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“We’ll see,” I decided, as if we were just making weekend plans.
“So I can buy us tickets for Friday then? To Dallas to see your dad?”
“I have to double-check with Beman, but let me get the tickets. My dad offered.”
“I’d prefer to buy them.”
“Bill thinks Dad spoils me,” I told him with a tilt of my head.
“Didn’t Bill spoil you?”
I shook my head. “He hated spending money. Anything I bought was a secret. You should have seen his face when we got the bill for Lucy’s bridesmaid dress,” I said, stifling a laugh. “He was almost purple.”
“Mmm, I did love that dress,” David mused. “It was worth every penny. Those days are over. Prepare to be spoiled.”
“Let my dad buy the tickets. He’s a little controlling, and he won’t want to seem cheap.” I narrowed my eyes as I thought. “Come to think of it, you guys have a lot of similarities.”
He nodded, but his eyes were fixated on my mouth.
“Should I be weirded out about that?” I asked.
He grunted.
“David, are you listening?”
“What? No. I’m still thinking about that bridesmaid dress,” he admitted, tugging on my ankles. I scooted forward into his lap. “Let’s skip tonight,” he said huskily.
“No way,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. In fact, I should get ready.”
He wrapped his arms around my lower back, pinning me to him. His lips came gently to mine, his tongue sliding along my bottom lip. I opened instinctively for him, relishing how he felt in my mouth. Before I realized it, we were enmeshed in a quickly-escalating kiss. I rocked against his hardness, groaning as our groins connected. He bent me back over his arm, and I let my head fall back.
“I want you,” he said, kissing his way down my chest.
“You have me.”
Slowly, he straightened me up and sighed. “Not yet. Tonight.”
I climbed off him and let him give me a tour of the apartment. In his bedroom, he stood in front of the French doors of his closet with my dress in his hand. He opened them to reveal an expansive walk-in closet. I jumped up and down giddily, clapping my hands, but he looked nervous. I didn’t understand why until I stepped in further and saw that the entire left side was vacant.
“I couldn’t sleep last night so, um, this is your side.”
I took the dress from him, walked over and hung my dress on the empty bar. I spotted my shopping bags from earlier in the day neatly lined up underneath.
“Oh, David,” I said, tears pricking my eyes. His long arms wrapped around me from behind. “Are we really doing this?” I asked. “Is this going to work?”
“It is, I promise. I promise you, Olivia, you are home.”
A few tears fell, and I turned in his arms to face him. I reached up and felt his face, still in awe that I could touch him without feeling anything but . . . I love you. I wanted to tell him, but the words caught in my throat.
CHAPTER 6
AN ENORMOUS ROCK SHOWER, big enough for several people, took up one corner of David’s bathroom. It was elemental; unrefined with rough edges but relaxing.
I knew it would take me much longer than him to get ready for the hotel’s grand opening, so I wasted no time getting started. In the meantime, David would be working out. He had informed me of this by pulling open the glass door just as I had stepped under the stream of water. I didn’t notice him at first, but when I did, I was jarred by the way his eyes ran over me. I’d been not just comfortable but confident hours earlier in the dressing room, but suddenly, dripping wet, I felt exposed in his large shower.
“Don’t cover yourself,” David said. “Let me enjoy the fact that you get better every time I see you.”
I reddened instinctively, not realizing my hands had been over my breasts. I dropped them to my sides and stood, letting the water soak me as he watched.
“Jesus,” he’d grumbled finally, adjusting his pants. “I’ll be downstairs at the gym.”
Aside from the shower, the bathroom also had a large, built-in bathtub surrounded by matching slate-colored rock. After I’d dried and styled my hair, I sat on the edge of the tub and dialed Gretchen.
“I spoke to Lucy,” she said after I gave her my new number.
“And?”
“And I guess Bill is pretty fucked up. He doesn’t know what to do with himself.”
“Should I go see him?”
“Better let it be for now. At least until he cools off. He wasn’t happy that you gave the ring back since he figured you were just getting this out of your system.”
“That was when he punched the wall.”
David appeared in my peripheral vision, post-shower, one towel scrubbing his hair and another slung low on his hips. I couldn’t resist letting my eyes wander over him, and he gave me a wolfish grin. I was wearing the only thing he had picked out himself during our shopping trip: a short, white silk robe. Gretchen, I mouthed when he nodded at me.
“I invited Andrew and Lucy tonight,” Gretchen was saying, “but they declined. I guess Bill is going over there to hang out.”
“Well, I’m glad he has Andrew, even if it means I don’t have Lucy right now.”
“Lucy said Bill said you fainted.”
“Oh. Did I not mention that?”
“No. Are you okay?”
“My elbows are a little bruised,” I said, inspecting my arm. “But that’s it.”
I looked up because I felt David glowering down at me. He took my arm in his hand and turned it over.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said distractedly and hung up.
“You said he didn’t touch you.”
“He didn’t. I fainted.”
“You fainted?” he repeated.
“Just for a second. I was nervous.”
“What if it’s something serious?”
“I simply did not eat enough that day, and I forgot to breathe,” I said. We stared at each other until I rose from the edge to fix my makeup.
“The diet or whatever stops here,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of you not eating.”
“It’s not a diet,” I said irritably. “I don’t eat when I’m depressed or nervous. Things should even out soon enough.”
He eyed me skeptically but dropped it when his phone chimed. He picked it from the bathroom counter and cursed.
“What?” I asked, sweeping powder over my nose.
“It’s Maria.”
I instantly released the powder brush into my makeup bag and glared at his reflection. “What?” I repeated loudly.
“I forgot to cancel on her tonight.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I invited her ages ago, and with everything going on, I just forgot.” He looked up and caught my expression. “Don’t be upset.” He waved the phone. “I’m telling her now.”
“Telling her what?” I asked.
“That I don’t need her to come.”
I whirled from the counter and gaped at him. “You haven’t broken things off with her?”
“There’s nothing to break off,” he said as he typed. “I just call her when I need her.”
“Need her?” I asked with disgust.
He looked up. “For events and stuff,” he said sheepishly.
“Tell her that you will not be needing her for anything, ever again.”
“All right, but it’s not necessary. And I’m not saying that over a text message.”
I blanched, trying to think of a response. “You need to . . . to . . . Why do I even have to tell you this? Is this a joke?” I asked, turning back to the counter.
“I’m sorry,” he said, coming up behind me and encircling my waist. “We’ve been friends for years, so I’d rather say something like that in person. But I’ll call her tonight. She won’t care, it’s not like she was my girlfriend.”
“Tonight? Promise?”
“Promise.” He inhaled and with a
moan, said, “Goddamn, you smell amazing.”
I studied his eyes in the reflection. They’d always told me the truth, and they conveyed nothing but sincerity now. I relaxed in his grip.
“Why do you women wear this shit anyway?” He picked up my eye shadow palette and examined it. “You look perfect right now. Just go like this.”
“In my robe and no makeup? I think I might get a few looks.”
“Jealous looks. This robe was the best purchase of the day.” He slid his hand over the front of it, but I shook my head at him. “All right,” he said, releasing me. “You can put your dress on, only so I can take it off later.”
He stepped aside and pulled aftershave from a hidden cabinet. I was instantly transported to Lucy’s office, to the first time we’d kissed, as the familiar, irresistible smell wafted over to me.
