“I was wondering,” he let out a breath and pulled another in. “If you’d like to go.”
She stilled in his arms.
“With me.” He added, realizing that he’d omitted that bit of information. “Like… like a date.”
“Likea date?”
He heard her tone but he didn’t understand it.
She hesitated and he saw her nibble on her lower lip. “I’d like it to be a date.”
“Then, it’s a date,” he clarified with a smile. “I wanted it to be a date. I just didn’t want to push.”
Her smile lit up her face and his heart. His mama would be so damn happy.
Harmony moved her hands against his back, warming him all over. “I think the way we work together is that you do a little pushing and I give myself a chance to open up.”
“And I‘ll try to hold myself back from… from wanting you.”
Her cheeks reddened all the way to the tips of her ears and he found he’d never seen a prettier sight. “Wanting… me?”
She shook her head. “I know what I am and what I’m not, Crois. I’m plain. Like stucco plain. You don’t have to pretend that I’m someone you’d want.”
“Oh, honey,” he couldn’t help how strained his voice sounded, “you’re exactly what and who I want.”
She tensed and he wanted to push past the wall she’d just put up between them.
“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you, Harm.”
She frowned a little more. “Harm?Why do you call me that?”
“It’s jut a nickname. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”
She shook her head. “I don’t dislike it,” she frowned, “It’s just taking time to adjust to it.”
“Has anyone ever called you a nickname before?”
Her eyes closed and her chin tipped forward. “Only names to make fun of me.”
“Well,” he moved his hands to cup her face and lift it up so he could see her eyes, “I’m not making fun of you, but maybe we can find a nickname that you can like from the start. I don’t want you to make yourself ‘okay’ with it.”
Her eyes were fixed on his, but they moved a little here and there as if she was searching for something.
“You called me honey just a few minutes ago.”
Crois watched the subtle movements of her features, the lift of the corners of her mouth. He smiled, too. “You like that?”
She nodded. “I like that.”
“Honey,” he liked the way it felt calling her that, but even better was the way she seemed to glow when she heard it. “I’m going to go and give you time to rest and relax. And… I’m going to send you the information on the wedding. If you want to, I can take you out to get a dress.”
The idea of watching Harmony try on dresses made his heart pound against his ribs.
She put a hand against his chest. “I can get a dress.”
He smiled at the smile in her voice and the one on her face. “Let me know if I can help.”
She rolled her eyes and gave him a little push.
