Fated to be Yours (25 page)

We lay there, completely entranced with each other, doing nothing but staring into the depths of each other’s eyes, the portal to the soul. Nothing is spoken. No words are necessary for communication between us. His body speaks for him and my body answers. Two matching hearts beating as one in the early hours of the morning.

Seconds, minutes, hours pass by with nothing else but the sound of our breathing. Finally, my stomach rumbles loudly, breaking our trance. Andrew laughs, kissing the tip of my nose as the heat of embarrassment flushes my face.

“I believe that’s my cue to feed you. Though I must say it pains me to have to leave this bed. However, we have a busy schedule ahead of us and lying here all day is not part of that. But I am willing to adapt if need be.”

My brows furrow as he smiles that dazzling smile of his. “What plans?”

He taps the end of my nose. “I’m giving you the grand tour of London. Well, as much as we can fit in over the course of the afternoon. I will not break our evening plans because I have something special in mind for tonight.”

My whole face brightens at the thought of a special night with Andrew, my mind working furiously on what that could be. He leans over, softly kissing my lips before sitting upright and stretching his arms above his head. I mirror his action but instead of sitting up I’m still lying on my back. The feeling of not lying on the ground is too good to pass up. It’s not every day that I wake up lying next to the most handsome man on the planet. That’s incentive enough to stay in bed all day long.

With great reluctance, I slide up and lean against the headboard of the bed. He wanders around my room, pulling things out of his overnight bag that was placed at the end of the bed.

“Would you like to shower first? It’d probably be faster if you go before me since it may take me a while to get ready. You know how it goes with women in the mornings.”

My legs swing over to the side, throwing the covers away from my body. He stills as his eyes roam over my newly exposed flesh, which isn’t much considering the nightshirt I wear comes down to my knees. His lips twist into a playful smirk as I stand next to him.

“Believe it or not, I’ve never cohabitated with a woman before so I’m not familiar with the rituals of the morning preparations.”

This little bit of information surprises me. But it also raises a few questions of my own that need clarifying. He’s either a virgin, which I highly doubt, never had a lasting committed relationship or he’s a serial one-night stand type of guy. The ones that I try to avoid at all cost because they lead to nothing but heartbreak.

“Are you saying you’ve never seen a woman get ready in the mornings or you’ve just never lived with one?”

My voice wavers slightly, the fear evident in the words that I’ve chosen. He stops what he’s doing, dropping the pile of clothes on the floor and takes the few steps over to stand in front of me. The feel of his hands as he runs them up and down my arms calms my nerves.

He looks down at me, his face serious. “No, I’ve never lived with a woman before. Yes, I have seen them get ready in the mornings but I don’t want to talk about other women while I’m here with you. As far as I’m concerned there was no one before you.”

My heart flutters again in my chest at his words. He’s too good to be true, knowing exactly what to say to make me feel like the most important thing in the world to him. So he has a past. Who doesn’t? He’s dated a few women before me. That’s not surprising either. It was more surprising that he wasn’t currently dating anyone when I met him.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” I ask.

He gathers up his clothes again and kisses my cheek. “I’ve asked myself the same thing every day since we met. I won’t take long.”

He disappears into my bathroom and I slump back onto my bed. Reaching for my phone, I text Kara, letting her know that I have a giant bottle of Advil in case she needs it after the pounding she was doing against my wall last night. Kara texts back with her usual smart ass remarks, making me laugh.

It’s too quiet now that Andrew isn’t in the same room as me. I turn on my playlist, needing to fill the void and start bouncing around to the beat as Gavin DeGraw sings about being in love with a girl. Warmth spreads through my body as I wonder if Andrew feels the same way as I do about him.

I listen as I hear him singing in the shower, and I turn down the music so I can eavesdrop better. It’s comical that he’s singing along with the song I’m playing. Apparently I must have the volume up loud enough to be heard over the rushing of water. But I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to my spying. So I resume the volume it was at and busy myself around the room, picking out clothes that I think could be appropriate for our excursions. I don’t like being unprepared for situations. Being unprepared means things can happen and for me that’s never something good. The black cloud that follows me around generally sees to that.

