232. Birthday Surprises

I didn't mind the traffic on the drive back to my place. It gave me some alone time with Cayden. The rest of the weekend was jam-packed with wedding festivities, so alone time was going to be hard to come by. As usual, he put his hand on my thigh while I drove and I put my hand over his. I was so damn happy. I'd never been so happy to sit in traffic before.

Seeing his face again, hearing that accent again, feeling his warm body near mine again made my life feel perfect yet again. It was amazing how a long-distance relationship could bring about the lowest lows and the highest highs. I was going to enjoy the high while it lasted, because I knew that in 10 days I'd be making that same drive back to the airport with tears streaming down my face, feeling empty and alone again.

"You look beautiful, baby," he said from the passenger seat. Hearing him say that never got old.

"Thanks. I dressed up for our big client meeting this morning." Truth be told, I would have dressed up anyway. I loved the way Cayden looked at me after we hadn't seen each other in a while. When he thought I wasn't looking, he'd give me that sideways glance like he did the night we met at the bar when he tried to accuse me of kicking his ass.

"Oh, right. How did it go?"

"Nailed it."

"That's my girl," he said as he gave my thigh a little squeeze. Cayden loved to talk about work and careers and dreams. He was always truly interested in what I was saying, even if I was talking about a company blog post I wrote about Klout or if I was complaining about claiming, merging and deleting duplicate Facebook pages for my clients. He wanted to understand it. On the flip side, I still had no idea what he did at work. Most of it went over my head. I tried to ask questions and follow along, but as soon as he started talking about processes and systems and coding, I had to pretend like he was talking about sexual positions to stay alert. A dirty mind can make anything sound fun.

Speaking of which, I'd planned on having a little sexy time before the rehearsal dinner, but traffic was making that less and less likely. I looked down at his hand and pictured it again my naked chest and nearly swerved off the road. Lock it up. I started to wonder if my IUD was to blame for my super-charged sex drive. If I could have pulled over and ripped his clothes off right then and there without getting a ticket, I would have done it. That's when I realized I'd never had sex in a car. I made a mental note to add that to my bucket list.

By the time we got back to my house, we had exactly 30 minutes to shower and get dressed before we had to get back in the car and head downtown. And no, that's not a reference to my newest bucket list item.

"I'm going to jump in the shower really fast," Cayden said, dropping his bags next to my bed. He pulled his shirt up over his head and by the time he'd freed his head from the neckhole, I was in front of him with two hands on his chest. I gave him a quick shove and he landed flat on his back, with his arms still twisted in his T shirt over his head. He was all tied up. Perfect.

He squirmed as I kissed his stomach, trying to free his tangled hands. I absolutely loved his stomach and the way he twitched when I rang my tongue along his side, just under his right rib. I was half afraid he was going to yank too hard on his T shirt and elbow me in the head in the process. I looked up and saw that his hands were already free, his fingers interlaced behind his head to support his neck while he watched me. The crunch-like position made his abs more defined under his tan skin. He gave me a half smile that made my heart melt. Why couldn't I always have a half naked man in my bed waiting for me with that half smile? Every girl should have one. If that's not an answer to the whole World Peace thing, I don't know what is.

I crawled on top of him and he moved his hands to my waist.

"God, I missed you," he said, before pulling me in for a kiss.

"Wait," I whispered near his ear. "I want to give you something..."

I ran my finger down his stomach, below his belly button and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans to give him a hint.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, looking both surprised and excited.

"Oh, yeah," I answered, giving his jeans a tug.

"What is it?" he asked as I inched my way south.

"It's your birthday present," I said, trying not to laugh. I was on my knees on the floor. He gave me a curious and excited look. I felt around on the ground to my right without breaking eye contact with him. When I found what I was looking for I pulled a big, blue gift bag up from and set it in his lap.

"See? Your birthday present! Open it!"

Cayden shook his head and laughed. "That was a good one," he said. "You had me fooled."

"Don't you just love birthday surprises?" I asked with an innocent look. We both knew there was no time for birthday blow jobs before dinner. But there was always dessert.

I plopped down on the bed next to him and watched him dig around in the tissue paper and pull out present No. 1: a Mavericks T-shirt.

"Would you believe me if I told you I almost bought one of these online the other day? This, and a Cowboys shirt."

"Keep going," I said.

Next, he unraveled a Rangers Tshirt. Then a Cowboys hoodie. And last, but not least, a pair of OU basketball shorts.

"Now you have everything you need to be a Texas sports fan when you finally move here," I said, and then added, "Well, the OU shorts are a bonus."

"It's absolutely perfect," he said, leaning over to kiss me. "I can't wait to move here and call Texas home."

I smiled and leaned against him. That's where I felt at home. At his side. Home sweet home.