“I’m serious. What’s going on?”
He shakes his head. “I’ve lost a little weight. It’s not that big a deal.”
“Please, tell me what’s going on,” I plead pointedly.
“It’s these headaches. They’ve gotten so bad I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“I thought you were going to go to the doctor?” I press, my heart heavy with concern.
“As promised, I did,” he says, raising a hand in defense. “The doctor thought maybe it was lack of rest and stress, so he tried prescribing a few things, but they didn’t really work. Now he’s saying it could be an allergy to something, so I go in next week for some allergy tests.”
“You poor baby,” I say, squeezing his somewhat unfamiliar frame close to me.
“I’ll be fine. Doctor Abbott will figure this out,” Henry says with a smile, and I feel his lips press against the top of my head.
“I missed you,” I say instinctively.
“I missed you, too. I love you, baby,” Henry adds, never letting go of me as he picks up his bag with his free hand. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I say softly, my smile hidden in the side of his chest.
Reaching down and placing his fingertips under my chin, he lifts my face until my eyes are staring into his. I’m no longer looking at the dark circles or noticing the exhaustion. We are so close at this point; all I can do is get lost in the blue. As his lips come in, grazing mine, I close my eyes, drinking in every moment of the kiss. As I feel a flutter in my stomach all the passionate moments we’ve shared come flooding back, and I want to rip his clothes off immediately. I wish intensely we weren’t in public. I moan my frustration into his mouth.
“What is it, darling?”
“I just missed you so much.”
“Really?” Henry asks, and then leans close to my ear, his hot breath tickling it. “Because I’ve missed fucking you.”
The second the dirty word is breathed into my ear, I feel my legs go weak. This man! He knows exactly how to turn me into a pile of goo.
“Shit,” I blurt out, realizing the logistics of this kind of sucked.
“You don’t like the idea of me fucking you?” He asks, confused.
“Oh no!” I exclaim. “I very much like that idea. It’s just, well … I’m in the guest room of my friends’ house. Not exactly the best place to get our freak on.”
“Well then, you’ll be happy to know I’ve booked a room at the inn.”
“What?”
“I didn’t want to impose on your friends any further, so I booked a room before I left.”
“Oh Henry, I could not love you any more right now.” I squeal.
Even though Henry and I have been apart for an entire month there is no awkwardness. We fall right back into our roles, exchanging jokes and laughing, a loving couple, sure in who they are. He finds it particularly entertaining that I’m driving around in what he calls a monster truck. I kind of pride myself on the fact that he seems just a little more city than me now.
There isn’t a moment of silence on the drive back. Of course, this is mostly due to the fact that I can’t seem to shut up. I want Henry to know everything, well, almost everything. We talked on the phone every night, so most of what I tell him is things he already knows. Henry just watches me, jabbering on, smiling, and content to just listen.
Pulling into the vacant parking space in front of the inn, I glance down the street to see if perhaps Emmie or Colin is outside. I don’t see anyone, but I can hear the sound of Christian shaving away in the courtyard.
Hopping out of the truck, I walk around next to Henry. “Should we go say hi to everyone or check in first?”
Henry looks at me with a sly grin.
“What?” I ask innocently, even though I already know exactly what that sinister look means.
“I know what I want to do.”
“Henry, what about everyone else?”
“I haven’t seen my fiancé in a month. Sorry if I don’t give a damn about them right now,” he explains, pulling me close. I feel nervous for a moment, like someone is watching us, but with his strong arms wrapped around me that feeling melts away. “I want you so bad.”
“Okay,” I say with a soft giggle. “Let’s go.”
He leans in, kissing me. You would have thought we’ve been apart for a year from the intense passion. He pulls away, and before I can catch my breath, he turns, pulling me up the stairs of the quaint inn in record time.
PULLING ON MY cardigan, I stare at myself in the mirror. It’s quite evident from my tousled hair what has just transpired between Henry and me. Glancing around the room, I suddenly realize I hadn’t paid any attention to the decor when we entered. My mind was clearly in other places.