I woke up feeling pleasantly warm and way more comfortable and safe than I was accustomed to.
"You regretting this already, cara mia?" Dave's voice was husky with sleep as he nuzzled my neck, his goatee tickling my skin.
I rolled over in his arms until I lay facing him. "Not at all. Why does the fact that being with you doesn't scare me somehow manage to scare me? That shouldn't even be possible."
Dave laughed before leaning forward and giving me a lazy (and sexy as hell) kiss good morning. "You're just special I guess, sweetheart. Eventually, you'll realize how much I care about you and you'll know without a doubt that I'd never do anything to hurt you. That fear will go away, I promise."
"I believe you," I smiled. I really did believe him and that day without fear couldn't come soon enough.
"Good," he pulled me a little closer. "I have a lecture on writing about the criminal mind in a few hours and then I'm free for the rest of the day. What about you?"
I glance over Dave's shoulder to the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was seven in the morning. "I have a book signing at ten and then nothing until that press junket tomorrow night." A group of about ten to twelve different authors, Dave and myself included, who had new books set for release were gathering to answer press questions. It was the stupid promotional BS that I had always despised.
"I was thinking that after we get your stuff moved in here we could take a drive to the Berkshires. It's only a couple of hours away. We could grab dinner at this little Greek pizza joint I know and then take a drive up to the top of Mount Greylock to watch the sunset. We won't get back here until late but I promise to make it worth it."
That sounded romantic as hell and I did say that I wanted to start living what wrote about. I couldn't have written a better date myself. "I'd love that. I've heard that you can see five states from the summit." And that there was a magic school somewhere up there.
"I guess we'll see when we get there." Dave a big smile on his face and it warmed my heart knowing that I was the one who put it there, that Dave was happy because of me, because he wanted to be with me.
"I care a lot about you too, Dave," I admitted although I knew my feelings went beyond that. They were bordering on love territory.
Dave didn't respond verbally, he just pulled me closer for another kiss. It seemed like every time he kissed me, the kiss got deeper and longer...and I wasn't complaining about it. Not. In. The. Least.