I want You Deeper

“You look…amazing.”

Charlie’s cheeks grew warm. When was the last time

she’d blushed? She couldn’t remember. But Nicholas was staring at her with that look in his eyes again. She could only describe it as desire, but could that be right?

“Thank you.”

She lowered her head, suddenly taking an interest in her shoes. The post-lunch presentation had shaken her up a little. She wasn’t sure what to make of Nicholas’s speech about having met someone who had changed everything. At first, she’d tried to justify that maybe he’d met someone when he wasn’t with her. They’d been together only on weekends. Then she’d told herself that they’d really only known each other a couple of weeks, so he could easily have met someone before her.

And then Brooke had confronted her.

She was being ridiculous, according to Brooke. Of course, Nicholas was into her. It was obvious to everyone but her. And now, as Charlie lifted her gaze to meet his, she saw it. She saw what everyone else noticed.

Suddenly, she found herself agreeing with Brooke. In the words of her friend, what was wrong with her?

“It looks like we’re the first ones to arrive again,” Brooke commented, looking around the empty room.

It was the same room where they’d had lunch earlier that day-where

Nicholas had given his presentation. Charlie had shown up a little early to check on things, but the servers who had been hired to handle everything seemed to be on top of it all.

“Good. We can spend some time together.”

She resisted the almost overwhelming urge to look away as Nicholas stared at her. Instead, she smiled and nodded, suddenly unable to get any words out.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?”

The suggestion caught Charlie off guard. It wasn’t just what he’d asked, but the look on his face as he’d asked it. Was he…?

Nervous?

“Sure,” she said, trying to look casual as she walked toward the door that led to the outdoor patio. No big deal. Just a casual walk.

“I checked this out this afternoon while all the sessions were going on.” He held the door open for her, then followed her out onto the patio. “There’s a pretty cool little walkway over here.”

Charlie smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a walkway called cool before. I’m intrigued.”

“I don’t want to set expectations too high.”

He settled his hand in the small of her back to guide her toward the walkway. Just the small gesture, which seemed to be a gentlemanly protective sort of measure, spread warmth through her body.

“It’s pretty cool.” Charlie smiled over at him as they started down the path that led to the lake. The mountains were off in the distance, and it was still just light enough to see them clearly. The way everything reflected off the water made it even more breathtaking.

“When I saw it, I knew I had to bring you out here.”

Charlie held her breath, waiting for what he might say next. But in the silence that followed, she realized something. It had to do with what Brooke had said about her fear of putting herself out there. If Nicholas was about to say he had feelings for her, she’d only be able to reciprocate. If she spoke now, she took the very real risk of him saying he didn’t feel the same. In other words, she’d be putting herself out there.

“Stop!”

Oops. She hadn’t meant to shout that. Judging by Nicholas’s wide eyes and slack jaw, she’d startled him with the one-word command.

She winced as she turned to stand in front of him on the pathway. “Sorry. I just…I have to say something before I lose my nerve.”

That shifted his expression, his brows furrowing in confusion. No surprise there. She figured she was being pretty confusing right now.

She took a deep breath and plunged in. “I’m in love with you. I didn’t mean to fall in love. My goal was actually to be single for a while and figure out who I am. But I’ve never felt this connection with someone before, and I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same way, but I had to tell you before this weekend was over.”

There. It was out. She took a deep breath and then exhaled, feeling exponentially better. But then she saw him taking his own breath, preparing to speak, and she realized she needed to be bracing herself right now.

But his expression immediately softened, and she knew this was going to be good news. “I’m in love with you, too. Have been for a while now. I can’t say I wasn’t ready for it. I think you came into my life at exactly the right time. I’ve been feeling like something was…missing for a while now. And then I met you and that feeling disappeared.”

He stepped forward, taking each of her hands in his and looking into her eyes. It felt as though nothing existed outside of this small space they occupied. Everything else had melted away.

Smiling, he lowered his head to brush her lips with his. They shared a long, slow, lingering kiss that told her everything she needed to know about how he felt about her. Once it was over, he stepped back to look down at her again.

“Good,” he said. “I don’t have to come up with an excuse to see you next weekend.”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

Charlie shook her head. “No excuses necessary, but if you need me to help you fool someone into thinking we’re a couple, I’m game.”

“Or we could just be a couple for real.”

Smiling up at him, Charlie nodded. “I like that idea. Now, kiss me again.”

“My pleasure.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, looping his arm around her back to pull her toward him in a deep, lingering kiss that took her breath away.

EPILOGUE

The bride wore green.

In this case, the bride was Brooke, and she’d chosen a far from traditional wedding dress. Not that Brooke was all that traditional to start with. In fact, the light green strapless dress with its long, flowy skirt worked on her.

Nicholas glanced over at Justin, who was beaming as he watched his bride walk up the aisle toward him. The wedding had been far sooner than Nicholas had expected. In fact, the time from engagement to wedding day was exactly seven weeks. Just enough time to send an online invite to everyone, special order a dress that looked good on Brooke, who was a redhead, and get a date at one of the many all-inclusive wedding chapels in the area.

The wedding went smoothly, which was surprising, considering how quickly it was all thrown together. Nicholas was impressed with the chapel. In fact, maybe he should consider something like this when he married Charlie, which was likely to be sooner rather than later.

Or maybe they could just fly off to the South of France and get married on the beach, as they’d pretended they were going to do.

In their final duty as matchmakers, Justin and Brooke had made sure Nicholas and Charlie were lined up in the wedding party to walk in and out of the chapel together. Justin’s childhood best friend had been the best man, putting Nicholas as one of the groomsmen. That was fine with him. Less responsibility during the reception, which freed him up to spend the evening by Charlie’s side.

As Nicholas came face to face with his girlfriend, though, he noticed traces of moisture in her eyelashes. “Have you been crying?” he teased as they followed the best man and maid of honor toward the main door of the chapel.

“I cry at weddings.” The defensiveness in her voice was very clear.

“Plus, it was a beautiful ceremony.”

“Ready to do all this yourself?”

This time he wasn’t teasing. He looked over at her to let her know how serious he was. By then, they’d stepped out into the sunlight and off to the side to let the next couple come through.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I’m not proposing. I’ll make it much more romantic when I do that. Just…gauging your interest.”

“In marrying you.”

“In getting married.” He decided, no, he wasn’t going to play it safe this time. “To me. Yes.”

“I’m beyond interested. Let’s do it. But…” His breath caught. But?

“I’m going to need a better ring than Brooke. We have to one-up my coworker.”

“And my best friend,” he added. “So a nice ring. Is that all?”

She thought about that for a second. “Actually, I don’t even need the ring. Just you.”

“Still want to get married in the South of France?” he asked.

From her expression, he could tell right away that was a no. “I want to get married surrounded by our friends and family, so that’s probably going to be here. Or in Pacific Heights. Can we get married on the Lyon Street

Steps?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

He immediately scratched any idea of proposing to her there. He wanted it to be a surprise. Maybe he’d fly her to the South of France and propose to her on the beach. That would bring things full circle.

“Okay, everyone,” the wedding coordinator shouted. “Pictures and then we’ll head next door for the reception.”

The bride and groom were still chatting away to her parents as the photographer waited for the wedding coordinator to corral everyone. This was not going to be easy.

Nicholas didn’t mind, though. He stepped closer to Charlie, putting his arm around her and pulling her toward him.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” he whispered.

Charlie leaned toward him, putting her head on his shoulder as they watched the bride and groom pose for pictures. Nicholas knew, without a doubt, he was exactly where he was meant to be.

THE END.