Part 31 (1/2)

”Where one is divorce?”

He moved his lower body closer, placing his feet between mine. There was no more than a hair's breadth between us. I'd never catch my breath at this rate. Never.

”No,” he said, his voice soft. ”You don't even remember us getting married, so divorce or annulment or what the f.u.c.k ever is not on. It never was. I just told the lawyers to keep looking busy for the last month while I figured things out. Did I forget to mention that?”

”Yeah, you did.” I couldn't help but smile at that. ”So what's one?”

”One is now. It's this, us living apart and being f.u.c.king miserable without each other.”

”That is pretty horrible.”

”It is,” he agreed.

”Is the song a headliner or are you just going to shove it in somewhere and hope no one notices? It's just a B-side or something, right? Unlisted and hidden at the end?”

”Let's pretend we'd been talking about making one of the songs the name of the alb.u.m.”

”One of them? How much of this brilliant alb.u.m I've been hearing about is going to be about us?”

”I love you.”

”David.” I tried to maintain the mock angry but it didn't work. I didn't have the strength for it.

”Can you trust me?” He asked, his face suddenly serious. ”I need you to trust me again. About more than just the songs. Seeing that worry in your eyes all the time is f.u.c.king killing me.”

”I know.” I frowned, knitting my fingers together behind my back. ”I'm getting there. And I'll learn to deal with the songs. Really. Music is a big part of who you are and it's a huge compliment that you feel that strongly for me. I was mostly just teasing.”

”I know. And they're not all about us splitting up.”

”No?”

”No.”

”That's good. I'm glad.”

”Mm.”

I licked my lips and his eyes tracked the movement. I waited for him to close the distance between us and kiss me. But he didn't and I didn't either. For some reason, it wasn't right to rush this. It should be perfect. Everything between us settled. No people waiting in the next room. Us being this close together, however, hearing the low rumble of his voice, I could have stayed there all day. But Ruby would be wondering what the h.e.l.l had happened to me. I also had a small errand to run before I returned.

”I'd better get back to work,” I said.

”Right.” He drew back, slowly. ”What time would you like me to pick you up tonight?”

”Ah, seven?”

”Sounds good.” A shadow pa.s.sed over his face. ”Do you think your parents will like me?”

I took a deep breath and let it go. ”I don't know. It doesn't matter. I like you.”

”You do?”

I nodded.

The light in his eyes was like the sun rising. My knees trembled and my heart quaked. It was powerful and beautiful and perfect.

”That's all that matters, then,” he said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

My parents hadn't liked him. For the better part of the meal they'd ignored David's presence. Every time they blatantly pa.s.sed him over, I'd opened my mouth to object and David's foot would nudge mine beneath the table. He'd given me a small shake of the head. I'd sat and steamed, my anger growing by the moment. Things had long since moved beyond awkward, though Lauren had done her best to cover the silences.

David for his part had gone all out, wearing a gray b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt with the sleeves secured to his wrists. It covered the bulk of his tattoos. Black jeans and plain black boots completed his meet-the-parents wardrobe. Considering he'd refused to dress up for a ballroom full of Hollywood royalty, I was impressed. He'd even poofed up his hair into a vaguely James Dean do. On most men I would not have liked it. David was not most men. Frankly, he looked gosh-almighty awesome, even with the fading bruises beneath his eyes. And the gracious manner with which he dealt with my parents' abysmal behavior only reinforced my belief in him. My pride that he'd chosen to be with me. But back to the dinner conversation.

Lauren was giving a detailed synopsis of her plans for cla.s.ses for the upcoming semester. My dad nodded and listened intently, asking all the appropriate questions. Nate falling for her was beyond my parents' wildest dreams. She'd been a de facto part of the family for a long time now. They couldn't have been more delighted. But more than that, she seemed to make them take a look at their son anew, noticing the changes in him. When Lauren talked about Nate's work and his responsibilities, they listened.

Meanwhile, David was only on the other side of the table but I missed him. There was so much to talk about that I didn't know where to start. And hadn't we already talked over the bulk of it? So what was the problem? I had the strangest sensation that something was wrong, something was slipping away from me. David had moved to Portland. All would be well. But it wasn't. Cla.s.ses started back soon. The threat of the plan still hung over my head because I allowed it to.

”Ev? Is something wrong?” Dad sat at one end of the table, his face drawn with concern.

”No, Dad,” I said, my smile full of gritted teeth. There'd been no mention of my hanging up on him. I suspected it had been chalked up to broken-hearted girl rage or something similar.

Dad frowned, first at me and then at David. ”My daughter goes back to school next week.”

”Ah, yes,” said David. ”She did mention that, Mr Thomas.”

My father studied David from over the top of his gla.s.ses. ”Her studies are very important.”

A cold kind of panic gripped me as the horror unrolled right before my eyes. ”Dad. Stop.”

”Yes, Mr Thomas,” said David. ”I have no intention of interrupting them.”

”Good.” Dad steepled his hands in front of him, settling in to give a lecture. ”But the fact is, young women imagining themselves in love have a terrible tendency to not think. ”

”Dad-”

My dad held up a hand to stop me. ”Ever since she was a little girl, she's planned to become an architect.”

”Okay. No.”

”What if you go on tour, David?” my father asked, continuing despite my commotion. ”As you inevitably will. Do you expect her to drop everything and just follow you?”

”That would be up to your daughter, sir. But I don't plan on doing anything to make her have to choose between me and school. Whatever she wants to do, she's got my support.”

”She wants to be an architect,” Dad said, his tone absolute. ”This relations.h.i.+p has already cost her dearly. She had an important interns.h.i.+p cancelled when all of this nonsense happened. It's set her back considerably.”

I pushed back, rising from my chair. ”That's enough.”