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“What do you say we get out of here, Sunshine?” His large, warm hand grabs my own and turns me to him so I don’t have to see the surrounding crowd.
I nod and grab his hand as he leads me from the room.
I have never gotten dressed so fast in my entire life. Emmett waits for me outside the women’s locker room – now dressed in his usual dark-wash jeans and t-shirt, a blue one this time – and escorts me to his car without another word.
We make it all the way to my house in complete silence, neither of us sure how to break it. This is it. The end of the fifth date and I haven’t succeeded. Not only is he not in love with me, but the poor man is probably also extremely embarrassed too. Why did I think that was a good idea?
Tears prick my eyes as I reach for the door handle, but Emmett turns the car off and says, “wait. I’ll get your door.” A part of me is tempted to ignore his order. I already know this is the end. I’d rather just get it over with. I’m not sure I can handle dragging it out any longer. But I must be a glutton for punishment because I nod and wait for him to make his way around the car and open my door. He reaches in and helps me from the car, not releasing my hand as he walks me to the door. Each step has my heart beating harder as I wait for him to let me down easily and turn and walk away. I barely feel the warm spring breeze flipping through my hair because the only thing I can focus on right now is wondering if this will be the last time I get to hold his hand.
He pulls me to a stop in front of my door, but still doesn’t release my hand. “Sunshine,” he says in a low, gravelly voice and as much as I know it’s going to hurt, I turn to face him. He’s smiling, but it’s a soft, sad smile and that reinforces my belief that he’s working up the nerve to call things off. I straighten my spine and hold my head high. I will hold it together until he leaves. I won’t break down in front of him.
“I had a great time tonight, even if it didn’t go quite like you planned.” I study his face. He’s smiling as he watches me, and he still holds my hand. Hope flutters in my chest, but I don’t let myself get too excited as I wait to see what he has to say. “I know this is our fifth and final date, but I’m wondering if we might be able to try one more.”
My eyes widen and my mouth drops open in surprise. “What?”
“I know we agreed to five dates and I’m not ready to say I believe in love yet. But I’m also not ready to walk away from you, yet. Can you give me one more night?”
He wants one more date? This is a good thing, right? He isn’t ready to walk away yet. “Okay,” I say, releasing the breath I have been holding this entire time.
He smiles, his thumb softly stroking my hand as he says, “good. I know you want more from me, Charley. And I’m sorry I can’t give you that. Yet. But I’m not ready to walk away from the way you make me feel.”
I’m smiling now, my heart wanting to leap from my chest and sing a damn song. I’m elated about this man wanting one more date with me. I know I should lower my expectations. He might never be willing to give me the love and commitment that I need. But I’m floating on cloud nine right now and logic can’t reach me there. “I can put something together. When will you be free?”
“No. I’d like to plan this one. Are you free Friday at four?”
I’m nodding my head before his question even registers. It doesn’t matter though, because even if I do have plans, I will rearrange them. One more chance with Emmett is more important than anything else I could be doing.
“Great, I’ll pick you up then.” He leans forward and for a heart-stopping moment, I think he’s going to kiss me like he did earlier, and my entire brain turns to mush. He diverts at the last second and kisses my cheek, resting his lips there a lot longer than is strictly necessary. Almost as if he’s fighting with himself about giving me a real kiss. With a groan, he steps back. “Have a good night, Sunshine. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
Emmett: I miss you already.
Me: Didn’t you just drop me off?
Emmett: What are you doing to me, Sunshine?
Me: Hopefully making a lasting impression, Sweets.
Emmett: I’ve never met anyone like you in my entire life. After Maria... well I didn’t think it could ever be like this for me again. I know I can’t give you what you want just yet, Sunshine, but I need you to know that I like you. A lot.
Me: I like you too, Sweets. I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Emmett: Me too. But for now, I need to get some sleep. Cash has me coming in early to get familiar with the books so I can start helping him with the business end of the bar. Sweet dreams, Sunshine.
Me: Oh, they will be, Sweets.
“Millie!” I yell into the phone even though she’s perfectly capable of hearing me.
“Charley!” she responds. “I take it the date went well?”
Her question takes a little wind from my sails. “Actually, no.”
“What do you mean no?” she asks, concern ringing through her tone.
I sigh and snuggle further into the couch, giving Cecil his required attention as I mentally review the evening. By all accounts it was a disaster. “Well, for starters, I guess I missed the part where it was a senior naked hot yoga class.”
“Eww,” she says and I can practically feel her scrunching her nose up through the phone, “how did you miss that?”
Valid question. “Senior naked hot yoga. Sexy naked hot yoga. Potatoes, po-tah-toes, ya know? But that’s not the reason I’m calling.”
