Page 209 of Branded
“No,” I said on a grin. “I don’t think you can.”
Her arm came around my waist. “Then I think we should prolong our misery, don’t you?”
I loved that she was joking.
I loved that she was smiling with me and cuddling close.
I loved that we’d just created our first inside joke.
I loved…her.
That truth didn’t course through me like a shock, didn’t lock my muscles, make my breath catch. It merely settled onto my soul like a feather drifting down to the ground, slowly wobbling until it rested gently on the soil below.
That was it exactly.
A settling.
I loved her.
Yes, that was right.
“More misery,” I said, shuffling her forward so she could lock her door and then guiding her to my car. “Consider it coming right up.”
Twenty-Six
Beth
He’d said he was going to take me to a movie and to dinner.
Something innocuous.
Something simple and low pressure.
This was…
A freaking helicopter.
“What are you doing?” I whispered when he parked at the airfield.
“We’re going to dinner.” He said it casually. Like we hadn’t just parked next to a sleek-looking helicopter. “I’ll have to rain check you on the movie, though, so I hope you’ll give me a chance for a second date.”
“What are you doing?” I whispered again.
“I have reservations at Lokanta.”
My eyes widened, heart beginning to thud against my ribs. “What are you doing?” I whispered a third time.
He unbuckled his seat belt, turned to face me, unclicking my restraint, catching it so that it didn’t whip back, drawing it slowly across my body until it was fully retracted. Then his fingers were on my jaw. “Dinner, sugarpie.” He smiled, and it held just a bit of mischief. “Plus, I had some inside info and know it’s your favorite restaurant.”
It was.
It was one of the few things I missed from New York City.
Delicious Thai food. Staff that knew my name from my frequent dine-in and take-out trips and always had a ready smile for me. A quiet street tucked in the corner of a busy city center. One of my places in a life I’d tried to create on my own.
I’d taken Pru and Hazel there when they visited.
Of course, I had.
