“Is it okay? I know it’s not … it’s not diamonds or anything, but …”
Her parents had given her, among other things, a beautiful pair of Tiffany diamond stud earrings; she was wearing them now, and Alex had noticed them on the ride.
“It’s perfect,” she said, though it came out more like a gasp.
Alex lifted the bracelet from its bed and undid the clasp. Lia set the box down and offered him her wrist. As he closed the clasp, he said, “I know you want to be a star. You’re already a star to me.” He lifted her arm and kissed the delicate, sensitive skin at the inside of her wrist.
The tears she’d swallowed earlier returned in a rush, and Lia began to cry.
“Oh fuck. Oh no. Lee, I’m sorry. I did it wrong?” He took hold of the bracelet, as if he meant to take it back, and Lia snatched her arm from him.
She couldn’t possibly explain to him how right he’d done literally everything. How could she tell him about the necklace her mother had worn every day of Lia’s life and well before it? The golden sun she wore no matter what other jewelry she put on, no matter if it went with her outfit or not. The first gift Lia’s father had ever given her. He’d put it around her neck and told her she was the sun in his life.
Lia couldn’t tell Alex that, couldn’t tell him how this gift, and his words, fitted together with that most powerful story of her parents’ lifelong love and made Lia’s heart swell until it hurt. It felt too private, and too soon, and too big. She’d never had a boyfriend. A few weeks ago, he’d been nothing but her bodyguard. How could anything she was feeling right now be certifiably real?
But God, he was doing everything right.
Only a few weeks ago, she’d thought her father was ruining her life. He’d made her give up her dreams. He’d diminished them.
But without all that, and without the danger he was trying to protect her from, she wouldn’t have known Alex. She wouldn’t have this.
Tonight, she felt like she’d gotten the better end of the deal.
Lia put her hand on Alex’s worried cheek and got control of her tears. “It’s perfect,” she sniffed. “It’s beautiful and perfect, and this is the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to me.”
That much, she could say.
His smirk sloped into the cheek she held. “I was hoping the most romantic part would be next.”
“Well, records were made to be broken.”
His hands swept over her hips, and he pulled her right up against him. The smirk had vanished from his face, and he looked down at her with serious eyes. “I’m not really in the mood for champagne and strawberries right now,” he rasped.
“Me either.”
His head lowered to hers. Just before their lips touched, he whispered, “I’ve been thinking about being with you again nonstop since that night. I want to make it so good for you this time.”
“It was so good the first time.”
He shook his head. “Not like it can be.”
Lia rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to his, ready to accept whatever he wanted to give her.
Alex took over the kiss right away, made it deeper, claimed her mouth inside and out. His arms crossed possessively over her back.
He bent his body forward, forcing her to rest on his arms as he turned them both and took the few steps to the bed he’d made. It was hardly more than a cot, like the beds in the dorms, and Lia’s legs struck it at the calf.
She started to pull away, so she could lie down without falling down, but Alex wouldn’t let her go. Instead, he swept one arm under her thighs and lifted her. At the same time, he bent his legs, and they went gracefully down together. As if he were her dance partner performing a move.
This was what people meant when they said swept off her feet. Lia had been, literally and figuratively. Her heart raced and took her sense away with it. She was dizzy—with want and need, with surprise and delight. She couldn’t catch her breath, didn’t want to stop to try. All she wanted was to hold him and be lost in his kisses forever.
Still ravishing her mouth, spilling soft, guttural groans over her tongue with each breath, Alex settled on his hip beside her. His hand brushed a long sweep over her chest,