CHAPTER 29

jamie

I pulled up at the front of Mateo's house, an unexpected flutter of nerves hitting my stomach. Why I felt so nervous was a little ridiculous given that Mateo had spent the entire week since Sunday night with me, scarcely leaving my bed except for doing those pesky things. Like going to work.

We'd gotten very good at doing things Mateo's way. Had put in a lot of practice and hard work there but it had been worth it. So very, very worth it.

But now it was my turn.

It had been a while since I'd taken a boy out on a date but Mateo had never even been on one. So whilst I recognised my own nerves for the night ahead, I could only imagine what he was feeling. Especially as I'd let him choose the destination and he'd shocked the hell out of me by suggesting a nice Italian restaurant on the high street of Esperance. Meaning this date would be in full visibility of the people Mateo knew in a place where he would likely run into at least someone he knew.

No wonder I was nervous.

I'd dressed in a pair of nice black pants and a blue button down for tonight. I had a jacket in the car but I wasn't sure if I'd need it tonight even though the air had turned cool. When I knocked on Mateo's pink front door and found him on the other side, I knew I'd chosen right. He was enough to ensure the heat would always be turned up high as my eyes traced down his gorgeous body, mouth drying out completely and kicking my nerves back into gear.

Would I ever get sick of looking at this guy, him standing there with his ashy blonde hair slightly mussed and those dark, inky eyes full of some kind of emotion. He was wearing a white linen shirt which he'd left unbuttoned at the top, displaying a lot of that smooth olive chest beneath his usual gold chain. He had a cobalt blue tweed jacket on over the top of a pair of taupe pants, tight where it counted and making me thank the higher powers for blessing me with this man.

"Wow," I managed to say, looking up to see the way he was watching me, a nervous tilt on his face. "You're breathtaking. For you," I added, pulling the baby pink gerbera from behind my back.

His eyes lit up before he laughed, taking the gerbera from me and sniffing for the scent. Maybe I shouldn't have picked the one completely scentless flower but it had caught my eye with its breathtaking visage and I knew it was the right one for him. Reminded me a lot of someone I knew in fact.

"You got me a flower?" he asked, that big smile that was making a lot more appearances of late on his face.

"Get used to it, darling," I told him. "It's all part of the wooing and stuff you agreed to. You look amazing by the way. Absolutely gorgeous."

He glowed at my words and I chuckled inside. For someone as gorgeous as Mateo he sure needed a lot of reassurance. Now that I knew him better, I knew where that need for attention and assurance came from. He had never had the love and acceptance he needed while growing up. So that was on me now, making sure he always knew how amazing and wonderful he was.

"Well now I've gotta go find a vase," Mateo said, like it was a burden. But I knew better now. I knew he liked little gifts like this and I walked into his house behind him, watching the way he carefully filled a vase with water and set the lone flower in it, eyes lingering with a soft smile playing on his face.

"No Rob tonight?" I asked, eyes skirting the empty living room.

"No. He has a hot date with Kat," Mateo told me.

"Good for him," I replied, hoping Rob got lucky tonight because that would mean Mateo's house might be empty later on. "Ready?"

"Ready," Mateo nodded, pulling in a little intake of air as he placed his hand into my waiting one. I walked us out to my car and held his door open for him. He didn't even roll his eyes once, just a little smile tugging at his lips instead which I took as a win.

I held his hand as I drove us all the way into Esperance, feeling his nervous energy rise as I pulled up out the front of the sweet Italian restaurant he had chosen. I hadn't asked but I suspected this was a place Mateo had been many times before and I squeezed his hand as he let out another deep exhale.

"You okay with this?" I asked.

"Yep. Let's do it," he nodded. He waited while I opened the car door for him and then we walked the few steps up to the restaurant door. I hovered beside him, not quite sure whether to touch him or not but deciding I would leave that up to him. I would never force anything on him and if he wanted this date to look like we were just two friends out for dinner, I was okay with that too. This was already way more than I had expected from him.

As I had anticipated, the girl on the front desk knew who Mateo was and she smiled broadly at him before her eyes dipped curiously to me. I just smiled back as she led us to a table set for two near the front window where we could see people walking past on the street. Presumably they could see in too.

