My eyebrows lift, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m reading too much into what he’s saying. “Oh, good. Would you like to go to Mass together first?”
“Yeah, that works,” he says, taking a step toward me.
“What should I wear tonight?”
He exhales loudly. “It’ll be pretty casual, so whatever you’re comfortable in. We can always run home to change after Mass.”
“You want to come back home and ‘change’ before we go to your dad’s place?” I ask, using air quotes. “Won’t that look a little suspicious, especially if we show up looking cozier than usual?”
Landry laughs, momentarily distracting me from the way he’s moving closer. “You’ve never been this flirty with anyone else, have you?” He says it more like a statement, daring me to deny it.
I blush a little, and my breathing picks up again at the abrupt shift in our conversation. “No. I’ve never been brave enough to talk to any other guy the way I talk to you.”
“I think I like that,” he says after a while, making me shiver.
“The flirting?”
“Yeah. And the idea that I’m the only man who gets to see this side of you.”
My cheeks flush even darker. “You make me feel safe, I guess.”
“So do you. For the first time in my life.” He pauses, and his shoulders rise and fall. “You were right before, when you said that the way we get one another seems … rare. I’m not sure yet what that means for us, but I promise I’m not going to take it for granted anymore.”
My heart skips a beat, and I smile at him again.
“Daisy, I … I think I might …” He cringes and shakes his head. “I want to say it out loud, but I can’t. Because I’m not supposed to feel that way about you.”
An incredulous laugh bubbles out of me. “As your wife, I’d like to think I’m the only person you should be saying this stuff to.”
“Everything else—all the things I shouldn’t say—they all just come flying out before I can filter myself. Why is this so hard?” Then he pulls away and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Hey, look at me,” I demand, and he obeys, but his eyes are still filled with doubt. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Just like there’s nothing wrong with me, right? Our brains work differently, that’s all. And that’s okay, because I like your brain the way it is. We can be different together.”
“This is what I mean. You’re too good. I can’t let you waste yourself on me,” he says with a rueful smile.
“Well, you’re wrong, because I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone as kind and generous as you,” I whisper, furrowing my brow. “You deserve the world, Landry. You deserve to be taken care of, too.” I reach out to pull him in closer again. “You just have to let me.”
He stares at me with half-lidded eyes as he closes in the last few inches of space between us and leans down to brush his nose over mine. “I have another confession to make.”
“Hmm?” I tilt my chin up instinctively, and his eyes dart down to my mouth, but he doesn’t take me up on my invitation.
“Although I’m glad we did it, I only asked you to pray that rosary together because I needed a distraction. And I don’t remember most of the drive home because I was so busy fighting the urge to pull the car over and drag you into my lap.”
I inhale sharply. “Oh.”
“But I didn’t want you to think I only said how I felt to pressure you … you know?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think that at all.”
“Good, because I’mdyingto kiss you right now. Only, I’m afraid I don’t have as much patience or self-control as you do,” he continues, backing away.
My stomach dips, and I grab him before he can move too far. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
“I mean it. You’ll have to put the brakes on.”
I nod, maybe a little too eagerly. “I can handle it.”
I watch his throat work as he stretches an arm over me to brace himself and pins me against the door frame. My chest begins heaving when he leans down and rests his forehead against mine, until he finally gives in and allows our lips to meet. He starts off slowly and tenderly, but it isn’t long before his hands are traveling over me and his body is pressing against mine.
