I looked at Brooke with a big grin on my face.
"Was I wrong in doing that?" she asked me.
I laughed. "Well, you won't get a complaint out of me. All you did was stake your claim. Does this mean we're officially a couple now?"
"Maybe," she said. "I think we need to lay down a few ground rules first."
"Ground rules?" I asked.
"Yeah, ground rules. First, what happens between us, stays between us. I don't want to be office gossip. I don't want my reputation tarnished around town. That discussion on the phone just now is an exception, but that doesn't happen again."
"Okay, any more?"
"Just one," she said softly, leaning in closely. "Don't make me regret this. I can't help how I feel about you after such a short time. I feel so comfortable with you, you say all the right things, and you know how to make me feel so alive. I don't have to pretend with you and frankly that scares me. I'm not used to being this vulnerable."
I kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Brooke, you are everything I've ever wanted. I'm scared too. You just appeared to me out of nowhere and I know that I haven't done anything to deserve a woman like you."
She smiled at me again and we embraced.
"If you want to keep me happy," she said. "then never let me get bored with you. Don't take me for granted. And love me."
A tear was starting to run down her cheek. She had just opened herself up to me, briefly allowing me access where very few had been. There was still a lot I didn't know about this woman, but I was going to enjoy finding it out.