A puff of steam comes out of the now open door and my mouth turns into Niagara Falls again as Andrew emerges from the bathroom. I swear he’s walking in slow motion as he pulls his shirt over the hard muscles of his abdomen, giving me just the barest glimpse of his rock hard abs.

He sits next to me on the bed and begins lacing his shoes. My eyes close as his sweet, sexy scent surrounds me in the safety of the cocoon that he brings. It should be a sin to smell that good.

Andrew nudges my shoulder, flashing me that heartbreaking smile of his. “Your turn, love.”

My head turns to acknowledge the statement only my body feels frozen to the spot. The heat emanating from him warms my skin even though goose bumps are present. He laughs and stands me up, patting me on the behind as I gather my clothes and disappear into the bathroom.

I close my eyes and inhale deeply. It smells of him, his body wash, his cologne and just him. I want to bottle this up and bring it with me so I’m never without this smell. Stripping out of my nightshirt I turn the water on and occupy the space that he was just naked in, feeling slightly dirty at the thought.

“Where are they?” I mutter to myself, tossing the clothes to the side for the third time. Great, I’ve forgotten to take my underwear with me. How do I go about getting them? Quickly dress sans underwear and retrieve them like it’s no big deal? But then I remember his reaction to the time I answered the door in nothing but my towel and that drives me to repeat the action, hoping he’ll respond in the same way.

I stick my head out of the door, looking around the room for him. He’s standing by the windows, talking to someone in a hushed voice on the phone. I spy my missing pair of panties lying on the bed, exactly where my pile of clothes had ended up before I was distracted by him. My feet move quietly across the carpet, hoping for a sneak attack.

But just like me, his body must be in tune with mine because Andrew turns to face me as I approach the bed. He mutters something into the phone and then promptly ends the call. Clinging to the front of my towel, I bend over to pick up the panties and watch as the slow smile crawls across his face. He makes a move to come closer to me but I back away slowly.

“Time schedule, remember? I’ll be right back,” I say, quickly walking back into the bathroom but not before I notice the slight bulge in his pants that he’s adjusting.

I break my own personal record for getting ready, having my hair dried and curled in no time flat. For once I feel perfectly made up with nothing out of place. I feel beautiful and confident, all because of Andrew. He makes me feel that way, even if I don’t believe it half the time. I walk back into the room and instantly his arms wrap around me, pulling me close to him. His lips press into my temple and I nuzzle into his chest.

“Beautiful as always, my sweet Tessa. Shall we?”

He extends his elbow to me and I eagerly link mine with his. He escorts us out of the room, down the elevator and into the bright morning sun.

“You’re really not telling me where we’re going?” I ask, pulling my sunglasses out of my purse.

He shakes his head. “It’s a surprise. A good one, I promise.” He looks down at my feet and smiles. “I’m glad you decided to wear comfortable shoes today. We’ll be doing a lot of walking.”

I look around for his car as we walk past the valet and head down the street.

“You didn’t drive here last night?” I ask.

He shakes his head again. “My plan involves many stops throughout the day and I didn’t want to waste time by chasing down parking spots.”

He’s sporting his mirrored aviator sunglasses and a huge smile. He’s very playful this morning. I love playful Andrew. He grabs my hand and whisks me easily into his stride. I’m surprised I’m able to keep up with him seeing as his legs are longer than mine.

We turn a few corners and arrive at a little café. There are a few wrought iron tables set up in a fenced-off area in front. The delicious smell of pastries drifts through the air, making my mouth water.

“Our first stop of the day. Let me feed you before we actually begin our journey.”

He pulls me inside and I place my sunglasses on top of my head. It’s small but quaint with only a handful of tables inside, each covered in a red linen tablecloth and black wooden chairs. The scent of freshly ground coffee smells almost as good as Andrew. Almost.

I walk over to the display case to review my choices. Everything looks so tempting and horrifically high in calories. I chew on my bottom lip, warring with myself on whether or not I should eat the sugary confections in front of me or just stick with a cup of black coffee. My body has been used to running solely on caffeine that this whole week has been throwing it off balance. I wonder if I could get away with just the coffee? Andrew would never let me do that though. He’d probably force feed me something if I didn’t do it willingly.

