Definitely, Maybe in Love(58)

       
           



       

"Do what?"

Henry lifted his head off the grass, propping it on an elbow. "May I  take you out?" he asked. "A proper date. The first of millions."

"Only if you tell me something," I said, feeling a thrill in the  security of a million dates to come with the man I did not plan on  living without. "Three things, actually."

He smiled inquisitively. "You have them numbered?"

"They're important."

He tucked some hair behind my ears. "Fire away."

"First. Why didn't you call me?"

"When?" he asked, running a hand up and down my arm.

"Well, ever, generally speaking, but yesterday or today to be specific."

"I was driving. It's dangerous to-"

"I didn't know where you were," I couldn't help interrupting, squeezing his shoulder. "I didn't know what was happening."

He seemed puzzled by my statement. "Wait. Didn't you know?"

"Apparently not."

"Before you boarded the plane, I told you I would meet you back here."

I peered at him. "No, you didn't."

"Yes." He nodded. "I said-"

"Your exact words were: ‘I don't know when I'll see you again.'"

"Right. Well … and you didn't understand what I meant?"

"You assumed with that sentence that I would know you were going to take  off to Monterey, find Julia, bring her back to Palo Alto, leave again  to Montana, drive back, and then come scaling up my wall like a knight  in shining Armani?"

"Basically," he said. "It was only three days."

"Exactly." I tapped his chest to add emphasis: "Three. Whole. Days." I  sighed at his baffled expression, but then pulled myself onto his chest  and kissed him, because I couldn't imagine doing anything else. "Henry,  your communication leaves much to be desired."

"I'll work on it," he promised. "And I'll never make you wait three days again."

I dipped my chin to kiss his neck, my hair spilling across his face. "Where did you go after that night you left the note?"

"I stayed with Dart in New York for a while," he said, rolling us so we  were on our sides, nose to nose. "He was completely pissed off at me  when I told him I might have made a mistake about Julia."

"You told him that?"

"Right after you and Mel left the ranch," he said after a deep sigh.  "Even before then … that last day in Washington, you made me think. I  realized pretty soon afterward that I'd made a lot of mistakes. Moving  to the house in Oakland was meant to be a distraction for Dart until the  fall. I was an ass for not telling you we were moving. It was very  wrong of me, but at that point, I was trying to convince myself that you  were the last woman in the world I should be in love with." He ran a  finger from my forehead to the tip of my nose. "Even though I already  was madly in love with the most incredible woman in the world." His  finger moved to my lips. "And she loves me back." He blinked slowly.  "Incredible."

I never had daydreams about what a lover would say to me. But the words  he spoke under the streetlights as we lazed on the grass were surpassing  any fantasy I could have conjured.

"You said you had three questions for me," Henry whispered, kissing around my chin. "Number two, please."

"Did you beat up Alex?"

He stopped kissing and rolled onto his back. "I may have thrown a few  punches, but nothing that will leave any permanent damage."

"I'm sorry about … him." I shuddered. "Back in the fall."

"I know." He was quiet for a moment before adding, "Do you forgive me for Lilah?"

"Of course." I placed my hands on the ground on either side of his  shoulders, balancing myself over him. "Especially since you were  obviously suffering from the early onset of psychosis at the time."

He laughed. "It truly was a nightmare with her. If she hadn't been Dart's sister, I would've told her off a lot sooner."

"Mmm, I'd love to see that, tough guy."

"In a way, I have her to thank."

I cocked my head.

Henry smiled, fingering the ends of my hair. "If she hadn't already  talked you down so much with cautionary horror stories, I might not have  paid much attention at first. But seeing you at the street party, I was  instantly confused." He grinned. "And simultaneously intrigued. I'm  sure I seemed rude that night, staring at you like a creeper, but I was  trying to work you out. After I discovered on my own that you're  this … this wonderful, brilliant life force, I devoted every spare moment  of my time trying to make you forget about the ogre you met that night."                       
       
           



       

"You have my official permission to cease atoning for the past," I granted after a quick kiss. "Or we might be here all night."

Henry grinned wickedly, and suddenly, I felt myself being lifted and  dragged forward, my entire body on top of him. His arms tightened around  me, keeping me pinned to him. "Saturday night, then. It's a date?"

I started to nod, but halted. "I can't. There's somewhere important I need to be this Saturday. My father's wedding."

"That's … great?" he offered, clearly confused by my somber tone.

A tiny swarm of nerves fluttered in my stomach, but I welcomed these  ones, too. "I haven't seen him in ten years," I explained. "I'm  petrified about it, but it's a first step. I know I need to be there. I  want to be there." I gazed at the good man wrapped around me, the man  who I was convinced could help me with anything I needed, and even those  things I didn't realize I needed. "Will you come with me?"

Henry brushed the hair from my face with both hands. "Love to."

Someone in my house opened a window, and music spilled out onto the street. Bruno Mars.

"I have a confession to make," I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"That playlist you made for me, it wasn't corrupted like I said. I deleted it on purpose."

He frowned in confusion. "Were you mad at me for-"

"No." I held his face between my hands. "Those songs. I don't know if  you meant to do it or not, but listening to them made me want to … " I  ducked my chin, hiding my face in his chest, irrationally embarrassed.

His body shook under me with a quiet laugh. "Made you want to what?"

I waited a moment then lifted my chin. "Make out with you."

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow, gazing off to the side. "Huh."

"It was kind of torture, because I couldn't back then."

"Ah, Spring. Yes, you could have." He took my face and kissed me until  my toes curled. "Any time you wanted." He pulled back, cocking his  eyebrow again. "You better believe I'm reloading those songs."

"And ten more," I requested, hovering over his mouth. "Bring it on."

The lawn sprinklers were set to a one a.m. timer. When they came on,  Henry grabbed my hand and together we hustled to the sidewalk. Henry  with damp hair and his wet shirt unbuttoned halfway down was like  staring at a dazzling sunset. I drank in the vista.

"My place or yours?" he asked, little droplets of water clinging to his lashes.

I glanced at my house, the windows glowing yellow, sounds of music and laughter and way too many people.

"Yours, please."

He took me by the hand and we crossed the street.

When I stepped out of the second-floor bathroom, having changed into one  of his dry shirts and a pair of drawstring shorts, Henry was just  leaving his room, bare-chested, pulling on a dry shirt over his head.  Another staring-at-a-perfect-sunset moment. After his head and arms made  their way through their respective holes, he blinked at me, looking  stunned.

"First those braids, then flour, and now … " He tugged at the shirt I was  wearing, the too-big neck hole hanging off one shoulder. "Is there  anything you can't don like a goddess?"

"I thought you loved me for my brain."

"I love you for a lot of reasons," he said as he stepped toward me. "I  guess you standing at my open bedroom door in the middle of the night  looking like this is just my lucky bonus."

Damn.

His arms slid around me, backing me against the wall. "If we stay up  here much longer," he whispered the next time his lips were free, "I  might not let you leave."

In reply, I slid my hands around his waist then inside the back of his shirt, like he'd done to me so many times.

"Spring … " he murmured a little raggedly as I ran my hands up the smooth, hard skin of his back, enjoying it as much as he was.

"I love you," I whispered into his neck. "Never leaving."