Page 27
“I mean, I haven’t spent much time with my dad in years, I barely know Joanne, and then there’s us.” She gave him a small, uncertain smile. “We’re…something. We’re keeping it undefined because it’s easier. We understand that, but no one else does.”
His chest tightened.
“The natural assumption is that this is serious,” she went on, “that I’m going to move back here so we can be together.”
There it was.
The thing he hadn’t wanted to say out loud.
“But,” she continued softly, “I don’t know if that’s what I should do.”
He nodded and sat down on the couch, needing a second before responding. When she joined him, he asked quietly, “What do you want to do?”
She sighed, her shoulders sagging. “That’s just it. I don’t know. You caught me completely off guard.” She reached for his hand. “Part of me thinks moving back here would be easy. It’s where I’ve always wanted to be. I’d get to reconnect with my dad and…” She hesitated. “There’s you.”
His grip tightened slightly on her hand.
“But then there’s the other part of me that’s wondering if I’m being crazy,” she said with a soft, self-conscious laugh. “These last few weeks feel like a Hallmark movie. But are we just caught up in the holidays? In nostalgia? This isn’t real life. You’re working on a temporary project, and I’m basically on vacation. What happens when that ends? When everything goes back to normal?”
It was a fair question.
“I think it looks like whatever we want it to look like,” he said quietly, brushing his thumb over her wrist. “Maybe we won’t have as much free time, but…I’d like to see what your life is like. And I’d want you to see more of mine.”
She smiled faintly. “From what I’ve seen so far, you’re very good at what you do.” A hint of color touched her cheeks. “And very good with your hands.”
He huffed out a soft laugh, feeling his own face warm.
“We don’t have to figure everything out tonight,” he added. “But I’m glad we’re talking about it.”
“Me too.”
They shared a quiet smile before she took a steady breath.
“Okay,” she said. “No more serious talk tonight. This is not how I pictured our evening going.”
Relief washed over him. “Agreed.”
“I think I’m going to change into something more comfortable. Maybe we can watch TV in bed?”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
He watched her head upstairs, giving her the space she seemed to need. Downstairs, he locked up, kicked off his shoes, and let everything they’d just said settle.
When he finally made his way upstairs, he pushed open the bedroom door and stopped.
Alesha stood beside the bed, wearing his robe.
He loved when she did that.
“Hey, I was going to…”
The words died in his throat as the robe slipped from her shoulders.
“Wow,” he murmured, stepping closer.
She smiled. “I was hoping for that.”
“Anything else you were hoping for?”
