Digging into my pocket for the key to the restaurant, my eyes lingered on Thea. She hugged my free arm and kissed my cheek. A brick in my stomach kept me from basking in her love tonight.
“Are you okay?” she asked, running her fingers through the hair at the back of my neck. “You seem a little tense. Did my parents say anything to you?”
“Nothing I didn’t expect.” I shrugged and pushed the door open.
“Wow, it looks awesome,” she gasped. “It looks like a real restaurant. Of course, you hung up that picture.”
She pointed to the framed poster of the Rat Pack under the Sands sign in old time Las Vegas.
I barked out a laugh. “Of course. I thought a couple of posters would give it a different feel. Joe and I agreed it should be the same but a little different.”
“Smart.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed my chin. “Now, tell me what my parents said.”
I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before resting my forehead against hers.
“They’re still angry with me because of how upset you were after I left.”
“I know, but once they get to know you again, it’ll all be water under the bridge.” She ran her hands down the cotton of my T-Shirt. “I love you, and I’m all that matters.” She cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t you say that this morning?”
“I love you, too.” I cinched my arms around her. “And yes, you’re all that matters. But is there something that happened after I left that you aren’t telling me?”
I noticed Thea flinch and try to shake it off.
“I told you, I was more or less broken, but I survived. You were suffering too, I get that now. Can’t we just move forward?”
“I want to move forward more than anything, but we can’t shake the past if we don’t deal with it, right?” I tapped her chin to get her to look up. “You can tell me anything. You don’t have to sugarcoat it or hold back.”
“I know, but a little at a time, okay?”
“Okay,” I allowed for the moment. “Because all I want is to move forward with you.” I sifted my fingers into her hair. “But, I’m selfish and want you to stay. Stay with me, live with me, like we planned before life went to total shit.”
“You do?” Her nose crinkled. “Don’t you think that’s fast?”
“Fast?” I chuckled, shaking my head. “I’ve wanted this for years. I want more of this morning. Your nails on my arm, breakfast in bed.” I slid my hands down her back.
“I’d love that.” She cradled my face. “I have to go back to the city next week. I’ll be here when the hotel opens, but I have meetings, and they may want to reassign me in the meantime.”
“You said you wanted to find something else, anyway.” I turned my head to kiss her palm. “Stay with me, sweetheart.”
“Why are you so hard to say no to?” Thea groaned.
“Because you belong with me. And I belong with you. We’re together either way, my suggestion saves us a lot of gas and time on the highway.”
Her head fell into my chest. We were robbed of so much time, I had to grab it back where I could.
“I have a surprise for you,” I took her hand and led her over to the bar in the back.
“This looks like the bar at the pub, not as big but I like the lighter wood.” She ran her hand along the counter.
I lifted a bottle of champagne from the shelf in the back.
“My father sent me this. Turns out we have a wine salesman in the family. Ricci is supposed to be a good brand according to him.”
“I’ve heard of Ricci. Female-owned company, too. I guess this place is official if you have liquor stocked at the bar.”
“True.” I nodded. “This is for us, after closing time on the day this place opens. I want to celebrate what brought us back together.”
Thea scrubbed her hand down her face.
