Page 42 of Come Back to Me

Damn, she’s sexy-as-fuck.

“Jesus,” I say with a moan. “I hope you know you’re going to pay for this when we get back home tonight.” I smile at her as I begrudgingly remove my hands from her body.

“I was hoping so.” She purrs her words out as she leans in and plants a kiss on my lips before she turns, pulls the door open, and steps outside.

As I drive us to the winery, we hold hands across the console, and she tells me about her week at work.

Once we arrive at our destination, I easily find a parking space and turn the truck off before climbing out and going around to her side to open her door. We make our way inside and are walked to our table by the winery hostess.

Annie’s gorgeous eyes are enormous with awe as she takes in our surroundings.

“Wow, Jack, this is gorgeous.” Her voice is soft as she looks at the view from our table overlooking the lake. “I never even knew this place was here.”

She orders a glass of chardonnay and I ask for a cola, while we peruse the menus. We decide on stuffed pork chops for me, and honey-glazed chicken for her.

While we wait for our food, Annie asks, “Do you think it’s working out having Bean stay with you on your days off? I want to make sure he’s not too much.”

I smile and chuckle, recalling the playfulness of the big brown ball of fur.

“He’s got a lot of energy, I’ll give you that. But, it’s going great. He and Gracie play a lot and it gets her some activity. He’s a good boy. Though when he jumps up on my lap with his eighty-five-pound self, it’s a little much.” I laugh. “Has Gracie been okay for you on my work nights?”

“Absolutely.” She smiles at me, looking radiant. “I thinkit’s a good plan we came up with. This way, Bean isn’t home alone all day while I work, and you don’t have to take Gracie to your parents. Plus, I enjoy sleeping with one of them snuggled on each side of me. As long as you’re okay with it, I think we should keep doing it while it’s working.”

Dinner arrives and we eat. It’s beautifully presented, and the aroma is mouthwatering. So far everything about this evening is perfect.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about my lunch with Teddy today. I agree that something seems a bit off about him, mainly in that he only really talked about superficial stuff, but there weren’t any major red flags. You asked me not to, so I didn’t mention that you had seen him arguing with Sadie at work.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or angry with me,” she answers. “I talked with Sadie. Well, I tried to anyway. She was pretty closed off and basically told me that everything was okay.”

We make small talk through the rest of dinner and, when we’re finished, I pull the small package out I brought with me and slide it across the table toward Annie.

“For your promotion,” I say.

“What’s this?” she asks. “You didn’t have to get me a present, Jack.”

“It’s nothing big. Just something for your desk, if you want, or you can keep it at home,” I respond. I’m suddenly nervous.

Annie opens the package and pulls out the small framed photo of us and the dogs that my mom snapped at my birthday party. She’s laughing at something Shayna said and I’m looking at Annie and smiling in the photo.

She beams as she looks at it.

“I love it,” she whispers. “And I will put it on my desk at work. I’m okay with whoever knowing about us, Jack. Everyday you show me I don’t need to be afraid of getting hurt and you’ve never once made me feel like I have to worry about you doing… what Jason did.”

“I’d never do that to you, Annie. The picture—I chose it because all four of us are in it, but also, it represents the day you decided to take a chance on us and I’m so happy that you did. These last six weeks have been the best of my life. I’d be a fool to do anything to risk us.”

I pull out a small envelope from the inside of my jacket pocket and push it over to her. “I struggle to express what I’m feeling sometimes, but I want you to know. So, I wrote some of my thoughts here for you.”

“You wrote me a letter? Can I read it now?” Her voice is hushed and her glistening eyes are fixed on mine.

A tear escapes from her right eye, and I wipe it away with my thumb, cupping her face.

“Yeah, I did, and yes, you can. But please tell me that’s one of those happy tears, sweet girl.”

“It is, I promise. It means so much that you would care enough to write your thoughts for me.”

Her hands tremble as she opens the letter, and I sit quietly as she reads it.

ANNIE

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