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“Yeah. I just have to pull up and they’ll load it. See you at home?” Her cheeks turned even pinker after her use of theword‘home.’
“Listen,” I moved closer to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I’ll cookdinner.”
“You don’t have to do that.” She bit her lower lip in a way that made me want to carry her up to my old hotel room and seduce her. Then before I could act on it or say anything at all, she stood on her tiptoes, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and rushed out of thebuilding.
I drove back to the house deep in thought. I wondered if she really did feel like I was a stranger. I worried she might be secretly scared and completely off-balance. Most of all, I feared I’d somehow disappoint her and then she’d no longer be part of my life. Even though I’d known her for days, I somehow couldn’t imagine herdisappearing.
So, I played a little game I liked to call…what would Ty do? After all, the man knew how to land women, keep them hanging on. I wanted to keep Laney. Then I froze. Where did that come from? My heart beat raced as I contemplated the implications. I hadn’t been this impulsive in years. As I thought about it, I rubbed a hand over my chest. This called for a grand gesture and I knew just who to turn to for help with this. After all, this wasn’t my town, but Kate would have all thehook-ups.
18
Laney
When I arrivedto pick up the groceries, they weren’t ready. “You can pick them up after five,” the woman at customer service explained. “Sorry, but that’s the best we can do since you wrote six as the pick-uptime.”
I nodded. “My fault. You’reright.”
So, I left the store and began to walk around the shopping center. There had to be something for me to do. At first I considered a bookstore, but then I passed a nail studio and glanced at my hands. Though I hated plastic surgery, I was a big fan of spas. Unfortunately, I’d been working late for so long, I hadn’t even done the bare minimum to take care of myself. I pulled open the door and decided to spend a couple of blissful hours away from everyone so I could think. By the time I arrived at the new place, I had made a few decisions. Now I simply needed to follow throughwiththem.
Harry frowned as he helped me carry everything in. “I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind,” hecommented.
I paused and studied his eyes. There was an undeniable fear in them. “Oh, Harry.” I sighed. “It’s not you.It’sme.”
“Shit. This is worse than I thought.” He tried to make it sound like a joke, but itfellflat.
I cupped his face and pressed my body against his. “I did change my mind, but not about this and not about you.” I bit my cheek and turned away. There wasn’t really a Harry yet, but I really wanted theretobe.
He brightened considerably. “In that case, I have a surprise for you.” Harry helped me put away the groceries in record time. Then he brought me to the master bedroom. “Let’s drop off yourstuff.”
My brows rose. At first, I thought it was rather presumptuous, the way he assumed I’d stay with him. Then I realized the closet was empty. “Hey, where’s yourstuff?”
His brow furrowed. “I’m in the room across the hall and Drew will be in the room next doortome.”
“Oh.” Hiding my smile was a huge struggle. This was probably the best guy I’d ever known and I’d been around him for all of three days. “Is this mysurprise?”
Harry grinned. “No. Your surprise is on thepatio.”
“At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I’m exhausted, so I hope the surprise is quick. I still need to make us dinner.” I winked and let him direct me through the Frenchdoors.
“No one should ever have to get groceries and cook the same night.” Harry wrapped his arms around my waist. “What do you think?” He walked me over to a patio table covered in a white tablecloth. There were candles in the center, and white lightseverywhere.
Completely awed, I gasped. “This is positively magical. How did you manage it?” I pulled his arms tighter. If he didn’t hold me together, I feared I’d fall apart. His generosity seemed like so much more than I deserved, or at least more than I wasusedto.
“Come on.” He leaned low and kissed my neck before whispering in my ear. “You know, before the salad is warm and the meal is cold.” Hechuckled.
“I love…this. I really do.” My heart fluttered in my chest. How was I ever going to walk away from this unscathed? This man had already left his mark on me, like some invisiblebrand.
Harry directed me to my seat, pulled it out, and draped a linen napkin across my lap after I sat. A moment later, a waiter arrived and began to pour wine into our glasses. We didn’t even have time to toast before the man returned with warm sourdough bread and whippedbutter.
“I’m not going to be able to roll out of bed tomorrow,” I mourned as I prepared my second slab ofbread.
“Note to self, Laney will need breakfast in bed.” Then he grinned at me and though he appeared to be joking, I could actually see him doing this. For some reason, I had already started to imagine the kind of life we could have together. Much like the meal, it was frighteninglydelicious.
By the time we gave up on dinner, I’d only managed to pick at my food. Though I was starving, my nerves were out of control. I couldn’t get my stomach settled long enough to eat. Instead, I stared longingly at the pool and hot tub, hoping for a chance torelax.
“What if we get changed and meet back here for a swim? I ordered dessert, but we can probably serve ourselves.” He grinned as he wandered around to my side of the table and helped pull outmyseat.
Only, I didn’t stand. I held onto my seat and frowned as I studied him. “What are we doing here? I just need to understand, need to know where I stand. You have me all…ugh.” I shookmyhead.
