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“He is.” I ran my fingers over the smooth ridges of the pearl. “I like your parents, too.”
“Come inside.” Denver led me into the den and snuggled me against him on the couch. “Tell me about your dinner.”
“My brother’s family is still sick, so it was just me, my dad, and my stepmom again.”
“Well, that’s cozy.”
I smiled. “Somehow, I knew you’d say that. And yeah, it was good. I admitted to them that I really like you, and maybe hyperventilated a little bit, so Gina read between the lines and asked if I was starting to get freaked out about it. She gave me some pretty good advice.”
Denver rubbed his hands over my back. “It’s okay to be scared. We’re new. And it feels fast even though we’ve known each other a long time. Plus, I made you meet my parents already, which was probably weird for you.”
“It wasn’t weird.” I took in a deep breath. “Ready for me to be blunt?”
“Always.”
“I love you.” I immediately teared up and wanted to hide my face, but Denver gently tugged my fingers away.
“I can’t believe you said it first. I was going to say it first.” He kissed my cheek.
“Well, too bad.”
“Sadie, I love you, too.”
We sat for a long time in the quiet. I closed my eyes and let my other senses take over. The way his arms felt as he held me, the warmth of him, the trail of his lips along my temple and then a tiny sniff as he smelled my shampoo. Or maybe all the pumpkin spice. It was probably baked into me by now.
“I have pumpkin everything for you in my car,” I whispered. “It all tastes really good.”
“Are you trying to lure me into your car? Because it’s working.”
I laughed, and then I kissed him until we both forgot about pumpkin anything because who needed baked goods when we had each other?
Denver hugged me closer. “Sadie, when I’m with you, I feel safe to be the real me, not just the one everyone expects. Here’s a little secret for you—sometimes it’s hard to be on all the time.”
“Don’t tell me you’re a closet introvert.”
“The term is ambivert. I read it in a very scientific magazine.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Okay, it was a very scientific Instagram post.”
I settled into him, letting my feet rest on top of his on the coffee table. The only thing that would make this night better would be that cozy blanket Denver kept in the armoire.
He must have read my mind because he gave me a gentle shake. “Don’t fall asleep here, Sadie. You’ll be very indignant with me in the morning, and we’ll both be late to work. They’re letting you see the secret inner workings of the algorithm tomorrow. You’ll have all the important math stuff and computer things to do.” He stood and pulled me to my feet.
“So bossy.” I yawned.
He wrapped his arm around my waist, and I thought he was going to kiss me again, but instead he picked me up, just enough for my feet to leave the ground, and began carting me out of his house.
“I can walk, Denver.”
“I don’t think you can. I think you’re angling to stay here forever, and in theory, that’s a bad idea.”
“Only in theory?”
“Don’t tempt me, woman. I’m trying to be the man you need, but I’m still a man.”
“Mm hm.” I kissed his neck, making him very grumpy with me.
