After dinner everybody made their way out of the restaurant and was gathered in the car park as the girls tried to grill Stephanie for information and she tried to brush them off so that she could talk to her boyfriend and see what he wanted to do all of the boys gathered around Paul. "Sooo, what's the truth with your job?"
"The truth is what I told you. I ended up coming over here to do some work and then things were going really well so they decided to open up an office here as one of the bosses wanted to move back this side of the country also and they gave me the opportunity to come with him to set it up after I said I wanted to move back here if they ever opened an office here."
Sean was still more surprised that he was back with Stephanie than he was that his friend had moved back to the east coast as he had been predicting that since he left as he was too much of home body. "If it wasn't for Stephanie would you have been so eager to move back here? I'm smart enough to realise that the move came after your little reunion."
"Honestly yes, I missed my family, I missed you guys. I have been so out of the loop being all the way out in Cali when all of you are here and can meet up regularly and whenever you like and for me it is like a military operation just to be able to spend a few short days with my family. I have been casually looking for a job back here for a couple of years but there has never really been anything that appealed to me so I have just stuck it out so this move just came at the perfect time for me."
Emily was certainly going to be pleased with Scott for getting information out of Paul that she probably wouldn't know if it wasn't for him so it had to guarantee him at least a couple of days out of the dog house. "But reconnecting with Stephanie is a bonus?"
Glancing over at his girlfriend he couldn't help but smile, "Reconnecting with Stephanie is a massive bonus. My life has been missing something ever since I lost her so finding her again, reconnecting and moving back here has just put that final puzzle piece in to the puzzle of my life. I'm not saying that I'm going to ask her to marry me tomorrow, I just know that now everything feels right and like it should be."
The conversation abruptly ended as the women dispersed as Paul did not want any of the women to get the wrong end of the stick.
It didn't bother Stephanie when her boyfriend stopped talking as she walked closer, she assumed they were discussing work and they didn't want to get told off by their other half's. "Night guys." She wasn't really paying attention to their responses as she had zoned in on her boyfriend and had taken hold of his fingers and was slowly leading him away from everybody.
"Where are you taking me?" He wasn't really bothered but he did have a rental car that the office had arranged for him and he had to take it with him.
"I am taking you away from them so that we can say goodbye in private."
Goodbye? Oh, he had hoped that maybe she wanted to spend some more time with him as it was the weekend and she didn't have to work.
The way that his face fell made her feel bad, she didn't want to leave him but she didn't want to smother him. "Unless you wanted to do something else, just the two of us?"
'Just the two of us' were his favourite words and music to his ears, "So you don't want rid of me?"
"Rid of you? Don't be stupid." For that comment she dropped his hand before she gripped the collar of his shirt with her hands and pulled him closer to her pressing a gentle kiss to his lips raising a smile out of her boyfriend as she pulled back.
"You really can stick around if I can get more of those." Avoiding her hand as she playfully went to slap his arm he grabbed it before she dropped it to her side and used it to pull her closer to him, "You can even stick around if I don't get more of them but only if we snuggle."
She slid her arms around her boyfriend's body holding on to his shoulders whilst she rested her head on his chest, "I can certainly be convinced to do one or both of the things that you mentioned." Nothing was said for a brief moment whilst she enjoyed being help by him, "So my place or yours?"
He was paying for a hotel room and so far it didn't feel like he was getting much use out of it so he felt like he had his answer, "Mine?"
"Sure, I don't mind that at all. I will meet you back at yours in a bit." Before she left him she placed a final kiss to his lips before slowly pulling away and out of his arms and going back to her car.
He waited until she was safely in her car before he climbed in to his own car and made his way back to the hotel.
On the drive to his hotel her phone beeped a few times but she didn't pay any attention to it, her attention was split between being on the road and thinking about how excited everybody had been to see Paul tonight. Part of her honestly thought that none of them would be happy to see them together as a couple again so having so much support made her feel amazing about her relationship.
It took her a moment to find somewhere to park as she wasn't actually staying at the hotel but when she walked in to the lobby she couldn't help but grin at the way her boyfriend was stood there waiting for her, "You really didn't have to wait for me you know, I do know how to find my way to your hotel room."
"I have my reasons for waiting for you." Taking hold of her hand he pulled her towards the elevator pushing the button to go up as he held her close.
She was curious about his reasons for waiting for her but didn't push him because truthfully it didn't matter too much to her why he waited; she just found it sweet that he did. "When do you start work properly? I know you're working from the hotel but I mean actually setting up the new office and everything?"
