a/n: Just when I think we're getting close to the end of this story, it keeps getting longer and longer. At this rate it may go on forever! LOL

Thank you for the reviews for last chapter! :)

Don't forget to be here bright and early tomorrow morning. Our flight leaves at noon, so we should be there by ten.

Rose rolled her eyes as she read Lissa's text. You're such a mother hen. I'll be home by eight. Will that work?

So…what you're telling me is that you'll be here by nine?

Rose smiled as she texted her response. You read me like a book, Liss.

She sighed as she closed her phone and opened her car door. She'd been sitting in the parking lot of Dimitri's apartment building gathering every ounce of strength she had left. After over a week of not sleeping with Dimitri, she was ready to climb the walls. She'd heard some girls say the longer you went without it the less you wanted it, but that wasn't true in her case.

And she'd finally figured out why. Just because she couldn't say the words to Dimitri didn't mean she wasn't in love with him. The difference was that she used her body to show him. She'd tried to tell him she loved him the other night…but she just couldn't say it.

Instead, she'd ended up in bed at six-thirty when she'd chickened out. She'd barely gotten out "I—" before she'd choked on the words. When he'd looked up at her and quirked a brow, she'd blurted, "I'm tired." He'd replied with, "Go to bed, then." And so she'd had no choice but to go to bed and lie there wide awake for the next few hours. She'd been too anxious to try again; she might blurt something worse out, something like…I want to get married. Rose shuddered at the thought.

And with a heavy sigh, she walked into Dimitri's apartment.

"Oh, I have good news for you," Rose said a little bit later as she was chopping up a cucumber to put in the toss salad Dimitri insist they have with supper. He was constantly chiding her about her eating habits. Who know ice cream, chips, and soda weren't food groups?

"What's that?" Dimitri asked as he broke up the spaghetti and dropped it into the boiling water.

"Adrian isn't coming home for Thanksgiving. He's going home with his girlfriend," she said.

She felt him behind her before she saw him, and he reached for her hand, gently pulling the knife from it and laying it to the side before spinning her around. "Really?" he asked. His tone dripped with appreciation.

Rose stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. "Yes," she confirmed with a wide grin. "You love me even more now, don't you?" she asked teasingly.

Dimitri's eyes darkened as he reached for her cheek and tenderly pushed back a stray lock of hair. "Oh, Roza," he whispered. "I don't think that's possible."

Rose groaned as she returned to her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. His mouth came gently down on hers and swept over the seam of her lips as his hand cupped her cheek. She parted instantly and drew him inside. A groan escaped as his tongue caressed hers, and she was so thrilled at the possibility of physical contact that, for once, she didn't try to dominate the kiss.

Rose's eyelids slid shut as Dimitri's tongue stroked hers, and she sighed contentedly. Her heartbeat accelerated as his thumb brushed back and forth over her cheek; a shiver ran down her spine when he took the step that separated them and placed his other hand on the small of her back, pulling her body against his. His arousal nudged her belly and she groaned as she reached for the zipper on his jeans.

She never got to it, as a loud hissing noise caused them to jump apart. Both sets of eyes flew to the stove and saw the space just beneath the cast iron pan caked with red sauce.

Rose groaned in dismay as Dimitri went to the stove to clean it up. The spaghetti sauce wasn't the only thing boiling over.

"Dimitri…" she started hesitantly.

"Yeah?" he asked distractedly.

"Why…?" Rose took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. Talking about her feelings wasn't something she was good at, but it was getting a bit easier with practice. "Are you…?"

He turned around and waited before a grin worked its way across his face. "Spit it out, Roza," he said teasingly.

"Why won't you sleep with me?" she asked. "Is it…is it because…are you mad at me?"

"What?" he asked a stunned look registered on his features.

"Are you mad because I can't…?" Once again, Rose couldn't bring herself to say the words in casual conversation.

"Roza." Dimitri tossed the dishrag in the sink and stalked towards her. "Is that what you think?" he asked softly as he stopped in front of her and reached for her hand.

"Well…" She laughed nervously. "What else am I supposed to think? I mean…nothing else has changed."

Dimitri took a deep breath and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. "I guess I haven't been clear with my intentions."

"Wha…what intentions?" she asked in confusion.

"It's important to me that you know there's more between us than sex," he informed her.

"I…I do know that."

"Do you?" he probed. "Every time we're together, aside from the past week and a half—"

"Twelve days," she interrupted, eliciting a chuckle from Dimitri.

"Twelve days," he corrected. "Every time we're together, that's where we end up. And yeah, I like it, but I don't want you to think that's all you are to me."

Rose sighed and ran her free hand through her hair. "And you need to know you mean more to me," she concluded in a whisper.

He didn't say anything, but she saw his jaw clench and knew she was right. "Dimitri," she said as she rested her hand on chest. "Here's the thing. You use words…I use…I use me," she said, sharing the revelation she'd recently had. "Just because I can't say it…it doesn't mean I don't feel something." She took a deep breath as her eyes locked on his. "Does that make any sense to you?"

"Yes," he answered quickly.

Rose nodded. "Good. Then where does that leave us?" she asked huskily.

When Dimitri smiled at her, she felt her heart leap. "Dinner, bed…and lovemaking," he answered.

Rose scrunched up her face, wrinkling her nose. "Does it have to be in that order?"

"It's whatever order you want, Roza," Dimitri replied, his voice laced with desire.