I glanced down at it and rolled my eyes before pulling it off and letting it drop where it wanted to. "Then we should take a shower separately. You know how much you like touching me in the spray of the water."
He bit his lip as his eyes moved across me. "Right. Let's make it quick."
"There's the man I love." I chuckled and moved toward the bathroom in anticipation of more of him. I didn't think I could ever get enough.
*****
The warm breeze picked up and pulled at the messy bun I had my hair in, but I forced myself to enjoy it. The view of the water was breathtaking, and the intimate grass hut that Easton rented us bobbed up and down in the water just off the shoreline.
"There are so many great things on this menu," I muttered and glanced up at him as the flames from the candles between us danced as if they were part of the entertainment.
"Let's get everything then." He reached for my hand, and I gave it to him. "You realize that we've been together almost a year today, right?"
I smiled shyly. "I do, but I wasn't going to bring it up though."
"What? Why not?" His dark eyebrows pulled together. "Are you too cool to celebrate anniversaries?'
"No. Not at all, but it seemed silly. And honestly with all of the uncertainty around the actual day that we both decided to stop being stupid and just get together, I didn't know the date." I chuckled and tugged my hand from his.
"This is true. That's why I said that it's almost been a year. We have more like a week-long anniversary whereas most normal people have a day." He picked up his beer and took a long drink as I watched him.
"I love you. You're so handsome to me." I sat the menu down and leaned back, wanting a moment to take in all that we'd been through. The last year had been bliss and nothing more. Our concerns over me wrapping up school or us traveling together were all worked out without any major bumps. Casey would be graduating from NYU with her Master’s soon, and life was good.
"I love you too, baby. Order anything on that menu you want, and then you and I are going to dance on the beach. I have a small band coming out here to play for us." He wagged his eyebrows.
"You do? How fun." I glanced down as a server in a canoe paddled up to the front of the hut and smiled up at us.
"What can I get for the two of you tonight?" He glanced at me and then back at Easton.
"Whatever the lady wants, she gets." He gave me a cheeky grin and sat his menu down.
"We'll take one of everything, please." I shrugged and handed the guy the menus as his eyes went wide. "We'll need a few doggie bags, and no worries. This guy says he's going to dance the calories off of me when we're all done."
The server chuckled. "We will get started on all of it then."
"Good choice, baby." Easton got up and walked to my side of the table, pulling me up. "Let's go dance now. It's going to take them a while to get all of that prepared."
"I'd love that." I took his hand and slid mine into his as we walked back down the narrow planks to the shore. “Watch your step. This thing isn’t anchored to much more than a few cords.”
“You’ll save me. I have no doubt.” I smiled up at him. “You’re my superhero, remember?”
“And Casey’s, it would seem.” He chuckled and wagged his eyebrows. I’d gotten over my fear of losing him to other women, which was much more freeing than I imagined possible. I still struggled a little from t
ime to time, but he was so good about reminding me that he belonged to me, and me alone.
“Don’t make me take out my best friend. Then you’ll have to go on those long shopping trips to the mall with me that you hate. Do you want to do that?”
"Hell no. Tell me something though… are you glad you decided to take the job with me and Jon? Was it a decision that you would make the same if you could redo it?" He stepped off onto the sand and reached for me. He wrapped his strong hands around my waist and pulled me against him as I slid down until my feet touched the sand.
"Yes. Absolutely. I can't imagine a more perfect life than this one that we have." I pressed my chest to his and locked my arms behind his head. "And to think that you almost got cold feet a million times at the beginning of it all."
He nipped at my mouth playfully. "I think that was you, but I might be off on the story. I have far too many good memories that have taken the space of those old ones."
"And we're going to make a lot more." He leaned down and brushed his lips by mine. The tartness of his beer was delicious on my tongue as I pressed my way deeper into his mouth and tightened my grip on him.
He groaned low in his chest and slid his hands down my back, cupping my butt tightly as music began to play in the distance.
I broke the kiss and smiled. "I love it."