Talk About the Direct Approach...

Chapter Fourteen: Birthday fun- Part two

Something cool is wrapped around my neck and I look down to see a stunning necklace. Hanging from the gold chain is a heart shaped pendant with a magnificent diamond in the center, intricate designs engraved into the gold. I'm positive I wasn't wearing this when I left home.

"Happy Birthday," Cayton whispers in my ear. I must be on edge, because just his voice is enough to send another round of shivers up my spine. I hold the heart pendant between my index finger and thumb before turning around to face him. I unconsciously bite my lip when I see him. The damn boy just never stops looking so good.

He's wearing a blue and white button-up shirt and a pair of dark jeans. The first two buttons of his shirt are undone, giving just a peak of his muscled chest underneath. His brown hair is in its usual messy style, and his blue eyes seem to glow in the candlelight.

I realize that while I'm checking him out, he's doing the same to me.

"You look beautiful," he compliments.

"Thank you," I say. Usually, things like this don't tend to make me blush, but it seems tonight all the rules are being bent. For starters, when did Cayton get so romantic? That in itself is something I never would have expected. "Did you plan all of this?" I ask, even though I know it's a dumb question.

"With a little help," he admits. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him.

"You didn't have to go through so much trouble. And you didn't have to get me such an expensive looking gift. I would have been happy with just a cookie," I say. The necklace is beautiful and the whole dinner scene is by far the sweetest thing anyone has done for me, and there is no doubt that he has the funds for it, but I don't feel right accepting it all.

"Nonsense, it's all worth it."

"How did you even find out today's my birthday?" I question, tilting my head back to look at him.

"A little birdie told me," he shrugs.

"Is that birdies name Tami?"

"Nope. His name is Trenton." Close enough. "Him and Carter said happy birthday by the way," he adds as an afterthought.

He grabs my hand and leads me over to the table set up in the center of the room, pulling out a seat for me. I smile and sit down, staring in wonder at the room again. He must have had to pull some strings to get a whole restaurant to himself. And to add to that, this necklace definitely isn't cheap. I like getting presents, but I never feel right accepting anything expensive.

"You look worried, what's wrong?" he asks. Damn, I wish my emotions weren't so readable when I'm thinking.

"I'm just wondering how much trouble it took to get this done," I say, motioning around the room. He chuckles and reaches across the table to grab my hand. His thumb rubs little circles on the back of my hand as his blue eyes stare intensely into my brown ones. That alone has my heart skipping a beat.

"Nothing is too much trouble for you." When I clearly don't look convinced, he adds, "Don't worry about it, you let me handle it all. Just enjoy yourself." I'm so lost in his eyes that all I can do is nod. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be happier that he did all this for me, but I don't like people making such a fuss over me.

"Well I've been kind of a handful since you met me..." He laughs at the truth in my statement. He keeps his hold on my hand, staring at me like I'm the most precious thing in the world. It makes me feel special, and my earlier thoughts about him being too good for me come back.

All I've done since I've arrived is cause him trouble. Even after things started to calm down. I have undoubtedly been a major pain in the ass, and yet, he's still doing all of this for me. Minus a few minor incidents, he has been nothing but sweet and caring to me. Why he puts up with me draws a big blank in my head. I'm just happy he does, because I couldn't be happier than I am right now.