You Kissed Me First

21. Day Eleven

CHAPTER 21

Day Eleven

NASSAU, BAHAMAS

KATIE

Dinner last night turned out to be entertaining. Not only did the staff perform a little dance, getting us up to dance with them, but everyone seemed happy. Even Barrett kept his comments to a minimum, instead focusing on Candice.

Candice was a surprise as well. She apologized for talking bad about Dominic before when she came to the suite with the girls to get ready. I thought she might have been faking it, but after spending a couple hours with her, I realized she’s really not what I made her out to be.

Kind of like someone else I know.

It seems I have been making some snap judgments about people without truly getting to know someone. I used to pride myself on not being judgmental, but now I see I was wrong.

After we finished dinner, I figured everyone would want to split off, but instead, we all went to one of the playlist productions on board the ship. It was like a live musical. We sang and danced in our seats together.

I had more fun than I anticipated.

So much so that by the time Dominic pulled my ass into bed, I passed out instead of seducing him like I wanted to do.

So waking up this morning with Dominic between my legs as I screamed out his name was a pleasant surprise. One that I returned immediately, making sure he felt my appreciation.

“What are you thinking about?” Dominic asks me, pulling me into his side.

I feel my cheeks heat. “Nothing.”

“She’s lying,” Nessa sing-songs. “That blush says she was thinking about your cock.”

“Jesus, babe. Can you only talk about my cock, please?” Grant whines.

That only makes me blush harder.

“Is she right? Do you want my cock? I can find a private spot here. We can rent a cabana. Who cares who hears you scream, right?” Dominic whispers in my ear.

I giggle, pushing him away.

“Oh, to be young and in love, right babe?” Nessa pats Grant’s chest.

“We are in love too. Want me to make you blush?” Grant picks Nessa up, running off with her as she laughs.

I laugh, watching my sister slap at Grant’s back.

“I want what they have one day,” I murmur, not quite sure why I said it.

I tense when I realize Dominic heard me.

Will he think I’m trying to force him into that?

I hear him take a breath as if he’s about to speak, but before he can, Abby comes up, linking her arm through mine.

“Katie, can you go to the bathroom with me? I hate going by myself in foreign places.”

Her tone is light, but her eyes are pleading.

“Of course.” I turn to Dominic. “Be right back?”

He nods. “I’ll make sure you don’t get kidnapped. Besides, they might beg me to take you back when they realize how much you talk.”

I slap his chest. “Asshole. You love when I talk.”

Something in his eyes looks softer. “I do.”

My heart catches in my chest. Before I can process, Abby is pulling me away.

Dominic smiles, blowing me a kiss.

As soon as we are inside the bathroom, Abby turns to me. “Something is up with Alan. I think he might propose or something.”

“What?” I whisper, giving her all my attention. “What makes you think that?”

A random lady walks by us, giving us an odd look, but I shoot her a small smile.

“Last night, after we got back to the room, he said he wanted to talk. Then he started saying all these things about how much he loved me, and he feels he’s not enough for me. I have no idea where he got the idea he’s not enough. Anyway, so then he asked what he could do to be better for me, and I was shocked. I have no idea because he’s already the best for me. So I asked him if I could think about it. He said yes of course, but when we laid down to go to bed, I heard him whisper that he wanted to marry me. I pretended not to hear him because I do not want to be proposed to while lying in bed after a conversation like that.” She wrings her hands, staring at the floor.

“Hey.” I pull her chin up. “Do you want to marry him?”

Her eyes soften. “More than anything.”

“Then why does it matter how he proposes? If I found a man I wanted to marry, I would be happy with him saying the words. He wouldn’t even have to give me a ring or drop to one knee for me. Knowing he loves me would be enough.”

She takes a deep breath. “You’re right. What if I fucked up?”

I shake my head. “You didn’t. It sounds like he wasn’t trying to propose. Maybe he’s feeling insecure. Reassure him that you love him. Tell him there’s nothing he can do because he’s already everything you want. Maybe even tell him that one day you want to marry him.”

“You think?” Her eyes are teary now.

I brush a piece of hair back from her face. “I know. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

“Kind of like you and Dom, right? We all thought you should’ve been with him from the beginning. We were actually expecting it when you first met, but then you kind of just went on a hating spree of him.”

I force a smile. “I was an idiot, obviously. Let’s get out there before these guys think we were kidnapped for real. Or worse, that we are taking a shit.”

She giggles. “All right. Thank you, Katie.”

As we leave the bathroom, she walks right up to Alan with a smile, hugging him. It looks like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

I smile. They are going to be okay.

“There’s my girl. I was starting to wonder if you fell in.” Dominic pulls me into his arms as soon as I’m within reach.

“Nope. I’m still here and dry.”

He nibbles my ear, whispering, “I can get you wet if you want.”

I shake my head. “You’re terrible. Let’s go. The others are waiting.”

