He approached with the two glasses of wine. “Here you go, lovely.”
“Thank you.” I took a long sip.
We listened to jazz as we devoured the delicious food. As always, we talked a lot about work during dinner.
After, Will refilled our wine glasses before we moved over to the couch. It was relaxing to just sit with him and listen to music without having to say much.
“Can I confess something?” I asked, looking at his gorgeous face.
He grabbed my hand. “Of course.”
“I used to have the biggest crush on you—before we started dating.”
Will smiled and squeezed my hand. “I love that.”
“It was mainly based on your looks and my admiration for how you handle your patients. But my impression of you is nothing compared to the reality. You’re a good doctor, but more than that, you’re a great man, Will.”
“Well, see? Now I have to kiss you.” He leaned in and took my mouth with his.
The taste of wine immediately registered as our tongues danced. Will was an amazing kisser. When I finally managed to pry myself off of him, I rubbed my swollen lips.
He set his wine glass down and pulled me in to rest my head on his chest. He kissed the top of my hair. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
My voice was muffled as I spoke into his chest. “I don’t know… I’m excited. Excited for the future, I guess, but also scared of the next several months in terms of my father.”
He rubbed the top of my arm. “I think you need something to look forward to.”
I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s make a pact. If things are going well with us in six months, we’ll take our vacation at the same time and go somewhere amazing.”
He wants to go away with me? “I can’t tell you the last time I took a vacation,” I said.
“It’s been a couple of years for me.”
I felt giddy. “Where would you want to go?”
A smile crossed his face. “I’m thinking something like…Hawaii. What do you say?”
Hawaii? Hawaii with Will sounded like a dream. But there was one not-so-little problem. I wasn’t sure I could afford it.
As if he could read my mind, he said, “I’d be paying, of course.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to do that. I can save for it. I—”
“I want to. That’s not up for debate. If I can’t spend my money on someone I care about, who can I spend it on? This will be an epic trip, and I don’t want you to have to worry about the financial aspect. I just want us to have fun.”
My mouth hung open. “Well, I don’t even know what to say.”
His brow lifted. “Say you’ll come with.”
“Yes!” I sat up to hug him. “Yes, of course I will—assuming the situation with my dad allows.”
“I don’t want you to stress about that either. If we book tickets, I’ll get insurance in case we have to change our plans.”
Amazing. Will seemed firmly in the commitment camp tonight, and it felt like I’d won the lottery.
CHAPTER 25
* * *
Declan
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself.
It was Thursday evening, and I didn’t have to be back at work until Tuesday morning. Labor Day was typically a three-day weekend, but Border’s Dairy had also closed on Friday to give their workers a gift since they’d had a record-setting year of profits. Of course, I could work through it, like I did most weekends, but the last week or so I’d been feeling pretty down, and I figured maybe I should get out for a change of scenery. A woman in the accounting department had invited me to go to some big lake with her and her friends. She seemed nice and was good-looking enough, but the last thing I needed was to get involved with a third woman.
Julia and I had kept in touch, and she’d been bugging me to take a trip back to Chicago for the long weekend. She’d even gone so far as to say she’d make it worth my while, which should have had me jumping at the opportunity since it had been forever since I’d gotten laid. Yet it did the complete opposite. The time away from Julia had made me realize we didn’t have a long-term future. I didn’t think about her all the time like I should have—unlike the other woman in my life whom I should not have been thinking about, yet consumed my daily thoughts.
Molly.
Six weeks away from her had made me realize what I felt was no joke. I’d always been a driven person—able to see where I wanted to be in six months, a year, and even five years. But since I’d left Chicago, I couldn’t figure out where to go for the fucking weekend. I could no longer imagine where I wanted to be in six months, because it was too painful to imagine that wherever it was, Molly wouldn’t be with me.