Chapter 32

Dash refused to tell me anything about the celebration he had planned, simply insisting that we should check into our hotel and change before we went. I glanced at him as we walked into the upscale suite I'd booked on the top floor of a four-star hotel, wondering if he was going to turn his nose up at the missing star.

I'd checked out the five-star and above places, but ultimately, this had had the best view. Even so, I was feeling a little insecure about it. This guy had flown us over here on a private jet at a day's notice. I doubted he ever ventured into anything less than the best accommodations, but he let out a low whistle when we walked in to be met by a sprawling view of the city we were visiting.

"Wow," he said easily, striding across the room to the wall of windows. "That's pretty spectacular. I've never spent much time in Seattle. Have you?"

"No." I joined him, sliding an arm around his waist and fitting comfortably under the arm he draped around my shoulders. "This is actually my first time here. Somehow, I've always managed to miss it on my travels."

He shot me a mischievous smile. "Well, then what I've got planned for our celebration is even more perfect than I thought."

Holding me for another minute, he finally kissed the top of my head and let go. "I wasn't sure what you'd brought along, so I took the liberty of having some things delivered here for you to try on. It should be getting here any minute now."

I blinked hard, suddenly not seeing the Space Needle anymore. I spun to face him instead. "You did what? When? Why?"

He toyed with a lock of my loose hair and gave me a gentle smile. "Why are you so surprised? I arranged it while I was waiting for you to finish up with Molly. If you don't like any of it, you don't have to wear it. Obviously. I just thought?—"

"No," I interjected quickly, taking his sculpted jaw in my palms and shaking my head. "I'm not offended. Or angry. It's more that I can't believe you went through all that trouble for me."

A tiny crease appeared between his eyebrows. "Why not? I really don't think I understand why you're so surprised. Isn't this what boyfriends do?"

"Not all of them," I said softly before I pushed up on my toes to press a kiss to his slightly parted lips. "Only the good ones. Don't look so worried. No one has ever done anything like that for me before. It's nice. Thank you."

He gave me a doubtful look, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I grinned, quickly skipping across the room to answer it as excitement filled me like a bubble on the inside. I couldn't wait to see what he'd had delivered and I was hoping it would provide a clue as to what we would be doing this evening.

But I was also just excited that he'd made the effort. I hadn't been expecting it at all, but a girl could get used to being spoiled this way. That was for sure.

I opened the door to find a neatly dressed man on the other side, two hangers on his fingers with the garments on them protected by a dust cover over each. My heart skipped when I recognized the logo on the dust covers, though.

I knew the designer he'd reached out to and I honestly couldn't believe she'd not only agreed to something like this but that she'd done it so fast. The man held the hangers out to me. "For you, ma'am."

"Thank you," I said as I took them, still marveling over the fact that he'd gotten this right and that I was going to have the opportunity to wear something by Maxine Price. She had boutiques in every major city, but I knew she was based in Seattle.

As I shut the door behind me, I stared at Dash from across the room, taking in his casual stance with his hands slid into his pockets as he watched me, but I could see the excitement in his eyes. He seemed to be enjoying this almost as much as I was.

"Well," he said with a slight smirk appearing on his lips. "Are you going to open them or just stand there staring at me all night?"

"Oh, I'm definitely opening them, but I could easily stare at you all night." I waggled my eyebrows at him, then headed into the bedroom, hearing the soft padding of his footsteps as he followed.

Pausing in the door of the adjoining bathroom, I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Wait here. I want to surprise you when I come out."

His dark eyebrows swept up a little bit, but he nodded, dutifully crossing to the ginormous bed and taking a seat on the edge of it. "Am I not supposed to help you with the zippers or something like that?"

I laughed, gently placing the hangers on the hook behind the bathroom door. I went back to him, nudging his knees apart to stand between his legs, and I put my hands on his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes.

