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Jamison not so subtly shakes his head, and Autumn frowns.
“No?” she says.
“Uh…” He glances at me apologetically. “Scarlett’s chosen to not be part of the renovation discussions—”
“Say no more, I get it. I’m so sorry I brought it up,” Autumn says.
“Well, I didn’t know you were working on lobby plans…or that you’ve had multiple spreads inArchitectural Digest,” I manage to get out somewhat calmly.
I’m practically frothing at the mouth to see what Autumn thinks should be done to the lobby and kind of sick that I’ve been missing out.
“I’d love to see what you’re thinking,” I add.
“Autumn has such a phenomenal eye,” Zac says proudly, and the rest of the table nods in agreement. “And she has this gift of expanding a person’s vision so that it’s even better than they imagined it could be.”
“I paid him to say that,” Autumn says, laughing. “Thank you, love.”
“It’s just the truth, Little Sass,” Zac says, leaning over to kiss her.
I need to fan my face. They are so cute and so sexy, the wow factor combined with the love is intoxicating to be around.
“Get a room,” Jamison coughs.
“Got one,” Autumn says, shimmying her shoulders.
“Gotta get this girl home, Pappy,” Zac says. “She’s like you, a lightweight.”
Pappy chuckles and everyone starts to stand. I look around, wondering when the bill came.
“I got it,” Jamison says softly.
“Oh, thank you. I would’ve…thank you.”
We walk through the restaurant and out the door, everyone else already ahead of us.
“Thanks for coming with us tonight…for everything,” he says.
“I had such a good time. Thank you,” I say softly and then I sign it, uncertain if he even sees it since it’s dark outside now. The white lights on the structures and the cute streetlamps are enough light to guide our way.
He smiles. “You’re a quick study.”
“Your family is beautiful.” I signbeautifultoo and the way he looks at me sends flutters throughout my chest.
He takes a step closer and leans into my ear, and I stop walking, certain my shaky knees won’t hold me up.
“Your beauty is a revelation every time I see you. And it’s not just the way you look,” his lips brush against my ear and I feel them lift with his smile, “although it is a constant challenge for me to even think straight when I’m near you. It’s everything about you. Tonight, the way you opened up, it meant so much. Made me want to be more open myself.”
His smile is tentative when he takes a step back. I reach out and take his hand, squeezing it once before letting it go. We start walking again.
“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bear to work with. My grandpa used to call me Little Bear because I can be pretty blockheaded.”
“Are you kidding?” He shakes his head. “You’ve kept me on my toes. If this has been your bear, I can take it…as long as we can still talk like this. The hardest part of this has been losing that. We were able to…talk from the very beginning.”
He looks over at me and I’m glad for the dim light so he can’t see me flushing and breathing heavier.
“I’ve missed talking to you,” I admit. “I know we haven’t known each other long, so sometimes it feels like it doesn’t make sense, but…”
“We covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time,” he finishes.
