She grinned, and then she broke out into a giddy laugh. “Wow, I can’t believe I’m waking up next to you. That’s just so…wow. Even when we were dating, for some reason I thought we’d never go this far. Anyways, good morning, Nick.”
“How did you sleep?”
“Great with you by my side. You work wonders. I haven’t slept this well probably since before I had Caitlin,” she said sincerely. “When did you move me here?”
“A little while after you fell asleep. I realized the couch wasn’t gonna be too comfortable for the two of us to sleep on, and we couldn’t both be covered by the blanket we had.”
“You know what? I feel really naked,” she said after a few seconds of silence.
“That’s probably because you are. Here, put this on.” He rolled out of bed and threw her a tee-shirt.
“You’re not wearing anything, either,” she pointed out.
“Damn, I didn’t realize that,” he stated sarcastically. “Does that bother you?”
“No, not really. I like your body.” She pulled on the tee-shirt and got up to get some panties from her room.
“I like yours, too, but you aren’t letting me see it!” he whined, following close behind her now in a pair of boxers.
“Sorry!” she replied, laughing. “Get dressed and I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“Are you sure? I can make breakfast, too, you know.”
“Go ahead. I’ll make pancakes.”
In twenty minutes, they were seated at the table together eating their breakfast. “So everything is worked out now between you and me?” Nick asked between bites.
She smiled. “Would I have made love to you last night if we hadn’t worked everything out?”
“I guess not.” He paused. “You would have come back sooner or later, right? I mean, if I hadn’t found you on the beach?”
“I don’t know. I’d be an idiot not to, but I’ve known myself to be an idiot before, so maybe not. I’d like to think I would, though.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
She hesitated. “Listen, Nick, are you sure you want to date me? I mean, I have a four-year-old daughter.”
“Come on, what does that matter? I’m already like a father to Caitlin,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, but that’s a huge thing. Dating a girl with a child…that’s taking a lot of responsibility. She comes with me. If you date me, you have to accept her. That’s really hard for some people to do.” She sighed. “Yeah, and then there’s the fact that I’m so emotionally screwed up. I’m so insecure, if you couldn’t tell by the whole fight we had about Steph and all my experiences with other boyfriends.”
“Just stop it, Aims. You know I don’t care about all that. I love you. Nothing you could ever do or say would change my feelings for you,” he said honestly.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I love you,” he repeated.
She grinned and moved across the table to the seat next to him, then kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you, too.”