What He Really Feels (He Feels Trilogy) (41 page)

“This is amazing,” she murmured around my lips.

“You’re amazing,” I said, holding her bag in one hand and gripping her hip with my other hand as my tongue dipped into her mouth. She moaned into me, and I knew that we would violently attack each other the second we made our way into our room.

But I had something I needed to tell her, and tonight was going to be the night. So, unfortunately, for now I had to hold her off. I had to get to my location by 12:30.

Once the elevator doors opened, I slid my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It was just after 11:20, so we only had an hour.

We found our room and I set our bags down so we could take a look around. The Calais Suite boasted a beautiful master bedroom with a king-size bed, a separate seating area, and two bathrooms. It was, in my personal opinion, a little flashy and definitely over the top with its French decorations, but it also managed to set the romantic mood. It really felt like we were in Paris.

We both stood looking at the bed, and then Lindsay walked casually over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist as her cheek came to a rest on my chest right over my heart. It was racing as it always did when Lindsay was near me.

She sighed happily. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I buried my nose in her hair, taking in that delicious citrus scent, and then I kissed the top of her head. She leaned back to look up into my eyes, and hers were full of lust. For me.

I leaned down to press my lips to hers, and she took the initiative, thrusting her tongue into my mouth. I gave back demandingly, wanting every little part of her, wanting to be buried inside of her in the place that made me the happiest in the entire world.

I pulled back on a groan, panting. I gazed down at Lindsay’s beautiful face. She really was absolutely perfect, and I loved looking at her face in the midst of our most intimate moments. The smooth skin of her cheeks glowed with color, her lips looked plump and swollen from attacking mine, and her eyes were glazed with passion and lust for me. She was stunning, even when she was in her casual clothes and had just spent the last five hours in the car. Her chest heaved as she panted, too. It wasn’t just me that was so affected by our kisses.

“I have a surprise for you,” I said.

She looked at me with curiosity. “More surprises?” she asked. “Taking me to Paris wasn’t enough?”

“Nothing will ever be enough for you, Gorgeous.”

Her cheeks flushed a deeper red, and she smiled at me with joy. I crushed her against me in a hug, and then I reluctantly let her go, suddenly nervous for my sweeping romantic gesture. I took her hand in mine and pulled her toward the door, because I knew that if I stayed in there a second longer, I wouldn’t be strong enough to stop myself from taking her to the bed, and then my plans would be postponed yet another day.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, her eyes lit with curiosity and excitement as we walked down the hall toward the elevators.

The beginning of my plan was to go for a stroll in front of the Bellagio Hotel so that we could watch the fountains that made the hotel famous. I had been to Vegas many times before, and the fountains were something I always enjoyed with their display of water, light, and sound. I had always had this little picture in my mind of bringing the woman I loved on a walk in front of the fountains, holding her hand, and taking in the beauty and grandeur together. Of course, historically, my mind always pictured Julianne in those moments, but being here with Lindsay seemed like a new beginning for me. It was better than I had pictured it in my mind, because my feelings for Lindsay ran so much deeper than I ever thought I would feel. And this moment marked the start of the night that I would finally confess to her how much I loved her.

“I was thinking a walk in front of the Bellagio. The fountains go off at 11:45. And then I’ve got one more surprise.”

“Perfect,” she murmured as she pressed the button for the elevator.

Once we were out on the Strip, I was amazed at the sheer number of people surrounding me. We just needed to head across the street, but that was a feat in itself as we walked through a maze of people to the crosswalk. It was nearly 11:45 by the time we made our way to the
fountains, and the sidewalks were packed with people. We couldn’t get a close enough spot to lean on the handrail, but then we heard the first strains of the music and saw the first burst of water illuminated by light against the dark night sky and it didn’t matter. I put my arm around Lindsay’s shoulders once we found a suitable spot to stand, and she snuggled closely into my side, wrapping one arm around my waist.

The moment was perfect.

The show was spectacular, and all too soon, it was over. People started moving along, and we lingered for a moment, finally getting a spot against the handrail. We leaned against it and stared at the gargantuan hotel reflected in the calm waters before us, mesmerized by the lights and the sounds and the magnificence that is Las Vegas.

Next to us, a few people huddled around a man and a woman, and the man was talking to the woman. The scenario caught Lindsay’s attention, too, and then we saw the man get down on his knee. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I saw him pull out a ring box and then slip a ring onto the woman’s finger. I heard her yell, “Yes!” and then the man stood and pulled the woman into his arms. I could see the love they had for each other reflected in their eyes, and it was a beautiful moment.

The people surrounding them started clapping. Lindsay and I joined in. She looked up at me, grinning, her eyes shining. “Aww,” she murmured, and I kissed her temple, thinking that someday it would be us getting engaged.

One of the people in the group pulled out a bottle of champagne and some plastic cups, and they passed the bottle around. The bride-to-be was glowing, and the groom-to-be looked relieved. It was a beautiful moment that I was honored to have witnessed even though I didn’t know these people.

I grabbed Lindsay’s hand and pulled her along with me. “We’ve got one more stop,” I said.

