“I think you really have ruined me for any other man.”
“My evil plan is working. Buckle up, hot stuff, we’re just getting started.”
“I STILL CAN’T believe Brindle and Morgyn told you that I’ve never made out in a movie theater.” Amber popped a fry into her mouth. “I think I’ll have to thank them.”
Dash kissed her smiling lips.
They’d gone to the movies and sat in the back of the nearly empty theater. After kissing until they were both hanging on to their sanity by a thread, he’d pushed her boundaries and had given her the orgasm she’d so desperately needed. Which had done nothing to diminish the wood he’d been sporting, but seeing his careful girl set herself free was worth it. She wasn’t the only one setting herself free today. These were firsts for him, too. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually enjoyed life as much as he had these last few days with Amber. Now they were finishing dinner at the Stardust Café.
She snagged another fry, looking gorgeous and sweet in a buttercup-yellow sweater that brought out the flecks of gold in her eyes. “What else did the blond birdies tell you?”
“You’ll see. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
She eyed him curiously. “I need to get to know your brothers and sisters so I can learn your secrets. Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
He finished his milkshake and set down the empty glass. “Today was the first time I’ve made out under the bleachers or in a theater.”
“No way.”
“It’s true. I told you my life was busy when I was a kid, and I was the guy on the field, not under the bleachers.” He stole a kiss. “You’re also the first woman I’ve ever been crazy about.”
She blushed. “That’s hard to believe. You’re so warm and expressive. I know you said you’ve had a hard time trusting women, and I believe you, but still.”
He took her hand, gazing into her trusting eyes, wanting to share all of himself with her and explain why it was hard for him to trust women. But a café was hardly the place for that conversation. “That’s because you bring out the best parts of me, and you get to see things in me that others don’t. I think the same of you. You’re the brightest star in a night sky, and I have no idea how you’ve gotten this far without a ring on your finger and a baby in your arms.”
She shook her head, like she didn’t believe him, and a tease rose in her eyes. “You know why.”
“I do?”
She lowered her voice. “Because I was waiting for you.”
He was dead. Slayed through the heart with a fricking arrow. “That’s right, sweetheart, and don’t you forget it.” He pulled her into a kiss, choking back the emotions trampling through him. “Want to know another secret?”
“I want to know them all.”
“A guy has to keep an air of mystery about him. But I’ll share this one if you promise not to tell anyone.”
She made an X over her heart.
He leaned in, speaking in a hushed tone. “Football wasn’t my first career choice.”
“Really? In the interviews I read, you said you’d wanted to play since you were a kid. That you were born to do it.”
“I was born to do it. Not many wide receivers are given MVP awards, and I love the game and the camaraderie with my teammates. But being born with a good genetic foundation that you hone and perfect to do something you enjoy is different from following your dreams. I gave the public what they wanted to hear.”
“You just got even more interesting, Pennington. What did you really want to do?”
“The kind of thing I’m doing with the ladies around here in the mornings but on a bigger level, like a boot camp. I loved setting up those obstacle courses I told you about for my brothers and sisters and coming up with creative ways to get them motivated and moving. But reality set in pretty quickly, and by the time I was fifteen, coaches were all over me about my athleticism and football. As I said, I loved football, so when I realized I could use those skills to help my family, it wasn’t a hardship. I just split my focus. When I went to college, I studied kinesiology, the psychological and physiological principles of movement, which fed that passion, and focused on football to help my family. It was the right choice. My family is set for life, I enjoyed my career, and I made the best friends a guy could ask for.”
She had that dreamy expression again. “I love knowing this secret.”
“I’ve never told anyone, but I want you to know the real me. Inside and out.”
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job of getting to know each other inside and out.”
He chuckled. “We sure are, and now you know some of my secrets.”
“Yes, but please tell me there’s a follow-up secret.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you retired to work on your motivational speaking and launch your book, which is great, but when do you plan to follow your heart and start a boot camp?”
“I have no idea about the boot camp, but I’m going to follow my heart right now. I think it’s time for your next surprise.” He took her hand as he rose to his feet, bringing her up with him. “A gaggle of grannies told me about the infamous Let it Out wall.”
Her eyes lit up as he led her to the graffiti wall in the back of the café, which was covered with initials in hearts and other scribblings about couples and matters of the heart. He snagged one of the permanent markers from a bucket on a table by the wall.
“I recently learned that a certain beautiful girl’s name is missing from this epic monument of coupledom, and if I want to stake my claim on her, I’d damn well better do it right.”
She grinned from ear to ear as he found a spot on the wall and wrote their initials in a heart. He drew an arrow shooting through the lower left and emerging from the upper right of the heart, then drew three stars around the arrowhead.
“Those same grannies told me I was shooting for the stars.” He tossed the marker into the bucket and hooked his arm over her shoulder, heading for the door. “There’s no getting away from me now, Amber Montgomery. We’re up there for all the world to see.”
“Be careful what you wish for.” She sounded like she was warning herself rather than him.
Trust me, sweetheart. “I have yet to make a wish that hasn’t come true.”
He pulled open the door, and as she walked through, she said, “In case you’ve forgotten, you’re leaving next weekend.”
“Yes, and you’ve given me a thousand reasons to come back.” The sun was just beginning to set as they headed to the car. He opened the door and patted her ass. “Get in, pretty thing. It’s time for your next surprise.”
“There’s more?”
“You’re my girl. There’s always going to be more.”
Fifteen minutes later he parked at Jericho Ridge, which he’d learned from the guys last night was home to all the greatest parties in Oak Falls.
“How do you even know about this place?” Amber asked as they got out of the car.
“I’m a resourceful guy.” He opened the trunk and pulled out a cooler, a blanket, and a bag full of supplies.