He opened my door but didn’t step back. We were close enough that I could feel the heat of him, see the pulse point in his throat.
“This is really happening?” I whispered.
“Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“Have you?”
“No.” He reached up, tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The touch was gentle, but his hand lingered. “But you should know… I’m not good at casual.”
“Neither am I.”
“So this might be messy.”
“Probably.”
“And when summer ends…”
“We figure it out then.” I looked up at him. “Or we don’t. We just... let it be what it is.”
He studied my face for a long moment. Then nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
He helped me into the truck, his hand on my elbow, and closed the door. When he got in the driver’s side, the space felt smaller somehow. More intimate.
The drive back to Jasper’s was quiet, but it was a different kind of quiet than before. Anticipatory. Electric. Like the air before a storm.
When he pulled into the driveway, I turned to him. “So. I’ll see you at the florist meeting?”
“Monday, yeah.” He looked at me, and there was something in his eyes that made my heart race. “Or... I could see you before that.”
“Yeah?”
“If you want.”
“I definitely want.”
“Tomorrow night? Dinner?”
“Where?” I asked, practical despite the butterflies in my stomach. “We can’t exactly go out in Willowbrook without everyone knowing.”
He smiled. “Leave that to me. I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Okay.”
We sat there for a moment longer, neither wanting to break the moment.
Finally, I opened the door. “See you tomorrow, Dex.”
“See you tomorrow, Leigh.”
I walked to the house on shaky legs, feeling his eyes on me the whole way. At the door, I turned back.
He was still there, watching.
I waved. He waved back.
Then I went inside, closed the door, and leaned against it, my heart pounding.
