“A date?”
“Yes, I just thought that,” his lip twitched up, “we would make it official now that we’re not blogging about each other any longer.”
“What do you have planned?”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.” I smiled.
“Good.” He pushed off the seat and got up. “I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Come on.” He held his hand out for me.
Taking my hand, he helped me up.
“What kind of surprise?” I followed in behind him to his room, but everything looked as I had left it.
“Have a seat, I have to get something.” He reached into his closet while I took a seat on the edge of his bed. “We hire a national cleaning company that comes in at various cities to pick up and restock our buses. Anyway,” he reached up and unhooked a dozen or so hangers filled with clothes with clear plastic draped over them. “they had your clothes cleaned for you.”
I was speechless while taking the plastic-covered garments in my hands. “Oh, thank you.” I hugged them. “Thank you.” I know it’s just clean clothes, but it felt like how on Survivor when they stand on pegs for twenty hours just to get an Oreo cookie. I hadn’t had clean clothes since this trip started.
“There’s one rule.”
“Yes?” I looked up from the clothes in my lap.
“You wear our t-shirts to sleep in.” He smiled down at me.
“I promise.” Smiling up at him, I smooched my lips together as he leaned down to give me kiss.
“There’s more.” He rolled his eyes. “The company picked you up some clothes for me. Most of your clothes seem to have been purchased from Victoria’s Secret so I got your sizes from Riley and had them go shopping.” He pulled out two large, pink bags filled with clothes.
“Wow, it’s like Christmas!” Taking the bags from him, I searched through and held up a pink hoodie with wings outlined in small silver sequins on the back. “I like!” I laid it on my lap and searched through the packed bags. “You did too much,” I whispered. “This had to be so expensive.”
“Joie, you do realize that I’m a millionaire, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m not.” I looked up at him. “I don’t want you to think that I need this kind of stuff.”
“Joie, you have like three outfits so actually, you do need this stuff.” He smirked. “One more thing.” He held up his finger.
“More?!”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I thought for our first date that you would wear something besides the sweats.”
Instantly pouting out my bottom lip, he quickly held up a hand. “Not that I don’t like the sweats.”
“Just thought that maybe I could get you into one of these for a change.” He reached into the closet and pulled out a soft, cream colored dress with a hemline that flared out just above the knee. The off the shoulder straps were lined in the same rippling chiffon material. Although the material was expensive, it looked more bohemian than dressy.
“It’s Dolce & Gabbana,” he explained. “It’s supposed to be nice.”
“I know who Dolce & Gabbana are.” I fixed him with a look before cracking a smile. He handed the dress over to me on the hanger. Taking the delicate material in my hands, I gushed, “It’s beautiful.” It was, obviously, different from what I was used to wearing, but after all the thought he put into getting it for me, I just wanted to please him more than anything else.
“These are supposed to go with it.” He pulled out knee-high, flat, brown leather boots.
Without a moment’s hesitation, which was big for me, I puckered my lips together and jumped up to kiss him.
“I love it.”
“They went a little crazy.” He pointed to the small bathroom past his closet. He rubbed his five o’clock shadow as he stared down at the ground. It was the first time I had ever seen Hawkins look slightly embarrassed. Pulling back the wooden door to the restroom, I noticed a basket with an arrangement of soaps, lotions, creams, and other items on the counter in front of the mirror. Tea lights were scattered throughout with rose petals. The small shower was behind the sink. White, plush towels were placed on top of the toilet to the side.
“I didn’t ask them to set it up like this,” he stammered. “I know it looks
like—
”
“Like they wanted you to get laid?” I finished his thought with a little wicked grin.
“Yeah, exactly.” He rolled his eyes. “All I said was to get some girly shampoo and soap.”
“It’s perfect.” I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder. “I’ve been waiting to take a shower like this for weeks.”
“I just wanted you to feel comfortable with me on the bus,” he said earnestly.
“I do,” I confessed while squeezing his hand.
“Well, I’ll let you get yourself ready.” He gave me another kiss before turning to hurry out of the room and away from all this crazy, strange, girly stuff.
