I step into the room quickly, hoping she's not back yet.

"Where were you?" she calls from the bathroom.

Damn. "Would you believe surfing?"

"Not likely. You were only gone for half an hour." She pokes her head out and I can see that she's started to curl her hair.

"What are you doing with your hair? We're just going downstairs."

"Ah – but the key is that you won't tell me why we're not eating with the others. I'm being pretty." She grins.

I close my eyes. "You are aware of the fact that though I have my moments, I do understand that it's entirely too soon for –

"I'm aware." She offers, crossing to the closet calmly. "Which is precisely why I'm focusing on being pretty, because for all I know, you are insane enough to have invited your mother to join us for a Tahitian Thanksgiving Feast. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind spending time with your mother, she reminds me of just how disturbingly normal mine can actually be at times, but if I go down there to have dinner with her, I am not looking like a schlep."

"I'm sorry, a 'schlep'? My mother would never call you a 'schlep'." I tell her carefully.

"So she's here?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you did say that she would never call me a schlep, so the possibility is still strong."

I run my hand through my hair again. "You're being difficult."

"And you're being vague." She pulls out a strappy blue dress. "Good?"

I glance at it, and back at her. "Pet, in the seven months we've been together, have I ever given you proper fashion advice like Huntz?"

"I'm not asking if it's a good dress, I know it's a good dress. I'm asking if you think I'll look good in it."

"You look spectacular in everything love, why wouldn't you look good in that?" She lowers the hanger, and drops it on the floor with the dress suddenly, walking up to me. She touches my face lightly, and I lean into it. What the hell? What just happened? I move my lips with hers slowly as her hands wrap around my neck.

When she pulls back, I notice her eyes sparkle lightly. "That. Right there. Saying things like that." She whispers.

"Pardon?" I lift an eyebrow.

"My mother is always asking why I keep you around, what made me fall in love with you. That is." She smiles. "So the blue dress?" she tilts her head at the fabric.

I grip her carefully. "What is?"

She kisses me lightly. "You said it without even thinking. You didn't hesitate."

I reach up and finger one of the soft curls at her temple with my right hand. "No reason to love."

"So…what's for dinner?" she grins.

"So…not telling." I let her go, and turn to my own closet. "Finish getting ready, we have a reservation."