Chapter 11 #3
She watched him hesitate for the smallest beat. Then he sat back, turned his wine glass slowly, and told her.
He told her about Penny, who had been his attorney for forty years and longer than that his closest friend.
He told her about Isabel, his younger sister, who had lost her son and daughter-in-law in an accident, and then her husband a year later, and who had walked through the world like a woman underwater until they had come to Sweet Blossom Bay this summer and she had started to laugh again.
He told her about Emma, his great-niece, who had asked Isabel if she could start school here in the fall.
Linda listened, as he talked about his family and his younger years.
Of losing his parents and having to take over the family business.
She found, somewhere in the middle of the second course, that she was leaning toward him without having decided to.
She caught herself doing it and did not lean back.
He noticed and did not look away, but leaned in closer.
The candle between them on the table flickered, and neither of them said anything for a moment.
Then all too soon the dinner was over. As they stepped outside the restaurant Darius held out his arm.
“It’s a beautiful evening,” he commented. “I don’t know about you but I’m not ready for it to end just yet.” He smiled. “Would you like to go for a walk along the boardwalk?”
“I would,” Linda answered and linked her hand through his arm. Her pulse picked up speed as the warmth of his muscled arm touched her palm.
They walked together off the wooden deck and down the path to the small public beach that ran along the waterfront below the restaurant then onto the boardwalk.
The bay was a long, quiet sheet of dark glass under the rising moon.
The lights of Sweet Blossom Bay glittered across it.
They walked slowly as they talked, and Linda found she could not remember exactly what they had discussed afterward.
She remembered the warmth of his arm under her hand.
She remembered the slow, steady rhythm of his stride matching hers.
She remembered the small, careful way he asked her questions and waited for her answers, as if they mattered.
They reached a quieter stretch of the boardwalk, where the path bent in along the dunes, where the lights of the restaurant fell away behind them, and Darius slowed.
He turned toward her. Their eyes locked. Linda felt the breath hitch in her throat at the look in them.
"Linda," Darius said, his voice a throaty purr.
Before she could answer he lifted his hand to brush a strand of hair back from her cheek. His fingers were warm. His eyes were on hers, careful and quiet and unmistakable in their question.
Linda didn’t look or step away, not even when he bent his head closer toward her until their lips met.
The kiss was soft at first until he stepped in closer and deepened it as her arms curled around his neck.
The bay and distant sounds faded away as she leaned into him.
She’d lost all track of time and didn’t know how long they’d been locked in their own world until finally Darius drew back resting his forehead on hers. His hands still cupped her face.
"I have wanted to do that," Darius said quietly, "since the first afternoon I saw you on the beach."
Linda felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn’t have an answer ready. She didn’t know that she needed one. She lifted her hand and laid it lightly against his shirtfront, where his heart was beating as fast as hers.
She was about to say something when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Darius let out a soft, pained sigh and for a moment Linda thought he was going to ignore it.
"You should answer it," Linda told him.
He pulled the phone out and looked at it, shaking his head.
"Hello, Penny," Darius answered. Their eyes met as he listened to the woman on the other end of the phone. “Really?” He rolled his eyes. “This is what you called me for?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s called extortion.” Linda’s brows furrowed as she wondered what Penny was extorting. “Fine.”
He hung up with a huff.
“Is everything okay?” Linda asked.
"Penny and Isabel want ice cream.” His eyes glittered. “We have ice cream in the freezer but apparently, they want a specific one from some twenty-four hour store that Maggie told them about.”
“Oh…” Linda realized which store they meant. “They want the handmade ice cream.”
“Yes, I see you know which store,” Darius observed.
“I do,” Linda said with a nod and grin.
“It’s not how I was planning on ending the evening but…” Darius gave a resigned sigh. “I’ve been threatened by a very determined Penny…”
“Well then,” Linda said teasingly, her heart lighter than it had been in years. “Come on, it’s not far from here and within walking distance from where you parked.”
Linda reached down and took his hand. She didn’t even think about the gesture before she did it as it seemed like the most natural thing to do. Her heart stuttered and a warmth spread across her stomach when his fingers closed around hers the moment they met.
“Okay.” Darius grinned like a mischievous teenager. The smile took her breath away as she turned and started walking..
"This way," Linda said softly.
Twenty minutes later Heart House came back into view at the end of the long curve of the drive.
The lights were on low in the front room. The porch light was burning. This time Darius pulled up in the drive of the house. He helped her out of the car and then walked her to the front door where Darius turned her gently to face him.
"Thank you," Darius said. "For tonight."
"Thank you," Linda answered. “I had a wonderful time.”
“I hope we can do this again, soon?” Darius asked.
“I’d be okay with that,” Linda answered honestly.
“Good, how about we meet for a walk on the beach tomorrow evening?" Darius suggested.
“Okay,” Linda said with a smile and her heart doing crazy things in her chest.
“Well, then I guess this is goodnight.” Darius lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed the smallest, softest kiss to her knuckles. He held her gaze for a long moment. Then he stepped back, gave her a small smile that did not match the gravity in his eyes, and walked down the path to his car.
Linda watched him drive away.
She stood for a long moment in the warm dark of the porch with the terrifying realization that she might be falling for him.
The thought arrived complete, without warning, and she did not bother to push it away.
Linda swallowed down the weird mix of panic and excitement before turning and letting herself in trying to ignore where her hand still tingled from his lips.
She thought about how her toes had practically curled when they’d kissed and how ridiculous it was that she was falling so fast for a man she’d just met.
As she stepped into the warmth of Heart House, a thought struck her that made her stop cold.
Linda turned slowly back toward the dark drive where Darius's car had disappeared, her stomach dropping as the realization landed.
He had told her all about his family. About Penny.
Isabel. Emma. He had told her nothing at all about himself.
Not what he did. Not even his last name.
Linda, you are falling for a stranger.