Chapter 33
We walked back into the tent holding hands. The crowd had thinned considerably, but a dozen people were still on the dance floor, swaying to the final songs by the band.
Luke was almost immediately pulled into a conversation with an older couple. He introduced me, but I didn’t have much to contribute to their conversation about whether Luke’s company built docks, too. I scanned the crowd for Mimi, but I didn’t see her. I checked my phone.
Mimi
Heading back, see you at home! Enjoy :)
Francesca approached moments later and gave me a knowing look, glancing pointedly at the space between my hand and Luke’s, where they’d been clasped together moments ago.
I was sure I was flushed, too. I should have checked my appearance before walking back in here.
I stole a look at Luke’s profile as he spoke. He didn’t look disheveled at all.
I lifted both shoulders, unable to stop the smile that played on my just-kissed lips.
She beamed and whispered, “Finally,” before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the bar.
“You were gone for a while,” she said after we got our last-call drinks.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yes, but only to me. I’m very observant.” Her eyes twinkled.
I laughed. “Phew.”
“We won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but I think we hit the fundraising goal.”
“What!? That’s amazing! Francesca, this event was incredible. I’m in awe.”
Her warm smile took over her whole face. She looked out at the lingerers in the tent, the band, the handful of people still clustered at the tables on the lawn—surveying her work. “I’m happy with how it all came out. I got a few referrals, too.”
“As you should! You deserve it.”
Luke and Jeremiah found us. Luke brushed his knuckles against mine before slipping my hand into his again. “I need to go get Luna. You good?”
“Yep!” I swirled the last few sips in my wine glass. “I’ll walk back after I finish this.”
All I wanted since the moment Luke pulled back and his hands left my waist was to sneak away together, alone. But it would have to wait.
Luke kissed my cheek firmly before he left, leaving me blushing and fighting a smile in front of his friends.
When I got into bed that night, I replayed my time with Luke in the garden in my head.
“I can’t help myself when I’m around you.” His low timbre filled my mind, making my stomach somersault. My fingertips brushed over my lips.
When my phone buzzed on the nightstand, my hand shot out so quickly that I knocked it to the ground with a thud. I scrambled out of bed to grab it.
Luke
Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?
And, two seconds later:
I already got a sitter.
“So, you hit the fundraising goal?” I drummed my fingers on the console, pulled at the hem of my floral sundress, looked everywhere but at Luke.
“We did. Can’t thank you enough for the idea.” He stole a sheepish look at me in the passenger seat before training his gaze back on the road, left leg bouncing uncharacteristically.
“Francesca deserves all the credit.”
Luke swallowed, saying nothing as he pulled into the parking lot behind his office near the top of Main Street.
We navigated through the other pedestrians as we headed toward the harbor, hands brushing but not grasping, continuing to talk about the event but studiously avoiding my favorite part: our kiss in the dark garden.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it—the whiskey taste of his tongue, the firm press of his erection through the thin fabric of my dress.
My stomach flipped over every time I called the memory back into my mind, including right now.
The whole way down Main Street, it was tentative glances, small talk, silence. For all the time we’d spent together this summer, everything we’d shared, the kiss last night confirming the attraction was mutual, this felt different. Formal.
I was nervous. He seemed nervous, too. I like you so much, I wanted to say. You have nothing to be nervous about.
Luke held the door open for me when we got to the restaurant attached to one of the hotels downtown. I’d been here before, but not yet this year.
There were two restaurants in this hotel.
One was a swanky patio and pool bar right off the main road near the harbor.
The other—the one we just entered—was around the corner, its entrance just below street level.
It was more casual, off the bustling main stretch.
Quieter, smaller. More private. Cozy, even with the A/C blasting to combat the August heat.
Almost everything—the tables, chairs, bar, floor, and walls—was dark wood, making it feel like we were inside an old wooden ship.
That was the intent, if I had to guess, given the multitude of paintings of such ships hanging on the wood-paneled walls.
“Is this okay? I know it’s more casual. But I wanted to go somewhere we might actually be able to hear each other.” He peered at me earnestly, brown eyes wide with trepidation.
“It’s perfect.”
He nodded, but his face told me he was still questioning his restaurant choice. “I should have known you’d be embarrassed if someone like him thought you were dating a townie construction worker.”
