"Early dinner," she commented, but smiled. "Yes. I can. That should be fine."
"Good," he said, and seemed to relax a little. "There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"What's that?"
"Connor and his wife, Lana, are having this thing at their house on Sunday," he started. "Like a barbecue. They, uh—they want me to bring you."
Drew lifted her eyebrow again. "And you don't want to?" she teased darkly.
"No, no," Heath said. "I do. I just—I don't want you to be, like, uncomfortable or anything."
"Why would I?" Drew asked curiously. "Your brother seems like a nice guy. I have to think his wife is like that too. And I'd like to meet your nieces."
"It's my dad," he said in a rush. "You know. I told you he used to whale on me and Connor when we were kids, and, well, we're moving past that. But he used to beat up my mom, and I don't want you to –" He shrugged. "You know, because of what you went through. I don't want you to think about anything or look at my dad and wonder –"
Drew abruptly rose from her seat and moved closer to him, dropping down on the couch next to him and placed her hand on his forearm.
"Heath," she said calmly, tilting her head. "Stop. You're…so nice to worry about me like that. Really. I've never had anyone like that outside my family and Bunz to care so much about my mental comfort. Seriously. But I'm okay. I mean, I'm getting there. I would love to meet your whole family including your father." She looked into his eyes, so he could see her sincerity. "Okay? I'll really be okay, I promise. And if I'm not, I'll tell you. Okay?"
He sighed and looked into her eyes. "Okay. I—sorry," he said with a shrug. "I just—I've never known anyone who's gone through what you have so I don't really know what I should be doing or not be doing. I just want to make sure you'll be okay—all the time. I know you're…vulnerable."
"Vulnerable," she agreed. "Damaged, even." She squeezed his forearm gently. "But I'm not broken."
He looked down at her hand on his arm, and finally reached over, a little hesitantly, and wrapped his own hand around it, pulling it off his arm and squeezing it between his own two hands before letting it go.
"I know you're not," he said firmly.
"So we have a date on Thursday," Drew said teasingly, wanting to lighten the mood. "And I'm getting to see what Sunday dinner at your family's house looks like."
"It should be a little quieter," he teased. "You guys are…loud."
Drew tossed her head back and laughed. "Yes, we are," she admitted. She grinned cheekily. "That's part of our charm, though."
"That, and death threats," Heath said agreeably. "Sure."
"You liked it," she said, shoving his shoulder a little. "So is that why you wanted to come over here? To bring me yogurt and ask me on two dates?"
Heath shrugged. "That, and I just wanted to see you."
"You did?" she asked, hating herself for both the happy eagerness in her voice and her corresponding smile.
In response, he reached out and brushed a finger over one of her dimples. "I like those," he admitted. "I like seeing them. I can tell when you're giving me a little bullshit smile and when you really mean it." He stroked her cheek. "They're deeper when you smile for real."
Her cheeks flamed, but she couldn't look away or stop smiling.
After a moment, Heath sighed and dropped his hand, glancing at his watch. Drew looked at the clock and saw that it was almost ten.
"I gotta get back," he said reluctantly. "I need to finish some paperwork and then I'm sparring with Rex after we close."
"Okay," Drew said as he rose. She allowed him to take her by the hands and pull her to her feet. "Thank you for—everything," she said. "Yogurt. The Thursday dinner invitation. The Sunday dinner invitation. You had me at the yogurt, though, just so you know."
"I did?" Heath asked teasingly, still holding her hands. "I'll have to remember that. All it takes is some frozen yogurt and she's putty in my hands."
Drew chuckled and rolled her eyes. She looked at their hands still clasped together, and intertwined her fingers with his gently. She watched his hand close around hers, firmly and securely, and inhaled deeply, realizing she could smell him. There was a crisp, clean smell about him that seemed to be his natural fragrance, mingling nicely with the light scent of his spicy cologne. She lifted her eyes to his and saw that he was watching her face closely. She swallowed, working up her nerve, then slowly pressed up on her toes, lifting her face toward his. She didn't wait for him to meet her; she leaned into him and let the fingers of her other hand slip from his and graze the side and back of his neck softly and she brought her lips to his, letting her eyes close.