“Thanks.” Denisha glanced over. “And Lizzie is one of our best. We’re really going to miss her.”
Lizzie looked away, not wanting to get emotional in front of Sean. “But I’m going to volunteer. So I’ll be back.”
“Good.”
A few more things were said, but Lizzie wasn’t really following. She was too busy looking at the crayon drawings that some of the kids had done while in the waiting room. The white papers with rainbow marks were taped up on the hallway’s wall, a quilt of exuberance and life drawn by the community’s future leaders.
“Lizzie? You ready?” Sean said.
“Yes.” Though she wasn’t.
She hugged Denisha tightly, but didn’t lose it, and was proud of herself for getting to the car without a lot of drama.
Sean opened the passenger-side door for her. “You got any plans tonight?”
“I’m moonlighting.”
“Okay, I’ll be your taxi.”
“Really, Sean, you’ve already done too much. Besides, I have the home trip covered. I’m catching a ride back with a friend of mine who’s pulling a double shift tonight.”
“Then at least let me take you there, okay?”
As he shut the door and walked around the hood of the car, she watched him move. All that lithe male grace was something to see and she couldn’t believe she’d been with him. Naked. In her bed.
She was so in trouble with this man.
“Why are you doing this?” she blurted as he got behind the wheel. “I mean…going to all this effort?”
He turned the key in the ignition and glanced at her as the engine flared to life. His deep-set hazel eyes were so serious that she was taken aback.
“You said it best. People make time for what they want. And I want you.” Sean hit the gas and pulled away from the curb, resuming a more normal expression. “So when do you go to work? You want dinner?”
“Are you seeing anyone else?” she blurted. “I mean, down in the city?”
He shook his head. “It’s just you. Only you, Lizzie.”
Oh crap. That was so the right answer.
She rubbed her temples, thinking that this felt a lot like a relationship. It really did. Part of her wanted to fight falling into it. Part of her couldn’t stop herself.
“I—ah, I usually eat something at the hospital around midnight. But there isn’t time. I’m due in at eight.”
“Okay, so are you free tomorrow night? My brother’s in town for a preseason game. You want to come with me? We usually go out for a bite after he plays.”
She loved football. “I don’t know.”
As Sean looked back over at her, his eyes were serious again. “Yeah, you do. But you don’t trust me. Look, I’m hoping that we can spend some time together so that maybe…yeah, maybe you’ll get to trusting me again.”
“Sean, I’m not interested in getting my heart broken.”
“Then we have something in common. I’m not interested in breaking your heart. I made a mistake. I’m sorry. And I want to keep seeing you.”
She was about to ask him why when she realized that sounded pathetic. She was a good person. A smart person. She might not have millions in the bank or a flashy lifestyle, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t worthy of him.
“So what do you say, Lizzie? Little football in the afternoon. Little bite afterward. You know, real regular date stuff.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay. It sounds…great.”
He reached across the seat and took her hand. Then melted her by bringing it to his lips and whispering, “Thank you for the second chance.”
***
When they got back to the duplex, Sean opened her door for her then hung back against one of the jambs as she went inside.
Man, he was tired.
He’d killed himself to get back to Boston tonight in time to pick her up and that was on top of a long day. After he’d raced down to Manhattan this morning, he’d had the meeting with the Condi-Foods board chair, a video conference conducted with investors in Tokyo and a drawn-out argument with one of his partners. Then he’d hightailed it back here.
The whole time he’d been en route, whether in limos or on the plane, he’d been working on his laptop, processing the hundreds of details and decisions that went along with a complex acquisition like Condi-Foods. When he’d waited for Lizzie at the health center, he’d made an effort to appear casual so she didn’t feel pressured or stalked, but it had cost him a lot to haul ass up and down the coast.