A tear streaked my cheek.
Completely off-schedule.Only on that day do I allow myself to indulge in my grief.
My heart pounded.
I swiped it away impatiently.
“You’re like a mermaid.”He pushed my hands away and dried my face gently with his thumb.
I closed my eyes under his gentle ministrations, my rapidly beating heart settling.
“Badass on the outside, but your heart is soft and tender.And there’s also the fact you swim like a fish,” he teased.
“Argh,” I growled as I turned away and continued walking.“I hate it that you see me.”
“Maybe so,” he murmured.“But you need it.”
22
Tell Me Everything
Whilewedidn’tadvertisethe fact we were together, we didn’t hide it either.Monday night, Daire met me at Krippy’s for fish and chips and we walked the beach before heading to our separate homes.
I was disappointed he didn’t ask to come up.
And I couldn’t bring myself to invite him.
We saw each other at the pool for the swim team meets, and I bowed out of Thursday night dinner to go for ice cream with him at Mary Lou’s.He made me eat it there instead of taking it upstairs.And we had plans to go to The Beaver Dam for dinner later tonight.
Each time he left me, he kissed me goodbye.
A sweet, affectionate kiss.
The kind a man gives a woman he’s known and loved a long time.
It was sweet but not the kind I was looking for.
“Not Vanilla, my arse,” I grumbled.
“I knew it!”
I screamed and slapped my hand over my chest to calm my thudding heart.“Mom!Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
Circling my desk, I flopped down on my chair and studied my mother.
She looked delighted which meant I wasn’t getting out of this conversation any time soon.
“A little bird told me…” she began, her eyebrows raised expectantly.
I sighed and smirked.“You may as well sit down.”
She ran to my office door with a little squeal.“I’ll close the door!”
I laughed.“It’s not like I’m going to give you the X-rated details.”
“Ah, but the fact you said that tells me there are some and that’s what I wanted to know.”She settled into a chair, her feet tucked underneath her.
A sudden flash of memory assailed me.
