He’d stopped kissing her before it got too heavy (or, to the point of no return as it already was heavy) and muttered, “You have to go.”
She looked adorably disappointed before she sighed, “I have to go.”
Prentice grinned at her, put his forehead to hers and whispered, “Love you, baby.”
She closed her eyes, her hand coming to his neck, she squeezed, opened her eyes and said, “Love you too, Pren.”
Then she’d touched her mouth to his and exited the car, blowing a kiss at him through the window before running gracefully up the steps. Then she stopped, turned to him, waved wildly and blew him another kiss.
He’d waited until the door closed behind her.
That was the last time anyone had called him Pren.
Until now.
And that was the last time he saw his Elle.
Until now.
Yes, he definitely needed to get the f**k out of there.
He freed the strap, slipped the shoe off her foot and dropped it to the floor.
Before he could move, she was up, moving lithely, standing in front of him and she slapped her hands on his chest so hard, it stung.
This surprised him.
It surprised him enough that he didn’t move.
What she did next would surprise him more.
She leaned in, her bodyweight resting against his, her hands sliding up so her fingers could curl on his shoulders and the sting disappeared instantly and another feeling altogether stole through him.
Face tipped to his, she breathed, “Can you believe? Annie and Dougal. Mikey’s so right. It is a fairytale come true.”
Prentice noticed at once that she smelled of fruit.
Any other drunken person smelled unpleasantly drunk. Only Elle could smell like fruit when she was smashed.
And the smell was intoxicating.
“What have you been drinking?” he asked, his hands going to her h*ps for the sake of comfort and finding far more than comfort when his fingers curled into her soft flesh.
“Lemon, lime cordial and vodka,” she answered. “Annie introduced me to them and they’re great. They taste like candy.”
“Aye, but candy can’t get you pissed.”
She squeezed his shoulders and exclaimed, “You’ve got that right!” Then she giggled.
Before he could process his more than pleasant reaction to her giggling while pressed against him, her hands slid from his shoulders to around his neck, she went up on tiptoe and pressed her soft body to his, giving him a tight hug.
“Two days, Pren,” she whispered in his ear. “Two days and Annie and Dougal are finally going to be married.” Her arms tightened, her head turned and he could feel her lips against his neck and he liked it, too much. “Twenty years and, finally, they’re happy.”
She held onto him and his arms slid around her, holding her close.
This was the woman he fell in love with.
Twenty years and he again had her in his arms.