Stepping into the small room, I slid the door shut before I stripped off my old, dirty clothes. Plucking a large bottle of orchid scented shampoo off the counter, I popped open the top to smell it. It had a pleasant scent. Goodbye to the days of tiny, generic shampoo and thin little bars of hotel soap. Getting into the shower, I lathered myself in shampoo, then scrubbing cream, and finally soap. When I stepped out of the shower, I felt like a totally new person. Around the basket were hair products, a tooth brush and some makeup.
Taking a few minutes to fully blow dry my hair, I then went to town with the tooth brush. Afterwards, I dabbed on some mascara and lip gloss. For the first time in a long time while checking out my reflection in the mirror I felt pretty. Opening the medicine cabinet, I looked to see if there was any room for the stuff he purchased me when I saw his collection of men’s cologne. Searching the row for the one that drove me crazy, I found my favorite and sprayed it lightly along my wrists just so I could smell it from time to time. Finally done with my primping, I opened the door to the bathroom and came out to Hawkins’ bedroom wrapped in a white, plush towel.
Holding up the dress, I sighed, “Where was the tequila?” Slipping the dress over my head, I pulled it down over my lacy cream bra and panties. Adjusting the sleeves, I was surprised that it fit perfectly. The little ribbed, frilly hemline felt soft against my thighs. Turning back and forth in front of the mirror, I smiled.
Growling at the boots, I picked them up and sat back on the bed. At least they weren’t high heels; I tried to stay positive. Slipping one leg in at a time, I admired the whole hippie chic look. When I put all the bags back into the closet, I noticed that Hawkins’ leather braided cuff was on his night stand by his bed. Picking up the cuff, I ran my fingers along it and shrugged, why not? Wrapping the thing around my wrist, I fastened it shut. It hung ever so coolly.
After saying a silent prayer that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself, I opened the door. Riley was sitting with his legs over the side of the bunk bed while scratching his head and yawning. He turned to look down the aisle at me. You know you look good if you can make a gay man open his mouth and then snap it shut. It was even better when Hawkins stopped dead in his tracks, rendering him speechless. Looking down, I checked to make sure you couldn’t see my cream bra for the hundredth time.
“Damn.” Hawkins blinked at me a few times before smiling so big his eyes lit up.
“Where are
you
going?” Riley let out a little cat calling whistle.
“With me,” Hawkins announced proudly while I bit back a smile. His dark hair was sexily tousled back. He was wearing dark denim jeans and a navy blue button down shirt that was fashionably unbuttoned to his collarbone. He must have changed when I was in the shower because although he usually looked stunning, I could tell that he wanted to look his best for me. We met halfway down the aisle when he grabbed up a basket of food and tucked a blanket under his arm.
“Feel free to help yourself to the fridge, Riley,” Hawkins called over his shoulder.
“Lay off the beer though,” I added while walking down the steps.
“Okay, Mom.” Riley chuckled. “You two kids have a fun time!”
Hawkins waited for me to hop down from the last step to the bus. A slight breeze made my dress flow in the wind. “You look so beautiful,” he said in awe and took my hand in his.
“Here, let me help.” Grabbing the quilt under his arm, we walked together. Looking down, I noticed the golden buckles that shined in the sun on my leather boots. Every time the wind gently blew, it swirled my hair and the soft hemline of the dress up against my thighs. The softness of it all made me feel beautiful.
“There’s a trail up ahead.” He pointed past the parking lot as we came to a gate that led us out of the gravel lot. Up ahead was a long field filled with tall grass. Along the outskirts of the field were dense pine trees that must have extended for miles. The sun was shining down as we followed a little path where the long grass was bent over in a winding trail. Although I felt safe, I wasn’t used to being able to be so alone. Looking over my shoulder, I wondered where Harrison was.
“He’s here.” Hawkins anticipated my thoughts. “Just far enough away.” He smiled over at me. “I want us to be alone as much as possible on our first
official
date.”
“Is that why we’re in the field?” I asked as the nearby grass swayed against my legs. “To be alone?”
“Partly.” he frowned.
