Will You Accept This Rose?

15. Run, Baby, Run

Tim was fairly certain he was already getting used to waking up with Lucy; between her adorable half awake morning smiles, sexy raspy morning voice, and sleep warm body against his, he was in heaven.

She liked getting ready in his house instead of the very chaotic bathrooms at Bachelor Mansion, plus, she got to look at Tim every time she glanced in the mirror instead of a bunch of judgmental women. When she sat at his kitchen table for breakfast, she motioned at her plate and noted, "These aren't pancakes."

"I want you to keep coming back," he explained.

"What if your pancakes convince me you're the one?"

"My pancakes aren't that good."

She leaned in and kissed him slowly. "If they aren't, at least you taste good to me."

He felt heat rush to his cheeks. As a grown man, he hardly ever blushed except for around her.

"I wasn't just talking about your lips," she added, which left his mouth hanging open.

Being smooth was hard to do when knew exactly how to knock him off balance, so it took him a second or two to compose his own flirty reply: "I definitely want to see you in a baseball jersey again."

"What base will we get to next time?"

"I'm not just thinking about a base. I'm going for the equivalent of a bases loaded out of the park home run."

"You dreamt about it last night didn't you?" She could practically read the filthy thoughts in his darkened eyes.

"Maybe I did," he responded coyly.

"Show me sometime." If the mention of such a fantasy was firing up her blood, she could only imagine what it would feel like to experience the real thing.

"I plan on it," he guaranteed.

"Speaking of plans, since that's definitely not what we're doing today while I'm still on my period, what's the plan for the day?"

"You know being on your period doesn't bother me, right?"

"I don't want our first time to be when I feel bloated and gross."

"You look beautiful to me."

"That's not a lie," she stated upon assessing his face.

"No, it's not. No lie detector needed. But, I get it. We can wait."

Waiting was starting to feel agonizing. She was aware there were values to taking the steps of their relationship slowly, but that could never pacify her WANT.

"How about we just drive around for a while?" He suggested, since he loved car rides with her.

Lucy smiled. "That sounds perfect."

He grinned as he checked his watch. "We've got about twenty minutes to finish breakfast before headcount."

"I'm in no rush." She was starting to love omelettes, since each one came with Tim's company. She could picture spending the rest of her mornings on her days off taking her time to have breakfast with him, but there were sixteen other women vying for a future with him as well, so she warned herself not to get too attached and dream too far into the future, but it was hard to keep the fantasies at bay, especially when it felt so natural to chat with him as they ate then put their plates in the dishwasher together like they had been doing it for years. Headcount helped to ground Lucy; she snuck back into the mansion and saw the other women Tim was still getting to know as a reminder that others were probably visualizing their own versions of futures with him, and she was not the only one. Of course, when she crept off the property and was pulled into his warm embrace, no one and nothing else mattered but him. The same sensation was brought on by driving around mindlessly at his side. Something about sitting in a car with him as wind whipped her hair around, his hand comfortably rested on her thigh, and the world rushed by in a blur so all she could clearly see was Tim felt like a perfect analogy to her life since meeting him; everything else was out of focus, and all she cared about was him. Lucy slotted her fingers between his on her leg and squeezed before requesting, "Can you stop for a sec?"