Page 35 of Until Then

I hate to admit it, but I’ve used my vibrator more since moving in with him than I have in the last year combined.

“I’m going to get coffee. You want anything?”

“Ugh, yes.” Caffeine is exactly what I need right now.

“Do you want to go with me, take a break, or do you want me to bring something back for you?”

Shooting to my feet, I snatch my purse off the edge of the desk. “I’ll go with you. Come on, Wonton.” I pat the side of my leg.

Obediently, my little white dog pops up from where he’s been snoozing under the desk and scurries over for me so I can put his leash on.

Outside, the sky is a worrisome gray color, but Derrick strolls with his hands in his pockets like nothing is amiss.

“Should we lock up? Bring an umbrella?”

He turns and walks backward, one brow cocked. “It’s Parkerville, we don’t worry about locking shit up, and so what if it rains? It’s not far.”

I reply with a hum. I guess he has a point.

Wonton follows after him, his tail wagging eagerly. I can’t blame him. If I had a tail, it’d no doubt do the same.

As we approach the coffee shop, I give Derrick my order soI can walk Wonton a bit more. He’s giving me the signals that he needs to go potty, and the last thing I need is for him to have an accident in the office.

Derrick is still in the shop and Wonton has finished his business, so I sit at a table outside to wait. When the wind stirs the hair around my shoulders, I eye the darkening sky with trepidation, hoping we can make it back before the skies open up. Getting rained on won’t be the end of the world, but I’d rather not spend the rest of the day hanging out with a wet smelly dog.

The coffee shop door opens, and Derrick steps out with the bottom of both drinks cupped in one massive hand.

I can’t help but gape. There’s something so hot about that—that his hands are so large and capable that he can handle both cups so easily.

“Hey,” he says, in that deep, gruff voice of his.

My heart tugs, and for a minute I let myself pretend he’s mine. It’s been a while since I dated, and I miss it. My last serious relationship ended after we realized we just weren’t a great fit, but for a while there, I hoped we were headed toward marriage and babies.

“Thanks.” I take the cup from him and stand.

“I got something for you, too.” He plucks a pup cup off the top of his where he’s been balancing it and crouches in front of Wonton.

With an eager tail wag, my pup accepts the gift.

Derrick’s smile is warm as he watches my little dog lap up the treat. It only takes a minute for Wonton to finish the dollop of whipped cream, and when it’s gone, Derrick tosses it into the trash can and we start back to the shop.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, sending skitters of goose bumps along my skin and making me jump.

Derrick curls warm, gentle fingers around my elbow. “It’s just thunder.”

“I don’t like thunderstorms,” I confess on a whimper, eyeing the darkening sky.

He assesses me, his thick brows drawing into a nearly straight line and his mouth turned down. “What happened to make you hate them?”

I purse my lips and twist them to one side, hesitant to tell him. It’s silly, I suppose, my fear. But I take a steadying breath and go for it. “When I was seven, my dad forgot to pick me up from school after a field trip. The chaperones must have thought I was gone, because they all left. And a storm came through and…” I shrug and lower my focus to our feet. I can feel his sympathetic gaze on me, and I hate the pity there. “I was really scared that day, and that feeling never went away.”

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, his fingers grazing mine as we walk.

A shiver works its way up my spine, half fear and half excitement from the touch. Attention still fixed on my feet, noting that they are in desperate need of a pedicure, I shrug. “It’s dumb.”

“No, it’s not. Your feelings are valid.”

The statement is simple, but it goes a long way in making me feel better. With those simple words, I feel lighter, more understood.

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