Page 189 of Sing with Me

The company made all the difference.

“No, you don’t.” Diehl signed the check. He tipped the server over twenty percent. She went away happy.

Diehl walked Skye to his Ferrari, parked in the back of the restaurant. It had no valet parking, but even if it did, Diehl did not want anyone to touch his car other than himself and his mechanic, who had to take it out for a spin every now and then whenever Diehl was too busy to drive it anywhere.

The gentleman that he was or wanted to be, Diehl opened the passenger side door for Skye.

Before she got in the car, she touched his arm. “Thank you for dinner. That was sweet of you.”

“Good food, good company. I meant everything I said.” He waited, wondering whether she would let him kiss her.

She didn’t seem to encourage him either way, so he reached for her. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“I missed you all week,” she sort of mumbled.

But Diehl heard every word.

“I missed you too.”

She stepped back. “Nothing like talking face-to-face, is there?”

“No. I’m happy you agreed to have dinner with me.” Diehl still held her hands. “I’m sorry you found out about the invitation the same time Jared did.”

“I’m glad you did that because it drew the line for him. You rescued me. My hero.” She smiled. “Now let’s stop talking about other men. I know you want to kiss me.”

Diehl replied by proving she was right.

He threaded his fingers through her hair, accidentally loosening the ties on top of her hair. “Oops.”

Skye’s hair cascaded onto her shoulders in large waves. There was only one other time Diehl had seen her hair down. It was at her restaurant on Jekyll Island.

“You have beautiful hair.” His lips found hers again.

And Diehl knew he wanted to be with her—and only her—for as long as God would let them be together. A lifetime, he hoped.

They stood there for a while in each other’s arms, just as the sun started to dip above the tall trees in old Atlanta in this corner of Buckhead. Around them cars came and went, people walked to and fro.

“We should let other people have our parking spot,” Skye said.

“Sensible Skye,” Diehl whispered into her hair. It smelled like citrus and rain. He kissed the base of her ear, and noticed that she did not have any ear piercings.

He made a note to himself not to buy her any pierced earrings.

Other than that, he’d buy her the world if he could.

And yet, what he knew about Skye so far told him that she wouldn’t want him to do that. She probably wouldn’t mind if he gave to charities in her name.

Like that reward money for finding Elisa. He had written a check to Seaside Chapel for thirty thousand dollars. It had been Skye’s vigilance that led to useful tips for the police. And yet she didn’t want a dime of it. In fact, she tithed it all to the church for ministry work.

Selfless Skye.

This is definitely the woman I want to marry.

Chapter Fifty-One

There were several routes to drive to Athens from Atlanta, depending on where Skye happened to be. When they got in the car, Diehl asked her for suggestions when the dashboard GPS showed several routes.

“I’ve been to Athens a long time ago. Once or twice, tops,” Diehl said. “I went to a Georgia Bulldogs football game. And to dinner at another time.”

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