The "What If" Guy (24 page)

“I would.”

“We should try to find some music around here, too.”

“It’s a date. I loved First Friday. Can we go again sometime?”

“Of course. Every time I went before you came back to town, I thought of you. I knew you would enjoy it.” Henry’s eyes glimmered in the candlelight.

“I really did. I love hole-in-the-wall cafés,” I smiled.

“They’re the best kind.”

“Remember the coffee shop we always went to before class?”

“They had the best Chai tea anywhere,” he said. “We got kicked out for making out in a booth there.”

“We got booted from a lot of places for making out.”

He winked at me just as the waitress arrived to take our drink order.

The entire dinner went that way. Bantering back and forth, reminiscing about old times, flirting, laughing. By the time we finished the final course—chocolate mousse, talk about the art of seduction—our legs were entangled underneath the table. We’d scooted next to each other, and gazed at the beautiful view.

Henry leaned over and kissed me. “I need to tell you something. I don’t want a fling with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Did this mean we weren’t going to be alone after dinner? Would that constitute a fling?

“I don’t want to have a quick affair with you.”

“Okay.”

“I want more with you. I’m not trying to sleep with you just because we have unfinished business. You mean more to me than that.”

A lump formed in my throat. “I don’t want a fling either. I never did. Not then, not now.” I took his face in my hands and pressed my lips to his, my heart skittering. His lips felt so perfect.

After our kiss, Henry whispered in my ear, his breath dancing down my neck. “Can we be alone?”

“Good lord, yes, please,” I said, and grabbed my sweater.

We left the restaurant and made our way to the hotel, which couldn’t have been more fabulous. Three blocks from The Edge, it also overlooked the river and the downtown lights. One of the oldest hotels in Spokane, it had recently been restored to its original turn-of-the-century charm. Our room featured a marble fireplace and a four-poster bed with an ornately carved headboard and a golden, satin coverlet. The room was somewhat dim, lit only by a small desk lamp. The gas flame flickering in the fireplace added a romantic ambiance that made my pulse race. I turned in a slow circle like a little kid.

“This is amazing.” I sighed, my arms outstretched.

“I’ll say.” Henry leaned against the fireplace and stared at me.

I stopped turning and cocked my head. “You didn’t have to do something so extravagant.”

His gaze warmed me. “Of course I did.”

“I don’t need all this. I just needed some alone time with you.”

He shook his head. “I would give you the world, if I could.”

“I just want you.”

Henry’s expression grew serious. “You never lost me.” He stood with one arm on the mantel and his other hand in his pocket, holding his jacket open.

“You never lost me, either.” I unbuttoned my sweater. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I made the worst mistake of my life when I walked away from you.”

Henry straightened and put his other hand in his pocket. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re here now.”

My sweater slid down my arms to the floor. I walked slowly toward Henry, and he watched closely.

I ran my hands up his chest, stopping at his tie, which I tugged and loosened, never taking my eyes off of his. Once the tie came undone, I pulled it free of his collar and dropped it. I glided my hands across his shoulders, pushing his suit jacket down his arms. Henry moved his face closer to mine, but I stepped just out of his reach.

“Slow down,” I said softly, pulling his shirt free from the waist of his slacks. One by one, I unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt, then raked my fingernails gently across his chest, his flesh warm beneath my touch.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I added the shirt to the growing pile on the floor, stood on my toes, and kissed his collarbone.

Henry moaned. “I’ve waited so long for this.” He buried his face in my hair, traced his hands down my sides to my hips, and grasped firmly. The sensation sent a shockwave of anticipation through my entire body.

“I have, too.” I tipped my head as his lips blazed a trail down my neck. I shuddered. “I’m nervous.”

Henry looked at me, his hands finding the zipper at the back of my dress. “I am, too,” he admitted softly. “But I’ll take very good care of you.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

He slowly unzipped my dress. All of my nerve endings came alive. Henry pushed my dress past my shoulders, following its path with his lips. The fabric spilled from my body, pooling at my feet. I watched proudly as he gazed at my fancy slip, his eyes widening.

