lips. “Yes, just like you got upset when you saw me with Natalie.”
She shrugged. “Who said I got upset about Natalie?”
“Seriously?”
Ok, so she had gotten upset. “Now that you’ve explained that she hadn’t replaced me as your sex-buddy, I won’t be getting upset anymore.”
“Nobody could replace you, Toni. And as for you and Muraca, I was pissed, even though you’d told me you wouldn’t go out with anyone I knew. I know how persistent Muraca can be.”
Toni frowned. “You thought I couldn’t handle him?”
He also frowned. “A part of me didn’t want you to handle him, Toni. And now that we’re back together, I definitely don’t.”
Toni didn’t say anything because she wasn’t used to this possessive Drew. She rather liked him. “What do you suggest?”
“I think we should start dating like regular people. If anyone thinks it’s any of their business, I have no problem letting them know it’s not.”
Personally, she did not like the sound of that. “I just got here, Drew. I’d rather not become the subject of office gossip.”
He released a deep sigh. “Okay, then, what do you think we should do?”
“I think we should take things slow,” she said.
“How slow are we talking?”
“During the week, it’ll be strictly business. However, the weekends will belong to us. From Friday night until Monday morning, we can do whatever we want to do.”
“And if we’re seen?”
“If we’re seen, we’ll handle it.”
“Are those your rules? No hanky-panky during the week. Just on the weekend?”
She nodded. “Those are my rules.”
Then, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms round his neck. And Toni knew he was in agreement, albeit grudgingly, when he slanted his mouth over hers and slowly eased her back down in the bed.
“YOUR HOME IS SIMPLY beautiful, Drew.”
“Thanks. I’ll give you an official tour later. Right now, we need to dig into our pizza before it gets cold.”
He watched her shed her coat and hang it in the closet off the foyer. Another thing that made him feel good inside was that they were a couple again. After agreeing to restart their affair, they had made love again—a couple more times, in fact. It had been late afternoon before they had gotten out of her bed.
He had agreed to her rules, although he didn’t particularly like them. It reminded him of how things had been when they’d been sex-buddies, and the weekends had been all they had. Evidently, she had not thought of that. He figured sooner or later Toni would realize what she’d proposed, and when she did, she wouldn’t hesitate to remove the restrictions. Until then, he would play by her rules and get as much out of the weekends as he could.
Before leaving her place, he had hung the television on the wall and then she had showered while he had taken the empty boxes out. They decided to do takeout and eat at his place. He’d remembered how much she had enjoyed Joe’s Pizza whenever she’d come to town in the past.
“Who did the decorating for you? Or did you do it yourself?” she asked, following him into his kitchen.
“I hired someone.”
“She did a great job. The photos on the wall are beautiful, and everything blends in nicely. It feels and looks like a home. I am proud of you, Drew.”
Her words meant a lot. “Thanks,” he said over his shoulder while getting plates out the cabinets. He doubted she knew how good he felt now that they had resolved the issues between them.
“By the way,” he said, when they were seated at his kitchen table with pizza and glasses of wine. “Remember a while back when I mentioned that I would be going to Sheppard Granger’s birthday party in Charlottesville?”
She nodded.
“I would like you to come with me. It’s on a Saturday night, Memorial Day weekend. Joy and Stonewall will be there, too, including a number of people you met at their wedding.”
“Sounds like fun. I’d love to go.”
He smiled over at her. She had certainly made his day, but then she’d done that from the moment he’d seen her this morning. When he had arrived at her house, he certainly hadn’t expected the day to end like this.
But while he was happy, he knew this wouldn’t be that simple. All their years apart had changed them. They were different people, and things between them had to change, too. But the one thing he wanted more than anything was for her to understand that she was the first woman he’d truly wanted to