I ordered us a bottle of Shiraz and then Mateo sat back in his chair, eyes looking around at the fairly full restaurant around us. I could tell he knew quite a few people as he nodded in acknowledgement at a couple of them before turning his attention back to me.

"So? Not as scary as you thought it would be?" I asked, gentle smile on my face.

"Not scary at all," he replied. His hand came up to the table then, creeping forward until he clasped onto mine as shock and delight filtered through me. I twisted my hand around, letting him entwine our fingers together as I felt like all my dreams were coming to life. Mateo here, looking more beautiful than the setting sun, claiming me as his in front of everyone he knew. There was a slight tremble to his hand, belying his claim that he was not scared, but I squeezed him tight, wanting him to know how much this meant to me.

"You'll be getting one hell of a reward later tonight for this," I murmured, dipping my voice low.

Mateo pretended to gasp in shock. "Why, Mr Waverly. Do you think I'm going to be that easy after just one date?"

I laughed, the sound vibrating around the restaurant and causing a few eyes to swing our way. I didn't pay them any mind, eyes only for the gorgeous man on the other side of the table.

"I certainly hope so," I returned, running my eyes suggestively down his chest.

"You know, someone keeps telling me I'm not just my body," Mateo said thoughtfully, head cocked to the side.

"Well maybe that guy should learn to shut his mouth," I laughed. "But hey, I can love the whole man whilst still enjoying all the benefits he has to offer."

"So how do you see these benefits playing out?" he asked, resting his chin on his hand.

"Well, I'm hoping your friend Rob has his own luck tonight," I told him, leaning in closer. "So we can be as loud as we want. I was hoping to take you back home to your place as it's much closer than mine and the way you're looking tonight tells me I won't have the patience to drive all the way back to Sorrento."

"Hmm. Go on."

"And then when I get you alone, I'm going to peel off every layer of clothing on you and then I'm going to put you on display and look at you to my heart's content. And then I'm going to kiss down every inch of your body, teasing you on the parts that I know will really get you going. And then I'm going to use my mouth on you to get you even more pent up." Mateo's eyes darkened with each of my words, his tongue coming out to lick his bottom lip as I smiled.

"What else?"

"Then I'm going to insert a few different parts of my body into that tight pink hole – "

"Are you guys ready to order?" came the overly cheerful voice of the waitress who had stealthily crept up on our intense conversation. Mateo's olive cheeks flushed crimson while he subtly shifted in his seat and I found I had to do the same. Fortunately, I had enough presence of mind to order for both of us and Mateo watched without saying a word so I figured I was okay to do this for him. I loved ordering for my dates and it looked like Mateo didn't mind that either.

Mateo was silent as the waitress moved away and I hoped he was still going okay with our date after that untimely interruption.

"You got me all pent up now, Jamie," he muttered, shifting again in his seat.

"You and me both," I grinned. I'd dropped his hand while I was ordering from the menu but he reached for me again and I felt my heart expand with each passing moment. He was so much more than I ever could have thought possible. So very much more.

"Tell me something mundane to cool me down a little," he added, waving his free hand in my direction.

"Okay. Oh, I know. So, Bill's wife, Kelly, came up to the station today to bring him his lunch. She's a sweetheart like that. Anyway, she brought their little three month old girl, Molly, with her. Literally the cutest baby I've ever seen by the way. And while I was holding the baby she exploded in her diaper and it was so bad I had to change my top," I told him, waiting for him to cringe. But he didn't, his eyes darkening even more as I cocked my head at his reaction.

"You think that was going to help? A story that involved you holding a little baby? Now I have that image in my head and that's not helping one bit."

Well, hello there. That was probably the most unexpected thing I'd ever heard come out of Mateo's mouth and I felt a grin tugging at my lips.

"Did I mention the exploding diaper part?" I asked.

"Yes, followed by you taking off your shirt," he muttered. "Still not helping."

I laughed, resting back in my seat as I looked across at him. "So which part of that story did you like? The part about me taking off my top or me holding the baby?"

