Page 25 of Always Be My Baby

“Yeah, we can go. You seem in a bit of a hurry… What’s going on?”

“Just can’t wait to get you alone. What’s wrong with that?” I whispered in her ear, running my nose along that soft skin behind the lobe, which was one of her major turn-ons.

“I find absolutely no flaws in that plan.” She snickered and grabbed my hand to pull me faster. That was my Lee. She had an insatiable appetite for the more carnal pleasures of life. I hoped it was because of me, but it probably had more to do with the fact that she’d gone without even the simplest of touches for so many years.

Before we left town, I stopped at the taco truck that she and I love to frequent. We had a good drive ahead of us, and therefore we needed sustenance. Floyd had been happily deposited over at Sawyer’s house, where he’d be spending the weekend probably eating every bad thing my second-in-command threw his way. Floyd loved Sawyer. I didn’t have to worry about dog therapy to help with his abandonment issues or anything.

Lena had seen to that as well, with Sawyer giving her an extra key yesterday before they’d left work. She told me, “Sawyer had a bowl of goodies and a puppuccino…” It’s a ‘drink’ the local coffee shop offered for free for dog parents to spoil their fur boys or girls with. “...set out to welcome Floyd. He didn’t even say goodbye to me.”

The best part of all this? Lee still had no idea what she was in for.

We climbed back inside the truck and I took off, heading south, the same as I would if we were heading home. Frozen chunks of ice bumped up against each other and the beach along Lake Michigan. Lee loved to watch the water on our drive home. I figured the scenery would keep her occupied until I passed the turnoff for our house. When that happened, Lee turned to look at me curiously.

She thumbed behind her. “Uh… Did you forget where we live?”

I turned my head slightly, smirking at her. “Nope.”

“Then where are we going?”

“You’ll see. Now, can I get one of those tacos? I’m starved.”

I stumped her. I’d actually stumped her. Cruel? Possibly. But I got such a thrill from stumping Lee seeing as it hardly ever happened. The woman was too keen to have one pulled over on her too often. The last time that happened was back at Christmas when I gave her her gift, and because she didn’t know I’d been trying to make our first holiday together so special by putting together a freaking fantastic—in my opinion—gift, it almost broke us up. This time I brought in reinforcements.

Still, despite being stumped, she reached inside the bag and handed me off a taco. Then she got one for herself. We ate silently, listening to the music on the radio. And I knew it was just killing her to not know where we were going. Lee hated not knowing things. I enjoyed every minute of keeping it from her.

Once we got on the highway, she grabbed my arm. “No, Girard, seriously. Where are we going? It’s getting late. We have work tomorrow and it’s going to be a busy day.Valentine’s Day. I thought you wanted to have a little fun before the night was over with?”

“Oh, we are definitely going to be having fun before the night is over with. Just not at home.” Then I used my eyes to tell her to look in the backseat, glancing back there several times. When she finally got it, she turned her head to look.

“Is that my bag? Why do I have a bag in your back seat?” Then she looked next to it. “And why do you have a bag, for that matter?”

“Surprise!You thought we were celebrating our first Valentine’s Day together Sunday night. Oh, no, no, no…”

“We… aren’t?”

“I’ve got something much, much better planned for you.”

“But the—”

“The bistro will be fine. It’s in capable hands. Lena knows what she’s doing, as does Serena and Sawyer and all the rest of the staff. It’s going to be fine. You need time off. You need to rest, be pampered, have copious amounts of sex—that part is important.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, that is quite important.” Then she sobered. “But we can’t, Girard. Surely you can see why this is a bad idea. Oh—what if we planned for a weekend this summer? That’d be fun. It’ll give me time to plan. Put things in ord—”

That was enough. I couldn’t take one more word and caught her off guard by pressing my hand over her mouth. “Lee… you didn’t need to plan because I did. I’ve been planning this since January. This weekend you’re going to give up control.”

“I,” she attempted to protest. I laughed because with my hand still covering her mouth it sounded smeared, more like “yeye.”

“No arguing, Lee. It’s done.”

When she sighed, I dropped my hand. I should’ve known she wasn’t done pushing her case, even if it was a useless endeavor. “But what about Floyd? He can’t take himself—”

“Taken care of. He’s at Sawyers. Do you really think I’d leave our boy to fend for himself?”

“No,” she answered honestly, resigned to the situation if I read her tone correctly.

But with the sound of it, I knew it was time to be serious. I used my finger to lift her chin in order for her to look at me. I split my attention between capturing her eyes and the road yawning ahead of us. “It’s going to be fine, sweetheart. You’ll see. Do you trust me?”

“Always,” she replied without even taking the time to think about it. I nodded, brushed my thumb over the apple of her cheek and then went back to driving. She wouldn’t be Lee if she didn’t at least try to take control over a situation. And really… I’d expected nothing less.

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