Page 65 of An Engagement for Erica

“Could be I need one too.”

She moved into his arms and he held her tighter than she’d thought he would. But she returned it and didn’t want to let go.

The dreams she had of him last night were the most vivid she’d had in her life.

Not really a good thing when she woke up hot, sweaty, and reaching between her legs.

“I don’t want this to be awkward for us.”

“Me neither,” she said, expelling a gush of air.

“But you’re tense. You are the loudest thinker I know.”

She laughed. “I had no idea you could hear my thoughts.”

“I wish I could,” he said. “I’m only guessing them and that is enough.” He stepped back. “Do you feel better now?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t need to put this on you. You’ve got a lot going on without my insecurities.”

“I didn’t think you’d be the type to admit you had any,” he said. “Let’s sit.”

“I don’t normally have them,” she said. “But you know, turning left all the time has dropped my guard and I’m almost dizzy going in circles.”

“Keep doing it,” he said. “I shouldn’t be the only one feeling this way.”

“I’m not used to it,” she admitted.

“Maybe I’m not either. But I’m not letting anything get between us this time.”

“I hope there aren’t any more medical issues that do,” she said. “Two are enough.”

“Tell me about it,” he said. “Michael knows we are dating. We talked this morning.”

“Okay,” she said. “I mean, we are engaged and all in his eyes.”

He laughed. “He knows the truth,” he said.

“But he didn’t know we were dating?” she asked angling her head.

“We weren’t dating until Saturday,” he said. “I hadn’t been able to tell him then. I did this morning when my grandfather was resting. He has concerns.”

She inhaled and let it out. “Are you going to tell me what they are?”

“My grandfather was already showing more signs of awareness on the drive home.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said, feeling so happy for Tucker. “Getting around the familiar has to help.”

“It has.”

“I didn’t even like being in the hospital for one night,” she said.

He lifted an eyebrow. “I had no idea,” he said.

“Not that I want to talk about this, but it’s over with. They didn’t know really what was going on. They had to run a bunch of tests to rule things out. They kept me overnight for observation.”

“No one knew that you were having the headaches?”

“No,” she said. “Maybe I was afraid to say it. More afraid to think what it meant. Sometimes the pain was so bad and I thought, well, if it’s a tumor then it will just kill me one day anyway, so I’d rather not know.”

---