"Both," he murmured, brows drawn low as though he hadn't really wanted to admit what he'd said.

"Huh," I grinned.

"What?"

"You want to have a baby one day?" I guessed, watching as that scowl crossed his face.

"I don't know. Maybe," he said. "So what?"

"So I think that's adorable," I told him, watching as that scowl dropped from his face. "And it's something I want too."

A little smile came across his face then and I felt his hand tighten in my grip. "I mean, not for, like, ages," he added because of course he had to temper anything that excited him. "I'm only twenty-two and have a career ahead of me."

"Oh of course," I grinned as my heart lit up inside my chest. "Can't expect to haul along a little baby on those modelling shoots."

"Exactly," he grumped but I caught it, the little smile on his face that told me he liked that picture I'd painted.

"All right," I said, shifting in my seat. "That's something for us to ponder down the track. What else?"

"What else?"

"What else do you see down that future track of ours?"

He said nothing but I could see the gears running through his head and I knew he was actively thinking about this and not running scared like I thought he might.

"Funny you ask that," he finally said. "Tell me, how committed are you to staying on the coast out here?"

"Probably less committed than I am to the idea of following you wherever you go," I admitted.

He stalled at that, almost visibly shocked that I had dared admit what I had been thinking out loud. Which was that I would follow this man wherever he went. I'd had a growing suspicion that his career would lead him away from these parts. Esperance had always been too small for Mateo. He needed to be under the bright lights of a big city.

He sucked in a breath of air and exhaled before he looked up at me. "So, Glen and I had a long talk while I was in Sydney last time. He has jobs lined up for me in all parts of the world. Paris first and then Milan and then a whole heap in New York. Jobs a mile long. I could basically work as much or as little as I want."

"Really?" I asked, smiling as that spark lit up his eyes like it always did when we talked about his modelling career. "You want to live in New York?"

He bit on his lip and I knew it was something he must have been thinking about for a while. "I mean, yeah, I do," he admitted. "But you've thrown a big spanner in the works and I'm slightly less enthused about the idea of globetrotting than I used to be."

"Would the idea of globetrotting be made easier if I came with you?" I asked tentatively, not quite sure if this was what he was hinting at. But then he smiled, that newly released smile that spoke of freedom and dreams and liberty and I knew I was right.

"Yeah. It would," he said simply. "I know I can't just expect you to drop your life and follow me around the world. But there's a lot of money attached to these jobs with some of the biggest names in the fashion world who I've only ever dreamed of working for so money won't be an issue. And Glen has an apartment in Manhattan that we could live in while we're there. And I've been looking up the qualifications for Australian paramedics over in the States and it's just a fairly simple visa application and a short training course …"

He stopped talking, eyes finally looking up at me as I felt my heart literally stall in my chest. He'd really thought about this a lot, even to the extent of researching how my qualifications would transfer cross country.

"I'll follow you, Mateo. Wherever you go I'll follow," I told him, reaching out with my other hand to grasp onto our clasped hands, watching as emotion choked up my beautiful boyfriend.

"You would do that for me?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

"You know I need to ask," he admitted, ducking his head.

"I know. I know you haven't always had the love and acceptance you deserved or needed," I told him. "But you'll always have that from me. And if that means taking a shot at your career and moving to New York City well then sign me up, darling. I'm all yours and I'm all in."

I swear a tear nearly escaped Mateo's eyes as he pressed his lips together, trying to clamp down on displaying his emotions as we just sat and watched each other from either side of our table.

"I don't know how I got so lucky to have you," he said quietly, words barely above a whisper. "Before I met you I was drowning in heartache, locked in a job I was too scared to leave and hiding who I was from everyone I knew. You changed everything for me, Jamie. Everything."

"I'm the lucky one," I told him, bringing our hands up to my mouth and pressing a kiss to each of his knuckles.

"No. We're both getting exactly what we deserve," he said, a hint of that playful smile on his face as he finally started believing my words, the ones I'd been repeating to him endlessly in the hopes that he would finally believe me. Looked like I may have finally won him over.

Because he was right. We were both worth it. He was worth it and I was worth it. And now it seemed he finally knew it too.