“What will you be having this evening?” asked the waiter.

Jim looked up at Pam and nodded for her to order. “I think I would like the chicken parmesan.”

“And I would like the spaghetti and meatballs,” Jim said, handing the waiter his menu.

“Okay, that will be out shortly,” the waiter said tapping his pen on his order pad.

After the waiter had walked away, Pam and Jim sat smiling at each other. Pam played with the napkin on her lap.

“So…” Jim finally mustered up.

“Why is this awkward?” Pam asked.

“I have no clue.”

“What’s our problems? I mean, we want to be here with each other and yet, we can’t even make simple conversation.”

“I’m sorry. I should have just stayed home and let you take a nice relaxing vacation on your own.”

Pam reached over and grabbed his arm. “Jim, I want to be here with you. Stop saying that.”

“Then why are we total strangers all of a sudden?”

Pam shook her head. “I think it’s probably because neither of us know what to expect.”

“That’s probably it. What do you expect this weekend?”

Pam smiled and then played with the straw in her glass. “Honestly, I don’t care what happens between us, I just want it to be the two of us getting to know each other, without a five year old in the middle of it all.”

“Exactly.”

“So, we both want to be here and we both want to be alone with each other, so let’s stop talking about it and just have a good time.”

“Great.”

-----

After their dinner was devoured, Jim and Pam made light conversation before the check was delivered.

“So, when we get upstairs, I have something to give you,” Jim said.

“What? Why?”

“Oh, I just saw this thing and picked it up,” Jim said, scratching his head right above his ear.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to. It’s nothing big so don’t get too excited.”

“What is it?”

“Like I’m going to tell you. You are a mere five minutes away from opening it, so you’ll just have to wait.”

“Okay,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Jim paid for the meal and they took the elevator up to their room. Jim leaned against the back of the elevator and held onto Pam’s hand. She leaned up next to him and against the wall. When the doors shut, Jim turned and pulled Pam into a kiss. He placed his hands along her chin and cheeks. She kissed him back. Their elevator had stopped and the doors opened. They didn’t break their kiss until the doors closed and the elevator began to move again. Jim looked over to see that they were going up to the top floor.

“Oops. I guess we should have gotten off when we were supposed to.”

“No, I think that was a really good reason not to jump off right away,” Pam said as she tugged on his shirt for him to continue.

“Wait, is the top floor an observation deck?”

Pam sighed and let go off his shirt. “I don’t know.”

“We should check it out.”

“I really want to get back to the room, Jim.”

“We will be in the room shortly, come on,” he said as he pulled Pam’s arm and led her out of the elevator when the doors opened.

“Okay.”

The floor had several rooms and then some large windows that looked out over the landscape.

“Let’s take a peek,” Jim suggested.

“It’s night time, we aren’t going to be able to see anything.”

Jim looked out the window and muttered, “Wow.”

Pam reluctantly looked out and found the landscape breathtaking as well. She put her hands on the glass and pressed her face into the window. They stood there looking at the lights and the night life of the resort.

“This is a great view,” Pam said.

“Told you,” said Jim, turning towards her. “Let’s get going.”

----

After their little detour, they finally made it to the door to their room. Jim slid the card into the lock and the door unlocked with a click. Pam skipped into the room and fell on the fluffy bed with her arms spread like wings. Jim pulled his keys and wallet out of his pocket and set them on the desk. He smiled as he saw her lying on the bed humming a tune.

Jim sat down next to her and handed her a nicely wrapped gift. Pam remembered when he had given her the teapot for Christmas and all the meaningful things that had gone along with it. She took the package with a smile and sat up. She pulled the wrapping off the square gift and held it in front of her with both hands. Jim sat and smiled, waiting for her reaction.

Pam looked at the gift for several moments before moving or talking.

“Jim, this is perfect.”

“You like it?” he asked leaning into her shoulder.

“It’s the best,” she said pulling the leather bound journal to her chest. “Thank you.”

“I thought that since we are beginning new adventures together, you know, you should have a new journal to write it all down in.”

Pam looked into his eyes and placed a kiss on his lips. “I love it.”

“Well, I’m glad.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” she said in awe.

“Nah.”

“You are,” Pam thumbed through the journal and found a page where he had written a note to her. She stopped and flipped the page back to where his writing had jumped out at her. Jim stopped her and pushed the journal shut.

“That you cannot read right now.”

“Why? It’s in my journal.”

“That is for when you make it to that page. So, you have to write in it and then you get to read that. No cheating.”

“Can do,” she said as she turned and inched closer to his side.

Jim wrapped his arms around her. She put the journal down and put her hands on his chest. She tilted her head up to initiate a kiss but before she even did, Jim had beaten her to the punch. His lips found hers and he pulled her tighter to his chest.

“Jim…” Pam said between kisses.

“Yeah?” he answered pulling back from their make out session.

“I love you,” she said staring into his eyes.

Jim looked back quietly with his arms around Pam. He blinked his eyes and moved his lips next to her ear. The whisper was quiet and just what Pam had always wanted. She wanted someone to whisper those words in her ear for only her to hear and savor.

