I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure Matt and Leanne won’t mind if you leave it here overnight. I’ll send someone to pick it up tomorrow and have it brought to your home. Or to work, whichever you’d prefer.”
Abby grinned at me. “The perks of having a billionaire boyfriend,” she teased.
“Guess so,” I said, grinning right back at her. “Does that mean yes?”
“Yes,” Abby said, nodding her head and following me to my car.
We got in, and I pulled out of the driveway. “Listen, Abby,” I began, but Abby held up one hand.
“We’ve apologized enough,” she said. “Let’s not worry about it anymore.”
I smiled at her. “Sounds like a plan,” I said. “But tomorrow, I do want you to come in to work with me. If the media have already talked to Duncan and want to ask you anything, I want to be there to fend them off.”
“Agreed,” Abby said, nodding.
I reached over and put a hand on her inner thigh, rubbing small circles there with my thumb. “I missed you,” I told her.
Abby rolled her eyes comically. “You’re such a girl,” she joked. “I can’t believe that hasn’t been in the tabloids yet, that Daniel McGregor is such a romantic.”
I snorted. “I’m different with you than I’ve ever been with anyone before,” I told her, thinking about the relationship I’d had with Ivy. “Even with my ex, I don’t know. She didn’t inspire protectiveness or romantic gestures. I guess that’s partly because she just liked being the center of attention. She wanted the media’s eyes on her all the time.”
Abby made a face. “Yeah, I can’t even imagine,” she said. “The less the media knows about me, the better.”
We fell silent for a bit. I still couldn’t stop thinking about how different this relationship with Abby was from my relationship with Ivy. I had thought that I loved Ivy, but now I had to wonder. Maybe I had just loved the idea of being in love with Ivy. Maybe I had just loved the future we would have been able to build together.
That whole relationship, it had felt like I was trying so hard. Like there was thought involved in loving her. But with Abby, I didn’t have to think at all. I just knew I loved her. The words had slipped out so easily tonight, and I could tell as soon as I’d said them that Abby loved me as well. I just knew that, too.
It didn’t mean that we were destined to be together forever. I knew that I would have to work to keep my promises. Prove to her what a good man I could be, keep her out of the media’s eyes as much as I could. It was always possible that it wouldn’t be enough, that things would be too difficult and that we would need to step back from each other again.
But I also knew that if we were both willing to put in the work, we could have an amazing future together. Move in together, build a home, maybe start a family. I wanted that more than I could believe.
When I glanced over at Abby, I saw that her eyes were closed. I had to smile at that. She had looked tired when I’d seen her in the light at Matt’s place. Maybe this weekend had been just as difficult for her as it had been for me. I didn’t like the idea that I had caused her any sort of pain, but at the same time, it was nice to have that realization that she cared about me just as much as I cared about her.
I was still a little worried about how much I did care for her. I couldn’t remember what the point of my life had been before her. Now, it seemed like all my energy was turned toward building a better relationship with her. I still went to work, did everything I needed to do. I wasn’t shirking my responsibilities. But work didn’t seem to have the meaning that it had once had.
That was frightening, honestly. If I did lose Abby, I didn’t know what I would do. Go on a bender, probably. Destroy everything I had ever worked for? I doubted it, but it definitely did feel like I was in over my head.
It was exhilarating in some ways, this risk. But terrifying as well.
I’d just have to make sure I didn’t do anything that would make her hate me.
I thought about taking her back home to her place. When things had been going well between the two of us, she had stayed over at my place pretty much every night. She even had some of her things there. But with the way that things had been lately, I didn’t want to presume, and we hadn’t really clarified when I had asked if I could take her home.
But if I was going to be bringing her in to work in the morning, which wasn’t too far away even now, then it made more sense just to bring her back to my place. If she didn’t want to share a bed with me, she could stay in one of the guest rooms. She’d still have that choice. And I didn’t like the idea of going home alone right now.
Besides, I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t want to sleep with her, that I didn’t want to bring her back to my place. That wasn’t it at all. I just wanted her to be comfortable.
I made a split-second decision and turned the car toward my place on the far end of town. Abby was still sleeping when I got there, and I spared a moment to smile over at her after I shut off the car. I slipped quietly out of the car and came around to her side. She slumbered on as I opened the door, so I lifted her carefully out of the car, kicking the door shut and carrying her to the hous
e.
Her eyes flickered open as I jostled her slightly in the process of getting the door open. She looked bemused for a second, and then she smiled beatifically at me. “Hey,” she said.
I grinned at her. “Hey, sleepyhead,” I said, carrying her inside. “Sorry to wake you.”
“You can put me down,” Abby said. “I can walk.”
I shrugged as much as I could with her in my arms, carrying her carefully upstairs. “My room or guest room?” I asked.