"What?" Heath was genuinely surprised at the vehemence of her feelings. He had truly been busy this week, much of that time spent doing things for her, and he knew he'd been wrong to let so many days go by without saying anything. But for her to think that it was because of her telling him she loved him hurt his heart. "No, Drew—hell no!"
The anger drained out of her face, leaving only melancholy sadness. "Then what?" she asked mournfully. "What else could it be? I didn't mean to scare you off, or imply that you should feel the same way about me, Heath. I just—I just wanted to let you know how I feel. How I really feel." She shook her head, the terrible sadness in her eyes making Heath feel like history's biggest asshole. "I guess maybe I shouldn't have said any–"
Heath tossed the enormous bouquet of flowers he'd been holding for the past hour onto her vanity and took one giant step toward her, crossing the room and closing the distance between them. He grabbed her around the waist, ignoring the startled look she gave him and practically scooped her up into the air, pressing her body into the wall as he lowered his face to hers. She squealed in surprise just a little when he voraciously took her mouth with his own, one hand gripping her waist tightly while the other firmly cupped her jaw, forcing her to stay in place lest she try to wriggle away from him. Her bare feet stood on top of his shoes and her hands clutched at him frantically as he moved his lips insistently over hers, desperate to remove any insecurity or doubt in her mind.
He glared down into her face as he continued to kiss her hard and deep, searching for any remnants of sadness that would indicate he wasn't kissing her convincingly enough, and was pleased when he saw her brow had smoothed out, that her eyelids were gently shut and she was beginning to return his kisses. He eased up his pressure loosened his hold on her ever so slightly and sucked gently at her bottom lip before pulling away from her. He didn't move too far back, and brought his other hand to her face as he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I really am. I didn't mean to make you feel so neglected. Things have been changing for me, changing fast, and I just –"
"Changing?" she whispered back, some of the sadness creeping back into her eyes. "Like how you feel about me?"
"No!" he insisted harshly, then considered his words. His talk with Connor from the other day flashed through his mind. "I meant my life has been changing, in a good way. I didn't mean my feelings for you, but now that you mention it, I guess, yeah—they did change."
Drew's brow creased again and she let her hands drop from his shoulders, shrinking back against the wall.
"I knew it," she said sadly. "I put too much pressure on you. I'm sorr–"
"Will you shut up?" he said quietly, a crooked half-grin crossing his face. "I'm trying to say I love you back. Okay? This stuff isn't easy for me." He swallowed. He hadn't meant for it to come out quite that way, but there it was. He held his breath as he scanned her face. She looked startled again, then a rosy flush crept over her olive complexion, and her dimples dug deeply into her cheeks as a slow, wide smile spread over her face.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Drew leaned against the wall, Heath's hands still around her waist to keep her there, and they simply looked at each other. Heath felt a little bit uncomfortable, his uttered words hanging in the air between them, unable to be taken back. He knew he couldn't take them back now, and didn't want to. It was hard for him to get to this point, hard to form the words, but he had said them, and he meant them.
As Drew wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face against his chest, still smiling, and he realized he could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair, he thought that he really, really meant them.
Chapter Thirty-Five
When they finally emerged from her dressing room and made their way back to the lobby, the two families burst into applause and Drew blushed deeply, waving them off.
"C'mon, guys," she mumbled. It took several long moments for everyone to get their hugs in with her, congratulating her.
Mr. Carnevale smiled at his youngest, slinging an arm around her neck. "You were beautiful, honey," he said, pressing a loud kiss to her temple. "Listen, we're all going back to the café. I got pizza. You two in?"
"Yes," Drew said. "You said 'pizza'. Duh."
"All right. You all can come?" Mr. Carnevale asked, gesturing to John, Connor, Lana and the little girls.
"Yep," Connor replied with a smile. "Wouldn't miss it. You also had me at 'pizza'."