wasn’t what I expected when I came out of the bathroom, naked. I figured he’d be in the bed. “Where are you?”
“In the living room. Do you need me?” he asked. I could hear him walking toward the bedroom.
“What? Wow,” he said when he rounded the corner. “Lulu, I was going to give you tonight to rest.”
“Why?” I asked.
He reached out to touch me. “I thought you’d be tired. Jesus, Lulu. Jesus,” he said again, as his hands began to roam. “I wanted you the minute I saw you at the bar. I thought you’d be exhausted.”
“I’d never be too tired for you,” I said, stepping closer.
“You smell like love.”
“Love?” I giggled. “It’s just my body wash.”
“It smells like you. That’s love to me.” He stepped closer and kissed my shoulder. “Did I say that I’m glad you’re here?”
He led me to his bed. I lay waiting while he stripped his clothes off.
“298,” he said, as he lay down beside me.
“What?” I laughed.
“It’s been 298 hours been since I’ve held you.”
“You counted?” I laughed.
“Do you want me to tell you in minutes?” he chuckled. “I’ve missed you.” He kissed me passionately. Burying his face in my neck, I felt his breath on my skin. He kissed behind my ear and I shivered. He kissed my shoulder and held me tighter.
“I just want to hold you. Is that okay? ‘Cause I’ll make crazy love to you all night, if that’s what you want, but I don’t want you to think that’s all this is.”
I looked at him. My heart was melting into a pool of love for him. “What do you mean?” I needed his explanation.
“Lulu,” he began and took a big breath. “Love has so many different meanings: I love pizza, I love Friday, I love you, Dad. Each use means something to someone, maybe not to anyone else and that makes me nervous right now. I want to say something, and I want you to understand how I mean it. I’ve never said these words to anyone this way before.”
He paused and I felt my chest tighten with anticipation.
“No one I’ve ever met has consumed my thoughts as you have. No one has filled my dreams like you. No one has ever made me feel like I couldn’t live without them…”
Oh my God, what is happening?
“I want you every minute of the day, but it’s not just the lovemaking. While, that pops in my head quite a lot, both heads actually.” He snickered at the words, as though he needed the dose of humor to continue. “You have captured a place in my heart that I didn’t know existed.”
I rose up to look down at him. I had to see his face. I needed to look in his eyes, because you can’t hide the emotions he was pouring out. He smiled a smile that had my heart thumping like I’ve never felt before.
“I know it’s soon. I know, for a while at least, that the distance will be an obstacle that we will have to work around.” Nervously, he fidgeted with my hair. “Lulu – Louisa Welk, I love you, but it’s more, I’m in love with you, and there’s no greater feeling I’ve ever known than telling you this.”
My tears dripped onto his chest. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I wanted this moment captured like a photograph in my mind. It seemed like a million minutes passed as I looked in his eyes to find love: real love, looking back at me. I lowered myself to kiss him. I pressed my body to his, snuggling into the warmth and love that was Thom Miller. I knew he was waiting for me to say something, but I prayed that, for just a moment, I could revel in this moment.
“I am young and inexperienced in this world sometimes…” He started to say something, but I kissed him to interrupt. “Let me finish, I have more to say. When I came to Kiawah two months ago, I came for respite. My world was about to change, how much I didn’t know when I arrived. You came along and swept me off my feet. I figured I was ready for a weekend fling.”
“I’d been alone for a long time, and the idea of wild crazy sex with an
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