“It’s not bad,” he said calmly. “Just a small cut.”
As the water ran over my hand, something odd happened. The wound, which moments ago was fresh and bleeding, slowly started to close. My heart thudded in my chest as the skin knitted itself back together. A small, nearly invisible shard of glass twinkled in the light before it fell out of the wound, and washed down the drain.
“What the hell?” I muttered, more to myself than to Henry, because how could I possibly explain what I had just seen?
Henry broke through my swirling thoughts by lifting my now fully healed hand to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to where the wound had been moments before.
“All better.”
His voice was low and calm, as if nothing weird had happened. My mind scrambled to make sense of it. I tugged my hand back and flexed my fingers, staring. “How…?”
Henry smiled and kissed my cheek. “I need to make sure the pot doesn’t boil over,” he said, and left me alone in the bathroom.
I felt that something big had just shifted between us. This felt like another secret Henry wasn’t ready to reveal. For the first time since he told me he wasn’t being honest, I didn’t want to ask for more.
Shaking it off, I returned to the main room. Henry was already cleaning up the glass. “I can do that,” I said.
“Already done,” he said with a smile. “And so is dinner. Let’s eat.”
Over pasta, bread, salad and wine, I had the best dinner date of my life. Soft jazz played in the background and we chatted like we had on the ride to Frederick. This time we avoided heavy topics and talked about what things we could do together in the coming weeks. The conversation eased my doubts about Henry’s sincerity. He made it clear he planned to stick around for a long time if I let him.
And I had every intention of keeping him. I still had a lot of questions, but for once, I allowed myself to take things as they came.
We cleaned up, took our wine glasses to the couch and settled in next to each other. I’d never felt so comfortable just being with someone without talking or doing something. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into his side.
In the dim light, enveloped by soft music, I felt a rightness I’d never known. It was like I belonged here, with Henry. My brain told me to slow down and keep some distance, but I couldn’t find a good reason to push him away. Not even a little.
“It feels good here.” I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but I wasn’t sorry I did.
“It feels good having you here,” Henry said.
There was a small catch in his voice that sounded like regret. To my core, I knew he wanted to tell me everything, but I couldn’t press him. If I made him choose, he might not choose me. Not yet anyway. Despite his secrets, I trusted him, which scared me. I also knew if I gave into those fears, it would push him away. I opted to stay the course and wait until he was ready.
We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other. Eventually, the closeness led to soft kisses that spoke more than either of us had the courage to say.
The rising temperature between us created a flicker of anxiety that caused me to hesitate. I trusted him, but I needed to protect my heart. If he needed time to be able to tell me, I needed time to be sure we were going to make it to that point.
Henry must’ve sensed my doubt because he pulled back. His fingers traced the curve of my cheek. “We can do as much or as little as you want. I can wait.”
That was the thing about Henry. He could wait. He wasn’t here for just the now. Knowing he’d be there tomorrow, I decided being with him was enough for now. I pressed my lips to his again, more firmly this time. “I’m tired. Would you be upset if we just went to sleep?”
“As long as I can hold you, not even a little bit.”
He said it with a sincerity that made me question my fears. It also thrilled me to know he wanted so much more than sex. “Let’s go to bed.”
Henry
The small coffee shop across from the D.C. Superior Court was bustling with the morning rush of lawyers, clerks, and other courthouse staff grabbing their caffeine fix before heading to work. I spotted Victoria, Trevor, and Brenda at a corner table, their heads bent close together in conversation. They looked up, their faces a mix of concern and curiosity.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said, sliding into the empty chair. “I needed to see Nick off to work before I left.”
“We haven’t been here long,” Victoria said. “What’s going on that we needed to meet so early.”
I took a deep breath, and the smell of coffee filled my lungs. “Let me get something before we start.”
“That bad?” Brenda asked.
Her concern was genuine. She’d been working to guard Nick for three plus years. Next to Trevor, she was the closest to him. “Hard to say. Give me a minute. Anyone else need something?”
