It didn’t matter how often she heard from him, the time without him dragged by. She’d never missed anyone with the same kind of desperation.
When her plane finally touched down in Boston on Thursday, she all but ran off it, anxious to get home. It shouldn’t have surprised her that he was there, at the end of the concourse, his arms open wide. Without hesitation, she walked right into them.
His kiss knocked her socks off, and Faith Hill began to sing in her ear about floating and flying. And pivotal moments like this.
“I couldn’t go home and wait. It would have been another hour of agony, so I came here. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t but we have two cars and I’m not sure I want to split up to drive them.”
“You think you married a man who can’t think ahead? Rique dropped me off on his way to the lab.”
She yanked on his shirt to bring his head down for another lip-lock.
“Let’s stay in tonight. We have a lot to catch up on in the bedroom. You’ve got a make-up owed you.”
She’d felt bad about that, but only slightly.
“I’m not sure about that, querida. It gave me more pleasure than you can imagine.”
And the pleasure kept on giving. By the time Saturday rolled around, they’d spent more time in bed than out of it even with his practice and her trip to Portsmouth.
It wasn’t until early afternoon that they showered and dressed for the day.
“Rique just texted. He wants to know if we want to join him and Fiona tonight. They’re going to some club.”
“What kind?”
“A dance club maybe. He said they’ve been there before but didn’t stay long.”
“I wonder why. If it was a good place to go, why’d they leave early?”
He came over to her, brushed his thumb along her cheek. “Dancing is a very sensuous experience.”
“I don’t think we need that kind of foreplay.”
“We may not need it, but I would very much like to spend the night holding you close.”
“And here I thought that’s what we’ve been doing.”
“I’m speaking of vertical, not horizontal.”
She graced him with a smile. “It would definitely be a change.”
“I can text him yes?”
“Sure. I like showing you off. But it means I’ll have to catch up on some work this afternoon. I’ve never let things slide like this before.”
“I will occupy myself with my gaming box. I need to practice so I can beat Seb.”
He’d told her all about his trip to the mall where he’d picked up an Xbox One X while she’d been out of town, Seb along for advice. They’d played here one night until the wee hours of the morning. She only knew that because she’d interrupted them, Seb complaining in the background that he was taking too long on the phone with her. She couldn’t think of many men who would have dropped what they were doing to talk, especially if they were in the middle of a rare win.
She watched as he sat on the edge of the couch, the controller in his hand, the screen filled with some kind of action, her heart near to overflowing. How could she have let herself fall in love with him? She’d been so sure she could keep this platonic, but with every look, every touch, every kiss, she’d fallen deeper. Jelani had told her she was a lucky woman. She still wasn’t sure that luck would hold out. They were looking at a lifetime. Fifty years? Sixty? Longer? Could two people stay devoted to each other for decades? Her grandparents had, but they were from a different generation, where it was expected. Or were they just better at biding their time during the rough patches in order to get back to the other side? They’d celebrated their golden anniversary the year before her grandfather died, still joined at the hip. Her grandmother had never gotten over the death although it took years before she’d followed him. The song “Love, Me” by Colin Ray, reminded Allie of them and almost always brought her to tears. She’d never thought she’d find someone she could love as much, but here he was, sitting not twenty feet away. Her gaze lingered for more than a few seconds, but he didn’t notice, so engrossed in what he was doing.
She sat down at the counter, her laptop in front of her, and as she checked her emails, her heart insisted that anything was possible. A few hours, later she almost believed it.
When she dropped down beside Mateo, she said, “Well, that’s done. I just confirmed all the flights and rentals. Just think, next week at this time we’ll be in Sanford.”
He paused the game and asked, “I will live with you there?”
“I rented a place for you, Rique, and Seb, remember.”
“You will not be with me nights?”
She shook her head, suddenly bereft.
“I have my own place. I’ll be living with Case if she decides to buck her fiancé and come with us.”
She wasn’t crazy about sharing the space with Greg if and when he came down, but she figured she could rent a hotel room somewhere nearby and not have to suffer his presence. Or it might be the perfect excuse to stay with Mateo for a night or two and she didn’t think either Seb or Rique would mind.
“How is that going?”
“Not sure. She refuses to talk about it.”
He placed the controller beside him, took her hand, a sardonic look on his face.
“And you are letting her get away with that?”
Her lips pursed, a pout ready to surface.
“She has to make her own decision. If I forced the issue and it blew up in her face, she’d be the one left to pick up the pieces, not me.”
“You talk to Mac all the time. Has he said anything?”
When he began to
