But Jay apparently had other ideas. He lifted me out of bed and carried me into the bathroom, standing me on my feet and helping me into the shower. Then he followed me into it, and we soaped each other, occasionally pausing to embrace and hold each other close. It was the most intimate shower that I’d ever taken, and by the time it was over, I felt like I could have fallen back asleep for hours.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty,” Jay teased. “Time to get you off to your carriage.”
“You know, it’s actually Cinderella who had a carriage,” I said, yawning as I climbed into the car. “Sleeping Beauty just had a bed. And a prince. She had the life, really.”
Jay laughed as he turned the key in the engine and pulled out of the garage. “For someone as healthy as you, you sure can be lazy,” he said with a grin. I reached out to playfully swat him. “But I love it,” he added, winking at me.
A lump formed in my throat. “I don’t want to leave you,” I said softly. “I don’t want to go.”
Jay smiled. “Then stay,” he said. “Easy peasy. I’ll turn the car around and we’ll go back.”
I swallowed hard. “I wish I could,” I replied. “This is…way too hard for me.”
He pulled me close and nuzzled my hair. “It’ll work out,” he said quietly. “I promise.”
At the airport, we clung together like barnacles, and Jay stayed with me until I had to flash my boarding pass and go through security. Even though he was laughing and smiling the whole time, I could tell he was covering a lot of sadness. It was plain to see that he was sad at the prospect of my leaving.
“I feel like I’m never going to see you again,” I whispered into his neck right before I had to leave. “I feel like I’m going to walk through those gates and never come back.”
Jay pulled away and looked me in the eye. His gaze pierced right through me, exposing me down to a raw nerve. “Rubbish,” he said, his voice solemn. “You’ll see me again. I know it, Kate.”
“I hope so,” I said softly as I leaned in for our last hug. “I really do.”
I gave him one last lingering glance, and then I turned and walked towards the boarding gate.
Chapter Twenty
Jay
After I dropped Kate at the airport, my head was spinning. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, not even for a split-second, and it was the strangest thing in the world for me. Even with my other exes, including Hannah, it hadn’t felt like this.
Not even close.
I grinned to myself. I was one lucky bloke to wind up with someone like Kate, and I wanted to show her exactly how I felt about her. I was willing to give anything and everything up if it meant being with her; hell, I’d even follow her across the world.
In fact, that was exactly what I planned to do when I’d set my affairs in order.
When I walked into the jewelry store on St. Ann’s street, a fresh wave of emotion washed over me. The salesgirls saw me and started blushing and tittering, like they already knew why I was here, and one of them darted over to me—a little slip of a thing with brown hair and a friendly smile.
“Can I help you?” she asked. She blushed as she waited for my answer.
“I’m looking for a ring. A diamond ring,” I said slowly. The girl exploded into giggles.
“I’m so sorry,” she said when she’d managed to catch her breath. Her face was as red as a tomato. “It’s just, we recognized you. Or at least we thought we did. Are you Jay Walsh?”
I nodded. “The one and only,” I said in a joking tone.
The girl’s jaw dropped and I could see her friends giggling and blushing behind the counter. “That girl is so lucky,” she managed to say. “What kind of diamond rings?”
“Engagement rings,” I said. The words felt clunky in my mouth. “Do you have any matching sets, with wedding bands?”
The girl nodded mechanically. I could tell she was thinking: Oh my god, Jay Walsh is going to propose to some girl! And I get to help pick out the ring!
She led me over to the corner of the store that was marked ‘Engagements & Celebrations’. There, under the glass counter, she pointed to a few trays of rings.
“Tell me a little bit about her personal style,” the girl said. “We’ll want to make sure whatever you choose reflects something that she’d really like.”
I thought about Kate. “Well, she’s a stunning brunette,” I said. “With a fabulous wardrobe and lots of great shoes. She’s a girly girl. Like, I don’t think she’d be much for camping. And her sister had to drag her to one of my matches.”