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He gently helped her up, even though he’d like nothing better than to keep kissing her.
She shifted and sat on the lounge chair next to him.
He pulled the top off her food and handed her the container along with a fork, then grabbed his own food.
She glanced at the garden and the lights strung overhead and along the privacy fence surrounding the courtyard, then her gaze settled on him again. “This is really nice.”
He liked it, too. “Not the five-star dining I had planned. But this is better. I have you all to myself.”
She chewed a bit of her food, then said, “I don’t need a fancy restaurant. I like casual and intimate.”
“We can do whatever we want.”
They both dove into the food and let the quiet, cool night surround them.
Halfway through his food, he felt better. His anger had dissipated just being with her. “Thank you for thinking of getting everyone something to eat. You’re always thinking of others.”
“I try.” She shrugged a shoulder. “And I wanted to do something nice for all of you. I appreciated having you there with me.” Because if she’d been home, she’d have been alone. Of course, she’d have had her meds, too, and this wouldn’t have happened.
Still, he hated thinking about all the nights she spent alone.
“Have you ended up in the hospital often with those migraines?”
“A couple of times.” She went quiet, then changed the subject again. “You obviously like the ocean. You live here. So... road trip or overseas destination?”
He went with the roundabout that took them back to getting to know each other better. “Either one. My dad used to take me and Brooke camping and fishing all the time when we were young. I’ve traveled to several countries for work. It’s interesting to see new places and experience different cultures.”
“If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
That was easy. “Anywhere with you.”
She smiled, and he felt that connection between them amplify. “I’ll let you pick. Where wouldwego?”
He liked thatwe. “New Zealand. All the beauty of Australia, none of the deadly creatures.”
She laughed. “Sounds good. I’ve never been there.”
“Where’s your favorite place to visit?”
“Italy. And Spain. I’d like to go back to both and see more.”
“I’ve never been to either of those. You could show me what you like about them, then we can explore more of them together.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She broke off a piece of garlic bread and handed it to him. “Favorite thing to do on vacation?”
“The usual. Explore. Eat. Find a good spot to do nothing for a while. Relax and not worry about work or anything else.” He thought about spending days doing all those things somewhere else with her, and the nights wrapped around her between the sheets. That’s a vacation he couldn’t wait to take.
“That’s what I like to do, too. Though I haven’t gone anywhere in a few years.”
“Then we should plan something.” Normally, work consumed his life, too, but he’d go anywhere, anytime with her. And didn’t that tell him a lot about the feelings stirring inside him?
Summer frowned. “My grandfather is already having a stroke over me being gone the next few weeks. A trip would really send him over the edge.”
“When will it be okay for you to live your life the way you want to live it?”
She went still, and he thought maybe he’d gone too far.
“When I stop worrying about what he and my mom want me to do for them.” Sadness filled her eyes. “Things are even more complicated with my dad and his family.”
