Chapter 10 Proms and Prayers
Chapter Ten: Proms and Prayers
He insisted on picking her up and asked what color her dress was.
When she opened the door, she was flanked by both of her kids. Sophie still hadn’t warmed up to him and she was glaring with her arms crossed. August was excitedly jumping up and down.
“Mom wouldn’t answer when I asked her if she was going on a date. Uncle Raine told me to stop pestering her, but I wanna know. I really like you,” August blurted.
“I want it to be a date, but I don’t think your mom’s committed to the idea,” he said as he held up a plastic case that held a dark red wrist corsage made of carnations, miniature roses and baby’s breath.
“I feel like I’m being picked up for the senior prom,” Hannah giggled as she rose to her toes and peered over his shoulder.
“We’re the ones who organized this thing, so I thought it only fitting that you get the red carpet treatment. What are you looking for?” He asked as he tied the corsage.
She lowered her feet. “The limo, of course.”
“No limo,” he said as he hauled her closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Not this time, anyway.”
Graham knew that this woman was his endgame. And he hoped a limo was in their future. One that would spill her out in front of the church dressed in a frothy white dress.
“Is he here?” Someone squealed from inside the doorway.
Hannah drew away and took her place at his side. A tiny blonde woman was jumping up and down with excitement, her curls bouncing on her shoulders.
“Graham, meet my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Cindy.”
Cindy grabbed his hand. “Thank you for finally convincing her to dress up and go out.”
Graham laughed self-consciously. “It’s not really a date.”
Cindy shook her finger in his direction. “Not true. She’s wearing heels and Raine said he hasn’t seen her in heels since 2018. It’s a date.”
“Okay, I guess it’s a date,” Graham said.
“Mom, you said it wasn’t a date,” groused Sophie.
“Your mom’s entitled to a little fun now and then, Sophie,” a man said from behind the blond.
He stepped forward too. “Raine Anderson, Protective Older Brother,” he said as he held out his hand.
Graham shook it heartily and the man’s eyes gleamed approvingly when Graham tightened his grip to match the one he was receiving.
He stepped away with a nod and put his arm around the other woman’s shoulder.
“We’re taking the kids back to the house for a sleepover, so no need to rush home or worry about a curfew,” he told his sister with a wink.
“Stop meddling, Raine,” his date said as she pecked her brother on the cheek.
“Not meddling, just watching out for you.”
She just rolled her eyes and threaded her arm through Graham’s. “I’m ready to go if you are.”
“Never been more ready,” he said under his breath.
All four of them watched as he opened her door and buckled her in.
He didn’t dare sniff her hair like he longed to do, or let his knuckles slide against the satin at her hips.
When he pulled away he breathed a sigh of relief, even though he could see his welcome party still watching them in the rearview mirror.
An awkward silence settled between them, because now other people knew about whatever was happening.
She twisted her hands in her lap and he glanced at her profile.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something I wanted to tell you, but now I’m too shy.”
“Just tell me.”
“My friend Joan got me a present. She said singing wasn’t repayment enough for everything I’ve done for her.”
“That was nice of her.”
“It wasn’t just a present for me. It was a present for you too,” she said as she moved her dress up her thigh, until Graham could see a band of red ribbon.
“A present for me?” He asked in a strangled voice.
“Sexy lingerie. I’ve never owned any and she knows it.”
“How is it a present for me too?”
“Because we’ll have the house to ourselves tonight. I know you said we could move slowly, but I don’t think I want to. It feels like I’ve been swimming through molasses for the last four years and I’m ready for a change.”
Graham wanted to thump his fist on the dashboard. “Remind me again why we’re going to this party?”
“We’re going so we can bask in the knowledge of how awesome we are,” she primly informed him as she let her skirt fall to her knees again.
“How am I supposed to bask in any knowledge other than the knowledge that you’re wearing that under your clothes and I’ll get the chance to really see it later?”
“You keep telling me how patient you are.”
Her smile was smug and he wanted to lean over and savor it. “I’m gonna deserve sainthood by the time this night’s over.”
“You’re looking very dapper yourself, Grinch. Like a very suave man about town.”
“I didn’t have time to get fitted for another tux, so you’re stuck with the one I wore to my sister’s first wedding.”
“She’s had more than one wedding?”
“She’s had three. She said finding a man who’ll support her dreams without becoming resentful is hard to find and hard to keep. Her current husband owns a Tuscan winery.”
“What does your sister do?”
Graham clenched his jaw, and hoped when he told her what his sister did she wouldn’t ask who Arabella’s clients were. “She owns a PR firm that’s made a name for itself cleaning up the messes made by bands admired by screaming teenage girls.”
“That sounds very glamorous and very demanding. No wonder she needs a supportive spouse. I’ll stick with teaching, thank you,” she said as she leaned her head against the seat and gave him a sideways smile.
“It has its good days,” he agreed with an answering smile and laid his right hand on the seat between them, palm up.
Her fingers tangled in his and he wanted to close his eyes instead of staring at the road ahead of him. The clamor in his chest made it feel like he’d just climbed Mount Everest.
She kept her hand tangled in his all the way to the school parking lot, only untangling them when he put his truck in park. “Stay right where you are,” he told her.
When he opened the passenger door, she turned and slid her arms around his neck. He lifted her out and smelled her hair and let his hand trail over the satin at her hip. The two things he’d been dying to do since he saw her standing in the doorway.