“Hmm… needy much, Henry?” Lori said loudly to get his attention. He was staring at Rachel, not taking any notice of anyone else.
“Sorry.” He grinned.
Lori cleared her throat to get his attention. “Can I borrow you for a second, please?” Surprise flickered across his features as Lori pushed Rachel across the car park toward his car, but grabbed Henry’s wrist. “I only need a moment.” She made a face at Rachel and pulled him around the side of the car. Rachel stood watching as Lori leaned in and spoke into his ear. He nodded and smiled and returned to join them.
“What did she say?”
“She said if I hurt you, she’d hunt me down and kill me!” They laughed and Henry rolled his eyes. “Shall we go? It’s a million degrees out here. I thought I was sweaty from fear, but it might have been from the heat.” Jack laughed and slapped him on the back, and the three of them set off across the carpark.
Lori shook her head and started the car. She watched Henry’s car pull out ahead of her, and Rachel waved to her from the front seat.
I bet she’s memorising the number plate.
Chapter Four
Lunch turned out to be surprisingly fun. Henry was good company in the car after they dropped Jack home, and he announced he was taking her to his favourite café. They chatted about inconsequential things on the way, and laughed together as they relived their jump from the plane. It was as though they’d known each other for months, instead of hours. Rachel smiled to herself as she looked out the window; she wouldn’t need to escape in a taxi anytime soon. When they arrived, he rushed around to her side to open her door and took her hand.
This should feel weird, but it doesn’t.
They pushed the door to the café open and the waiter’s eyes lit up. “Hi Henry, welcome back.” He led them to a table, took their drink order, and promised to return with menus.
“This is your favourite place, if they know your name.”
He grinned. “I do come here a lot. They have such a large menu that there’s always a new choice. I’d hate to be the chef cooking all those dishes.”
“Hmm… so this is where you bring all the girls you offer to marry?” she joked as she sipped from her glass of water. Henry reached across and took her hand as it rested on the table.
“I promise I don’t bring lots of girls here. I haven’t dated in over a year.”
“That’s a long time.”
“I guess, but I work odd hours. I’m a chef. How about you? Are you busy on the dating scene?”
She snorted. “Hardly. I work late every night and I end up spending most of my free time with Lori.”
“What do you do?”
“I work for an advertising agency. There’s not a lot of spare time during the week, and on the weekends, I’m usually too tired to go out. Lori and I agreed on a challenge that for six months, we’d try something new each month. She’s a personal assistant for a busy lawyer, so she works late, too.”
“What have you done so far?” The waiter left their drinks and handed them menus before leaving them. Henry left his closed as she answered.
“We went on a hike. We can both be pretty lazy, so that was a huge effort for us. We went with a tour group, although in hindsight, we could have gone on our own. I had blisters for days afterward, but I felt pretty good about it.”
“Sounds awful.” He grinned, “What else?”
“We flew to Tasmania for the weekend last month. We hired a car and explored everywhere for three days. It was great. That state is as beautiful as everyone says it is.” She opened her menu, aware that he was still watching her.
“So today you skydived for the first time, from what I can see.” She laughed and nodded. “What will you do in October? Bull fighting?”
“Very funny. I’m not sure yet, but it’s my turn to choose, so Lori better watch out. She has a lot to answer for.” She smiled to herself as she considered what she might choose. Intense and life-threatening laps around a racetrack sounded like the perfect medicine for her friend—Lori hated driving fast. She made a mental note to check if there was anywhere close to home they could try it out. “Enough about me,” she closed her menu. “Why were you there today for the first time?”
“Oh, I got dragged along by my friend, too. Jack had wanted to go for ages and I told him, if he organised it, I’d go with him. So today was the day. He booked it months ago and I’d kind of forgotten about it, to be honest. I was trying hard to be brave.”
“You seemed relaxed until we got into the plane.”
“All an act, I can assure you.” He nodded at the menu, “Do you know what you’re having?”
“I’m going to have the gnocchi.”
“Oooh, good choice. I’m going to try the barramundi. They have great seafood here.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.” She smiled at him and he grinned back.
He has such a magnetic smile.
A man dressed in white appeared at their table and clapped Henry on the back. “Henry, my man. Good to see you!”
“Jake, it’s good to see you, too.” They shook hands and Henry introduced her. “This is Rachel. I’ve brought her here to taste your finest creations. I hope you have some amazing dessert on the menu.”
“I do, I do. I’ve made lemon tarts that are to die for. I’ll have to put some aside for you, or there’ll be none left. They go first, since I only make them once a month.”
The two men chatted as Rachel sipped her drink and watched them. They appeared to be old friends, and they talked as though they’d only caught up yesterday. She watched Henry wave his hands and laugh at Jake’s jokes; she liked the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed.
