“I’ll do the words,” Dave said. “That sounds easier. Thank you. This is something Griffin will never be able to top.”
The women gave him smiles that looked a little worried.
“What?” he asked.
“You’ll do great, sweetie!” Michelle said.
They all nodded and smiled enthusiastically. Maybe a little too enthusiastically, but that was them. He felt good about their talk.
~ ~ ~
Griff waited outside of Steph’s house after school the next day for her to get home from work. Mandy had gotten some good shots of him and Steph yesterday and last night when he sang to her, so he didn’t need to stay. The thing was, now that he’d seen Steph again and met Dave, he had to hang around. The way Dave looked at Steph made Griff crazy. That was his wife. Sure, he hadn’t been around in a few years, but facts were facts. Legally, she was his. He smiled to himself as he watched Steph pull up in her VW Beetle. He’d forgotten how feisty she was. Like a breath of fresh air after all the jaded women he’d been with in L.A.
He really did want another chance with her. And wouldn’t that be even better press for him? The rocker and his hometown girl getting back together? Maybe even renewing their vows in a big splashy ceremony? Not like the first time in that dinky church she and her mother went to.
He was about to get out of the limo when Steph knocked on the window. He stepped outside.
She put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“Well, I don’t want to see you,” she huffed.
He gave her a slow smile that melted hearts everywhere. “Can’t you spare one minute to talk to your husband?”
She lifted her chin. “I don’t consider you my husband. I don’t even know you anymore.”
He stepped closer, into her personal space. She flushed and took a quick step back.
“You remember me,” he said in a low voice. “Us. We were good together.” He stroked her hair and smiled, in case Mandy was still snapping pictures with her telephoto lens. Always looked good to have a smile when you were with a beautiful woman. And Steph, even after all these years, was still stunning. He wanted her just as much as he had before. The sex had always been great. That had never been a problem for them. It was just that he found it hard to be faithful when there were so many other beautiful women eager to bed the famous Griffin Huntley. It was a weakness he’d try to work on, if Steph gave him a second chance.
“If you want to talk about the divorce, I’m all ears,” Steph said. “Otherwise, you should just go back to whatever seedy hotel you came from.”
He held her chin. “I’m at the Four Seasons, babe.”
She jerked her head away from him. “Of course you are.”
She strode up the front porch steps. He followed.
She stopped, hand on the doorknob. “I swear I will call the cops if you try to force your way upstairs with me.”
She was bluffing. The Steph he knew would never do anything to hurt him. She loved him.
He grinned. “What if you just invite me in?”
“What if I don’t?” she said before slipping inside and shutting the door behind her.
Griff went back to the limo for a temporary retreat. Okay, so it would take some time for Steph to warm up to him again, but damn if he was going to let that geek waltz in here and steal her away. He’d wait him out. He was not going to lose Steph to a guy like that.
~ ~ ~
Dave spent an hour after school composing his first ever Fibonacci poem and thought it came out pretty good. He considered the best delivery system. In person, he could just hand it to her. Or he could slip it under her door. Or put it in the mailbox. No, to be romantic he had to go in person. Even better, he’d climb a ladder and recite the poem outside her bedroom window. Just like Rapunzel, except without the freakishly long hair.
After a brief stop to pick up some roses to go with the poem, he embarked on his quest for the fair maiden. Within minutes, he was beginning to question his Rapunzel idea. The ladder proved difficult to tie on top of his car, and he had to drive twenty-five miles per hour the whole way so it didn’t fall off. But it would all be worth it, he told himself.