Over three hours passed before Dan and I were done with each other. We lay tangled in his sheets in a sweaty embrace at the foot of his bed.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, Emma. Are you sure this is what you want?” Dan pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.
I blinked and stared up at him. “Of course, this is what I want. Isn’t this what you want?”
“This isn’t just sex for me, Emma.”
“This isn’t just sex for me, either.”
“When I left the UK, a relationship was the last thing on my mind. And then I met you, and we started growing closer, and now I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” He blinked and I felt my eyes welling with tears.
“I love you, too, Dan.” I smiled and pressed our lips together.
“Are you sure, Emma? Because I don’t think my heart is strong enough to get broken twice. You just got out of a very longrelationship, and I would understand if you didn’t want to jump into something else right away, but—”
I cut him off with another kiss. “Dan, I told you in the greenhouse, you are not a rebound. You’re the most extraordinary man that I’ve ever met, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met you. You met me at one of the craziest times in my life, and there’s no one else I would rather have navigated it with. You helped me when you didn’t have to, and I know I didn’t make it easy.”
He chuckled. “No, love. You didn’t.”
“You were there for me when no one else in my life was, and I love you for that.”
“But how can you be sure that this isn’t some sort of trauma bond?”
“What? Trauma bond? No, this is not a trauma bond. At least I’m pretty sure it isn’t.” I chuckled. “But could we discuss it when I’m not naked in your bed in a room with a box containing every condom in the state?” I draped my arm over his chest and hugged him closer.
“How do you know I’m not the rebound?” I picked up my head to narrow my eyes at him. It was definitely meant to be a joke to lighten the mood, but a small part of me wondered.
“Emma, I’ve been in this town for over two years. If I wanted a meaningless shag, I’ve had plenty of time and opportunity.”
“Um… is that supposed to make me feel better?” I slapped him playfully on the arm and felt his chest vibrate with laughter against my body.
“I thought I just spent the better part of an evening making you feel better,” he crooned in a deep voice.
“Yes.” I picked my head up again to kiss him. “You certainlydid.” We laughed and I resumed my position, tucked into the crook of his arm with my head resting on his chest. The room was silent except for the sound of our breathing. A question was nagging at me, and though this moment felt perfect, I couldn’t stop myself from satisfying my curiosity.
“So how did you end up here?” I asked quietly, absently dragging my fingernails through the thick black curls on his chest.
“I’ve already told you. I met your grandparents at a nursery, they hired me, and—”
“No,” I interrupted him, “I meant here, in the US. Why did you leave London?” He heaved a deep sigh and dragged his fingernails across my shoulder.
“That is a very long story, love,” he murmured.
“Well, I’m not going anywhere.” I let out a small chuckle. “But I understand if you don’t feel like sharing…” A long silence followed before he spoke.
“So you already know that Alice taught me how to care for and nurture plants.”
“And fed you contraband jerk chicken?” I added.
“Yes,” he said with a chuckle. “In her garden was where I decided plants would become my life’s work.”
“You decided all this when you were ten?” I picked up my head to look at him with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah, about that. Sometimes when you know, you know.” He winked at me and leaned his head forward for a kiss. I closed the distance, pressing our lips together before resuming my place on his chest. “So fast-forward to university, and I majored in botany and plant sciences.”
“How did your parents take that?”
“They definitely weren’t excited about it, but they were supportive, and I suspect secretly hoping I would change my mind. Wasn’t gonna happen, though. With every day that passed, I knew that I was exactly where I wanted to be.”
