“Tomorrow. I want to spend as much time with you as I can before you leave.”
Her body relaxes, and she grips my hips, pulling me closer. “Okay.”
I grin before capturing her mouth with mine and kissing her like my life depends on it. If Avery is leaving in a week, then there’s no more wasting time. I need to put my heart on the line and beg her to let her leaving not be the end of us. Not this time around.
29
GRAYSON
My shirt collar feels a little too tight, but that might be down to my lack of wearing anything this formal since my dad’s funeral. I’ve always been a jeans and T-shirt kind of man, even in the office.
Tonight, I’ve foregone that uniform and put on a three-piece navy suit, and I’d say it’s worth it. Especially with Avery sitting across from me.
The candlelight illuminates her delicate features, and I have the pleasure of taking in every detail of her. If I wasn’t already way past half gone for her, I’d be riding the avalanche of love to the summit. Shit, that doesn’t even work as a metaphor, and I don’t care. I’m that far gone.
She looks up at me from her menu, as if she can sense my eyes on her. The corners of her mouth twitch as she leans forward and whispers, “This place is really nice, Gray.”
The restaurant is way fancier than any place I’ve dined in my life, but tonight has to go to plan. We drove about an hour out of Coldwater to the nearest major city, and based on the five-star reviews, I know this place will add to the atmosphere I need.
I’m staying at Avery’s for the first time since we rekindled, and I plan on asking her to be mine. It’s not a proposal, just a quiet request to figure out how we can build a life together and for her to love me like I love her.
Autumn’s setting up some electric candles on the rooftop for when we get back, and there will be music and Avery’s favorite dessert—apple pie and vanilla ice cream. I’m going to tell her that I want more than what we have now, and if that means leaving the ranch behind for a few months so we can spend time together while she’s on tour, then that’s what I’m willing to do and more. I want to move past everything that happened and focus on our future because I don’t think I can let her go again.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asks, pad in hand.
I look down at my menu, then over at Avery, a silent question in my eyes. She nods and places her order. I follow suit, picking the first thing that my eyes land on because I’ve been distracted by my woman the entire time. She’s wearing a fitted velvet mini dress that I was barely able to keep my hands off on the drive over here. We very nearly made a revisit to the cornfield we stopped in a few weeks back.
When the waiter leaves, I reach out and take Avery’s hand, running my thumb over her knuckles. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, but it gives me reassurance that she’s really here and I’m not dreaming.
“How’s the song coming along?” I ask, genuinely curious.
Avery tilts her head to the side and blows out a breath. A gentle smile pulls at the corners of her glossed lips. “It’s been pouring out of me.” She pauses, twirling the stem of her wine glass with her free hand. “That’s the only way I can put it.”
I reply, “I know how much your music means to you and that you were struggling when you thought you’d lost that part of yourself. I’m glad it’s coming back to you.”
Avery opens her mouth to speak, but a shadow falls over the table, and she snaps it shut. Her gaze holds an apology when she looks at me.
A short, curvy woman comes to a stop next to our table. “I’m so sorry to interrupt. My husband and I are just over there.” She points to a table where a man in a suit waves awkwardly before he clears his throat and looks away. “It’s our anniversary, and we had your song ‘Love You Til I Die’ as our wedding dance. Would it be okay if I troubled you for an autograph and a picture?”
Avery places her napkin on the table and scoots her chair back slightly. “Of course, but I don’t have a pen on me.”
The woman holds out a pen and slip of paper, a tinge of pink filling her cheeks. “I grabbed one from the waiter on my way over.”
Taking them, Avery scrawls her name across the paper, darting a glance up at me as I sit back, amused at how she deals so seamlessly with the interruption. I guess this is her life and completely normal for her.
When the woman holds out her arm, trying to get the perfect angle for the photo, I stand, holding out my hand. “Would you mind if I took the picture?”
Avery’s features soften, and the woman gushes as she hands me her phone. In a matter of seconds, she’s got at least ten pictures of her and Avery in different angles and filters. When I hand back her cellphone, she murmurs her thanks distractedly as she scrolls through them.
I take my seat, pulling my napkin across my lap as Avery’s gaze follows the woman back to her table. “I’m so sorry about that. I’ve managed to get away without the interruptions since being back in town, but I guess that’s because everyone knows me and?—”
Taking hold of her hand, I cut her off and wait until she sucks in a deep breath. “You never have to apologize for that. It’s five minutes of our evening. We’ve got a hell of a lot more to go.”
She drops her gaze to her lap, the faint hint of a blush dusting her cheeks. “Enough about me. What’s happening at the ranch?”
I don’t bother containing my grin before letting it fall as I turn serious. “Nice deflection. I’ll allow it this time, but I don’t want you thinking we can’t talk about something that makes you happy just because of our history.”
“Noted.” She picks up her water glass, holding it to her lips before taking a sip and adding, “I didn’t know you’d gotten so bossy, Gray. I kinda like it.”
