She looked at him but said nothing, her gaze darting between his eyes and his mouth as she waited for him to say more.
“How can I prove to you that you can trust me?” he demanded.
Her eyes filled with tears. “I trust you. I just don’t trust myself. I’ve always felt comfortable around you. But now, I just worry that I’m not being fair to you, and I’m not sure what to do.”
Andy stepped back and put his head down but kept his palms against the door on either side of Samira’s head. “I’m not going to break, Samira. I’m the same person as before. Yes, I’m devastated by the loss of my dad, but I’m not fragile.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Even though his death was sudden, it wasn’t unexpected. I’ve been dealing with his illness for years now. I’d already come to terms with his mortality.”
“Okay,” she repeated.
“If I want to kiss you it’s because I want to kiss you. It’s not because I’m confused about my feelings.”
She looked up. “You want to kiss me?”
In response, he slowly moved forward until he pressed his lips to hers. Their mouths barely made contact before he was pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. She parted her lips and explored his mouth with her tongue. The feel of her body trembling against his nearly ripped away what little self-control he had. Stepping back, he dragged in a breath.
“Anytime I’m near you, I want to kiss you,” he breathed.
He was close enough to smell the soft fragrance of her bodywash. He stepped back further and tried to read her facialexpression. She knitted her brows, and her light brown eyes searched his as she worried her bottom lip. He reached out and pulled her lip free with a gentle caress.
“You can trust me. Just be you, and I’ll be me. No pressure. I’ll help you and be here for you no matter what.”
“I can do that,” she responded with a wary smile.
“Good. Now tell me how you want the lights.”
She stepped onto the grass and pointed to the house as she walked around and explained where she wanted everything. He was relieved that she mostly wanted to focus on the front entrance and the back deck. That, he could handle. He would likely be able to get most of the front finished that day. If he finished the rest of the lights the next day, that would free him up to work on her island once the materials were delivered.
They walked back into the house through the back door to find Andrea peeking out the front window.
“Looking for something?” Samira asked.
They both laughed when Andrea jumped in surprise. “I was just watching for the pizza guy.”
“Yeah, I bet you were,” Samira said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Listen, we only have three weeks until Christmas. I know we’ll be cutting it close, but I want to at least have a sort of a soft opening on Christmas Eve and then open officially on New Year’s Eve.”
Andrea perked up once business discussions started. Andy stood back and watched the two in action. He was there strictly to be an extra set of hands. Whatever they asked him to do, he would make it happen, but he wouldn’t join in their discussion uninvited.
“I have the perfect idea for the soft opening!” Andrea said excitedly. “Why don’t we invite a handful of the VIP guests from my hotel, and invite some of the staff? Many of the VIPs traveloften and might be interested in trying something new, and I’m sure people from work will want to support you.”
“Are you sure? What if those VIPs were planning on staying at the hotel? I don’t want to take away any of your business,” Samira hesitated.
“Girl, you forget that as an investor, it works out to my benefit either way. And as your friend, I want to see this start off with a bang.”
Samira smiled at her friend before turning her attention to Andy. “Not to nag you, but when do you think you can get the table over here? Since we finished painting down here, I want to get everything situated.”
“You aren’t a nag. I can bring the table tomorrow when I come to finish up the lights. And as soon as the last of the materials get delivered to my shop, I’ll get started on your island. I should have everything by Monday. And then I should be able to get it installed by the end of the following week.”
“You are amazing,” Samira gushed. “Okay let’s finish up whatever we can today and tomorrow. There are only two weekends left. I can’t remember the last time I felt this excited! Thank you so much, guys. Seriously.”
Andy couldn’t hold back his smile. Seeing her happy truly made him happy. If he had anything to do with it, he would make sure she got her Christmas Eve soft opening. His only Christmas wish for himself was to get her back. He needed both their Christmas wishes to come true.
Chapter 22
Josh helped Andy load the kitchen island into the back of his truck. He finished it a few days later than he wanted, but it was still not quite the last minute. It turned out even better than expected. He smiled just imagining Samira’s reaction.
