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She alh Laughing in delight at being held inever Thank you”

A tiny gasp escapes her as I pull her in closer, still gliding backward along the ice, then kiss her gently Looking down, I say, “My pleasure”

She insists on a few more laps, but I finally have to tell her I have another surprise Her eyebrows lift in curiosity as I guide her over to the ho gate, I help her step onto the slightly elevated platforasps

After helping her sit down, I watch as she stares at the setup I have on the long wooden seat

A co candlesticks I quickly light with the pack of htfully left there On the plates are perfectly cooked steaks frous Icy bottles of sparkling water sit uncapped before our plates, and the silverware is laid out perfectly on linen napkins

“How did you do all this?” she asks in awe, angling on the bench to face her plate as I sit on the opposite side

“While this was my brilliant idea, I couldn’t have pulled it off without help Clarke and Pepper helped get the food and set it up”

“It’s wonderful,” she murmurs with a soft smile “You’re wonderful”

We eat and talk about how our days went We consider taking a short hiking trip tomorrow at Echo Canyon I fill her in on how the teaaress she’s made on her book this week

It’s all so fucking effortless, but, then again, it is always like that with us This isn’t so new that formed since we became intimate It’s just validation Mollie and I really connect on the non-physical plane just as robustly as we do on the physical side

“I’ her last bite of steak I’d already cleaned my plate, so I take the opportunity to finish off the rest of her potato she’d left behind

“Do we need to clean this up?” she asks when I finally wipe my mouth and toss the linen napkin on my plate

“Nope,” I reply, nabbing her plate and setting it on top ofit on the bench behind me, then do the sa left between us “I dropped a fifty note to one of the janitors to stay late and clean this up”