Page 84 of Contingently Yours
My footsteps slow momentarily as I piece together what he’s saying. The fringe makes sense now…sort of. I mean, this is Andrew, after all.
He would have played for my sisters?Forme? I can’t believe he would have done that. I’m kind of sorry everyone won’t get to hear how talented he is.
We walk in silence until I realize we’re at his car, a vehicle I used to despise seeing. I still despise it right now because it has the ability to take him away from me.
The humid air, along with my nerves, has me starting to sweat. I shrug out of my suit jacket and roll up my sleeves while he stows his gear. When he closes the trunk, he gives me a once-over and smiles that new sheepish-Andrew smile. I hope he hasn’t lost all his spark from my tongue-lashing the other day, although it was really sweet seeing him socializing with my older relatives.
“What were you and my aunt and uncle talking about?”
“I asked them what the secret to being happily married for sixty-five years was.”
I know they’ve been together since the beginning of time, but I hadn’t realized it’s been that long. Hearing that he chatted with them long enough to find out makes me want to hug him.
He inches closer. “I don’t want you to go to bed angry with me tonight. Or any night. I’m sorry. I didn’t…” He shakes his head, searching for words. “I didn’t think you’d want more. Frankly, I didn’t know how to give more, but I want to.”
Damn. He’s really breathtaking when he’s not pretending to be an asshole.
Clearing my throat, I close the distance. “Then you’d better kiss me goodnight,” I suggest, taking my Uncle Louis’ advice.
I could melt just from the touch of his hands on my cheek. “I missed you, Tufty,” he whispers at my lips before touching his to mine.
The kiss is soft and thoughtful. It’s our first outside of work, with no doubt about its authenticity. It calms my soul like the piece I’ve been searching for all my life has finally been found. I grip his waist, not wanting to let go. It’s perfect.
“Luuucas!”
I’m thirty-seven years old and can still recognize my mother’s voice from a mile away, even if it wasn’t hollering across the parking lot at full volume. I jump, stumbling backward.
“Jesus,” I pant, clutching my chest.
Locating her standing outside the reception hall’s door, I watch her wave her hand, beckoning for us to return. Right.
“Sorry,” Andrew laughs nervously. “Um, I should probably go, so I’m not distracting you. I can come back later and help clean up if you need it.”
He shifts from one foot to the other. I watch in awe at how his nerves are making him just as clueless as I felt the last few weeks. Smiling, I hold out my hand for him to take. He looks at it, confused.
“My mom wants you to come sit and eat cake with us.”
His jaw goes slack, and his brows rise, glancing toward the door. He lets out a disbelieving puff of air and smiles. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, and then later,” I add, capturing his hand, “you can give me that goodnight kiss.”
His smile grows as he realizes I duped him into more than one kiss. He glances at his feet, shaking his head, and I hear him exhale. Looking back up, he grins and chuckles.
“That sounds like a really good deal.”
Smirking, I start us back toward the hall and nod. “It is. Fifty-fifty split.”
“Guess I should see this thing through to the end. Think we can pull off looking like a couple of happily paired guys?”
The way his grip on my hand tightens belies his humor, telling me how much it means to him for this to happen, so I squeeze back. Except, I owe him a few zingers for the shit he used to say to me.
“Yeah, as long as we can be as disgusting as we can and you act like you give a damn about me.”
“Tufty,” he prefaces, “that won’t be a problem.”
CHAPTER 32
Andrew
