by Jayci Lee
“I’ll be right back,” he said. At the kitchen, he grabbed the corsage and boutonnière and ran back. He was gratified to see Tara standing exactly where he’d left her, staring down at the poster leaning against the wall. “This is for you.”
“A corsage? Oh, my gosh. It’s so pretty.” She put the cupcakes aside, and held out her arm to him.
He put down the boxes on the floor and stood with her corsage in his hand. He slipped it onto her delicate wrist, and the flowers seemed to come alive and glow against her soft skin. “Do you like it?”
“I love it. I’ve always wanted to wear one.” Her voice was husky again.
Seth took out his boutonnière and held it out to her. “Will you do the honors?”
“Of course.” She took it from his hand and stepped close to him. God, she smelled so good. Carefully, she pinned the flower on his lapel and stepped back to examine her handiwork. “Perfect.”
“Thanks.” With a smile, he offered her his arm. “Let’s get going before we’re late for our dinner reservations.”
“We’re going out to dinner dressed like this?” She looked momentarily panicked until they rounded the corner to the kitchen where he’d set the table with a red-and-white-checkered tablecloth and two glowing candles. “What are you up to, Seth Kim?”
“Welcome to the fanciest Italian restaurant I know. Lola’s Trattoria.”
A delighted peal of laughter escaped her lovely lips, and she threw herself into his arms. “Oh, my goose bumps. This is so perfect. All of my friends went to Lola’s for their prom-night dinner.”
“Perfect is good.” Seth’s chest expanded with pride. “I want tonight to be perfect for you.”
When Tara walked over to the table and reached to pull out her chair, Seth was by her side in a flash, clicking his tongue.
“Oh, geez,” she huffed.
“Come on. Let me do this.” He moved to stand close behind her, covering her hand with his own. “Let me pamper you, baby.”
“Well, if you put it that way…” She let go of the chair with splashes of pink staining her cheeks.
Once she was seated, Seth returned with their pear, candied walnut, and Gorgonzola salad. Reaching for the sauvignon blanc chilling on the table, he said, “Wine?”
“Are we allowed to drink? I mean, we’re only high schoolers.” With eyes bright with anticipation, she held out her glass to him. “Screw it. It’s prom night.”
“That’s right.” Seth filled their glasses, then lifted his in salute. “Anything goes on prom night.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When he sat down across from her, Tara paused with her fork of salad halfway to her mouth. “Did you have a wild prom night?”
“Nope. I went with a handful of my friends and we left early because we got tired of standing against the wall all night.”
“Oh, my dandelions. You were a wallflower,” she said, hugging her hands to her chest. “But seriously, I can’t believe you never took a date to prom.”
“I told you I was painfully shy until … after.” He coughed and changed the subject. The brilliant words that popped out were “How do you like the salad?”
“It’s delicious. This is my favorite salad from Lola’s.” She took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “You and I have a lot in common. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone told me that a month ago.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, we now know that neither of us had a date to the prom because we were both too shy in high school. We both changed majors in college because of our unfortunate relationship choices. And we both have quite a bit of emotional baggage.”
“You’re making us sound like sad, unlucky souls.”
“No, I disagree. I say we’re warriors for charging forward and making a great life for ourselves despite a rocky start to our adult lives.”
Seth raised his glass. “To warriors.”
“Damn right to warriors.” Tara clinked her glass against his.
They ate their sweet and savory salad in silence for a few bites. This evening felt surreal. She couldn’t believe the effort Seth put into it. She glanced down at her corsage and smiled. This was her prom night.
“This is so weird and wonderful. I feel like we’ve traveled back in time,” she said, smiling across the table at him. “I seriously have butterflies in my stomach.”
“Me, too.” Seth chuckled, shaking his head. “I was sweating when I promposed to you. I was nervous as hell.”
“Aww, that is so adorable.” She reached across the table and linked her fingers through his. “Thank you for this. Really.”
“It’s my absolute pleasure. Really.”
He gently untangled his fingers from hers, and stood from the table, reaching for her empty salad plate. “Let me bring our main course. We’re on a schedule tonight.”
“A schedule?” Her eyebrows rose up. “There’s more?”
Seth shot her a quick, indignant glance. “Of course, there’s more. I told you I’m taking you to prom tonight.”
“Sorry. This is already more than I could’ve imagined.”
“Well, prepare yourself.” He wiggled his eyebrows, incandescent in his glee.
“For the best night of my life?”
“You overshot a bit there. I was thinking more of a prom night you won’t forget.”
“That works, too.” Her cheeks ached from smiling so much tonight. It seemed to happen often when Seth was around. Maybe she would develop chipmunk cheeks by the time he left. Shit. Sad thoughts were not allowed tonight.
Seth placed their pasta dishes on the table. “Butternut squash ravioli with fresh sage butter sauce.”
“No way. Is this a parade of my favorite dishes?” Tara couldn’t resist and took a bite of ravioli dipped in buttery goodness. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. Do you realize how tight this dress is? The zipper is going to burst in the back.”
“I. Love. That. Dress,” he said, looking almost feverish with desire. It was a good look on him.
