Feels Like Falling - Kristy Woodson Harvey Page 0,53
Wagner got back. I was totally positive that I wouldn’t let Wagner know we were seeing each other. That was set in stone. But I wasn’t sure about anything else. Would tonight be it for us? The thought made me sad, but I also thought that maybe that’s the way it had to be.
That night, when Andrew rang the doorbell, I was dressed and ready for dinner.
He just smiled. “So you’re taking me up on my offer?”
“Why not?” I shrugged. “I guess it’s my boat, right?”
“Hell if I know,” Andrew said.
He looked around. “No Trey?”
I shook my head. “He went back to Raleigh, so Wags and I could have a little time to ourselves.”
We walked down the dock, and he stepped into the hull. Instead of taking my hand to help me, he put his hands on either side of my waist and lifted me. I squealed.
He eyed my shoes. “It didn’t seem safe for you to climb in here with those heels on.”
They were wedges. I sat on the bench seat right beside him. But when he turned the key, the engine cranked and promptly died.
In my life with Greg, that would have equaled pulling out a cell phone to call the mechanic and that our boat date was DOA.
“Oh well,” I said. “I guess we can drive to dinner—or we can cook if you want to.”
Andrew gave me a strange look and then turned his attention to the console. He stuck his head in, made some noise, and then walked to the back of the boat, where he did something near the engine. Returning, he turned the key once more—and, lo and behold, the thing cranked.
“Okay,” he said.
“Wow. That was amazing,” I said, snuggling up under his arm and kissing him. He ran his hand down my bare arm, and I moved closer.
“Not that amazing. The engine bulbs just needed to be pumped. For a boat owner, you don’t know much about boats, do you?”
Seeing him take charge like that made me see Andrew in a different way.
We’d been riding for a couple of minutes before I noticed the huge dark cloud looming just ahead of us. “Uh-oh,” I said. “Think we should turn around?”
Andrew looked up and put his hand out just as the first crack of thunder broke and a few drops began to fall lightly from the sky. “It’s probably only a summer shower,” he said, “judging from the size of the cloud. Let’s go back for a few minutes, and we’ll try again later.”
As he spoke, it was as if the sprinklers were turned on full blast and the bottom fell out of that cloud. “Oh no,” I said, laughing over the roar of the engine and the beating of the rain on the windshield.
Andrew laughed too. “Note to self: get a T-top.” He pulled me closer as the rain soaked us. “On the bright side,” he said, “there’s nothing more romantic than kissing the most beautiful woman you know with rain pouring down.”
I smiled. “That is true.”
A few minutes later, Andrew was docking the boat, running from the bow to the stern to tie it up, while I stood there uselessly, watching the rain drench my shoes. I took them off, and we ran through the grass, laughing as we finally made it through the front door.
Andrew paused and looked at me. He leaned in to kiss me like he was savoring it, like he was memorizing the moment. I realized that I was memorizing the moment too. He nuzzled my neck and, squatting down and reaching for the bottom of my dress, said, “We can’t possibly go traipsing through your house in these soaking wet clothes.”
I raised my arms over my head, suddenly acutely aware of my near-nakedness. I unbuttoned his shirt very slowly, my mind trying to catch up with my heart.
I was thankful that the lot jutted out into a bit of a peninsula. No one could see us.
I noticed Andrew glance behind me, and I turned to follow his eyes. My wedding photo, in a sterling silver frame, engraved with my monogram and the wedding date. I bit my lip and said, “Sorry.”
“For what?” he asked.
“I should probably take that down now. I guess I was just so used to it—”
He shook his head slowly. “You shouldn’t take it down.”
“No?”
“No. Wagner needs to have that picture to remember that even though it’s over, it was happy.”
I smiled sadly. “Then why were you looking at it like that?”