An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

The Next time

"What are you wiggling around so much for?" Luke asked as Echo fidgeted nervously. She was staring at her reflection in the elevator mirror, still unsure about how she looked.

One year, they'd been married an entire year. A year of him acting bossy and her telling him to shut up, a year of him teasing her, a year of blush after endless blush. 

"I wouldn't be wiggling around if you hadn't done what you did." She muttered, turning bright red and looking down as she did. Damn it, now she was doing it to herself. He chuckled. 

"I didn't hear any complaining in the car." He said with a smirk, straightening out his tie. 

"You caught me off guard." She muttered, thinking it must be obvious what they'd been doing only moments before the valet opened the car door. 

"I try my best." He said, throwing an arm around her shoulder in a smug, self satisfied way. 

"I mean with everything." She said, shaking her head. "I can't believe that you planned all this."

"Why not? I like to do things big." He said as if it was obvious. He was right, it was. Luke was not one for subtlety.  That morning, he'd surprised her with a kiss and a boarding pass. 

Happy Anniversary- we're going to New York. Something he'd promised her they'd eventually do but that he was always too busy for and she was always forgetting about. He'd actually woken her at 5 am to say "Be ready in an hour... we have a flight to catch at 8." 

She'd almost flipped out at the prospect of speed packing but of course, as always, Luke had thought ahead and packed for her. Of course, he'd packed what he wanted her to bring, including the little blue number he'd caught a glimpse of days before.  She felt like the entire day had been one endless blur, rushing to the airport, through security, shuffling through JFK, baggage claim, checking into a hotel, unpacking, hurrying through lunch to make on time to change and catch a play, and finally getting a couple of hours to themselves before having to get dressed to make their dinner reservations.

Luke had planned everything for the next few days down to the very last details- the reservations, the sight seeing, the food, the shopping, everything was carefully outlined in an itinerary that had overwhelmed Echo from the moment she glanced at it. He'd even had one of his men come along to drive a private car. She was still trying to catch her breath when Luke had rolled up the partition only to assault her senses as he silently worked his magic and slid a firm hand beneath her dress. She was mortified, what if the driver noticed- were they really alone, was the partition really enough? Why hadn't she asked him to stop?!

Because she loved it. Every bit of it. 

The elevator doors opened and Luke dropped his hand to her back, leading her out. 

"I've heard amazing things about this place." He said as he indicated to the hostess over their reservations. 

"You've never been here?" Echo asked and Luke shook his head. 

"No, I wanted us to try something new together. " He said, making her smile. 

"Well, what if this place isn't as great as you were told?" She asked.

"Then I guess we'll have to order a pizza and go back to our room." He said as he helped her into her seat. She chuckled. 

"That honestly sounds so tempting." She said. 

"If you had read the itinerary you would know we have that scheduled in on Monday night." He said and she raised her brow. 

"I can't believe you actually printed out an itinerary." She said.