"You know, I did put clothes on for a reason." She bit at her lip as she walked with him down the driveway to the taxi. He had not pulled his eyes from her once, however she doubted that the dress she wore appeared in all of his current thoughts. He sucked in his cheeks at her comment, before taking her waist as they reached the car, opening the door and gesturing for her to sit down. He then walked to the other side of the car and sat in the seat next to her.
"You look..." She leant closer to him and put a finger to his lips, aware of the warmth that had begun to spread through her cheeks. Her lips then replaced her finger, fully aware that they were not the only two people in the vehicle but at the same time accepting that the poor man in the front had probably suffered through worse. His lips slipped to her ear, and she shivered, but not at all because she was cold. "The things I could do to you..." She brought a hand to the side of his face and their eyes met, and she kissed him again.
"Behave."
He made a tutting sound in response and she pulled away to lean her head against his shoulder, barely able to supress the smile that formed at the thought of them both knowing had they carried on, restraining themselves would become exceedingly difficult. And paying the taxi driver would be a very awkward encounter.
They sat down in the restaurant twenty minutes later, Jacob had already made the necessary arrangements, so much so that there was already champagne at the table.
"What's the occasion?" She smiled, holding his hand as she sat before he moved around to take the seat opposite.
"You." He grinned back at her, more so as he watched her dip her head in the unfamiliar manner of embarrassment. He loved that he made her feel these things, things that she did not believe herself that she was capable of experiencing after all these years. He nudged her foot underneath the table gently and she brought her head up, brushing her fringe away from her eyes, thanking the waiter who had filled their flutes. "So, let's do this properly. A toast." She watched him, a smile twitching at her features. "Something... majestic. Empowering."
"Jacob..."
"Come on, sweet cheeks. You'll have been to a ton of dos, you must know some fancy ones."
"I've usually already had a few to get me through..." He looked at her with an expression of mock horror at her confession, and she gave him a look that equated to a playful slap, one she would have given had they been in a different environment.
"Nothing? Nothing at all?"
"You're so..."
"Yeah, yeah, no need to finish." He winked, before taking a breath and straightening himself, flute poised towards her own.
"Because I love you truly, because you love me, too... My very greatest happiness..." He looked at her, into her eyes. He could see how a breath seemed to hitch in her throat, as if she were surprised. She regarded him thoughtfully, before rolling her eyes; her confidence covering up her initial hesitancy and then she raised her chin ever so slightly, leaning across the table a little to touch her flute to his.
"Is sharing life with you."
He tilted his head towards her, smirking before taking a sip. "So you profess declarations of love at all of these international conferences and cardio-balls?"
"Cardio-balls?"
"Well I don't know... Do you call it a ball?" She watched as another thought seemed to form, his eyes widened slightly and he supressed a grin, picking up his drink again in an attempt to conceal it.
"What?"
"Can we have an... ED Ball?"
"Jacob, what on earth..." She paused, before sighing and pressing her tongue into the side of her cheek. "Is this about..."
"I can just imagine..."
"Please, don't." This time, he bit his lip at the image of her in an evening dress, on his arm. He'd work her round to the idea.
The rest of the evening passed, and hours later they stepped outside to the waiting taxi, and travelled back to her house in near silence, she settled against him and he put his arm around her, gently combing his fingers through her hair and pressing kisses to her head. She was so relaxed and content, she could never imagine her life as it was before, so full of constant stress, upset and isolation, with him there with her. He brought peace and control to her life, but made it so much more alive than it had ever been before.
It was near to midnight by time they arrived home, and after slipping off her shoes he motioned for her to go upstairs whilst he checked that doors were shut and the plugs were all switched off. It was a terrible habit of hers, picked up from the years of rushing around he supposed. He then followed her upstairs, and watched her for a few moments at the bedroom door as she removed her makeup and earrings, before she turned around in her seat to see him standing there.
"Sorry." He didn't move, but just smiled as she stood and moved over to pull him towards the centre of the room.
"Thank you..." She spoke softly, rising on her toes to kiss him. "Thank you for tonight." He kissed her back, his arms wrapping around her waist before remembering the back of her dress, the button at her neck, and the lace. He brought her even closer to him, gently slipping the button through the clasp, smiling against her lips as he felt her fingers go to the buttons of his shirt.
"I love you." He murmured, her hands now running trails up and down his torso, her fingers tickling slightly as she did so.
"I love you too." She pulled away slightly to watch him, looking down at her, before wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the ground, the two of them a tangle of breathless laughter and love.