“I figured that out when you ogled me for hours at the wedding.”
“Again, I wasn’t ogling that night. I was gawking.” His heated gaze traveled to her breasts, and he bit his lip. Damn. He was so sexy. “But now I’m definitely ogling.”
“Stop that,” she whispered, ogling him back. Seeing him in a tuxedo felt like being body-slammed by lust. Must. Have. Friction. Her body demanded satisfaction, but they were going to have to wait. She had a prom to attend. “If you keep making those sexy faces, I’ll lunge across the table at you. You said we’re on a schedule.”
“Right.” He stared furiously at his remaining raviolis. When he looked up at her, his eyes only held a hint of heat. “Let’s finish eating and we’ll be on our way.”
“On our way?” He kept surprising her tonight.
“Yeah, so eat up,” he said, digging into his ravioli.
After a moment, she followed suit. The sage in the butter married perfectly with the creamy butternut squash in the handmade ravioli. With all the butter and carbs, the dish couldn’t be good for her, but having butternut squash in it gave it the illusion of being healthy, so she tucked it all away without guilt.
“Do we have time for cupcakes?” Tara asked hopefully, getting up to clear the table with Seth.
“There is always time for cupcakes. Besides, it only takes—like what?—two bites to finish? Let’s each have one … or two.”
“Who said I’m sharing my cupcakes,” she teased.
“If you make me just watch you eat a cupcake, I’ll end up carrying you to bed.”
“Hmm. Tempting idea.” Seth lunged for her, and she shrieked and ran to put the counter between them. “I’m kidding. Mostly. I’m mostly kidding. Here. Have a cupcake. I’ll give you the chocolate-chocolate one since I’m nice.”
She waved the cupcake in front of his face until he snatched it out of her hand.
“You are nice. Very nice,” he said with a seductive smil
e that made her heart trip.
They each had a cupcake standing up and washed their hands together at the kitchen sink. Seth reached for her soapy hands and they played handsy for a bit, but they stopped before it progressed into more scintillating activities. A makeout session was inevitable, but the waiting would make it all the more satisfying.
Seth looked down at his watch. “Do you need to freshen up before we leave?”
“Sure. I’ll only be a minute.”
Tara went into the bathroom and reapplied her lipstick, dabbing it with a tissue. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she reached in and pulled her boobs up for Seth’s ogling pleasure. The high quality of the dress prevented her from looking too promiscuous. She was just the right amount of promiscuous.
Seth was waiting by the front door when she returned from the bathroom. He was grinning like a little boy. He was so adorable, yet he never stopped being sexy as hell.
“Ready?” he said, offering her his arm.
“As I’ll ever be.” She hooked her arm through his and held her breath as he opened the door. What had him so excited?
A limo? He got us a freaking limo!
When they stepped outside, the chauffeur jumped out of his seat, and came around to open the rear door for them.
“Seth,” she whispered, tugging on his arm. “There’s a limo here.”
“I know,” he whispered back. “It’s for us.”
Tara shrieked and locked her arms around his neck, hugging him close. “Prom night is so much fun.”
“It really is. When I was preparing all of this, I was just thinking of you, but I might be enjoying this more than you.” Seth gently pulled down her arms and grabbed one of her hands. “Let’s go. Our chauffeur is waiting.”
They ran the rest of the way to the limousine and got inside. If she was expecting a tacky interior with white leather and disco lights, she would’ve been way off. The black leather was as soft as Morgan’s cheeks, and the mahogany trim gave the car old-time elegance.
“Would you like some champagne?” Seth reached for the bar in the side compartment. “Or a martini?”
“No, thank you.” She sat close beside Seth, shoulders and legs touching. “I would rather live out another one of my fantasies. Having a hot makeout session in the back of a limo.”
“I think that can be arranged,” he growled as he kissed her neck, and smoothed his hand down the side of her torso until he had a firm grip on her hip.
He quickly made his way down to her cleavage, and kissed the tops of her breasts almost reverently. “God, I wanted to kiss you like this that night. You’re so beautiful.”
“Are you talking to me? Or my boobs?” she said, tangling her hands through his hair and holding him in place.
“Your boobs. Definitely your boobs.” His muffled laughter made her want to slap his arm, but when his tongue dipped under her dress and bra, she forgot everything.
“They like you, too. Very much.” She moaned deeply, writhing against him. “Stay a while longer.”
“With pleasure.”
When she didn’t think she could stand any more, he finally lifted his head and captured her lips in a kiss so sweet and so passionate that she pulled her dress up to her hips and straddled him to better enjoy it. He growled his approval and deepened the kiss, digging his fingers into her hair. It had taken her nearly half an hour to get her hair into an updo, but she didn’t give a damn. He could dishevel the hell out of her until she looked thoroughly ravished. On second thought, he should go ahead and ravish her.
Seth was doing a fine job of it so far. His hands were moving all over her body as though he didn’t want any part of her to feel left out. It burned her up. When his hand traveled up her thigh, lifting her dress higher, she whimpered, impatient for him to touch her hypersensitive center.
But instead, his hand stopped its upward trajectory and quickly pulled her dress down to cover her hips again. To her utter shock and indignation, he pushed her away from him.