“You’re so…”

He walked me backwards, his mouth taking mine so hard that my head buzzed. The only sounds in the room were our labored breaths and the hiss of the fire.

We stepped in unison until I backed into the marble-topped desk. Henry placed me on the cool desktop and settled himself between my knees. He slid his hands beneath my slip, touching along the sides of my thighs. Heat blazed in my core. A room service menu and several pens hit the floor, but we didn’t stop, our movements becoming more frenzied. Henry brought the bottom of the slip up past my waist, then squeezed my hips tightly.

I gasped.

He pulled his head back, looking as if words waited on the tip of his tongue. We were both breathless, panting like we’d run around the block before coming up to our room.

I cupped his face. “I never stopped wondering where you were,” I whispered, nipping at his lower lip. “I always wondered whether you still thought about me.”

“How could I not?” Light from the flames danced across his face. “You were everything to me.”

I moved my hands to his belt and began unbuckling. I sighed, linking my legs behind his back, submerging myself in a wave of bliss. Henry slowly lowered me onto the desk, my back pressing against the icy surface. He ran his hands over my silk-covered breasts, standing above me with an approving stare.

Henry grasped my legs softly. He bent, tenderly kissed the backs of my knees and the insides of my thighs, then brought them together at the edge of the desk. Moving deliberately and deliciously slowly, Henry scooped me up and cradled me to his chest. He kissed me as he walked to the bed, then placed me atop the satin coverlet.

He stood before me, in the shadows, undressing himself. Seeing him without his clothes fulfilled all of the fantasies I’d had about him over the years. I stared in quiet amazement.

Henry pulled my slip over my head and set it aside. I lay on the bed, basking in his gaze. I had no more fear, no more concern about how I looked. No more worry about how much time had passed since we’d been together.

Henry’s eyes filled with adoration, and my entire body softened. I was pliable beneath his touch—like clay to a sculptor. Whatever he asked of me, I would do. I loved Henry. I always had.

Henry rested himself next to me, his body warm against mine.

“Touch me,” I begged. “Please.”

He quieted me with another brush of his lips, setting off fireworks behind my closed eyelids. I arched my body against his. He touched me with gentle, reverent desire, his fingers tracing lazy lines down my bare hips and legs.

“Autumn.” Henry whispered my name, his whiskers tickling my skin. I sighed contentedly. He covered my body with his.

“Yes?” I clung to the back of his neck. My heart pounded in my ears. I could feel Henry’s heart beating, too.

“I love you.”

Chapter Eighteen

I drifted into work the following afternoon with a dumb smile splayed all over my face. Doris and Helen watched me with blatant curiosity.

“The date was fine,” I told them, before I put on my mustard-colored smock and began dusting the glass cases, humming. Their eyes bored holes into the back of my head, but I didn’t offer any details.

I could still feel the trails of Henry’s fingers on my body, and places on my face were inflamed from the scruff of his whiskers. I smelled him on my skin, felt his fingers intertwined with mine. The sound of Henry telling me that he loved me echoed in my head.

Henry loved me.

It felt too good to be true. My heart tripped. I pressed my hand to my ribs to calm myself and grinned while I dusted. I didn’t have to explain anything to Doris and Helen. I didn’t have to justify why I was walking around in a love-induced daze.

A love-induced daze was a good way to describe my night with Henry. We’d scarcely slept, preferring to roll around together for most of the night, stopping only to order room service at midnight. We’d sat together in front of the fire, wearing only a blanket, fed each other bites of our late night snack, and told jokes. Henry made me laugh easily—one of the best things about being with him. There’d been an ease between us, despite the newness of our physical relationship. Our conversation had been punctuated with “I love you” and “I love you, too,”—words I’d been dying to hear and say since I’d first seen Henry in his classroom in October.

“Autumn.”

I turned to see Holly and her round belly coming toward me.

“What are you doing out and about?” I pulled a stool from behind the register and patted the top. “Sit down.”

Holly frowned, but obliged. “The doctor said partial bed rest. Don’t nag me. I had to get out of that house. Tabitha is watching the boys while I pick up my iron supplements.”