"A week Monday. I asked for this week off, they just so happened to decide that I have been such a model employee that I could fly out straight away so I have extra time to fix things and now I just am grateful that I get to spend even more time with you without the pressure of actually working." The ding of the elevator doors opening attracted his attention so pulling his girlfriend in to an empty elevator he quickly pressed the button for his floor and prayed that nobody else joined them.
Her brain was slightly distracted by the way that he had worded it because it made her feel like he genuinely wanted to spend as much time with her as he possibly could and that was exactly what she wanted too. She had missed out on far too much time with him and she was going to attempt to use all of the free time they had to catch up on that time. Blindly following him on to the elevator she leant against the railing and watched the doors close leaving the two of them alone again. When her boyfriend turned around to face her she noticed a predatory look in Paul's eyes as he closed the small distance between them.
Placing his hands on the railing either side of her body he knew that their journey wasn't going to last forever so he took his chances and pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that was surprisingly quickly returned. His hands found their way behind her back pulling her away from the railings and closer to his body as he deepened the kiss.
Stephanie moaned in to her boyfriend's mouth as his hands slid to her ass squeezing it gently and pulled her impossibly closer to him, she wanted him so much right now. Her hands were on his chest slowly stroking up and down when suddenly the elevator jolted and it came to a stop at a floor, it was only at this point that she was able to breathe as he stepped back to see where they were quickly grabbing her hands and pulling her along with him at which point she promptly fell over her own feet and only barely caught herself before she ended up sprawled across the floor like some uncoordinated baby deer.
The walk to his room felt like a mile long but in actual fact it was only a few metres and soon they were safely behind closed doors. "Soooo."
She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, "Soooo what?" Shrugging off her jacket as she walked towards the bed tossing it on top of his case on the floor.
Her back was to him briefly and he took that as an opportunity to step behind her slide his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest, "Sooo I think we should pick up where we left off in the elevator."
Her eyes slid closed as she leant back against him, "And what if I didn't want to pick up where we left off?"
"Then we can snuggle in bed, hopefully. I don't really care what we do; I just want to be with you." Pressing a kiss to her cheek he didn't want to release her and move to sit on the bed as he was pretty sure if he moved then she was going to fall to the floor as she felt quite limp in his arms so he stayed where he was and enjoyed the moment where he just got to hold her.
There was no better feeling than that of her boyfriend's arms tightly around her waist and his chest against her back, it was so comforting but she wasn't looking for comfort, she was looking for passion. Lightly gripping his wrists she was a little surprised at the ease at which she was able to move his hands but it suited her as it made her next move easy, moving his arms up her body she placed his hands back against her body but this time against her breasts, once she did she had to bite her lip to stop from moaning, she hadn't realised how hot he had made her in the elevator.
Her hands on his wrists made him believe that she just wanted to cuddle so he was trying to prepare in his head how to not push her too far if she did indeed still stay and cuddled with him in bed. The last thing that he expected was for her to put his hands on her breasts and out of reflex he squeezed them and her reaction was everything to him. "I'm not jumping the gun by suggesting I undo your dress at this point am I?"
"I would be a little concerned if you wanted me to keep it on." His hands on her body were torture that she had brought on herself so it was much needed relief when his hands moved from her breasts to the zip on her dress not hesitating to pull it right down, "Are you going to hurry or go at a snail's pace?"
Rolling his eyes despite the fact that she couldn't see him he rested his chin on her shoulder, "All you had to do was ask nicely and I would be more than happy to oblige for you." His girlfriend was so demanding tonight but yet he found it hot so he moved his chin just slightly and pulled the straps of her dress off her shoulders and used them to begin to pull the dress down past her waist until it could drop to the floor without any help, "Something like that?"
"Uh huh, exactly like that. Now can I turn around please?"
He would love for her to turn around but first he needed to do one thing, sliding his arms around her waist he held her tightly; "I love you so much."
One hand came to rest over his as they rested on her stomach and the other raised to rest on his cheek as his head rested on her shoulder again, "I love you too handsome. So now can I turn around?"
He laughed softly and took hold of the hand on his cheek pulling his hand from beneath hers around her waist and pulled her to the bed, "So where were we?"
The next morning Paul was woken up by the incessant ringing of a phone and he wanted it to stop. Carefully removing his arms from around his girlfriend he got out of bed just as it stopped ringing but he went to find his phone to see if it was someone, probably his sister, trying to get hold of him.
When her blanket disappeared she became cold which woke her up, rolling over she reached out for Paul and when she couldn't feel him she opened her eyes. The first thing that she saw when she opened her eyes was her boyfriend tiptoeing across the room, "Where are you going?"