"So far, you're proving to be an amazing boyfriend, Dash. You don't have to keep worrying about what you're supposed to be doing or what you think boyfriends do. You're still you and I'm still me, so let's just be ourselves and have fun. Do whatever feels right and natural."

He lifted his hands to my ass and tugged me a tiny bit closer. "This feels pretty natural to me."

I chuckled, bending over to kiss his forehead before I took a few big steps back. "You're right. It does feel natural, but we're also naturally going to fall into bed together if I don't go into that bathroom right now."

"Fair enough." He dragged his hands through his rich, dark brown hair, his gaze tracking me as I moved back toward the bathroom. "Hurry up, though, would you? I'm curious to see what all the fuss is about with this designer. She came highly recommended."

"She's amazing." I walked into the bathroom and called through the door as I closed it. "You'll see. Whatever she sent is going to be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen."

"Doubt it," he called back, but I didn't bother arguing.

Soon enough, he'd know I was right. As I unzipped the first garment bag, I sucked in a gasp at the sight of the luxurious, royal blue fabric that came into view. The item turned out to be a breathtaking, A-line dress. It felt like butter on my skin as I pulled it on, amazed by how well it fit.

When I opened the door to show it off to him, I did a little twirl before I danced into the bedroom, feeling his gaze burning into me as he stood up slowly. "You were right. That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The dress is okay too."

My cheeks flushed, but I laughed, stopping to give him a scolding look. "It's better than okay. It's gorgeous."

He shrugged, those eyes never leaving mine. "You're gorgeous. Clothes are just window dressing."

"Who knew that deep down inside, you were so complimentary?"

"I'm not," he said. "Just being honest. Do you like it?"

"I love it, but let me try the other one," I said. "If I've only got one night with these, I can't decide on one before I've even seen the other."

He frowned. "Why would you only have one night with them?"

I paused. "They're not on loan?"

"No, they're yours," he said like it should've been obvious.

My eyes flew wide open, but I could tell he wasn't joking. Struggling to wrap my head around that, I shook it at him and laughed softly, then strode back into the bathroom. "You really didn't have to do that!"

"I wanted to," he called through the door.

I sighed, wondering how to accept such a lavish gift without looking like a gold-digger. Deciding to think about it later, I ignored it for now, too charged after the way he'd looked at me when I'd come out of the bathroom to be thinking clearly anyway. Where the first dress had been gorgeous, the second was absolutely stunning.

A shimmering indigo that clung to my curves and moved with me, I knew this was the one. Drawing in a big breath, I opened the door again and simply spread my arms out at my sides this time, knowing this dress didn't need to be danced in to show it off.

Dash had still been standing where he'd been when I'd gone back into the bathroom, but as soon as he saw me, his eyes narrowed and he closed the distance between us. Not stopping until his hands were on my hips, he laid a hard kiss on me and held me to him.

"Now that's a dress," he groaned between kisses. "The only problem is that I'm not going to be able to keep my eyes or my hands off you tonight."

Kissing me deeply once more, the zipper along my side was coming down before I even knew it and I hooked my arms around his neck. "I know you've got something planned, but what if we just celebrate right now?"

"You won't get any arguments from me." His mouth came back to mine in the same heartbeat as he'd said the words. Then he was carefully sliding the dress off me before he laid me down on the bed.

My heart was pounding in my chest, my skin flushed and the space between my legs already aching. I still didn't know what he'd had planned for tonight, but all I'd really wanted was to spend time with him anyway.

Dash definitely didn't seem to mind skipping out on his plans either, making love to me hard and fast first before we did it again, soft, slow, and passionate that time around. Spending the night together, we stayed naked, having food delivered and only covering up for the time it took room service to wheel in the cart.

We talked, we laughed, and we made love, and later, as I was falling asleep in his arms, I couldn't help but think that it really had become that. Making love instead of just having sex. I was falling for him, and at this point, I didn't think there was anything I could do to stop it.