“Is that funny, Emma?”
“It’s hilarious,” I squealed, still unable to get my laughter under control.
“How funny is this?” He grabbed my hips and swiveled my bodyaway from the showerhead, plunging me into the chill of the back of the shower.
“Hey!” I slapped him on the bicep, and he pulled my body into his and held me close.
“Seriously, Emma,” he whispered in my ear as his arms tightened around my back, “it’s no secret how much I care about you. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to continue here without George and Harriet until you came into my life. Not only are you beautiful and incredibly sexy”—one of his hands migrated to the curve of my ass and squeezed gently—“but you’re also intelligent, funny, strong, and generous to a fault. You are tenacious and stubborn.” I smiled against his chest, and he rewarded me with a kiss. “You make me feel things that I thought had died years ago.”
I picked my head up to meet his eyes and found that mine were filled with tears. “How long have you felt this way?” I asked.
“Longer than I’d care to admit,” he said with a mirthless smirk.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Because, Emma”—he let out a sigh—“you’d just lost your grandparents, your job, and your… relationship. I didn’t want to pressure you into something you weren’t ready for.”
“But I told you how I felt in the greenhouse, the night we kissed.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know everything then. I wasn’t sure if you would still feel the same way about me once you knew the truth.”
“But I know now.” I tightened my arms around his back.
“Yes, you do.” He nodded. “And”—he sighed—“I was scared.”
“Scared?”
“Emma, I care about you so much, it scares me sometimes. I neverthought I’d come close to feeling this way about someone again. I think about you all the time, when I’m awake, when I’m asleep… I’ve even told my parents about you.”
“You told your parents about me?” I asked, and he nodded.
“I didn’t tell them that I’m falling in love with you, but I told them about you living on the farm, teaching you how to make a curry—Mum loved that—and the—”
“Wait.” I reached around Dan’s body and turned off the shower, plunging the bathroom into an eerie silence. “Did you say you’re falling in love with me?”
“Yes, I am,” he said with a sigh. “And I know it’s possible that you don’t feel the same way. I kind of feel like a shit for telling you this way, but it’s been a bit hard to keep to myself.” He huffed out a small chuckle.
“You did say that I’m impossible not to like.”
He smiled at me.
“I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And to tell you the truth, I’m a little scared, too. I’m not used to love feeling like this. It feels too easy, too natural. I don’t feel pressure to perform or be perfect. I feel like I can be myself around you, even if sometimes I don’t know who exactly she is.”
“Emma, you’re already perfect.” He tilted my chin up and pressed our lips together.
“Get me out of this shower, Dan Pednekar,” I crooned in a sultry whisper.
“Yes, ma’am.”
All of my hair stuff was in my bathroom downstairs, so I used one of Dan’s brushes to gather my wet hair into a topknot until I could deal with it later. Dan stretched me out on his bed and moisturized my body from head to toe with oil. When he reached my feet, he finished his full-body massage by pressing a kiss to each one of my toes before climbing onto the mattress beside me. I snuggled into his arms and laid my head on his chest. He surprised me by pulling out his phone.
“Are you calling someone?” I asked.
“No,” he answered, not meeting my eye, his thumb flying across his screen. “I’m maxing out my credit card ordering condoms.”
