Page 35 of Speechless

“Well, you’re definitely yelling in the wrong direction. He’s been downstairs working for a few hours now. But I’m happy to be of service.”

He reaches his hand out as if to say “turn around now” so I follow suit. This really shouldn’t be a big deal but whenever I get this close to Henry my whole body warms up. Ever since I woke up wrapped around him I can’t get these thoughts out of my head. I feel his knuckles against my bare back as he reaches for the zipper. He stands so close I can feel the warmth coming off of his body, and it takes effort not to sigh. His skin feels rough against my own, and I can’t stop the image of both of his hands splayed against my bare back from entering my mind. He places a hand at the nape of my neck to scoop my hair over a shoulder and I shiver at the touch. My mind has now gone from his hands on my back to him tugging on my hair—I can hear my breath catch. The vision is blinding.

Henry clears his throat as he removes his hands from me. “All set, then. How’d I do?”

I think pretty well, considering I’ve dreamed up an entire fantasy in the last twenty seconds. I banish the image and turn toward him, smoothing down the sides of my dress. “Great, I think. I just hope this thing still fits me, I don't remember it being this difficult to put on.”

“Wow.” He doesn’t say anything else, just holds his gaze toward me. I guess it’s still a good dress.

“Shall we?” He extends his hand toward the door and for a second, I wonder if thisisa date.

Once we’re seatedat Sugarfish all I can think about is what’s going to happen when we order. Was Nobu just a fluke? Does he always get like that at restaurants? Should I just assume I’m going to order for both of us? We haven’t talked about what happened the other night, and I don’t really want to bring it up. He’s made enough comments about his way with words that I know he has some anxiety about public situations. But why make him revisit something he finds embarrassing? It doesn’t bother me and he shouldn’t have to feel bad about himself, ever.

The waiter approaches and pours us each a glass of water. I’m trying to catch Henry’s eye so we can gameplan but he just smiles at me.

“We’ll both have the Nozawa, and a bottle of Sauv Blanc. Thank you.” The waiter gives a slight bow and walks away with our menus.

Huh, it’s almost like he rehearsed that. I didn’t miss that he never moved his eyes from me when he spoke, but the look on his face screamsproudso I’m happy for him.

“It’s a prix fixe menu. Don’t worry, you’ll love it. It’s one of the few places I’ve actually been before.” He pauses but has a strained look on his face. “I erm, I just have to say—your dress is—yellow looks great on you.”

The way he stumbles over his words makes me smile. “Thanks, it’s my favorite color.”

“Sunny.” The word sounds melodic as it escapes his lips. And then he starts singing something else under this breath.

“What was that, Henry?”

“Ah, sorry. I can get lost in my head sometimes. You just reminded me of a song,Sunny. Do you know it?” He hums quietly but I don’t recognize the tune. I can make out some lines though, specifically:my life was filled with rain, and thennow the dark days are gone, and the bright days are here. It sounds like something I’d like to listen to.

As I shake my head he promises to play it for me later. “You’ll love it. It’s the perfect song for you.”

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

“Because you remind me of sunshine.”

We talkabout Henry’s current project,The Dragon Wars, over edamame, and transition to some of his older stuff that I’m eager to learn about when the tuna sashimi arrives. But once the sushi courses start coming, he says he wants to talk about me.

“Really, my life is not very interesting. You already know anything of significance. Wow, the rice is warm. This is incredible.” I make a note to never attempt sushi at home again, I just want to become a regular at Sugarfish.

“I think yours was just as delicious.” He takes a small sip of wine. I’ve been noticing he’s not a big drinker compared to the rest of the house. “Tell me about your new book. You said you’ve been writing a bit these last few days.”

“Okay. Still very early stages. I barely have an outline to be honest. It’s kind of aBeauty and the Beastretelling, except backward, I think?”

“So, the female’s the beast? How feminist of you.”

“No, no I’m thinking she goes to the mansion on purpose, maybe agrees to an engagement or something, maybe it’s arranged by her parents? Like the end of a typical fairy tale but it's the beginning of the story instead.”

“A reverse fairy tale. Sounds interesting. Can you tell me more? I need details if I’m to write a song for it.”

A song formybook? Henry is like my own personal brand of swoon.

“Okay, so it seems like the perfect fairy tale romance, but then once she gets there, she slowly realizes he’s a ‘beast’ and there’s this secret room in the house that she’s not allowed in but when she sneaks in there she finds this whole group of men that he works with . . . I don’t know . . . maybe psychopaths? Serial killers? A cult? Actually, maybe vampires. I haven’t really gotten that far. I just know I want it to be dark, no happily ever after for this one. I’m trying something new.”

Woah, Luce, way to sell it. I better not ramble like this to my agent.

“Lucy, have we really been that cruel to you?”

“What? No, what do you mean?”

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