Andrew’s hand stays firmly on my back as I hunch over, carefully assessing each item in front of me. Do I pick the muffin or the croissant or the donut? Chocolate or jelly filled? Buttery or topped with cream cheese? Either way it’s going to be a big hello to my jiggly thighs.

“Good morning. What can I get for you two?” the guy behind the counter asks, pulling my nose away from the glass display case. He’s a little too chipper for this early in the morning for my taste. But then again I haven’t had my first cup of coffee yet.

“I’ll have an orange cranberry muffin and an espresso. Love, what about you?” he asks. His arm wraps around my hip, pulling me into his side as I make my final decision.

“Could I get a croissant and a vanilla latte, low-fat milk if you have it please?”

The young man behind the counter flashes me a bright smile and nods his head.

“Excellent choice.”

I watch as he slides the glass case open, pulling out a ridiculously huge muffin and the mammoth croissant. It’s flaking apart as he places it on the plate and I can’t help the rumble of my stomach as he puts the two coffees on the tray with our pastries.

“Are you always this hungry?” Andrew whispers into my ear. I turn my head and shake it slightly.

“No, I swear my stomach never growls like this. It only does this when I’m around you.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I think it knows that I’m here to take care of all your needs.”

My mouth opens to say something only nothing comes out. I’m blown away by his words once again. How can his words cause warmth to run rampant through my bloodstream, heating each extremity and pump precious air into my lungs that he knocks back out each time I’m with him?

The guy behind the counter clears his throat as he presents our tray with our breakfast on it. Andrew thanks him before grabbing it and leading me outside to one of the available tables. He places the tray on top and moves to hold out my chair.

“You don’t have to pull out my chair for me every time. I am capable of doing it myself you know.”

His lips find the top of my head while his hands lightly squeeze my shoulders.

“I know, but that’s what a gentleman should be doing for a lady. And you are definitely my lady.”

His lady? He thinks of me as his? I refrain from bouncing in my chair as my eyes follow him when he pulls out the chair to sit next to me. He still doesn’t like to sit across from me, which I absolutely adore. My body craves him more than I realize and I don’t want the distance between us any more than he does.

My stomach rumbles again and he shoves the plate with my croissant in front of me.

“Eat.”

My eyes roll to the sky at his gentle command. I break off my first piece and slide it into my mouth. It’s buttery and flaky and absolutely amazing. It practically melts in my mouth as I savor it. Hands down the best croissant I’ve ever had. The sun shines down, seemingly agreeing that the pastry could very well be heaven sent.

My eyes wander to Andrew, watching as he peels the wrapper off his muffin and takes the top off of it, setting it aside. That little act brings a smile to my face.

“Saving the best for last?”

I laugh before taking a sip of my latte. His close proximity, as he leans into me, causes my heart rate to spike.

“Always,” he says before planting a small kiss upon my cheek.

He pulls away and pops a piece of muffin into his mouth, giving me a wink in the process. We sit and eat in a comfortable silence, each enjoying our little slice of heaven next to each other. I break off another piece and hold it out in front of him.

“Want some?”

He smiles and opens his mouth, taking the piece from my fingers, licking them clean. His eyes dilate as his tongue gently glides over my fingertips, causing a new rush of heat to run through me. I pull back my hand and run my tongue over my dry lips. My eyes fall to his hands as he breaks apart the top portion of his muffin.

“My turn,” he says, offering it to me.

I open my mouth, taking the offered piece and once again hum my pleasure at the sweet and tart taste. He smiles and runs his finger over his lips, the same one that was just in my mouth. I swallow and nervously bite my lip, finding myself in a new territory. There’s a sweetness to our gestures, feeding each other pieces of our breakfast, our eyes never leaving the other as we make idle conversation. He’s the most considerate man I’ve ever met. No one has ever treated me with this much respect and kindness. I’m almost afraid to embrace it. I watch his throat work as he drinks his coffee, somehow finding it highly seductive. Then there’s a twinkle in his eye as he regales me with another story of his past. Apparently he wasn’t the polished, pretty boy he poses to be now. I have a hard time seeing him with a messy mop of hair and braces, sporting dirty clothes while using large sticks as fencing swords. Just another little piece of him that he gives me and I cherish it with the others.