cool and smooth: a petal. There are rose petals everywhere, leading from the door to the bed, which is sprinkled with them.
“Where did you find roses?”
He gives me a bashful smile. “I ordered the honeymoon package for the room. It came with your standard red roses, champagne, chocolate and strawberries, and something called a ‘sensual bath bomb,’ so we’re set. Whatever you want.”
A nervous laugh slips out of me. “Very smooth, Mr. Kelly.”
“Thank you, Miss Bloom. I just wanted it to be nice.”
“Nice,” I repeat.
“Well, I want it to be epic,” he says. “But I know we can’t expect ourselves to be pros, our first time, so I decided that epic was overly ambitious. So let’s start with nice.”
“Nice is nice.”
I look at him.
He looks at me.
We both blush. Neither of us moves.
“Can we kill the bagpipes?” I wrinkle my nose.
“It’s supposed to be a joke,” he explains. “I was going to wear a kilt and call you Sassenach, and that was going to make you laugh, and laughing would break the ice. But the kilt didn’t get here on time, and so I thought I needed something else Scottish, so I went with bagpipes, but then you got here and I totally forgot the point.” He fumbles with his phone, and the bagpipes cut off abruptly. He looks up at me hopefully. “You want to hear my second choice?”
“Do I?”
He touches his phone again, and the deep voice of Barry White rumbles out of the speaker on the bedside table.
I laugh.
“I’m just kidding.” He turns Barry off, too.
“Quiet is good.” I take a step in his direction, and he takes a step in mine—one step and then another, until we’re standing in front of each other at the foot of the bed.
“You really ordered a kilt?” I suppress a smile.
“I did, lassie,” he intones.
I laugh and reach up and smooth down the edge of his lapel. “The suit looks good. The gray matches your eyes. And the haircut is a nice touch.”
He tucks an errant strand behind his ear. “And let’s talk about that dress. I love the bird-of-paradise.”
“Bird-of-paradise?”
“That’s the type of flower this is.” He points to the top flower. Then he realizes he’s basically pointing at my breasts, and he drops his hand. “Anyway, I like them.”
“I’m glad it meets with your approval.”
“It’s perfect.”
Perfect seems like a dangerous word. My hands are trembling. I close my eyes for a second and try to focus, try to remember that this is no big deal, that it’s just fun with our bodies, in essence, and nothing to be frightened of. Nick isn’t scary. So I shouldn’t be scared.
This isn’t like it was with Leo. This is Nick and me, mutually deciding.
Come on, I tell myself. Dare to dance.
“Maybe I should take the dress off,” I say.
“Holy geez.” Nick shivers visibly. “I might spontaneously combust if you were to get naked right now. Maybe we should try kissing first?”
I nod and wet my lips. He steps closer. His hand touches my bare arm, and it’s my turn to shiver.
“Is this okay?”
I nod mutely.
We move toward each other.
“I haven’t done this before, either,” he says suddenly.
“I know.”
“Should I close my eyes? I don’t want to miss you somehow—this feels like one of those keep-your-eye-on-the-ball sort of moments. But if I keep my eyes open, will it be creepy, like I’m staring? In movies they always close their eyes.”
“I think you should do whatever feels right to you,” I say.
I close my own eyes.
His hand touches my waist. I put my hand out and reach for his shoulder. It’s nice, warm and solid and with more meat on it than I thought he had. All that video game playing must have some positive effect on his delts.
I can feel his breath on my chin.
This is fine, I think. We’re fine.
“So to be absolutely clear here, I can kiss you now?” Nick asks.
“Oh, for god’s sake, Nick, yes. Please do.”
He leans in, angling up, and I bend a little to meet him. His lips brush mine, soft and brief. It’s like a whispered hello.
So far, so good.
“Now can I kiss you?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
I put my mouth on his more firmly this time, and try to stay there a bit longer, so it will resemble less of a peck and more of a romantic kiss. I know how to do this. The one good thing about my relationship with Leo, I think, is that I got in some good practice kissing.