“Three,” she squeaked the word.
She pressed her lips together. I could see the shine in her eyes and she was blinking a lot. I didn’t want to upset her. That was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn’t want her to think I abandoned her.
“Summer.”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Look at me.”
She looked at me and I saw the pain in her eyes. My chest squeezed.
“I need you to hear what I’m saying,” I said quietly. “All of it. Not just the part about going back.”
She waited.
“I have to go back,” I said. “But I’m not going back to stay.” I let that sit for a beat. “I’m going back to wrap things up. Close things out. Have conversations I need to have in person. Pack what matters.” I watched her face. “And then I’m coming back here.”
She blinked. “I believe you.”
“You don’t look like you do.”
She forced another smile. “I do. I’ve waited years for you. I can wait a couple of weeks. Months if I have to.”
“Baby, I’m not going to let you down,” I said. “I’m coming back.”
She smiled again, but I couldn’t say for certain if she believed me. I was going to have to prove it to her.
CHAPTER 45
SUMMER
Ilooked across the table at him and I believed every single word he said. That was either the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me or the most dangerous. Probably both. I believed him when he said he was coming back. And that little voice in the back of my head that was telling me he had too much responsibility to up and leave Texas was going to have to sit down.
I was not going to let that voice ruin what I knew was going to be an amazing night. Good food. Delicious wine. It was a good night. I picked up my fork and took another bite of pasta.
We finished dinner and left the heavy conversation for another time. He cleared the plates without being asked. I refilled our wine glasses. He changed the playlist to something very jazzy and bluesy. Sex music.
“Come on,” he said, when the dishes were in the sink. He held out his hand and grabbed the bottle off the table.
“Where are we going?”
“Outside.” He nodded toward the back of the house. “I’ve been meaning to use that hot tub since we got here and I haven’t once.”
I looked down at myself. “I’m not wearing a suit.”
He looked at me with that slow smile. “I know.”
I laughed and took his hand. The back deck was warm from the day’s sun, the boards still holding their heat under my bare feet. He had the hot tub cover off in under a minute and the jets running a few seconds after that. Steam curled up into the night air.
“It’s too hot for a hot tub,” I said.
“It’s perfect for a hot tub.”
He was already pulling his shirt over his head. He looked at me, daring me with that single look. I knew the hot tub was private. No one was going to be eavesdropping.
I laughed and reached for the hem of my dress. I shimmied out of the new lingerie for the second time in an hour. I dipped my toe in and hissed. It was hot. But it felt good. I stepped in and sank down. My body adjusted in about thirty seconds and then it was perfect, the jets working against my lower back in a way that made me close my eyes and groan with something close to religious gratitude.
“Good?” he asked, settling in across from me.