“I already did,” he said. “I ended things with Kat this morning, and she took it well. At least, I think so—she reacted about the same way she does to everything.” He shrugged. “But in any case, it’s over.”
“Then you have my blessing,” I said.
“Do you think Gretchen’ll agree to a date with me?” he asked. “I would’ve tested the waters before she left, but I didn’t want to be disrespectful to Kat.”
I bit the inside corner of my cheek, trying to decide whether to give Gretchen up. Remembering how she’d gone to David when I’d needed him most, I nodded. “I’m pretty confident she’ll say yes. But you should know—Greg called her this morning trying to feed her some bullshit.”
“Understood. I’ll reach out to her tonight.” He kissed me on the cheek and then wiped it with his thumb. “Oops. Don’t tell your boyfriend. I hear he has a temper.”
I smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
When Kat opened the screen door, Brian popped up to help her with her bag. David breezed out next, dropped a kiss on my lips, and ushered them into Brian’s parents’ car.
Unable to concentrate on my book, I walked to the grocery store to purchase some things for dinner. I got the idea that we could picnic on the beach as the sun went down, so I picked up an assortment of snacks and a bottle of red.
This is how life could be.Just us, no bullshit, watching the sunset and drinking wine.
At the house, I prepared the food and found a basket and large blanket in a hallway closet. I left David a note and walked down to the beach where I unfurled the blanket and watched the water while I waited.
When, eventually, I had the distinct feeling that he was behind me, it was because he was. He sat behind me, his front against my back, his long legs bent on each side of me. “This is nice,” he said, putting his cheek to mine.
“Finally alone,” I responded. I leaned forward and excavated plastic cups from my bag to pour us each some wine.
I passed him a cup just as he rubbed his eyes with tense fingers.
“Tired?” I asked.
“Stressed.”
“How come?” I asked.
He took the wine and opened his arms, so I settled back against him, comforted by the rumble of his chest as he spoke. “I have the New York project falling behind, and I also need to figure out this potential lawsuit with Arnaud and Clare.”
Before I could ask him to elaborate, he added, “And then there’s you.”
I glanced up. “Me?”
“I want to start moving on our house soon. But after everything we talked about this morning . . .” He looked down to meet my eyes. “I’m afraid I pushed you too hard and fucked up somewhere.”
“David. Honey.” I put down my wine. “You didn’t fuck up. Everything you’re offering me—it’s more than a girl could ask for.”
“And you want . . . what?” he asked. “Less?”
My heart thudded once. I was running out of time—to tell him the truth, to sit here with him, to enjoy usfinallyas a carefree couple. Was I running out of time with him, too?
I heaved a sigh and looked out at the water. “Let’s just enjoy the sunset for now.”
I gave him my weight and ran my hands over his shins. “That feels nice,” he murmured. “I’m sore from surfing.”
“I could give you a massage later,” I offered.
“I’d be forever in your debt.”
I smiled and continued rubbing his legs as we looked out at the water.
“How’s my Mercedes, by the way?” he asked. “I tried to get Alex to scope things out when you were there for Thanksgiving, but he’s a lousy spy.”
“Hmm. There was a pretty significant dent in the hood before you left, right?” I teased.