“I love you so much.”

Pam’s heart quickened and she turned her face and began kissing his cheeks and running her hands over his chest. She knew where this would lead, but all the nervousness had vanished from her body. She felt herself giving into her innermost desires as she lay back on the bed and pulled Jim down with her. She felt his weight push her into the comforter. She wanted nothing more than this moment. It had been something that she desired for more than eight years.

He pulled away from their kiss and played with her hair which was fanned out on the bed. He didn’t speak but his eyes were saying everything he wasn't. She smiled up at him and brought her hands to his face.

“Jim?”

“Huh?”

“Is this moving too fast for you?”

“No, I just…I was just going to make sure you wanted to do this tonight.”

“I haven’t been so sure about anything in my life.”

“I mean I don’t want to pressure you….”

“Jim, did you just hear me? I just said I….”

Before she finished her sentence, his lips were covering hers and she was accepting his offering. She let out a little moan in the back of her throat and felt him move over her. Pam pulled at his shirt and ran her hands over the bare skin showing at his waist. Her hands tingled at the touch. Maybe it was because her hands were cold and his sides were warm, but she knew it was because now she could feel every wildest dream come true with that single touch.

---------

The next morning, Pam woke to the sun penetrating through the blinds and hitting her eyes. She dared not to move to wake Jim. She didn’t want their embrace to end. Her head and hand rested on his bare chest. She could feel the tiny hairs tickling her palm and loved the feeling. She had wondered for a long time what his chest looked like under his shirt.

She felt him take in a deep breath and move slightly. Pam sat still not trying to move from his embrace. He had his arm around her and his hand resting on her shoulder. He lightly moved his fingers where they rested on her shoulder and it made Pam’s hairs stand on end. She gave in and moved slightly to let him know that she was awake.

Jim looked down as she peeked up at him. They both smiled and then Pam pulled her chin up to reach for a good morning kiss. He placed a spine tingling kiss on her lips and tightened his grip around her.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too,” she replied.

Jim sucked in another deep breath and rolled on his side to face Pam. He ran one of his fingers along her arm.

“Last night was…”

“Amazing.”

“Why thank you!” Jim said with a laugh.

“Oh, you think you did all that? I don’t get any credit?”

“You might get some credit.”

“Good.”

“So, what is on our agenda for today?”

“Anything you want. I could stay here for the rest of the day and be fine with it.”

“We have to get out of bed at some point.”

“Do we have to?” she asked.

“Yes, we have to.”

“We can basically do anything.”

“Well, why don’t we shower and get dressed, then decide.”

----

After Pam finished her shower, she grabbed the soft large towel hanging by the shower. She pulled it off the rod and tied it tight around herself. Even when she was with Neil she hadn’t ever left the bathroom with just a towel. It might have been the way he stared at her when she was in bed with him or just being made uncomfortable by his stares. Now that she was with Jim, she felt like she could walk around all day with a towel on and be perfectly fine with it. She laughed at herself for thinking that the only way she would go all day in just a towel was if Jim was doing the same.

She stepped out of the foggy bathroom and tip toed to the closet. Her wet hair coiled as she bounced up and down looking for her clothes. Jim came around the corner and stopped as he saw her clutching the towel to her chest and dancing in her place. He stood there until she noticed his presence.

He turned and put a hand up to his eyes. “Sorry Pam.”

She turned and tugged the towel tighter and quickly grabbed her clothes. “I just had to come out for some clothes.”

Pam didn’t know why they were both shy about seeing each other partially nude since they had basically seen everything the night before. It was just the fact that they were able to view each other in such a manner.

“Okay, well, I think I’m going to get in the shower now, so you can change in here. Sorry…” Jim said as he walked towards the bathroom door.

“Okay…”

“Sorry for walking in…”

“Stop apologizing. Maybe I wanted you to catch me,” she said with a giggle and a smile.

“Oh! I see how you are. You’re making me weak in the knees for when you attack me. I won’t be able to fight back with weak knees.”

Pam giggled. “That’s exactly what I was doing. You caught me!”

“I knew it. Okay, I’ll be out in a few,” he said.

“All right.”

When Jim shut the door behind her she dropped the towel and quickly pulled on her clothes. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and dabbed on some foundation before he could see her attempt at getting ready. She went through the dresser drawers to find her favorite top when she found Jim’s clothes sitting in the second drawer. As soon as she opened it she noticed the smell of the clothes. She could smell his fabric softener and his home on the clothes and took in a deep breath of the aroma. She loved his smell. It was so manly and yet, it was the most comforting smell ever.

She pulled her shirt out of her drawer, put it on, and sprayed on her favorite perfume. She looked in the mirror to make sure she looked decent. She wanted to be comfortable but still look like she had put effort into her look.

Just as she was slipping on her sandals, Jim came walking through the room with a towel around his waist. His hair was dripping and light beads of water clinging to his bare skin. When Pam saw him, she froze and then let her mouth drop. She smiled when he caught her reaction. He pulled a shirt and some jeans off the bed. He turned to head back into the bathroom and right before he shut the door, he shouted, “Two can play at that game, Pam!”