Page 31 of After Care

“What?”

Tommy looked at Caleb and back at me. “Hop in the Jeep and change. We’ll keep watch.” When Tommy winked at Caleb, I realized my son had conspired against me.

I stepped into the back seat and struggled to pull on a pretty lavender dress. It had thin straps over the shoulder and a deep vee at the neckline. I only wore my flip-flops so the ensemble had a beach-chic look to it. I combed through my hair and applied some lipstick I found in the bottom of my bag. Stepping back out of the Jeep, Tommy stared at me.

“What?” I snapped again, fanning out the dress at my sides.

“Beautiful, darlin’.” He hesitated, like he wanted to step toward me, but didn’t out of respect for Caleb’s presence.

“Keys,” Caleb said again, and I handed them over.

After Caleb pulled away, Tommy and I stared at one another. I wasn’t certain why I changed my dress or why we stood here, but I spoke first. “I’m sorry about this morning.”

Tommy nodded in response. “Did you mean what you said? That you made a mistake.”

“I didn’t say that.” I blinked, taken aback.

“No, your exact words were what was I thinking, implying you made a mistake.” His lips twisted after he spoke.

“I didn’t mean that,” I said, looking up at him sheepishly. “I might have…overreacted.”

“Understandable,” he replied, nodding his head again. “I’d like to talk about that…over dinner.”

“Okay,” I replied, dragging out the word, trepidation filling me while we stood in a parking lot. Dinner sounded nice, but talking worried me. When he held out a hand, I felt a little better as I wrapped my fingers with his. Tommy didn’t just cup my hand. He held it, palm to palm, fingers between fingers. It was as if he would lose me if he didn’t hold tight.

We walked in silence a few blocks before he stopped in front of a heavily populated seafood restaurant. I pretended I didn’t see some of the glares people gave us as we walked to the front of the line. Tommy offered a name, and we were immediately escorted to a table along the windows with a perfect view of the ocean.

“How did you do that?” I marveled, noting all the patrons waiting for a seat. Tommy shrugged his shoulder. It was the first time I’d seen him use his position to his advantage. We ordered drinks and then Tommy pulled something from his pocket.

“I don’t want to assume, but I’m thinking David might be your ex-husband.”

My phone was set on the table between us and Tommy pressed the home key. The screen lit up with text after text after text from David.

“If he’s not your ex-husband, I want to know if you’re dating him, because if you are he needs his ass kicked.”

Tension I didn’t know I was feeling slowly released as Tommy spoke.

“If he is your ex-husband, he still needs his ass kicked, although I won’t do that, out of respect for him once being married to you.”

My mouth curled lazily upward.

“But let me add, he sounds like a fucking asshole either way.”

A laugh escaped. One sharp bellow. Tingles rippled inside me that the man across from me wanted to defend my honor against a man who promised to honor me all the days of his life.

Tommy slid the phone closer to me and I briefly noted the short quips regarding Masie, and my incapability of being a mother, and making a mistake taking a vacation, and was I dating anyone, which was none of his damn business.

“That last one’s my favorite, so let’s start there. We’re both on vacation, and I’d like to propose we live a little. No promises. No commitment, but I like spending time with you, and I want a little more of it. So…” he faded off to brush the waitress away. “I don’t want to share you with anyone else while we’re here.”

My mouth fell open. Not at the restriction of sharing, but at the implication that I would go out with someone else.

“You do realize that I have hardly dated in the past three years. It’s been even longer since I’ve had sex, and this…” I pointed between us. “…has never ever happened to me before. So, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be going out with anyone else while I’m here.”

It was his turn for a curling smile, and a chuckle escaped. He crossed his arms and leaned toward me.

“Three years.” He whistled low, as an eyebrow tweaked. His smile deepened. “I’ve got some work to do then.”

The comment sent shivers down my spine, but I liked the sensation.