Heath crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air. “No one else feels that way,” he says.
“Honeybee, Ernestine, can we discuss Heath later?”
“Who the hell is Honeybee?” Heath asks, but I ignore him.
“Ernestine, can you please get Brynne’s coat?” She nods.
“So, let me get this straight,” Heath says loud enough for the entire office to hear. Everyone looks at us in silence, and I brace myself for whatever will come out of Heath’s mouth next. “You two have done it?” When I glare at him, he raises both hands and takes a few steps back. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he whispers.
I put Brynne down on the desk long enough for me to take the coat from Ernestine.
“Oh my, God, Ernestine,” Heath exclaims. He pulls on her sleeve, and she tries to push him away, but the kid is freakishly strong. “That day in the office,” he whispers, and her eyes widen with understanding. “Remember how you couldn’t find Brynne and Uncle Paddy’s door was locked?” Ernestine gasps and nods. “I bet they were—”
“Heath, if you don’t shut up,” I growl. He pretends to zip his lips but inches closer to Ernestine and whispers in her ear. She nods at whatever he says.
“Take my car and go. I’ll get Heath to drive me home.” Uncle Milton taps my shoulder and walks away.
Chapter 42
Brynne
It’s just a sprain, but Colin runs around his place like I suffered a major injury. He puts bottled water in front of me and about a dozen menus for me to choose from. It’s been two hours since we returned from the doctor’s office. My ankle only hurts when I try to walk on it, so he’s put me on the couch with strict orders not to move. That’s after he helped me change out of my clothes and into sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. He bends down and kisses my forehead.
I want to yell at him about Heath, but he’s been so good at taking care of me that I decide not to bring that up until later. He gestures at the menus, and I pick them up, but I’m not hungry.
He sits on the other end of the couch, gently puts my feet on his lap, and massages my heels. It feels good, so I close my eyes and enjoy his strong hands.
“I was thinking we could take a vacation in the next few months. Anywhere you want,” he says as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. I’ve never taken a vacation with a man I’m dating, but I feel like we’ve been on vacation together before.
“Do you want to wear a shirt or not?” I ask.
“Doesn’t matter to me. As long as you’re there.” He bends down and kisses my ankle.
“I want to talk about what happened today, but not tonight. We can tackle that tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he says, “but we did agree not to hide our relationship forever. I’m happy we’re public now. I want the world to know we’re together.”
I want to say that it’s easy for him to say that, but I don’t bother. It won’t matter soon enough, and I don’t want to tell him my plans tonight. I have the feeling he won’t like what I have to say, and for tonight, I want to be taken care of.
No one has done that for me since my mother passed away, and I admit I like it.
“Can you turn on the fireplace?” He takes the remote from the coffee table and does just that. “I’ve always wanted to go to Turkey,” I whisper while he kneads my heel. “We can experience architecture, history, and art. Not to mention the food.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” he says. “I haven’t been in a while.”
“Just us?” I ask.
“Well, I can invite Tigerlilly if you think you’ll get sick of me.” I try to move my feet off his lap, but he grabs them and keeps them in place.
“I’m not amused,” I say.
He leans in to kiss me, but I move my face away.
“Good thing you love me then. I love how jealous you are.” He manages to kiss my cheek.
“I can walk, you know. It doesn’t hurt that much.” He ignores me, and as soon as I put down my toothbrush and rinse my mouth, he scoops me up and carries me out of the bathroom.
It’s late at a little past eleven. He ordered my favorite dinner: baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Afterward, we cuddled on the couch until his hand slid up my shirt. We made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. We woke up only to shower and brush our teeth.