Page 65 of #Starstruck

“They can add it to my bill,” he said, throwing his plate into a trash bin. “You know I’m never going to pass up the opportunity to eat something you baked.” He kissed my right temple, making me sigh.

“I can’t believe you rented the entire aquarium,” I said as we approached the sea-horse tank. They were such weird-looking creatures, like underwater aliens. I loved watching them swim with their little fins and hang on to tall blades of seaweed with their curly tails.

“If there were other people here, I couldn’t do this.” Before I could catch my breath, Chase spun me in his arms and held me tightly while his warm, strong mouth kissed mine thoroughly and completely. Some still-functioning part of my brain registered that he tasted like lemon and sugar as I collapsed against him.

“You could, but they would probably ask us to leave,” I whispered when we came up for air, making him smile.

We made out for a while longer. When he started nuzzling my neck, I had to make him stop because I wasn’t sure how much more of that sweet torture I could take.

“So what about the staff?” I asked as we entered the jellyfish room.

“There are some people in the back. They gave me a number to call if I needed to, but why would I?”

“What if there’s an emergency?”

“And what kind of emergency are you envisioning?

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve seen those videos of octopi escaping their tanks. That’s probably worth a phone call.”

“If I see an octopus escaping, I plan on standing clear, and he can do whatever he wants.”

I loved how he could make me laugh. “I shouldn’t let you do this kind of stuff.”

“What do you mean? Like kiss you?” He punctuated his sentence with another bone-melting kiss.

“No,” I said, breathless when he let me go. “That’s, um, good. I meant the extravagant gestures. Like renting an entire aquarium.”

There was a round white-leather seat in the middle of the round room, meant to mimic the jellyfish. He pulled me over to it, and we sat down. “The last woman I seriously dated used to leave catalogs lying around with things circled. She also sent me links to her wish list on Amazon. Took me into jewelry stores to show me her favorite pieces. In every other relationship I’ve had, there’s always this expectation that I’ll spend all this money and go to all these extravagant places. But with you I never feel that way. I never feel like you expect anything from me. And it makes me enjoy doing things for you. I love experiencing things you love and seeing how excited you are.”

Wow.I didn’t love hearing about the last girlfriend, but he was seriously so sweet that it made my soul ache. I looked over at the translucent-moon jellyfish directly across from us, fluttering around the tank the way he made my heart flutter in my chest. “I still feel like I should say it’s too much.”

He pressed my fingertips against his lips and kissed each one softly, drawing all my attention to his clever mouth. “Why would you deny me the pleasure of doing things for you? I didn’t get upset when you brought me lemon bars.”

“That’s different,” I said, my voice shaky because he had turned my hand into Jell-O.

“Not to me. If our financial situations were reversed, would you still think that?”

Think? He wanted me to think? How was I supposed to think when he made everything inside me quiver? He probably had a point. Possibly. Had someone infused his lips with magic so that every time he touched me with them I was put under a spell? One that made me mindless and so full of need for him that it shut everything else out?

As if he knew exactly what was happening to me, he flashed me a knowing grin and pulled me into a kiss that made me very glad jellyfish don’t have eyes.

After spending the afternoon in the aquarium, where we had occasionally looked at fish, he took me back to his place. The sun had begun to set, but he didn’t let me relax on the deck and enjoy it. Instead, he led me to the kitchen, where a big beige rectangular box sat on the counter. “That’s for you. Open it,” he encouraged, looking pleased with himself.

A present? I carefully undid the pink ribbon, pulled off the lid, and moved the tissue paper to find a pink skirt and a collared white shirt. “I don’t get it.”

“Look at the bottom of the skirt.”

There was a black poodle with a leash at the bottom.

“We’re going on our 1950s date. But we have to go upstairs and get changed. What do you say?”

Did he just sit around and think of adorable things for us to do? “I say that sounds like a lot of fun. What did you have in mind?”

“It’s another surprise,” he said as he came over and wrapped his arms around me. “All the guest bedrooms upstairs have en suite bathrooms, so you can choose whichever one you want. Or ... you could join me in my room, and we could get changed together.” My brain knew he was joking, but apparently the rest of my body did not get the message.

“Which room is yours?” I asked in a breathy voice, and I felt him go still. “So that I can avoid it.”

He nipped my neck in response to my teasing, then led me upstairs and pointed out his room. I chose the guest room farthest from it.