***
Peter’s class got out a few minutes early, so he walked over to the building where Kelly’s class was held and waited near the door for her to come out.
They were heading over to the Claremont, the luxury hotel Mitchell owned, afterwards to meet him and Deanna for lunch.
As he waited, he tried to think of who could spend the weekend with Kelly’s grandmother, so she couldn’t use that as an excuse.
Peter knew Kelly cared about him. Genuinely. Strongly. But her affection for him still ran a distant second to her grandmother.
He couldn’t even resent it. Kelly’s love for her family was a deep part of who she was, and he wouldn’t want her any other way. But her family circle was tight, very small. He would never be included in it.
But, still, there must be some way to work around it. If they could get away for a few days, he’d have a better chance of introducing her to how much more could exist between them.
It might be a long shot, but at least it was something. As it was, nothing was likely to change.
He’d been leaning against a tree, but he straightened up when Kelly walked out of the building. She wore her braids and her glasses and a pair of worn jeans. She looked exactly as she always looked, but his heart still sped up at the sight of her.
He tried not to remember how rumpled and sexy she’d looked this morning, as she sat in bed and watched him get dressed. For a few minutes, he’d thought he was actually making progress. She’d looked flustered, self-conscious, like she was thinking about him, seeing him, in a different way. Then she’d been so sweet and affectionate as they’d talked about the first day they met. But the moment had been lost, as soon as she’d remembered her grandmother might need her.
Kelly smiled when she saw him waiting. When she reached him, he spontaneously took her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss.
For a moment, her lips, her body, melted against his, but then she stiffened up and pulled away. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing my wife.”
“But why?”
“Because we’re supposed to have just gotten married and that’s what a husband would do.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Aren’t we supposed to make this convincing?”
“Yeah, but there’s no one around here who—”
“You never know who might be watching. We should be careful.”
He watched a series of emotions flicker across her face—annoyance, amusement, acceptance, resignation. “Fine,” she said at last. “I guess that makes sense. Let’s get going so we’re not late for lunch.”
He smiled as they started walking back to his car. “Is kissing me such a chore?”
“No!” She looked startled by her own vehemence. “It’s just a little strange. I mean, we’re not supposed to be kissing.”
“I’ve never been married before, but I understand that kissing is a fairly common occurrence.”
She chuckled softly. “Yeah, but we’re just supposed to be friends.”
It actually hurt a little, that she was so completely convinced of this, that it never seemed to cross her mind that they might one day be even more than friends. He pushed the feeling aside, though, and kept his tone light. “Not for the next forty-three days.”
“Right.” She gave him a little smile. “I’ll try to remember that.”
***
They had lunch on a private patio at the Claremont. The day was sunny, the food was delicious, and the ambience incredibly pleasant. Peter loved this hotel. Ten years from now, he would love to own a place like this—with the same kind of attention to detail and skilled hospitality.
It had taken Mitchell about ten years. Peter was sure that he could do it too—even without relying on his family’s money and connections.
Peter wasn’t like Mitchell, though. Mitchell was one of those guys who got through life by charming everyone around him, easing through difficulties with a way with words and a charismatic smile. Peter wasn’t like that. People who knew him liked him, but it usually took him a while to warm up to others. His mother had always said he was too independent for his own good, that people recognize when you don’t need them and therefore don’t make an effort to know you.
She was probably right. He had plenty of friends, but people didn’t fawn over him the way they did over Mitchell.
Peter could see it even now, in the manner their server had toward Mitchell. She was scrupulously polite, but she watched him like he was a gift sent down from heaven.
When he saw Deanna frowning slightly as the woman retreated, after bringing out their lunches, Peter suspected that Deanna saw the same expression he had.