Page 87 of Trouble in Love
Tilly stilled. “No. No, you can’t.”
Wow. Okay. Wow. That … hurts. This is why I don’t do friends.Digging deep inside me, I found the strength, or maybe the stubbornness, to halt my tears and begin to stand. “Oh, right. Okay. sorry if I’ve been too much. I get it. I’ll make my own way home—”
“No, no, Polly,” Tilly grabbed my shoulders and held me in place while grabbing a tissue from her bag and dabbing over my face. “It’s not that, I promise. I’m here any time you need. It’s Luca, he’s coming up behind you.”
Luca
Nerves were part of my daily life. When needed, I could harness them to pump me up, slow me down, and sometimes to stop me all together. But the heart stopping, bone shaking terror I felt approaching Polly, reached an unprecedented level of shitting myself.
What if she doesn’t like it? What if she just wants to go home? What if this is a giant, massive fuckup?
Nature had set the scene for my big surprise. The air was crisp but not cold. The water was calm with a glass-like finish, and the setting sun painted the sky above in ombré shades of rose, lavender, and lilac. But the thing that stood out above all the rest was the silhouette of my beautiful wife, nestled in the sand of our own slice of heaven.
Ours.
Polly’s and mine.
Ana, Mom, and I were so consumed by setting up the surprise that we didn’t notice Tilly’s message that they had arrived. Ispotted her first, squatting before Polly, her hands bracing her hunched shoulders.
“Princess,” I called out, waving like I’d not seen her for six months. “How was the meeting?”
Polly snaped up straight, her tone unusually high as she replied. “Great. Yep, really good. Great.” She stood, brushed the sand off her plump bottom, and turned. Unease knotted my stomach. I knew that face. That plastic smile. We’d come so far … become so close. I thought it was a thing of the past, but there it was, that mask of hers, still sliding into place. “Polly, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She replied with an indignant head shake. “I’m just tired. I think the jetlag had finally kicked in.”
“Jetlag? Polly, we landed in the states almost three weeks ago. It’s not jetlag. Tell me what happened.”
“Ahem,” Tilly cleared her throat, leaned in and whispered into Polly’s ear, before glancing back to me. “I’ll leave you two alone to enjoy your night.” She passed by me, reaching up to brush my arm as she did, “You did good, D’Cruz. She’s a sweetheart.”
“She is.” I nodded, my eyes never shifting from Polly. After waiting to hear the clink of the gate closing behind me, I stepped in and wrapped my arms around my wife. Just like always, her head nestled into the crook of my neck, and she sighed, melting further into me.
“I promise I’m okay, Luca. All this fresh air makes me a little homesick.”
“Promise that’s all it is?”
“I … I promise.” Her hesitation made the whispered reply hard to believe, but I was slowly learning when Polly could be pushed. This didn’t seem like the time. Luckily, I had something I hoped would bring her true smile back.
“As much as I want to stand here and hold you all night, I have something to show you. A few things, actually.”
“Are those things currently tucked into your boxers?” She giggled. It was genuine. Sexy. Relieving.
“Not this time, Princess.” Capturing a strand of windswept hair, I tucked it behind her ears. “As accommodating as my underwear has to be, the size and wriggly-ness of my surprises rule it out.”
“Wriggly-ness? Hmm.” She laughed again and leaned back, showing me her true, happy smile—the one that had my heart thundering against my ribcage each time I saw it. “Cowboy, you have piqued my interest.”
“Awesome, let’s go then before I change my mind about showing you what’s up in my boxers.” With a quick kiss to her forehead, I took Polly by the hand and led her back up the path, turning to the right at the fork that would lead either to the house or the gate to the street.
Polly hesitated. “Wait, don’t we have to go out there? This looks like a private yard.”
“It is a private yard.” Reaching over the weathered timber gate, I undid the salt-rusted latch and swung it open.
Her beautiful dark eyes, shining in the moonlight, narrowed. “Who’s yard, Luca?”
“Some really hot guy with massive arms. Heard his wife is smokin’.”, I bent, grabbed beneath her knees and swept her bridal style from her feet.
“Luca!” Her laughter as she kicked her dangling legs was joyous, “What are you doing?”
“Carrying you across the threshold of course. Welcome home, Princess.”
