“You do.”
“You’re going blind in your old age.”
His hand tightens, eyes glance around the store, and then to my lips. He’s going to kiss me.
“Stop talking,” he demands and then his lips are on mine, hand sliding around my back, keeping me to his chest.
Kissing is definitely not overrated.
We don’t rush as we take each other in. It’s only been a few hours but I missed him. How crazy is that? I missed the way he smells, how his hand feels on my skin, and the way he says my name.
It’s stupid.
It’s ridiculous.
It’s magical.
“Now, don’t ever call me old again,” he warns and kisses my forehead.
I don’t care what any woman says, when a man kisses our foreheads, we melt. Just a little. If he ever learns how much I like it, I’m pretty sure he’ll win every argument.
“If you kiss me each time I do,” I say playfully, “I might call you old more.”
He laughs while shaking his head and then steps back. “Can I steal you away for a bit?”
“I have a lot of work to do…my mother is due back today too.”
“She’s off shopping for used goods?”
We used to laugh at it as kids. Buying old things with the hope of turning around and selling them is a gamble, but she’s good at it. This store has thrived over the last forty years.
“She went to a few estate sales this week down in Virginia Beach, and to visit my cousins.”
“Ahh, how is Mark?”
“The same, I’m sure. A little bit stupid and a lot unstable. He’s married now,” I tell him. I forget that he doesn’t know anything that’s happened in the last few years. Mark is a former Navy SEAL and scares the crap out of my mother and aunt.
“Is he? I never saw that coming.”
No, I didn’t either. “Yeah, her name is Charlie and she’s amazing. She kicks his ass, which makes us all smile.”
“Well, he tortured you as a kid,” Derek reminds me.
“Yeah, all of my cousins did.”
“They were fun.”
“Sure, that’s the word we’ll go with,” I scoff. They were mean and tormented me because they could. Derek would join in too, because apparently it was…fun.
“I need a half hour, surely you can spare that?”
I really want to go, but I can’t leave Nina in case my mother returns early, which she’s known to do.
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, just go,” Nina says as she comes around the aisle. So much for privacy. “I’ll handle your mother, don’t worry. Go!”
I gnaw on my lip, not sure if I should. I feel like this is the opposite of slow, but then I remember what Nina said and it’s true. We’re not a new relationship, and even with the time that’s passed, he still seems to know me. Not the things in my life that he wasn’t there for, but me at my core.
Derek extends his hand and I place mine in it because you only live once and I’m ready to begin the life I dreamed of.
* * *
“You brought me here?” I say as I look up at the house I love. The one I know, deep in my heart, should be mine.
I hoped when I saw it today that I wouldn’t have the same reaction because when he buys it, I’ll be sad. Sure, there might be another one—a better one—down the line, but this one is…home.
My home.
“I did.”
“Why?” I ask with a bit of wistfulness.
“For lunch,” he says, as though it makes perfect sense.
“You thought this was a great spot?”
Derek grabs the cooler out of the back of the car. “I did.”
“And how is that?”
“You wanted us to be secretive, well, no one but us and the Realtor know about this house. You wanted slow, and lunch is about the slowest of dates there is. Then you said this would be complicated, but”—he shrugs—“I uncomplicated it.”
This man is a mess, but he’s a cute one. “How did you uncomplicate it?”
“I brought lunch to the place we could be alone and secretive.”
“You thought of it all, huh?”
“I did.” He beams with pride.
“You know you don’t own the house, so we’re kind of trespassing.”
Derek smirks with his brow raised. “Ye of little faith, I talked to the previous owner, who has accepted my offer, and he told me I would be doing him a favor by looking after the house while he’s in Florida.”
“You got the house?”
“He accepted the offer this morning.”
I knew he would—Derek always gets what he wants—but I did hope just a little bit that he didn’t. Which makes me a terrible person. Derek has endured a tragic loss and he needs stability. I’m being stupid, but I decide to give myself two seconds to be stupid and then let it go.
One.
Two.
And I’m done. “I’m really happy for you. Have you seen the inside yet?”
“I thought maybe we could do that together.”
“I can’t believe you bought the house without going in.”
He shrugs. “I’m a rebel.”
“Or an idiot, but sure.”
“I’m going to pretend you think I’m fabulous.”
“Whatever you need to make you feel better.”
Derek takes my hand, kisses the top, and grins. “I just need this.”
I start to smile and then I look away, feeling the heat on my cheeks. He makes me smile, even when I don’t want to.
He unlocks the door, extending his arms so I can go first, and I stop. Oh. My. God.
I can’t turn my eyes to look at him, but I feel him beside me, doing the same thing, taking it all in. What in the hell did we just walk into? There are no words to describe the scene I’m looking at.
This house…is…
“Wow,” Derek says.
“Yeah, wow.”
“I guess…” He trails off, looking to the right, and my eyes follow.
“The owners were…” I can’t even speak because my head can’t comprehend what I’m looking
