I Have Lived and I Have Loved - Willow Winters Page 0,191

date.”

I giggle a little and recover quickly. “Eli Walsh, do you not know that I think you’re the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on?”

He leans forward, resting his hands on the table. “Do you now?”

I move closer and reach toward him. “Yes.”

“Tell me just how sexy you think I am.”

I extend my hand, and he mirrors my movement. When we connect, Eli laces his fingers with mine. My mouth opens to tell him all the ways I find him sexy when his phone rings. He grumbles as he looks at the screen.

“Hello, Sharon. Yes. No.” His eyes meet mine, and I see the worry there. “We’re on a date . . .” Eli huffs. “I don’t have to tell you beforehand.” A pause. “Well, then do your job and handle it and make it clear what it means.” He disconnects the call and then runs his hand down his face.

It doesn’t take a detective to figure out what’s happened. She knew we were out, which means someone has leaked that Eli Walsh is no longer on the market.

Living in our bubble was great, but we knew it wouldn’t last. I’m grateful for the time we had. It allowed us the time to get to know each other and fall in love. If we had people following us around, we may have never gotten past the first date.

“Well, I guess we’re official now, huh?” I smile, hoping to reassure him.

He studies me, and when he finds whatever he was looking for, he smiles. “Yeah, baby. We’re official.”

I nod. “Maybe this means women will stop touching you?”

Eli laughs without reservation. “I doubt it, but I promise not to like it.”

“And I promise not to shoot them when they do.”

I think that’s fair. He doesn’t like it, and I don’t lose my badge or go to jail . . . win, win.

“There will be photos tomorrow.” Eli grows serious.

“I figured as much, people have been staring all night while holding their phones.”

Eli’s eyes turn playful. “How about we give them a good one to post?”

I’m not sure what exactly that means, but the look in his eyes is enough to make me go along with him. He gets to his feet, makes his way around the table, and places one hand on the arm of my chair, the other on the table.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he warns. “I’m going to tell the world that you’re mine, right here and now.”

Warmth spreads through me as his hand moves to my cheek. He leans down, presses his lips to mine, and publicly declares our relationship.

Chapter 24

Heather

“Heather, where are the streamers?” Nicole yells from the living room.

“Check the bags where all the decorations were!”

Today is the surprise party for Eli. I’m shocked I’ve been able to keep him completely in the dark. His mother left for New York the other day and can’t make it, but Randy and Savannah will be here. Nicole came over about an hour ago and started getting things ready.

I told Eli that Nicole needed some best friend time since he’s been monopolizing me and asked him to come pick me up at eight.

“Found them!” She bounces into the room with a grin. “We only have about five more minutes till everyone gets here. What else do you need?”

“I think we’re all set. The cake is done, the food is out, and we’re decorated.”

“Good. Now you can tell me about your big public date with Mr. Sexy Pants last night,” she says as she flops on my bed.

Eli wasn’t kidding when he said it was going to get crazy. Within thirty minutes of the call from his publicist, we had about fifteen paparazzi outside the restaurant. Before we left, he told me exactly what to do and promised he’d shield me as much as he could.

It wasn’t all that fun, but we survived. Once we got back to Eli’s house, he encouraged me to call my friends and the police department to let them know. I couldn’t believe he thought they’d care that much, but he’s the expert on dealing with it. No one seemed to care, except for Matt. That was a fun conversation.

“I’m sure you read all about it,” I say with my brow raised.

Nicole is a gossip column freak, so I’m sure she knew before I did that the story was going to break. “Not the same. But you’re right. Tell me about what happened with Barney Fife instead.”

Her and her names for Matt. “He was very