While she could have felt awkward about being here with someone she’d met hours earlier, she wasn’t out of her depth at all. On the contrary, she wanted to spend more time with him to see where this would go. Even though they’d started out joking about weddings, there’d been an instant connection with him—and not just when he touched her arm or held her hand. There was a chance she’d know exactly where he was in a room full of people, even though their time together had been short. He had that kind of personality that drew you in and made you want to listen to what he had to say.
Possibly the kind of personality that is wasted on a chef locked away in a kitchen.
Jake said his goodbyes and Henry excused himself to go to the bathroom. Rachel finished the last of her meal and resisted the urge to watch him walk across the room as he returned. She was surprised when he stood beside her and reached for her hand. She looked up at him and noted the cheeky expression on his face.
“I have something for you,” he said.
She watched as he produced a plastic ball from behind his back. He squeezed it and it split open to reveal a large, pink, plastic ring—a kid’s ring that any little princess would be proud to display on her hand. She laughed as he reached forward and placed it on her little finger; knowing it wouldn’t fit on any of the others. He eyed it proudly and then took his seat across from her.
“I told you I’d get you a ring on the way home.” He laughed and she joined in.
“Where did you find this?”
“There’s one of those gumball-type machines near the counter. I got lucky: the very first one was the ring I could see in the picture. So, consider yourself officially engaged.”
“Wow. My mum will be so impressed.”
“I know. Don’t forget your girlfriends, too. I’m tipping a few jealous glances at your hand when you break the news to them.” He winked at her and grinned as he picked up his drink.
Wow. I could fall for that cheeky grin.
***
As Henry pulled his car up outside Lori’s house, Rachel was amused to note the flicker of the curtains in the upstairs window. That was typical Lori, standing at the window and fretting over when her friend would arrive. She thought he might rush to open her door again, but he turned toward her in his seat, instead.
“It was. Thanks for lunch. Those lemon pies were amazing.”
“I know. Next time, I’ll take you there for dinner. You won’t believe the atmosphere of that place. Enough about food, though. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Umm… nothing much. I have a little bit of work to do, but that can be done tonight. Why?”
“I’d like to take you out again—on a proper date that I can plan ahead of time.”
“What do you mean? Today was great.” He looked uncertain at her words and she rushed to reassure him. “Not that I don’t want to experience this meticulously planned date. What did you have in mind?”
“I’m not too sure, yet, but it will be spectacular, in typical Henry fashion.” He touched the ring on her finger and waggled his eyebrows to drive the point home.
“Okay. Can I ask you one question, though, before we go any further?”
“Sure, shoot.”
“Why did you make that joking proposal today?” Her tone was serious and she watched him frown before he answered.
Uh, oh, I’m killing the mood. I really do have to know, though.
“Partly because I was nervous and was trying to take our minds off our impending deaths.”
“Oh.”
He took her hand before he spoke again. “Partly because I was trying to get your attention. You didn’t notice me at all during the orientation. I was worried you’d get away before I got up the courage to ask to see you again. The proposal let me make a joke and gave me the perfect excuse to talk to you afterward.”
“Right, good.” She bit one fingernail as she looked at him.
“That doesn’t seem to have been the right answer. Is there something else you want to know?”
“Uhh… sorry, I feel stupid now, but why did you ask me, instead of Lori or Jordan, if you were making a joke?”
“I thought I already answered that. I wanted to get to know you, not Lori. Jordan seemed to be with Luke, even though he denied it.”
“I thought that, too.”
“Anyway, neither of them were brave enough to ask the question I’d been wondering about. You did: you asked the guy with the video how many people don’t make it when they skydive. I was freaking out, but then I had my answer. After that, I only had eyes for you.”
She laughed as he squeezed her hand. He hadn’t mentioned her looks in all of those explanations and the weight she’d carried around since high school became a little lighter. Lunch with him was enjoyable, but maybe she’d let her previous experiences cloud a little of the fun of their lunch. She wouldn’t make that mistake tomorrow.
“Where should I meet you tomorrow?”
“I’ll pick you up. Here,” he handed her his phone, “put your address in, so I can find you. Your phone number, too, in case I get lost.”
“Hmm… smooth. You got all my information out of me without any awkward questions.”
“Ha! You got me. Here I was, thinking I was being so unobtrusive.” He took the phone from her hands. “You’re a smart cookie.” The silence that filled the car was palpable, and Rachel resisted the urge to sniff the air or look down at his lips. Instead, she smiled and lifted her bag off the floor.
“I better go. Any second now, Lori will fall out of the window.”
He smiled at her and then twisted in his seat to jump out. As he lifted his legs to step out of the car, two items popped out of his pocket and landed on the floor. One was blue and one was red. He didn’t notice, however, and he closed the car door while she reached over to retrieve the items for him. As he opened her door, he was greeted by her laughing and waving the two coloured containers at him. She stood and held them between them.
“First time, huh? You had more than one try at getting my ring.”
Embarrassment stained his features, but he laughed it off. “You were worth it.” He then pulled her to the side and closed the car door before moving her in front of him again. He stepped in close and she leaned against the car. His presence was all encompassing and she could hardly breathe.
