Running To Him - Forbidden Hearts Series Book 6

36| Coming Up Aces

Choosing to take Jamie to Bois de Vincennes for our date night was a gamble that thankfully came up aces.

When it came to this beautiful redhead, there wasn't much I didn't know about her thanks to that whole fake-date thing we did for Harper's wedding. And one of the little facts she mentioned was how much she loved parks and flowers and things like that. And that's why this was so incredibly perfect.

Bois de Vincennes was filled with tons of beautiful flowers and plants. It had many different long walking paths and amazing scenery. Then there was the cherry on top that was happening in a little bit.

Walking beside Jamie down one of the paths, I held her hand while I watched her eyes eat up another colorful and fragrant set of flowers I wasn't sure what the name was. Sure there were little descriptions posted next to them, but I was too busy keeping my eyes on her.

"These are amazing," she said with awe before turning to face me. "Even when my mom and I talked about coming here and planned the trip, we had no idea this was here."

She was talking about her mom. Again. And even though there was an echo of sadness in her voice, she was able to talk about Cherise without completely falling apart. At least most of the time.

"Yeah, this is kind of a hidden gem." I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her body flush against mine. "Just like you are, beautiful."

She smiled shyly before standing on her tiptoes to give me a kiss. I knew it was meant to be a brief one. Just a subtle brushing of her soft lips against mine. Truth was it was hard as hell to keep anything subtle with Jamie Lovette.

I explored her mouth with my tongue, putting every single emotion I felt for her into it. Since I couldn't say the words, this was the only way I could express to her how I felt about her. The smart move would have probably been not to express too many emotions at all, but that was becoming a lot harder as the days passed.

She didn't seem to mind, though. In fact, ever since that one night when she dropped her guard, she never seemed to mind when things got extra passionate. It gave me a little hope for us. But at the same time, it also scared the hell out of me.

Jamie pulled away from me and looked up at me with those heated blue eyes of hers. Eyes that were telling me she wanted a lot more than a kiss right now.

"If this is how you take women on a date, Atticus Lake, then how the hell are you still single?"

Reaching up, I brushed my knuckles against her cheek. "I don't think I need to tell you that I've never planned a date like this with anyone before you, Guinevere. You're different. And special."

Her expression turned quizzical. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Feeling nervous for what I really wanted to say, I shrugged one shoulder. "It's nothing."

"Tell me, please. I want to know what you're thinking."

Her tone was more curious than anything else. And thank God for that, because the last thing I wanted to do was scare her off.

"I'm just so happy that you're enjoying this," I explained. "And...I really want to do it again. You know, taking you on a second date. Maybe a third. Then a fourth."

To my surprise there was no trace of fear or fight or flight in her eyes. In it's place was a deep yearning. For me, I realized. I didn't know how I knew that, but I knew I was right.

She pulled my lips to hers again and gave me a sound kiss. "I want that, too, Ollie." Stepping back, she took my hand. "Now let's enjoy more of this fairytale-like beautiful place."