“Fine. Hey, Helen?” I called over my shoulder. “Holly is here for her pills. Are they ready?”

“Five more minutes,” she answered.

“I was hoping she’d say that,” Holly quipped.

I smiled. “More time away from home?”

“No, more time to hear the details about your date.” Her eyes sparkled.

“Oh.” Heat rose in my cheeks. “
That
. I was wondering how long it would take you to ask.”

“Inquiring minds want to know.” Holly snatched a candy bar off a nearby rack and unwrapped it. “I see you’re pulling the afternoon shift. Is that because you were extra tired this morning?”

I avoided her eyes. “No.”

“Cody drove past Henry’s house this morning and said that his truck wasn’t in the driveway.”

“Good grief. You two are stalkers.” I looked to make sure that Doris and Helen were out of earshot. “We were somewhere else this morning.”

Holly squealed with delight. “I knew it. Did the fancy new underwear do the trick? Did he like the dress? Did you wear your hair down like I told you?”

I grinned, giddy. “Yes. Yes. And yes.”

“And?”

“And what?”

Holly swatted me. “Stop being difficult. Tell me what happened. Was it magical? Was it sexy? Was it good?”

When I said nothing, her eyes grew wide. “Oh crap, was it bad? I never even considered that.”

“No, it was great,” I exclaimed. “Henry planned a magical date. He took me to First Friday in Spokane.”

“What’s that?”

I explained, and her face lit up. “That is
so
you.”

“I know. And then he took me to The Edge.”

“It’s impossible to get into The Edge. Cody and I tried last year for our anniversary. We couldn’t get a reservation two weeks ahead of time.”

“We not only got in, but we had the best table in the place.”

Holly rested her chin in her hand. “That is so cool. So he took you to the art shows and then to the nicest restaurant in town. What did you think?”

“It was so romantic and intimate. We talked about old times, his job, my painting. We talked about everything. It was hard to concentrate, though.”

“Why’s that?”

I looked around self-consciously. “Because I wanted him.”

Holly clapped her hand over her mouth. “You hussy.”

“Don’t say that.” I covered my face. “I couldn’t help it. It’s been thirteen years in the making. And he was so thoughtful. Taking me to an art show because he knew how much I’d enjoy it. And the way he looked at me—like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. It was the most incredible night I’ve ever had.”

Holly sighed.

“He encouraged me to keep painting. Not to stop with the mural at Layla’s house, but to advertise and schedule jobs. And he has such great plans for his students. He wants to change their lives, to broaden their perspectives on music and art and history. He wants to create a passion for learning. He inspires me.”

She listened with a smile.

“The night was amazing,” I said in a low voice. “Henry is so talented at everything he does. He is such a giving partner. All night, he focused on every need I had. Treated me like a precious gem. I’ve never been treated so tenderly. But at the same time, he…” I fanned myself, an excited giggle escaping my lips. “He completely rocked my world.”

“I knew it.” Holly said with a grin. “I mean, you can just look at him and tell that he’s got skills.”

I gave her a sideways glance. “That he does.”

“So, you basically spent the night in a fancy hotel being swept away by the man you’ve been in love with for thirteen years,” she whispered. “Sounds like a great way to start a weekend.”

“It doesn’t end there.” I rubbed at a chaffed spot on my face. “Henry told me that he loves me.”

Holly gasped, drawing the attention of Doris and Helen. I shushed her and pretended to dust.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “Are you joking? He said the three magic words?”

A nervous wave rolled through my stomach. “Yes. I hope he meant it.”

“Of course he meant it.” Holly’s tone softened. “You two have been in love with each other for years. Did you say it back?”

“Yes.”

We sat in silence for a moment. Finally Holly spoke, “So you guys went to elusive
love
territory. What happens now?”

My throat tightened. “We move forward, I hope.”

“What do you mean, you hope?”

“I hope Henry doesn’t regret saying that to me. I hope he doesn’t regret last night.”

“Why would he?”

I deflated. “Because it seems too good to be true.”

“Why?” Holly demanded. “Don’t tell me that you don’t think you deserve happiness. Because if you start all of that self-deprecating crap, I’m gonna scream.”