“Yeah.”
I spot the entrance to a park just ahead and swing the car in at the edge of the lot. I cut the engine and turn to face her. “I realize this was a little heavy-handed.”
“I don’t know anyone else who could have pulled it off,” she says, shaking her head. “Holden said you offered to give up your publishing on the song you and your dad wrote with him.”
“He wouldn’t accept it.”
“Thank goodness. No girl could ever live up to a date that cost that much.”
I smile. “It would have been worth it.”
She reaches out and laces her fingers through mine. “I never dreamed anyone could do something like this for me.”
“There’s only one thing I want right now.”
“What?” she asks, her voice low, as if she’s already guessed the answer.
“To kiss you.”
We stare at each other for several long seconds, and I swear I hear both our hearts beating. Or maybe it’s just mine.
She presses her hand to my face, and I lean in, closing my eyes as my mouth finds hers.
Her lips are soft and sweet, and I think I understand in this moment, why real love is worth waiting for. Why it’s the thing that people are still trying to capture in songs, in books. I don’t know if I’ll ever convey the truth of it in any song I write, but I know the truth of it here, now. I feel it in my soul. And I don’t ever want to let it go.
She pulls back, looks at me with the kind of longing that makes my pulse throb harder.
“This is so much better than heart break,” she says softly.
I laugh and pull her closer into my arms, kissing her again.And I know we’re just beginning.
********
