“We’re doing this date thing.” I gave her a smile and squeezed herhand.
“It can’t be easy foryou.”
“I’m not worried about them.” I tilted my head to the side and I could swear the people at the next table shuffled around hurriedly. “I’m worried aboutyou.”
“Don’t be. You had me at… Well, honestly, you had me. I neededtime.”
“You needed to do it yourself. I get that now. I’m sorry I ever doubtedyou.”
“Thankyou.”
“You’re righteous.” She made a little question of a sound and I went on. “I like that about you. You make me want to be a bigger, betterman.”
“Youarea good man,Zach.”
“And you’re a good woman.” I drew her hand to my face, breathed in the scent of her skin and kissed her knuckles. Like cominghome.
The waiter chose that moment to drop our entrées at the table before walking off, but neither of us ate rightaway.
“I thought about you all the time,” her whisper came from close by, as if she’d leanedin.
“Yeah?” I smirked. “Metoo.”
“I’d have come back eventually.” Her words shocked me. “But I neededtime.”
“Didn’t want you to,baby.”
“Whynot?”
“You’d never have trusted me. Ever. I needed to show you that you could.” My voice went growly with emotion. I cleared my throat and went on. “I had to become a man you could trust. The man you needed in yourlife.”
“I trustyou.”
I’d never been so damnedthankful.
“Thank you,Zach.”
“No, baby. Thankyou.” I sucked in a big last breath for this. She needed to understand how important she was. “Remember the honeysuckle, that firstnight?”
She huffed out a laugh. “If I close my eyes, I can almost smellit.”
“You’ve changed it for me.Forever.”
“Howso?”
“You asked me that night how I knew you were beautiful? Well, to you, honeysuckle’s pretty to look at. Smells good and whatever else you like. To me, it’s drenched with scent—like heaven. I can’t see it, but I can hear the bees buzz around it, the birds dipping in for a taste. I canfeelits beauty. When I was a kid, I wanted to eat it, to roll in all that sweetness, to soak it in through my pores.” I grinned, remembering the time I’d tried just that and been stung to hell. “I know, from experience, that a light touch is all those flowers can take. For the flower, and forme.”
“I’m not sureI…”
“You’re honeysuckle. You’re beautiful and strong. Everything I want. You fill up my senses and make me happy. I want to dive into you, but I know I’ve got to do it the right way or I’ll crush you.” He chuckled. “You don’t need me to survive, in fact, I need to make sure I don’t get in the way. Cause I want you to come back. Year afteryear.”
“Are you saying I’m a weed?” Her laugh was the best sound in theworld.
I leaned in for an extra little close-up dose and reached out to stroke the side of her face. “What makes a weed a weed,anyway?”
I ran my thumb down her strong little nose to those plump, sweet lips and cupped her cheek. I wanted her to give me all her weight, wanted her to sink into me. I wanted her back at my place, on top of me, under me, aroundme.
Her whispered “I love you,” sent a shiver throughme.
