Since she’ll have to meet with the event planner alone to make some decisions while I’m gone, that might be interesting.
At least it doesn’t take much convincing to get her into the shower with me, which finishes with another round of exploring her body and making her come with my tongue. But when I have to pack, she gathers her clothes and heads for her own room—though I notice she takes my hoodie with her, which makes me smile.
When I finish packing, I expect her to be in the living room, but when I go out there, she’s nowhere to be seen. “Hailey?” I call, wondering if she left without saying anything.
She pokes her head out of her bedroom, dressed in a wide-necked long-sleeve T-shirt that seems to want to slip off her shoulder and a pair of comfortable lounge pants. “What’s up?” she asks.
Grinning at her all comfy looking in my house, I walk over to her and rest my hands on her hips. “No plans to go anywhere today?”
She shakes her head. “I figured I’d get some more practicing in once you hit the road. If I’m feeling adventurous, I might go exploring later, but …” She shrugs, leaving the possibility open but seeming unlikely.
“You could get in touch with Marissa. Or Maggie. Didn’t Tina give you her number last night? I bet she’d love to hang out.”
She tilts her head to the side and studies me. “Tina’s busy with her two kids, I’m sure.”
“Maybe,” I concede, “but I know she wants to get to know you more. And like I said before, she’ll know which other moms might want to find a violin teacher for their kids.”
She purses her lips. “Fine. Good point. I’ll probably still wait and reach out to her a different day, though. You’ll be gone for a while. I’ll have plenty of time to get bored and decide I want to see other humans.”
“Okay. Just promise you won’t stay locked in here and go crazy. I don’t want to find you curled up in a weird nest and eating your hair when I get back.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “I promise I won’t turn into a hair-eating nest maker in the week that you’re gone.”
My eyebrows raise. “So you might when I get back?”
Laughing again, she sets her hands on my chest, pushing gently. “I promise I won’t ever turn into that. Happy?”
“Almost,” I murmur, tilting my head down so I can kiss her. “There. Now I’m happy.”
She shakes her head like I’m ridiculous, but there’s no mistaking the pleased smile on her face.
“I suppose I know you won’t be alone thewholetime. You have that meeting with Jackie the wedding planner the day after tomorrow.”
Her nose wrinkles at that reminder. “Event planner,” she corrects.
“To-may-to, to-mah-to.”
“Let’s call the whole thing off.”
I freeze, my brows slamming together. “What?”
She looks confused, giving me a tentative smile. “That’s the song.” Then she sings the line about to-may-tos and to-mah-tos and po-tay-tos and po-tah-tos, ending with, “Let’s call the whole thing off!” Then she slides away, still hanging onto me with one hand like we’re dancing, the other hand raised above her head in a graceful gesture as she keeps singing the chorus about how calling the whole thing off means we’ll part, which would break her heart. Or at least the songwriter’s heart.
Somehow it makes me feel better, though.
Laughing, I reel her in. “Okay. Good. You scared me for a second there.”
She’s smiling as she shakes her head. “I was just singing the song.”
“I see that now.” I kiss her again, just for good measure. “But since we’renotcalling the whole thing off, please pick what you want during the meeting. It’s not something to be stressed over. It’s just a party. There aren’t any wrong choices.”
A sly smile takes over her face. “You sure about that? Because that sounds like a dare.”
Laughing, I nod. “I’m sure. Even if you pick the wildest combination you can think of that makes everyone think, ‘What the fuck?’ I won’t care. I’ll just be happy to be throwing a party to celebrate you.”
“Us,” she corrects.
My smile broadens, and I repeat, “Us.” After one more kiss, I force myself to pull away. I have to get going soon. “But seriously, pick whatever you like. If you’re happy, I’m happy. Okay?”