We headed back to our hotel and walked into the casino entrance. I pulled her along with me until I found what I was looking for, and she squealed when she saw my intentions: I was taking her to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

We found the elevators that would take us up, and I was pleased to find that there was no line to get to the top. From the reviews I had read, I was a little concerned that the top would be cramped and we’d have little room to explore, but it looked like we would have plenty of space. There were a few other people in the elevator with us, and I pulled Lindsay close into me as we traveled up fifty stories. Once we arrived, we had 360 degree panoramic views of the Las Vegas Strip. The twinkling lights and the people and the hotels all added up to an unbelievably impressive view. I clasped Lindsay’s hand to mine as we walked around. There weren’t too many other people up there, so it almost felt like our own private attraction.

“The fountains are going again,” she said, and we made our way to the side of the Eiffel Tower that faced the Bellagio so that we could watch another show, this time from above. The change in perspective made it fresh and exciting all over again.

She wrapped herself around my waist, and I held her close in my arms, resting my cheek on top of her head while we watched the fountains, completely overcome with love for her as waves of feelings rolled through my body.

She leaned back and tilted her head toward mine. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers gently and tenderly, trying to pour everything I felt for her into our kiss.

She moaned into me, and I knew it was time.

“Gorgeous,” I whispered against her lips. My voice was anxious as I felt suddenly terrified to tell her. The only other woman I had ever said the words to besides my mom and my sister was Julianne, and we all know how that turned out. But I knew my heart was safe with Lindsay. I knew that she would hold onto me and protect me just as I would her.

She pulled back and looked at me, lust in her eyes.

“I don’t know when or how this happened, but it did. You have become the most important person in my life in just a few short weeks, and I can’t even imagine my life without you.” I pressed a kiss to her lips. “Lindsay, I love you.”

As I said it, I realized that love wasn’t even a strong enough word to articulate what I really felt for her.

Her expressive eyes gazed up at me, the lust in them mingling with love. I recognized it there, and I wanted to look at it forever.

“I love you, too,” she said, and those words settled every nervous, anxious feeling inside of me as I was overtaken with the depth of feelings I had for her.

My mouth found hers, and it didn’t matter that there were people around us in the small space. All that mattered was that we had finally said the words to each other.

“I more than love you,” I said softly against her lips. “I need you. I crave you. I adore you.” I punctuated each sentence with a kiss.

“I more than love you, too,” she breathed, kissing me again. “You captivate me so completely. I’ve never felt this strongly about anything or anybody before in my life.”

“I haven’t either,” I said, leaning my forehead against hers. “And I know I never will. I’ve already told you, Lindsay. You’re it for me.”

“You’re it for me, too,” she said.

And in that moment, I knew with certainty that someday I would ask Lindsay to be my wife. It was new and fresh and exciting, and maybe someday the luster would wear off of our brand-new, shiny relationship, but I knew without a doubt that my feelings for her would never, ever diminish. From the moment I had met her, my feelings had somehow only grown stronger and stronger by the second. Every day, it seemed, she did something that made me love her even more. My heart was bursting with love for this woman, and I was beyond happy that I had finally been able to tell her what I really felt.

As I pulled Lindsay closer into my arms, I was perfectly content. Despite everything I had been through over the past several weeks, I realized that I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be.

Everything was perfect.

Well, nearly everything was perfect.

There was just that one troubling thought at the back of my mind: What had Jules meant by her text, and when would I find out?

Acknowledgements

Thank you first and foremost to my husband. If you read my acknowledgements in
How He Really Feels
, you know that he’s the one who finally convinced me to look into actually self-publishing my book. Thanks, hubs, for your support, for allowing our walks around the park with the fuzzy dog to be taken over with discussions of stories and characters and plot and titles, and, most especially, for not standing behind me while I’m writing.

Thanks to my family (including the world’s best dog) and friends who have supported me in this endeavor even when they weren’t exactly sure what they were supporting. And special thanks to my brother for creating and designing my website: authorlisasuzanne.com.

Thanks to my readers! Without you, this second book literally would not have been possible. Because you asked what happened to Travis, I was inspired to write his story. I hope it lived up to what you wanted for Travis, and I hope you’re as excited as me for book 3 in this series to see how everything pans out for Jules, Nick, and Trav.

I want to take a moment to thank the amazing bloggers who have promoted my books on their blogs, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter… etc. THANK YOU for taking the time out of your day to help spread the word about indie authors like me. Also a special THANK YOU to the Facebook page admins who work tirelessly to promote books. Literally five months before I wrote this very acknowledgement, I had no idea about the world I was getting into in terms of self-promotion and marketing, and it would not be possible to spread the word about my books without the bloggers and Facebookers who dedicate time to read, review, and promote books simply because they love to read.

I am forever grateful to each of the bloggers who has read and reviewed me, but I have to give a special shout out to Desiree and Jennifer from The Book Bar, Anna from AkiiKOMORI Reading, Jessica from Jessica’s Book Review, Emily from The SubClub Books Blog, and Skye from Book Addict Mumma. You have reviewed, supported, beta read, spotlighted, promoted, shared, etc., and I love you for it! Thanks for becoming trusted friends who I met simply by clicking a “Publish” button.

A SUPER SPECIAL thank you to the Facebook pages What to Read after Fifty (50) Shades of Grey and Korner Kafé Exposed. Summer and Kim were the first two people who ever promoted my first book, and I’m forever in their debt.

Thanks to the indie authors who have inspired me in this journey. I want to give a special thanks to K. Bromberg. She was willing to message back and forth with someone she didn’t even know on Facebook, and she gave me great advice that helped me get my first book in front of a lot more people. Make sure to read
Driven
and
Fueled
, the first two amazing books in her
Driven
Trilogy!