“And the other part?” I asked while taking in the touch of our fingers.
He sighed heavily, looking down at the ground and then back up as we followed along the trail. “You won’t be seen with me,” he whispered while frowning again.
“Oh.” The smile faded from my face. My heart ached with the realization. He was doing all of this for me and my fear of being discovered.
“Hey.” He gently shook my hand, causing me to look up from the ground. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, but I could hear the sacrifice behind his words. “This is really just about you and me,” he insisted. “I’ll take it any way I can get it.” He squeezed my hand tightly while staring ahead. By now we had walked so far that the buses were in the distance. The only thing that could be seen was the gleam from the tops of them when he stopped and dropped the basket to the side.
“Here, let’s put the blanket down.” He waved for it and I gave it to him. He threw it up into the wind and it blew out. Hiking through the thick grass, I bent over to straighten out the corners. Hawkins walked across the white quilt embroidered in pink squares a few times to flatten out the grass. It was rumpled underneath the blanket, but it did the trick. Kneeling down, I sat on the edge of my boots. From down on the blanket, I couldn’t see anything beyond the tall golden swaying grass. He put the basket in the middle to anchor the blanket.
“We’re alone,” I whispered in an excited hush. No bodyguards lurking behind us. Well, not that I could see from here.
“I know,” he said, satisfied, cracking a side smile as he laid out on the blanket. He was so tall that he made the large blanket look tiny. He put his arm beneath his head to brace it from the ground. The cuffs of his navy blue shirt were folded back to his elbows. The dark flecks of blue in Hawkins’ eyes popped next to the flattering color.
“Come here.” He motioned with his finger toward him. I crawled over on my knees and palms while liking the privacy the grass provided. My dress hiked up my thighs and the material hugged my chest. Judging by the way he looked, he liked what he saw.
“Why, J.T. Hawkins, you are shameless,” I purred over top of him. He pulled me down and rolled over on top of me while laughing. My hands flew up by my head and I blinked up at him in surprise. He started to blow his lips against my collarbone and I laughed out from the way it tickled. He moved in closer and I recoiled. “Not the neck!” Squirming underneath him, I laughed.
He suddenly stopped and looked down at me. He brushed back the hair from my shoulder and whispered, “You are so beautiful.”
He tangled his fingers into my hair and leaned down to breathe in the scent of my hair. “Umm, and you smell good, too.”
Reaching up, I curled my hand behind his head and ran my fingers through his thick hair. He suddenly titled his head towards my wrist and narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you wearing my cologne?”
“Yes.” My face blushed by his discovery.
“It smells better on you then me,” he groaned while tilting his head to graze his nose against the soft skin on the underside of my wrist.
“That, is not possible.” I sighed happily.
He lifted his head up causing his body to press tightly into mine again. “Oh, I think it is,” he disagreed. Hawkins reached across to pop a reed of grass from the ground.
“Close your eyes,” he murmured.
“Why?”
“Just do it,” he repeated with a devious smirk. Closing my eyes, I wasn’t sure what he was going to do but then I suddenly felt the soft feathered tip of grass graze against the side of my cheek. It was light, fluttery, and tickled. Giggling, I stole a peek when he growled, “Keep your eyes closed.” Biting my lip, I closed my eyes again. It barely grazed down along my neck causing me to quickly cover the spot with my hand because it tickled so much.
He pushed my hand away. “You have to trust me,” he murmured.
“Then we might be here all day.” I smiled up at him.
He gently pinned down my arms with his elbows. “If that’s what it takes,” he whispered.
Sighing, I shut my eyes. With my eyes closed, my other senses intensified. I took in the warmth of his body on top of mine. The wind rippling through the grass filled the momentary silence. A small gasp escaped my mouth when he dragged the reed along my collarbone. My body hummed when I felt the soft laughter in his chest—obviously delighted by my reaction. Trying not give in, I put on the perfect poker face with my eyes closed. The initial tickling touch faded with some serious concentration. He gently grazed it along my neck and I had to bite down hard on my lip.
“I know it’s killing you,” he whispered fiercely with a hint of pure satisfaction in his tone.