Marriage For One

I parted my lips, but she stopped me from saying what was on my mind.

“Like I said, tonight I want to act like tomorrow will be just another normal day. I just want to enjoy this amazing dinner you very sneakily cooked for us and then try to see what else I can milk out of my situation. I’ll deal with the rest tomorrow.”

“We’ll deal with the rest tomorrow,” I corrected her, and received a nod in response. “What else did you want to milk out of your situation?” I asked, trying to look only mildly curious. I already knew I would do whatever it was she wanted to do.

Her smile came back in full force. “I thought you’d never ask. So…” She scooted forward in her seat, rolling spaghetti onto her fork, eyes on mine. “Remember how you said you’d never watched You’ve Got Mail? I thought a cozy movie would be perfect for tonight. It’s not a wishy-washy film either. I promise you won’t be bored. Any movie that has Tom Hanks in it is amazing, and his on-screen chemistry with Meg Ryan is absolutely perfect. I’m sure you—”

“Okay,” I agreed, keeping my hands flat on the table and my eyes on her.

“We can watch it?”

“I said okay, didn’t I?”

Her laughter took me by surprise, but I wasn’t against it.

“Happy?” I asked, smiling back at her.

Her gaze dropped to my lips. “Yes, Jack. Very. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now stop talking and keep eating.”

She had a big smile the entire time she chattered and pulled me into conversation after conversation during dinner. As good as I was at not showing what I was thinking or feeling, I wasn’t sure if I did a good job that night. I was too worried about what the next day would bring and what I would do if something happened to her when she was out of my reach.

Chapter Eighteen

Jack

We got up from the dining table around seven-thirty PM. It had been one of the longest dinners I’d ever had, but since Rose looked happy, I didn’t and couldn’t have complained. She insisted on getting all the dishes in the dishwasher, and I kept her company until she was done. Her smile never wavered, and it made me happy to see it.

I prepared her some tea and made myself a cup of coffee. I had bought her some truffles on Friday because I knew her weakness for chocolate but hadn’t ended up finding the right moment to give them to her, so I took the elegant box with me and set everything up on the coffee table.

I found the Apple TV remote and started to search for the movie she was talking about. When I came upon it, I charged it to my account and pressed play.

“Wait, wait.” Rose jumped up and ran over to get the lights. “That’s better.”

She came back, sat down, and immediately pulled her legs under her as she reached for the big knitted blanket she had brought down from her room. I handed her the tea mug.

She grabbed my wrist with her right one and tugged me down next to her. “It’s starting, sit down.”

I managed to reach for my own coffee mug and her box of truffles.

Feeling a little uncomfortable about it, I thrust the box into her hand and leaned back against the couch. When she glanced at me in confusion, I focused on the movie that had just begun and took a sip of my coffee.

“What is this?” Balancing her mug on the flat surface of the couch, she sent me a quick look then started opening it. “Chocolate? For me?” she asked, her voice high.

“A client brought it on Friday, and it was just sitting in the office so I thought you might want it.” The lie rolled off my lips so easily, I surprised even myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could already see her taking a bite out of one of them. “You want one?” she asked when she was done driving me crazy and moaning about it. She held the box toward me. “Don’t you like truffles? Come on, take one.”

I gave her an exasperated look and took one, holding it in my hand. “Will you let me watch this movie or are you going to talk the entire time?”

She winced. “You’re one of those. Be prepared for me to talk. I’ll keep pointing things out you can already see for yourself. I’m just excited because you’ve never seen it. Is it past nine?”

I kept my eyes on the screen as Meg Ryan’s character started running toward her laptop to check her email. “Not yet. I’ll tell you when you need to stop. It’s only eight.”

We sat in silence and just watched the movie. Around the ten-minute mark, Meg Ryan finally made it to her shop. The Shop Around the Corner.