“Not terrible, no. Maybe…a bit much so soon, but I know it’s in a well-intended way. You know what I mean?”
“Good.” He reached out to hold my hand. “I always want to be incredibly honest with you, Claudia. I know it’s completely nuts in some ways, but I feel like we’re already permanent. I almost don’t want to say that in case I freak you out, but somehow I just know that we are already a done deal.”
There was no way I could express the nervousness that gripped my
core at the same time. Or the fear that he would find out that I wasn’t actually right for him. Lowering my voice, I only whispered, “I have the same feeling. I’m just afraid to say it out loud.”
Vaughan squeezed my hand as he grinned, then said, “As we were saying, this coffee is fabulous.”
My laughter rang out across the patio. “You know, now that you are a stable married man, you might have to throw some of your own shindigs and events. You’ve got a great space for them.”
His fingers threaded through mine as his thumb began to rub in little circles against my skin. “Thank goodness I have an incredible wife who will help me with things like party planning,” he said with a grin. “I certainly don’t know anything about that.”
“What’s to know? Food, drinks, a selection of interesting people with a few things in common. Plus triple the amount of ice that you’ll think you’ll need.”
Apparently my genius ice trick sent him over the edge, as I was suddenly lifted and dropped into his lap.
I loved the way he kissed me. The way he grazed his soft lips against mine so gently, then plundered my mouth in a deep, delicious kiss that stole my breath and made my mind fuzzy with desire.
By the time he pulled away, I was wondering whether it would be too forward to take him back upstairs again.
“You mentioned that you still have a bit of schoolwork to get done today. I still have a few hours of paperwork to go through myself. So I’m going to drive you home so that we can be responsible, productive people. Okay?”
“Okay. Good idea.”
Vaughan leaned in to nibble along the side of my neck. “But I’m going to be pestering you for both hangouts and official dates as much as possible.”
“Good.”
Even the drive home was fun as we sang along to a fifties rock station.
After a goodbye kiss that lasted ten minutes but was still too short, I went up to my apartment with my glamorous dress and shoes rolled carefully in some cloth shopping bags. Once I’d put them away, I realized something important.
I was still wearing his mother’s ring. Every time I tried to give it back, Vaughan didn’t want me to.
How strange that it felt like I had a permanent connection to him, just from wearing something that he had given me.
Wearing a token of his affection made me his, and even if it was a symbol of a relationship step we were nowhere near taking yet, I wasn’t going to remove it for anything.
Chapter 12
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Vaughan
As I left work on Wednesday evening, my head was practically spinning. Some of my new ultra rich contacts wanted estimates and proposals for buildings, which was great. The thing was, they wanted information immediately, even if the project might not break ground for three years.
I had decided the fabulously wealthy were also fabulously impatient.
I stayed late to arrange things so that my team could at least start feeding them little bits of information to keep them satisfied while we pulled together all of the details.
When I finally got into my truck, a wave of relief washed over me. I would never have to come out here and see Jessica lurking around the vehicle again. I’d never leave the office and have her waiting for me in the lobby. I hadn’t realized how much her pestering and loitering had annoyed me.
Even though it hadn’t happened for at least two months, there was always the worry that she’d come back. Yet now I knew she was gone for good, and it was a bigger relief than I had expected. Having someone breathing down your neck was downright creepy, whether they were harmless or not.
Before I started driving, I grabbed my phone to send Claudia a text.
Me: Have a great shift tonight, baby. I’ll be by at 11 to pick you up.