Page 93 of Confessions of a High School Guidance Counselor

I giggled. “I’m almost done.”

With the product washed out of my hair and steam filling the room, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, rubbing a thick towel over my face, then wrapping it around my body.

I walked to his room and found him rolling the sleeves of a shirt. Leaning against the door frame, I said, “You look handsome.”

He grinned at me. “Thanks, babe.”

I could get used to him calling me babe. “You didn’t want to shower?”

Coming closer, he kissed me on the lips. “I’m not washing you off all day.”

My cheeks heated, but I smiled and walked to my bag he’d set on my side of the bed.

My side.

I bit my lip to hide how happy that thought made me and pulled out a long-sleeved dress for the day. Now that we were getting later and later into fall, the air had a chill to it. Cohen’s eyes were hot on me as I put on one of my lacy bras and underwear, then slipped the dress over my head.

When I met his eyes again, he was smiling at me. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to how beautiful you are.”

“You’re sweet,” I said.

His smile was genuine. “I try to be.”

I used the towel to soak moisture from the ends of my hair and scrunched it with my fingers. The curls would air dry eventually and look pretty good when they did. “Ready to go?”

“That’s it?” he said. “It’s not going to take another two hours for makeup and wardrobe changes?”

“Ha ha,” I said.

“You’re amazing me more and more every day.” He came to me and kissed me.

I smiled, wrapping my arms around his waist and looked up at him. “Ready?”

“I am now.”

50

Cohen

As we drove to the restaurant, she kept one of her hands in mine and the other on her phone. I listened as she spoke to her grandpa. She clearly adored him. And judging by the way she smiled at me as she got off the phone, she adored me too.

“We’re good to go,” she said.

I grinned at her, happy she was happy. “Anything I should know before I meet him officially?”

She chuckled. “Well, he’s very protective of me.”

“Why am I more nervous to meet him than your dad?” I asked.

“Because he’s the one you need to impress.”

I lifted her hand, drawing her knuckles to my lips. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Just be yourself. He’s going to love you.”

Did that mean she already did?

When we got to the diner, she showed me where to park around the back, where the servers and cooks always left their cars. She got out and looked around, making sure there wasn’t anyone from the school there before hurrying me inside.

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