s seat.

It took exactly seven minutes to get to Xander’s house, or what I assumed was his place because I’d never taken up any of the group invitations to his famous backyard barbecues. “Your place?”

“Only one way to find out.” His eyes danced with laughter, amusement and maybe just a hint of payback. “So close all these years, yet so far apart.”

Yep, that dig was aimed squarely at me. “Well now that you’ve got me here, give me a tour of the infamous bachelor pad.”

“Infamous? Hardly.” Xander took my hand and practically dragged me up the steps and inside his two-story farm style home. It was homey but there was no doubt a man lived here because other than a few photos, the place didn’t look all that lived in. “Home, sweet home.”

“It’s nice.”

“I’ve been told it could use a woman’s touch.”

“You know plenty of women.”

His expression darkened for just a moment. “I’m not letting some random woman put her touch on my personal space. I’ll only tolerate doilies from a woman who owns my heart, which leaves you and my grandma.”

I threw my head back and laughed at his words. “Esteemed company.” The man had a soft spot for both of his grandmothers, flirting outrageously and exchanging dirty jokes over cookies and milk.

“Damn straight. Come on, I’ve got to check the smoker.”

The deeper inside the home we went, the more I relaxed. The more natural it felt being in Xander’s space, like I belonged here. Right here, with this man. “Smells good in here.”

Xander buried his face in my neck and inhaled deeply. “Smells amazing,” he growled and slid his tongue across my collarbone. “Stop distracting me woman before our dinner dries out.”

I laughed and took in the spacious backyard that butted up against the small forest preserve. “This is nice.”

“And private,” he said with a knowing smile. “There’s beer and wine in the cooler.”

I busied myself digging into the cooler, plunging both hands into the icy box to cool down my overheated body.

This was it. The moment of truth.

The flirting and banter was great, but there was no way I could eat while tension coiled in my belly beneath this sexy dress. “We should talk, don’t you think?”

Xander looked up, blue eyes full of heat but still serious as he nodded.

“This is strange, isn’t it? Us, here again, after all these years.”

He nodded slowly. “It’s strange because people rarely get a second chance, because they are too scared or too stubborn to realize what’s right in front of them. For me, it’s just a dream come true.”

“Xander,” I groaned. “Be serious.”

“I am, Mara. You read the letters, you know how much I missed you, how I longed for you and dreamed about us being together again. You mean the world to me Mara and you always will.”

If he was going for brutal honesty, then I would too. “I read the letters, every last one of them. Some I read, more than once. Others, I memorized.”

His nostrils flared. “Then you know.”

“But, why me Xander? It’s been a million years and I’m not that girl I used to be.”

“And I’m not that boy I used to be, I’m a grown man now and the love I feel for you is the love of a man, not an infatuated kid. Back when I first met you, that smile and sharp tongue pulled me in and I made up reasons to be around you.” He smiled and his gaze glossed over as he went back to the halls of Tulip High. “I never knew anyone like you existed, you had a big vocabulary, acerbic wit and this air about you, like we either acknowledged your awesomeness or to hell with us all.”