I thought I did a great job allaying his insecurities last night, but the tension in his shoulders told me they might still be there, swirling under the surface. How on Earth could someone like me make this gorgeous, accomplished, incredible man nervous?
“I really like you, Luke. I’m happy we’re here.”
He smiled genuinely, shoulders dropping. “I really like you, too. Do I seem nervous?” The corner of his mouth ticked up, like he knew he was tense.
I fought the smile that pulled on my lips as soon as he said he liked me too. “A little, yes.”
He barked out a laugh. “I’m sorry. I… It’s been a while.”
“What happened to the man that asked if I was enjoying the view of his abs while he worked the saw?”
His laugh was even louder this time. It was exhilarating, making him laugh like that. His shoulders relaxed further. He ran a hand down his face, then pushed both hands through his hair. “You make a great point.”
I shook my head. A gorgeous anomaly, that was what he was. Confident, but not all the time.
The waiter showed up at that moment to take our drink order—beer for him, wine for me.
The drinks loosened us up almost immediately. We’d gone on dates before, in a way. We just didn’t call them that. Why was it any different now?
Because you’ve kissed, because you like each other and you both know it, because it’s real now and not just a flirtation.
“Why has it been a while?”
His eyes narrowed a bit, like he was considering how to answer. “Long version or short version?”
“Long version, obviously.”
He smirked and took a swig of his beer. “I haven’t gone on a date in almost two years.
Jeremiah gives me endless shit about it, but the summer flings with people visiting the island just…
lost their appeal. I dated a teacher that lived here year-round for a while.
We got set up. She was nice, attractive.
I thought being a teacher would be a good thing because I figured that means you love kids, right?
” He moved his beer bottle in a small circle on the table.
“And she did, but I felt like she didn’t connect with Luna, didn’t know what to make of me being a single dad.
She was a little younger than me, and it was a few years ago, so I think she was like, twenty-six. So I get it.
“In an attempt to open up, I told her about the whole thing with my parents, how they wanted Luna to move to Pennsylvania and live with them in the beginning. One time she asked me if I ever seriously considered taking them up on it—”
“What the hell?” I interjected. I couldn’t see my own facial expression, but I knew it was murderous. “How could she even ask that?”
Luke’s chocolate brown eyes found mine, the look full of meaning. “That’s how I felt. I know she didn’t mean anything by it. It didn’t mean she didn’t like that I had Luna but…I just couldn’t get past it. I realized it wasn’t just Luna she didn’t fully connect with, but me, too.”
I nodded and sipped my wine, holding his gaze, hoping he’d go on.
“After that I just didn’t see the point of dating for sport, you know? I’ve been content to hold out for something that was really worth it, even if that meant holding out forever.”
My eyebrows rose. Is that how he still felt? Like he was holding out?
He read my mind. “I’m glad I didn’t have to wait forever.” He said it casually, like it was an obvious fact and not something that set my heart on fire.
I smiled into my wine glass, a poor attempt to conceal that I was beaming, and probably blushing, too.
“That”—he nodded at me—“that smile, is the definition of worth it.” His hand squeezed my bare leg under the table.
I giggled and stopped trying to hide it. Momentarily rendered speechless, I stared at him. I couldn’t believe he existed, and that I got to exist with him. “I can’t believe she said that about Luna,” I said.
He shrugged like it didn’t bother him, but a flicker of some emotion broke through his facade. “It’s a lot. I get it.”
He kept saying that.
“We are a lot to sign up for.”
“It’s a lot.”
I disagreed.
Our meals appeared on the table. I hadn’t even noticed the waiter approaching us.
“Well, I can’t say I’m sad it didn’t work out with her.” I bit my lip.
His mouth took on a devilish grin. “I can’t say I’m sad it didn’t work out for you and Max.”
“On my god,” I groaned. “I’m so embarrassed. I can’t believe he was so rude. I can’t believe I dated him in the first place.”
“Eh, I’m sure he was nicer when he was trying to date you, and now he’s just jealous.” I loved the confidence in Luke’s tone, such a contrast to last night when he thought I was embarrassed of him.
I leaned across the table conspiratorially, motioning him to lean in, too. He obliged, ducking his head, that rebellious brown lock falling in between his eyebrows.