Focussed on not waking his girlfriend he jumped and promptly fell over something he had tossed on the floor. Getting up off the floor he dusted himself down as his girlfriend scrambled down to the bottom of the bed to check on him, "I was going to find my phone as I was woken up by a phone ringing."
"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt when I scared you did you?"
Sitting down on the edge of the bed he kissed her cheek, "Only my pride. Did you sleep well?"
"I did." Instinctively she moved to sit properly on the edge of the bed and leant against him, "So do you know whose phone it was that rang?"
"Nope, I didn't get that far. Where is your phone and I will get it for you if it isn't my phone?" He was trying to be a good boyfriend and he didn't want her to miss anything important and then be mad at him about it.
She wasn't sure where her phone was because she couldn't remember where she had dumped her stuff when they got back to the room. "If you can find my bag you'll find my phone, if that helps. You don't have to look though; I will go looking for it."
"Absolutely not." He had plans for this morning and they didn't involve her searching his room, "Why don't you climb back in to bed and I will find your phone anyway so then we can relax in bed for a while and I will order room service so we don't have to leave the room to eat?"
"Sounds good to me." Shuffling back up to the top of the bed she climbed back under the covers so that her boyfriend could spoil her before they got room service. "By the way, if you find a shirt that I can wear once you order breakfast then that would be useful please."
A shirt, their phones, unless he got lucky then he would be spending a lot of time searching the room as there were things everywhere. Relief flooded his body as almost immediately he found his own phone and as he tidied a few items of clothing up he found her bag which held her phone, now just to find a shirt for her to wear. Standing up he dropped the phones on to the bed before walking around the other side to climb back in and as he did so he found his shirt from last night miles away from every other item of clothing, "One shirt for madam."
"Mmhmm." She wasn't bothered by the shirt; she was bothered by the three missed calls from her Mom. She didn't even pay him any attention as he climbed back in to bed as she was dialling her voicemail.
"Morning Steph. I haven't spoken to you in a few days so wondered if you were still coming to lunch today? Your Dad promises not to work and Shane and Marissa are coming so just let me know. Love you."
Crap, she had been so caught up in spending time with Paul and enjoying having him around that she forgot that she was meant to be going to lunch with her family today.
"Is everything okay?" He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him because it certainly didn't seem it.
Sighing happily it felt good being in his arms and she momentarily forgot her dilemma, skip dinner and spend the rest of her day with Paul or go to dinner and don't see her boyfriend all day? "That was my Mom; she wanted to know if I was coming to dinner with the family today. I completely forgot about it and now I don't know what to do."
"You mean you can't decide whether to go alone or take me with you? It is your choice to make and I will go along with whatever you decide." The look that crossed her face had him doubting his own words, had he just jumped the gun and invited himself to a dinner that she had no intention of him going to? "Maybe you are thinking of something else though, what do I know? I failed mind reading classes."
Why had taking him with her never actually occurred to her? That was the simplest of solutions and it hadn't even entered her head. "Are you mad? You would willingly come to dinner with my family?"
"I have done it before; I will happily do it again. If you don't want me to come though I don't have to, I can stay here and do some work." Doing work on a Sunday was not his idea of fun but he didn't want her to feel bad that he would be stuck here all alone on a Sunday. He wanted to go and see his parents but he would do that in the week when Stephanie was working. "Let me order us breakfast and you can think or whatever it is you need to do, I just really need to eat. Do you have any requests for your breakfast?"
"Pancakes please?" Pancakes were the only thing that was going to make her morning better; there was too much going on in her head for her brain to cope with it.
After ordering their breakfast via room service he settled back in the bed and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist as she leant forward staring at her phone, "Have you sent your Mom a text and told her that you'll be there or should we expect another phone call from her or your brother soon?"
"Why do you care how my Mom feels?"
If he was honest he kind of cared more about eating his breakfast in silence and enjoying his girlfriend's company when she was relaxed and not one big stressed out dog that could bite if he said the wrong thing. "You want to go, you know you do. I understand that you feel like you are caught in the middle between me and them but you really don't need to, there is plenty of time for us to spend time together this week before I really start back at work so just relax about it all."
He made a somewhat surprisingly accurate assumption of what was going on in her head right now. "You're right, I need to relax and just bite the bullet. Do you want to come to lunch with me?"
There was no greater feeling than that of when your girlfriend admitted that you were right but he tried not to look too smug about it. "I would love to."
"That's settled then." Quickly typing out a text to her Mom to let her know that she would be there she then tossed her phone down the bed before she turned around and kissed her boyfriend and rested against his chest until their food arrived.