As Abby and Alan walk ahead, Dominic leans down. “Is she okay? Alan’s been worried.”

I look up at him, smiling. “It’s fine. She was worried he was trying to propose last night, and she messed it up.”

He snorts. “Alan, you idiot. He’s been worried she wants more from him, but he doesn’t know what more to do for her.”

I pat Dominic’s chest. “Don’t get involved. They will figure it out.”

He leans in, pressing a kiss to my lips. “All right. We let them figure it out, and we worry about us.”

Why do I like the sound of there being an us?

DOMINIC

If I could pick a perfect day, it would be today.

Walking around in a country I’ve never been to with the most gorgeous woman I could have ever imagined on my arm. Not just on my arm, but openly accepting all of the affection I keep bestowing upon her.

My hands are never far from her skin. Neither are my lips. I know that Grant can tell this is different.

This isn’t fake for me. It never was.

Earlier, when she made the comment about wanting what Nessa and Grant have, it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I would give it to her. That we could have that if she would let go and be with me fully.

If Abby hadn’t walked up, I would have. I’d have poured my heart out to her without hesitation, praying she would take care of it.

“Do you think this is a good idea? I don’t mind being adventurous, but what if something they make us gives us food poisoning?” Katie whispers to me as the servers set up.

Nessa and Grant decided they wanted to do a local cuisine tasting. Since I had canceled all of our shore excursions for the rest of the trip after the waterfall trip ended up making my foot sore, we readily agreed to join.

Only looking at the food they are bringing out, I can see why she is concerned.

While it looks delicious, it also looks like it has a lot of spices on it.

“Do you not like spicy foods?” I ask Katie.

She gives me a worried look. “I can have a little, but if I have too much, it upsets my stomach.”

I nod. “You eat as much as you want, even if it’s nothing at all, and I’ll help you eat what you don’t.”

She smiles at me. “You are the sweetest.”

Leaning down, I press a kiss to her cheek.

“All right, my friends. To start this tour of Bahamian local delicacies, we will start with conch. This is something we find here often while we are out fishing. We have it prepared for you two ways. First, you have the traditional cracked conch, which is fried and served with Creole sauce. The second is a conch salad. Served ceviche-style with a pepper and citrus sauce over a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery.”

I take a bite of the fried conch first. It tastes good without a high level of spice, so I hold it out for Katie. She looks nervous but leans forward to take a small bite.

She hums when the flavor hits her tongue.

“That’s really good.” She smiles up at me.

“Here, have the rest of mine. I’ll try the rabbit food.” I push the rest of the fried conch onto her plate.

Then I take a bite of the salad. It’s not terrible, but I don’t feel like I need a second bite. Katie takes a small bite as well but leaves it, instead devouring the fried conch.

“I usually hate fried foods, but that’s amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it, baby doll.” I kiss the top of her head.

After everyone has finished their first tasting, the guide moves on.

“Next, we have rock lobster. This is not quite like the lobster you are used to. Instead of serving with butter for you to eat from the shell, we prepare it like a crab patty. After we steam the meat, we combine it with typical Bahamian spices before making it into a patty and searing it in a pan. This is also served with the Creole sauce, but if you are feeling adventurous, we have also included a house sauce, which can be quite spicy.”

I take a bite of mine first, trying it with both sauces. When the second sauce hits my tongue, I know why he said you had to be adventurous. It’s spicy as hell.

“The Creole sauce is the one you liked before. Don’t try the other. It’s too spicy for me even,” I tell Katie.

She smiles. “I’ll try only a little. I’d hate to miss out because I’m afraid.”

She takes a small bite, dipping it into the sauce. When she brings it to her lips, I lose focus for a moment. I love her lips.

Then I watch her face scrunch up as soon as the sauce hits her mouth. I hold out my water.

“Okay, next time I’m listening to you. That’s way too hot for me.”

She’s wiping her tongue with a napkin, making me laugh.

“Our third item,” the guide calls out, grabbing our attention. “Is a snapper caught this morning by your cook. He has seasoned it with his family’s secret recipe.”

As the guide continues on, I smile down at my girl. She looks so light and carefree.

I could get used to this.

When she holds up a piece of fish, I open my mouth, accepting it from her without hesitation.

This is the cute couple things I’ve been missing out on. The ones I’ve seen my parents do for years. I’ve yearned for this but never found a woman worthy of it.

Not until her.

I have to do everything in my power to keep it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Katie cocks her head, looking at me.

“Like what?”

“Like you just had a light-bulb moment.”

I pull her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Maybe I did.”

“What was it?”

Could I tell her? Right now with all of our friends with us?

I pull back, smiling at her.

Before I can spit it out, I chicken out.

Reaching out, I rub a little sauce off the corner of her mouth.

“I realized you are such a mess. I can’t take you anywhere, can I?”

She blushes, hiding her face but laughing. “Asshole.”

“Your asshole.”

She focuses back on the guide after that, but I don’t.

All I can do is focus on her.