Page 138 of The Plan

“You’re welcome.” She looks up at me with a small smile, but then her eyes light up. “Don’t move.” She rushes to grab something from her bag and then turns to the fridge. She keeps her back to me, covering whatever she’s doing in the fridge.

After a few seconds, she turns around, and I feel a smile cover my face as she walks over to me with my favorite Carvel's ice cream cake and a number one candle.

I glance down at the cake, and in blue writing, it says, Happy One Year soberversary! with hearts all around it. When I look back up at her, she’s already watching me.

“I’m proud of you, Sire.” The soft fire from all of the candles gives us just enough light to see each other, but I can see the small smile on her face. “The last four years, you have not been a failure.” She shakes her head at what I said earlier today.

“It’s called a journey for a reason, and I wish I could’ve been there with you these last few years, but I wasn’t, so I promise, even if we don’t work out, I’ll be here for every soberversary to tell you I’m proud because I’ll never stop being proud of you for making the choice to stay clean every day.”

I don’t know what to say at first, but she holds the cake closer to me. I blow out the candle and put the cake aside so I can pull her in for a hug. “I’m holding you to that.”

She pulls away to look up at me. “Good. I mean it this time.”

I nod once, a smile still unable to be wiped from my face. “It’s the end of our date.” I lean in a bit but don’t close the distance between us. A smile grows on her face, and I can tell she knows what I mean when her eyes flick down to my lips.

“It isn’t.”

“No?”

Her eyes are still on my lips, and I feel myself smirking.

“Uh uh.”

“What else did you have planned?”

“A movie.”

I lean down so my mouth is by her ear. “I can think of something better.” I lean back to see her eyes, our lips inches apart. We’re close enough to feel each other's breath, and I think she’s holding hers.

“Like what?” she teases. Instead of telling her, I show her, bending slightly to put one hand on her thigh. She leans in just a bit but then leans back so our lips never meet. Slowly, I drag my hand up her dress, and her breath hitches.

“Sire.” She puts her hands on my chest but doesn’t push me away.

“Hm?” I keep my eyes trained on her for an answer, but she keeps her eyes on my lips and then licks hers. I start to bring my hand higher up her inner thigh. I almost forgot how smooth her skin feels.

“I thought—” She cuts herself off, and I keep my hand in place, not moving it higher.

“Go ahead.”

She lets out a sigh like she’s disappointed. “I thought we were going slow.” I hate that I told her that shit.

“I thought you liked it when I went faster?” With the look she’s giving me, I doubt she wants to go slow, either. She bites back a smile and holds eye contact.

“I said no inappropriate comments.”

“That wasn’t inappropriate. Your mind is just in the gutter.”

“You know what you meant.” She squints her eyes at me, and I definitely do know what I meant because mymind is the one that's in the gutter, and I don’t want to go slow. I want to rip this dress off her and take her right here on her kitchen counter.

I don’t say that, though, and instead leave it up to her. “I wouldn’t mind speeding things up a bit, but do you still want to go slow?”

She bites her lips and looks off to the side like she’s thinking about it. After one second too many, I remove my hands from her and pull back a bit. She looks at me with a mix of confusion and disappointment.

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“No, but you hesitated, and that’s enough of an answer.” I give her a damnfresh start kissand press my lips to my fingers before holding them to her. “Slow it is,” I say with a nod. It won’t kill me to go slow, and even if it would, it’s what she wants, so she’s getting it.

Her smile grows, but she doesn’t kiss her fingers. “You can get a real kiss.” I feel a smirk grow on my face, and she adds, “But no tongue.”

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