Page 49 of Heartbreak Hill

Reid could easily picture Grayson living with her, and honestly it would make things so much easier. She wouldn’t have to ask every day if he’d taken his meds or if he had them with him when he came to her place. The last thing she wanted to do was harp on him about the medication, but he literally needed it to live. One of Reid’s biggestfears was that his new heart would reject his body and they’d be back at square one.

“I’d let him,” she told her coworkers with a shrug. “We spend so much time with each other now, it only makes sense.” Even if they hadn’t slept together yet. She already knew they had chemistry between the sheets.

Rosalyn sighed and tilted her head back. “Color me green because I’m officially jealous.”

“He’s high maintenance,” Reid joked. “Be thankful.”

Rosalyn waved her hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter,” she told Reid and Devorah. “I remember when I first started. I was hot for him.” She fanned herself. “The rejection hurt.”

Tell me about it.

“Anyway, I’m happy for you, Reid.”

“Thanks,” she told her friend. “I feel like whatever he has planned for tonight, I’m going to love it.”

“Gah, how can you not,” Rosalyn said.

“Back to work, ladies. We’ll chat about the date tomorrow,” Lily said. “Because Reidwillgive us all the details.”

Reid could’ve rolled her eyes and balked, but Lily was right. She’d spill everything in the morning over coffee and doughnuts.

Be ready by 6!

Reid had given in and texted Grayson about what his text meant, only to receive the shrugging emoticon in return. The only information he gave her was for her to wear something casual, but not “going for a run” casual.

She’d left work early, afraid one of the trains she took home would be delayed or there’d be some incident that would put her behind schedule. Being late for whatever Grayson had planned wasn’t an option, atleast not in her mind. Besides, she prided herself on being as punctual as possible, and even fifteen minutes early was late in her opinion.

After showering the grime of work and the subway off, she stood in front of her closet and pushed each hanger to the side. Grayson’s mention of “not going for a run” casual meant he didn’t want to see her in her comfortable yoga pants or one of his sweatshirts that was so big on her it could double as a dress.

Reid reached for a pair of black slacks but thought better of dressing like she was about to go to the office, and she pulled out a simple shift dress. The late surge of summer still hung in the air, despite Halloween being on the horizon. She paired her dress with strappy sandals with a modest heel, thankful that she and Melanie had spent last weekend having a spa day. Freshly painted and pedicured toenails and manicured fingernails went a long way in helping a woman feel pretty. Plus, the massage and facial Reid had gotten was divine. She’d fallen asleep and ended up snoring.

Reid dabbed on the French perfume Grayson had bought her for Christmas and curled her hair, making sure to fix the pieces that had fallen. She concentrated mostly in the front due to her inability to not run her fingers through her hair during the day. It was a bad habit, and she did it mostly when she was bored or spending too much time wondering what her boyfriend was up to. She applied natural makeup, dabbed some red-hued lip gloss on, and called it good. If she went to Grayson’s too dressed up and he wasn’t, one of them would feel the need to change, and she didn’t want that. He had something planned, and she wanted to make sure it went off without a hitch.

It would be faster for Reid to take the stairs. She could be at Grayson’s door in under two minutes. Doing so would increase the rate of her already pounding heart. She opted for the elevator and would use the time it took to calm her nerves. For all she knew, she had no reason to be nervous. It wasn’t like Grayson hadn’t spent the past few months planning every single date he took her on. He’d ask her if there was something she wanted to do, but most of the time he hadeverything planned for them by the time she came home from work. This was something she appreciated without knowing it was something she wanted. With her prior boyfriends, it was always the classic “What do you want to do?” followed by endless hours of back-and-forth as they tried to figure out what they should do before giving up and calling it a night.

With Grayson, if Reid mentioned a movie she wanted to see, he’d buy the tickets and tell her days in advance, not hours. When she brought up a festival, he booked a car for them because the train wouldn’t go as far out as they needed. Since they’d begun dating, he’d been fully attentive, which showed her what kind of man he could be. She hated that he’d hidden his true self from her due to his heart condition.

Reid understood, though. She was young when her mother passed away, but she remembered certain parts of growing up when she saw her father long for his wife. There were times, even so many years later, when Reid would get flashes of memories with her mom. They would dance in front of the Christmas tree or sing carols. Her father would don a Santa hat and hand out presents, each one coming from Santa. The first Christmas without her mother was quiet. They’d had a tree, but Luther hadn’t gotten around to decorating it. He barely lit the fire, or played music, and he definitely didn’t put the hat on again. The morning of, he sat on the couch and told Reid she could sit by the tree and open the few presents he had managed to buy. The following year was better, as were the subsequent years, but they were never the same as they were when her mother was alive.

Her parents had the kind of love Reid wanted, and when she’d first met Grayson, she knew he was the one. Every day, she was thankful she hadn’t given up on him.

The elevator dinged and brought her out of her reverie. She stepped in, smiled at the others who were in there, and pressed the button for Grayson’s floor. They made a stop on the second, and then the doors were opening for her to step out. Normally, Grayson would open hisdoor to peek out when he knew she was on her way to his place, but his door remained shut. Her mind had the ability to think of every possible scenario, fromIs he hurt?toIs he home?

She stood in front of his door, raised her hand to knock, and then thought how ridiculous that would be. They hadn’t knocked on each other’s doors in years, unless they were locked. She knew Grayson’s door would be unlocked because he expected her.

Reid opened the door, and her breathing hitched. From the front, rose petals lined the hallway. She stepped in and followed the trail, even though she could see the man of her dreams, near the sliding glass door, on bended knee.

SEVENTEEN

REID

Reid covered her mouth as soon as her eyes found Grayson there on bended knee. All around his apartment candles burned, and vases of roses covered almost every visible space. In the background, soft music played, and near the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony was Grayson, patiently waiting for her to take a few more steps closer so he could ask her a very important question.

Was she ready for this?

The hopeless romantic in her wanted to screamYes!before the words had even come out of his mouth. The hopeful romantic felt their relationship was too new for this type of declaration. They’d jokingly said they loved each other, but neither had come out and made the avowal. Sure, she loved him—and, she sometimes suspected, more than he loved her, but that could also be because she’d loved him so long and he had a lot of catching up to do. Then there was the part about intimacy. He’d made advances early on, but she’d shut the door on anything between the sheets. Reid couldn’t afford to get her heart broken again. Grayson hadn’t brought it up. He never asked why she didn’t want to have sex with him. This sort of bothered her. Shouldn’t he want to be with her in every way? Was he afraid, just as she was?

As frightened of the future as she was, she confidently stepped toward him. Their eyes met, and both smiled widely at each other. Happy tears welled in her eyes as Grayson held his hand up higher.

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