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the neighboring city of New Haven that has a rock wall. We spent the afternoon racing to see who
could climb to the top the fastest. He won every time.
I know what he s doing. He s making sure I m comfortable and that I won t regret anything.
He s being so sweet and patient. With every one of our adventure dates, I m more sure than ever that
my heart knew what it was doing when it decided on Zack Marshall.
Even though I appreciate his patience, the burn has increased with every hour that I m with
him. Now every touch puts me on edge. Every time he brushes against me, I m on fire. I want him.
And I m ready.
When he tells me that he wants to stay home on Friday night, I know that the time has come.
There s no man in the world who can hold out this long and frankly if he doesn t do something tonight
then I might take matters into my own hands. I m rushing around cleaning the house, straightening
things and I ve changed my shirt several times.
My brother is sitting at the table in the kitchen. He watches my mania with curious eyes. Why
do you keep wiping that counter? You ve been at that same spot for the past ten minutes.
This place is filthy! I m just cleaning up.
Jamie looks around. It looks fine. You weren t this OCD when I lived at home.
Izzie looks over at me with knowing eyes. I told her that Zack was coming over earlier
because she wanted to know if I had plans. Her usual drinking partners have done the unthinkable and
all gotten boyfriends. This has put a serious dent in her partying.
Luckily she takes pity on me. I think she can tell that I m really nervous and on the verge of
having some kind of breakdown.
Women get on these random cleaning binges sometimes. I do it, too when I have PMS.
He shakes his head. Women are a mystery.
I have an idea. James, why don t we go to the movies? I ll even buy the popcorn.
Relief sweeps through me and I give Izzie a grateful look. The thought of doing sexy things
while they re around freaks me out. What if they heard us? My brother and I are cool but there are
some things that I will never feel comfortable talking about with him. I ll be way less stressed if Zack
and I have the house to ourselves.
It s been a long time since I ve done that, Jamie says. That would be great. Yes, let s do
it. He looks really excited.
I could just hug Izzie for this. She can be pushy and brash sometimes but she s always there for
me. Entertaining my brother is way above and beyond the call of friendship. Jamie is pretty
conservative and I ve noticed that Izzie has tried to tone down her more outrageous traits while he s
around.
Fifteen minutes later they are gone and I m waiting in the living room having finally given up
on achieving a perfectly clean kitchen. When Zack knocks on the door a few minutes later, I yank it
open right away.
He looks at me and then behind him. Am I late?
No. I was just right here. That s all.
He follows me inside and I wait while he hangs his coat on the stand. Then he turns and pulls
me into his arms. Our kiss quickly turns hot and I m practically climbing him where he stands. He
pulls back slightly and licks his lips.
Missed me, huh?
Yeah. I have. Suddenly hit with nerves after almost climbing down his throat, I lead him into
the living room. Do you want anything to drink?
He claps his hands. No, I think I m good.
I notice that he s freshly shaved and he s taken the time to change out of the T-shirt and jeans
he usually wears under his coveralls at work. The jeans he s got on now look brand new and his shirt
is a button up. His hair has been buzz cut so it s all the same length for once. It dawns on me then that
he s cleaned up for me.
He s nervous, too.
So, how was work today? I sit on the couch and pat the cushion next to me.
Good. I think we re finally caught up for once. Gabe has been doing some of the admin stuff
from home now that he s feeling better.
That s great. I had a pretty good day, too. I ve been editing some of the photos I took of you
that first day.
That gets his attention. Really? Can I see them?
I smile to myself. This is perfect because he ll have to come to my room. I couldn t have
planned that better.
Sure. Come on. Some of them are pretty good.
He follows me up the stairs and into my room. I close the door behind him and he sits on the
bed while I open my laptop. The photo I was working on last is still open on the screen. I bring it
over to the bed and angle the screen so he can see them.
It s strange to see myself this way. I ve never really liked taking pictures.
You re extremely photogenic. I d love to get some shots of you the next time you shave your
head. The tattoos on your head paired with the Mohawk are one of my favorite looks on you.
He runs a hand over his short hair. And here I ve been growing it out thinking you d like that
better.
It s the first tacit admission that he s been trying to please me. It s a heady feeling to know that
my preference matters that much to him. Especially since he rarely cares what anyone thinks.
I continue scrolling through the pictures, showing him all the ones from that first day and then
the ones I took on our walk through the woods the day he apologized. My favorite is the one when I
told him he was my first kiss. When we get to the end, there s a new appreciation in his eyes when he
looks at me.
I am so proud of you, Josie. These are fantastic.
Thank you. Plenty of people have told me I m a talented photographer but it means
something altogether different to hear it from Zack. Because I care what he thinks.
Can I see more of your work? he asks shyly.
Sure, of course. I have tons of photo albums.
I walk into the closet and stand on tiptoe to reach the albums on the top shelf. For years, I
collected photos of everything around me. Nature, people, cars. Anything and everything. I was
waiting for something to inspire me. It wasn t until I started photographing families that I felt the
connection I ve always been missing.
The first book I pull down has shots of several of my parents friends with their kids. I flip
through the first few pages, smiling at the images of children at play and parents sneaking a kiss while
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