“Peter, it’s been great seeing you again.”
“It’s been great seeing you too, Gaby.”
Say goodbye. You have to say goodbye now.
“So, I guess this is?—”
“Do you have any plans tomorrow night, Gaby?”
His interruption and his question caught her short. For a fleeting moment, she wondered how to answer the question. Tell a lie and protect her heart? Or tell the truth and risk breaking it?
Honesty won out.
“Uh, no, I don’t have plans,” she said. “Why?”
“It’s our teacher’s night out tomorrow,” Peter said, his expression one of casual amusement. “About a dozen of us get together at the pub for dinner and dancing once the DJ starts. Everyone brings their partner or spouse or whatever and I’m always the sad single bloke who’s there by himself. If you came along, it would stop my colleagues trying to pair me off with random women from the bar.”
Peter laughed and to ease the fraught moment Gaby laughed too as she tried to think how to respond.
She didn’t have to say yes. She could claim a desire to spend the evening with her beloved aunt rather than in a pub with strangers and that would bring all this to an end.
Bringing this to an end was exactly whatshouldhappen.
But then Peter’s expression cleared and all humour vanished from his expression.
“Actually, that’s not why I’m asking,” he said with a tortured sigh. “I’m asking because Iwantyou there with me, Gaby. I want more time with you. Ineedmore time with you before you leave.”
His eyes searched her face, his expression wretched as he waited for her to speak.
Gaby was too dazed by what he’d said to do anything but stare. His words made the ground tilt beneath her, and the way he’d said them with such desperate longing made her dizzy.
“Peter, you can’t say something like that.”
“I can say it. Ididsay it.”
“But… I’m leaving next week. You can’t say something like that when you know I’m leaving.”
He shrugged. “I can’t help it. I want more time with you, Gaby.”
“You don’t think that might be a mistake?”
“It’s just dinner. Some dancing. What could be wrong with that?”
The idea of dancing with him, of feeling his hands on her hips as they moved to the music, was simply too tempting.
“Okay.”
His desperate expression lifted into a cautious smile. “You’ll come with me to the pub tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
His cautious smile widened into one of delight. “Good.”
His eyes searched hers for a long, long beat as they stood facing each other in the darkness. When he stepped closer, his gaze still locked on hers, she understood the silent question he was asking.
Reaching out, she slipped her hand into his and pulled him close. The spicy scent of his aftershave drifted around her as Peter dipped his mouth to hers.
The kiss sent her flying and made her heart beat out a happy dance inside her chest. It brought back every sweet memory of every delicious kiss they’d shared during that long-lost summer together.
