Page 84 of Kiss Me Now
Chapter Twenty-Six
Brooke
When the final bellrang on Friday, I followed the last kid right out of the door. Normally, I worked for another hour or two in my classroom, getting everything ready for Monday, catching up on grading. There never seemed to be enough time to get it all done.
But today, I just wanted to go home. I wanted to go home, crawl into bed, dive into a beach book full of beautiful people and solvable problems, and I wanted to forget all of mine. I wanted to read a story about people who figured out how to get love right, because I had failed at it so badly.
I hoped against all reason that if Ian did make it to his gran’s this weekend that he would come over to declare his undying love and sweep me off my feet.
But why would he? I had practically taken out a billboard shouting: I DON’T WANT TO DATE YOU.
Only...it didn’t seem to matter how many times I explained to myself that it didn’t make sense, or that my biology degree told me my brain had all the control of my body: my heart was NOT having it. My heart wanted Ian. His jokes. His cheerful help in my house. His kindness to his grandmother. His sharp mind. His teasing.
His kisses.
Oh, those kisses.
I’d found myself reliving those kisses in the woods multiple times a day. It didn’t matter if I was grading pop quizzes, pulling weeds, or wrestling carpet. That kiss would flash in my head, and suddenly I’d find my cheeks flushed—and if I let myself follow the memory—my palms sweaty.
I drove home, the route almost automatic now, my mind on what I would say or do if Ian came to Miss Lily’s this weekend.
We still had some big obstacles in the way of a relationship. I didn’t want to move to DC. There wasn’t much scope for a private investigator in sleepy Creekville. And maybe it was stupid to worry about those things when we might not work out. We may not ever have to worry about a discussion of how we fit into each other’s lives.
But the way I felt about Ian...I’d never felt like this before. I’d had a semi-serious boyfriend in college, but he’d never made me feel like even the air I breathed crackled with energy the way Ian did when he was around. I didn’t need Miss Lily’s wisdom to tell me that was rare. She’d known all along that Ian and I were a match, thus her ridiculous scheme to lure him home to meet me.
Maybe Ian was only coming back this weekend to say he was sorry. But if he knew that I had changed my mind, that I wanted to figure out where this thing went...
The rest was details. I could get a teaching job in DC. The schools there probably needed me more than Lincoln did.
I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. All I knew for sure was that finding out how real these feelings between Ian and I were was worth it. I stepped on the gas and leaned forward, like that would somehow make my car go even faster. I was anxious to get home and get ready for Ian. I’d choose a pretty dress, a bottle of wine, and practice my best apology for pushing him away so many times.
Because this feeling? It felt a lot like love, and that was worth saving.
I was straining to look for Ian’s car in Miss Lily’s driveway before I even turned into my own, and when the sun glinted off the sleek dark blue of his BMW, my grip relaxed on the steering wheel even as butterflies exploded in my stomach.
Ian had come. At least I had a chance to make this right.
I turned into my own driveway, but it wasn’t until I stepped out of my car that I realized my front porch had undergone a renovation: the porch swing was now hanging from the perfect spot on the side of the porch.
And Ian was sitting in the middle of it.
My heart gave the stutter skip it’d gotten the last few times I’d seen him. More biology I didn’t understand.
“Ian?”
He rose from the swing and came to the top of the stairs to meet me as I made my way up. “Hey,” he said, taking the tote from my shoulder. “I hope it’s okay that I put it up. Seemed like the perfect spot.”
“It is,” I said glancing toward it. He’d even stolen some pillows I recognized from Miss Lily’s family room to brighten it up. “It looks really good there. But...”
“Wait,” he said. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’ve kind of got a speech, if that’s okay?”
He looked at me with more uncertainty than I’d ever seen on his face, and I gave a nod. I wasn’t sure I’d found the right words myself yet anyway.
“I’ve always been raised to respect women and to listen when they tell you what they want. And I heard you loud and clear when you said you only wanted to be friends. But I also think you’re the kind of woman who appreciates having all the facts before making a decision. So I wondered if I could give you some additional data. For science?”
A small smile tugged at my lips. “Okay. For science.”
“I have this plan to be in this swing every Friday afternoon when you get home. And to sit in it with you every Monday evening before I drive back to the city Tuesday morning. Because a lot of the work I do can be done remotely, and my bosses signed off on it. I’ll be in the office Tuesday through Friday morning, and be back here to greet you after work every Friday afternoon. Sometimes I’ll have to stay in the city over the weekend, but Sherrie can handle most of what comes up without me.”