“How dare you?” she seethed as she tried to tug his mouth back on her lips.
“Later. I promise you we’ll resume later, but we’re here.” He sat her back on the seat and adjusted his pants and smoothed down his hair. “Our chauffeur’s going to open the door any second now.”
Tara quickly tugged down her dress and reached for her hair, which she was surprised to find still in good shape. Just as she noticed Seth’s lips smeared with her bloodred lipstick, the door opened. To his credit, the chauffer didn’t blink an eye at how disheveled the two of them must have appeared.
Her ears burning, she took his outstretched hand and accepted his help to get out of the limo. Seth climbed out of the car after her, and shared a grin with the chauffeur. She was surprised they didn’t high-five each other. But it was adorable seeing how proud Seth was of himself.
He reached her side in two steps and offered her his arm again. “Shall we?”
Tara reached into her clutch and took out a tissue. Once she’d cleaned his mouth free of her lipstick, he took the tissue from her and cleaned around her lips.
“Now we shall,” she said. When they turned around, she finally realized where they were. “Landon’s restaurant? What are we doing here?”
“Come with me and you’ll see.” He was positively vibrating with excitement.
“What are you up to?” She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but his excitement was proving contagious.
“The best kind of mischief.”
She skipped a little to keep up with Seth’s long, impatient strides. When they reached the entrance, he reached out and covered her eyes.
“Hey,” she protested, tugging at his hand.
“Close your eyes. You can’t look, yet.”
“Okay. Fine. Just so you know, you’re raising the expectations really high with all this fuss.”
“I’m confident it’ll meet your expectations,” he said, sounding a smidgen smug. He led her by the arm into the restaurant and clicked on the lights. “Are you ready?”
“Just show me already. The suspense is killing me.”
When he took his hand away, her mouth dropped open and no sound came out. He’d moved all the tables and chairs to one side of the dining hall and strung the entire room with lovely droplets of decorative light. And glittering star garlands hung from the ceiling as though the stars were spilling out of the night sky. At one corner, silver helium balloons happily spelled out the word PROM.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped.
“Did you just say the Lord’s name in vain?” Seth’s eyebrows crept up to his hairline.
“An ‘oh, my God’ is warranted under such circumstances.”
“Do you like it?” he asked hesitantly.
“I love it, Seth. All of it.” She turned to him and caressed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You don’t know how happy it makes me to see you happy.” His voice broke at the end. “Okay. Before I become a slobbering mess … do you want to take our prom pictures?
“Prom pictures?” She laughed, super into the idea. “How? Where?”
Back at playing Mr. Mysterious, he said, “Please come with me.”
She followed Seth as he made his way to a corner of the dining hall that was blocked off with a tall screen. He moved the screen to one side, revealing a setup with a gentle gray backdrop, lighting, and a camera on a tripod.
“I can’t believe this,” Tara breathed. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I hope so. There was no way I was going to disappoint you.”
“I’m in awe. This is like Santa coming to your house on Christmas morning to open presents with you. It’s wonderful.”
“Good. You deserve it, and more,” he said.
They shot their traditional prom pose picture, angled perfectly so her corsage and his boutonnière were in full view. Then they got creative. Seth stood behind her and pretended to bite her neck like a vampire. She jumped on his back in
an impromptu piggyback ride, swinging her arm high in the air like an overzealous cowgirl. They stood ramrod straight side by side and wore their very best poker faces. Of course, they didn’t forget the silly shot, where Tara pretended to pick Seth’s nose while he wore his duh look.
By the time they finished their photo shoot, they were laughing so hard that Tara sank to the floor, hugging her aching ribs. Taking in sips of oxygen between bouts of laughter, she said, “Stop. Stop it. I can’t breathe.”
“What? I’m not doing anything. You stop it.”
“Okay. I need to stop looking at you, because you keep getting that look on your face. I can tell you’re trying not to laugh.”
“Fine. I’ll go hide behind the screen,” he whizzed, and promptly did that.
That sent Tara into another bout of giggles. Then, slowly, very slowly—between random snorts—she finally stopped laughing and was able to take in a full breath.
Seth poked his head out from behind the screen, and asked, “Safe to come out?”
“I think so.” She took another deep breath to make sure.
He reached her in two strides and helped her to her feet. He cradled both of her hands in his, and ducked his head to meet her eyes, wearing the most endearing smile. “May I have this dance?”
“Yes.” Butterflies took flight from her stomach and fluttered around her racing heart.
Right on cue, music flowed through the room. Seth gathered her to him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. They swayed together, song after song. Tara could hardly believe all this was happening. That he did all of it for her. It certainly was a prom night to remember.
“Now I’m sort of glad I never went to prom,” she said quietly in his arms. “It never would’ve been this perfect with anyone else.”
Seth held her even closer to him in response, and she melted against him. She never wanted the night to end.
* * *
He held her for a minute or an hour. He couldn’t tell. Time didn’t matter. Being with her like this—creating memories with her—felt so right. Seth couldn’t let her go. He loved her. God, he loved her so much. If she couldn’t leave with him, he would stay with her.