“I know this.” He is softening, but still has a stern look in his eyes. “So no holding back this time?”

“That's right,” I state firmly, with a nod of my head.

“And no games?”

“What? Am I gonna have to get a lawyer? I think maybe you need to make some concessions too. You did leave me with two strange guys.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“No bossiness.” I say, with a sweet smile.

“Deal.” He is grinning from ear to ear, and I can tell this makes him happy, but evidently he is still not completely convinced because he lowers his voice and says, “So you're really going to give this a try? A real try?”

“No, Phillip, I am so through trying. I am doing.”

I curl my fingers into his shirt, pull him closer and plant a big kiss on his lips. I keep kissing and kissing and kissing him.

I'm kissing him with every ounce of pent up passion I've been holding inside me for however long I've loved him. His hands are in my hair, so it's hard to determine right now when that exactly was. Oh, who cares? This just feels so incredibly right.

Finally, I think.

I may never stop kissing Phillip.

Ever.

Of course, it is at this moment that I'm startled by another loud, echoing, HONK, HONK!

I open my eyes and slowly tear my lips away from Phillip's. His dad is honking and turning into the driveway.

Phillip grins at me, but his eyes are smoldering. “Dad followed me home from the office. I was under strict orders from Mom to make sure he got here on time. They're heading to Lincoln tonight with the Diamonds.”

“Yeah, your mom told me,” I say back, still staring into his eyes. We're just sitting here staring at each other, and I know I should probably move, or get out of the car, or something, but I sort of don't want to. I'm afraid I might break the spell.

Something special just happened here, I think.

Just then, Phillip's mom walks out into the garage and says, “JJ, did you fall in the freezer……..” She sees me sitting on Phillip's lap, in the rather intimate position, laughs, and shakes her head, “You work fast. Heck, if I'd known my powers of persuasion worked so well, I would have suggested this to you years ago.”

I'm embarrassed, to say the least, but hey, she kind of asked for it.

I extricate myself from Phillip's lap, and we both get out of the car.

I notice that he can't seem to take his eyes off of me. In fact, he is gazing at me with so much intensity, it's literally making me blush.

Thank God, the Diamonds pull up in the RV. Mrs. Mac becomes a drill sergeant. She knows something has happened and wants everyone out of there quick. They get everything loaded up and leave.

Phillip and I are all alone.

FINALLY!

I'm sitting on the kitchen counter, and he is standing between my legs, his arms wrapped around me.

“Well,” Phillip says, trying to be practical, “what do we have to do to get ready for this party?”

You've got to be kidding me!

I know Phillip is very practical and always needs to get everything finished and in order.

But, COME ON! Isn't this what he wanted?

Okay. Fine. I guess I'll just have to persuade him not to be so practical.

So I start kissing him, but it's not working quite as planned because although he is kissing me back, in between kisses, he is asking me questions.

“Did you go to the grocery store?”

Kiss.

“No.”

“Do you pick up the beer?”

Long Kiss.

“No.”

“Did you make a list?”

Longer Kiss.

“No.”

“Did you do anything?”

“Not yet.”

Then I jump off the counter, lead that boy up to his room and lock the door.

It's time to finally do what everyone seems to think we have already done.

A few hours later, he remembers the party, “You know, we really need to get out of bed. There must be a ton of stuff to do.”

“Actually, we have nothing to do. Your mom made everything. I think she was hoping this is exactly where we would spend our time. She really did suggest that I seduce you. It may even be on my list.”

“I can't believe she said that,” He tilts his head. “You know, come to think of it, I had a suspiciously similar conversation with Ashley today. She was a little less blunt though. She said I needed to get off my ass and do something. I think they were working in tandem.”

“So were you going to?” I ask. Because I really need to know.

“Going to what?

“Do something.”

“I'm pretty sure I already did,” he laughs, as he traces my jaw line with his finger.

I smile, remembering exactly all that he did, but that's not what I meant. “I mean, if I hadn't completely thrown myself at you, what would you have done?”

“Well, as stubborn as you are, I probably would've had to throw you over my shoulder and carry you up here, kicking and screaming.”

I give him my mad face.

“But then,” he says, as he kisses my shoulder, “I would have done something like this. And something like this.” He kisses my neck. “And something like this.” He kisses my ear. “And something like this…..”

Okay. I get the picture.

And I am so loving the way it looks.

A few more hours later and we're both starving.

For food, I mean.

It's nearly ten o'clock, and well, we never did get any dinner. I run downstairs to raid the refrigerator and bring up a tray of cheese, some crusty bread and a bottle of red wine.

“Isn't that supposed to be for the party?”

“There is so much food, I don't think anyone will miss it.”

“Probably not, but I missed you while you were gone, Princess. You were down there much too long.”

“It only took me about two minutes,” I shake my head and roll my eyes at him, while I set the tray on his nightstand.

“Two minutes too long,” he replies, as he grabs me, throws me on the bed and kisses me.

“Phillip,” I say, finally wrenching my lips away from him, “it's taken you twenty-two years to get me into bed, two minutes should feel like a blip.”

“Twenty-two years? Don't flatter yourself. Maybe like eight years.” He gives me a naughty grin. “But I'll tell you this, now that you're finally here, I'm not wasting another second.”

YES!!!

We feed each other cheese and bread and drink some wine. Unfortunately, the crusty bread was not the best choice because now there are crusty crumbs all over, and I really thought I was being careful to avoid that. Since his mom is such the expert on all things seduction, I'm surprised she didn't tell me about this. I use my hand to try to sweep the crumbs onto a plate.

“Remind me to properly thank my mother for making the food and for whatever it was the two of you talked about.”

“Phillip, I had already decided about this before I got here,” I smile naughtily, “but I am following her advice to relax and enjoy you.”

He laughs. “So, did you uh, enjoy me?”

“Uh yeah, very much so.” I kiss his neck and whisper in his ear, “And I think I would very much like to enjoy you some more. Right now.”

I'm lying all snuggled up with Phillip. He's sleeping and his breath is tickling my neck. I know I should be getting some sleep too, but I can't.

My brain decided to kick back on, now that my body is so worn out.

I just keep thinking how incredibly happy I am. I want to pinch myself to make sure it's not a dream. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Part of me kind of wants to kick myself for not doing this sooner, but I don't. I'm too happy. I feel, well, it's hard to describe, but I'll give it a try.