Page 274 of Sweet Nightmare

“Come on. You look adorable.”

“I look ridiculous.”

“You could never be that.”

She makes a strangled noise.

I grin and close the door before she can throw something at me.

When I climb into the driver’s seat, she’s still wearing the cap.

And she’s still smiling.

Fuck. Whenever I doubt what she feels for me, all I have to do is remember how willingly she steps outside her comfort zone for me. My little glacier might give me hell every step of the way, but she keeps choosing me. And, fuck, I don’t think I’ll ever stop falling in love with her for it.

I fire up the engine, and the car snarls to life, its deep roar vibrating through the chassis and rumbling beneath us.

“So,” I say.

“So,” she replies, looking out the window.

“Our first date.”

Her head snaps toward me and frowns.

“This is not our first date.”

“No?”

“The dinner you cooked for me was our first date.”

I grin so hard my face hurts.

“Fine,” I say. “Then this is our first official date.”

I reach over and lace my fingers through hers, resting our joined hands on the center console.

She doesn’t pull away. Instead, her thumb brushes mine once, absentmindedly, as the snow-covered road stretches ahead of us beneath a thousand stars.

Then, very quietly, she says, “I’ll wear the damn sneakers.”

I turn to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“But don’t make me regret it.”

I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.”

She looks out the window again, but not before I catch the smile she tries to hide beneath the brim of her cap.

I could take this woman anywhere in the world, give her every beautiful and expensive thing I’ve ever seen, and still consider myself the luckiest son of a bitch alive if she chose to sit beside me wearing a pair of ugly white sneakers.

And with a smile on my fucking face, I drive all the way to Seoul with the woman of my dreams and nightmares right beside me.

Yeah… I’m one lucky bastard.