He’s going to kiss me!
His mouth lingered near hers, and she realised she was holding her breath, waiting for him to make contact. Her heart raced and she tried to ignore the fact that Lori might be watching from upstairs.
“I’ll tell you an important secret, if you let me kiss you,” he murmured, so low she had to strain to hear.
“A secret,” she breathed. “I love secrets.”
“Hmm.” He was centimetres from her mouth now. “May I?” The question hung in the air and she was almost too breathless to answer. Was he mad? Had he ever had a woman tell him no?
“Yes… but I want those secrets.”
“Okay. Just a sec.” He’d barely finished speaking when his lips pressed against hers. Instant fire lit up her veins as he kissed her, nipping her lip slightly, and making promises with his mouth of what was to come. His fingers held her hip and she clutched his shirt. When he pulled away, they were both breathless as he leaned his forehead against hers.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all afternoon.”
“Mmm… you still smell of cookies.” She was saying those crazy words again before she could bite them back. His kiss had left her feeling dreamy, lightheaded, and a little bit delirious. If she hadn’t been clutching his shirt so tightly, she might have sunk to the ground right in front of him.
He chuckled as he kissed her forehead and leaned back. She looked up at him and smiled. She didn’t trust herself to speak, in case her words were as silly as her incessant chatter about sweet treats. Instead, she chose what she thought was safer ground.
“Now you owe me a secret,” she said, her voice sounding a lot stronger than she felt.
“I do.” He grinned at her. “Remember how you just accused me of taking more than one try to get you that fabulous ring?”
“Mmm?” His finger was moving in circles behind her neck and her eyes threatened to flutter closed.
“Put your hand in my pocket for the secret.” Her eyes flew open and she frowned at him, wide-eyed, while he burst out laughing. “Oh God, that sounded so dirty! I promise I didn’t mean it like that. Here, look.” He was still snickering to himself as he took a step away and put his own hand into his pocket. She looked down to see what he could possibly show her that was so secret.
His pulled his hand out and opened it in front of her to reveal half a dozen coloured plastic spheres. She reached out to take one, held it up to her eyes, and shook it to hear a trinket rattle around inside. Before she could speak, Henry took his hand out of his other pocket and showed her another five plastic spheres.
Knowing Lori was peering down at them, Rachel’s face split into a wide grin. She wrapped her arms around his neck without a moment’s hesitation, and pressed her lips to his.
***
“Finally! I thought you were going to stay down there all afternoon, kissing in the sunshine.” Lori tried not to laugh as she took in Rachel’s dishevelled appearance. “Worth it, was it?”
“Oh, yes.” Rachel flopped onto the couch. “He’s so nice. We had lunch, talked about everything and nothing while he held my hand across the table, and then he got me this.” She held up her hand to show off her pink diamond.
“Ooh, fancy. He seems like a keeper!” Lori gave into her giggles. “He swept you off your feet, didn’t he?”
“He did. By all accounts, he’ll be doing it again tomorrow. We’re going somewhere on a proper date—his words, not mine.” She wiggled her little finger and admired the pink ring again. It seemed silly to consider the plastic toy as such a romantic gesture, but she couldn’t stop thinking about his pockets full of those containers, each one not giving him the plastic junk ring he was trying to win for her.
Lori flopped onto the other couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. “Who would have thought skydiving could be overshadowed by a date on the same day?”
“I know. We should be discussing ou
r near death experience. Oh,” she sat up, “I forgot to give Henry the photo I bought him.”
“You bought him a photo? Of what?”
“I got him a copy of the skydiving photo he made me buy. I planned to give it to him when he dropped me off, assuming, of course, that he’d be eager to get away and that it might remind him to call me one day.”
Lori laughed. “From what I saw through the window, no enticement will be necessary. You said you had another date tomorrow, so give it to him then.”
“I will. It’s just that, when I bought it, I hadn’t considered there would be another date. Now, I’m dying for it to be tomorrow.”
“Does he really smell like cookies?”
“He does.” She licked her lips without realizing it. “He smells amazing.”
Chapter Five
Rachel expected a sleepless night after all the excitement of her afternoon with Henry. As soon as her head hit the pillow, though, she was sound asleep. Her alarm woke her at eight o’clock and she stretched out in bed, smiling when she remembered he would be picking her up soon.
After she’d showered, she wandered around the house wrapped in a towel. Her potted plants were looking sad, so she got a plastic cup and filled it with water to revive them—her gardening skills were right up there with her kitchen antics. As soon as her focus was on something else, the plants were sure to wilt and the meals were sure to burn in the pan. They were habits she hadn’t been able to break.
Henry rang her buzzer at ten and she pressed the button to let him into her building. When she opened the door, he presented her with an enormous bunch of orange lilies. The smell permeated her modest apartment as she got a vase and put them in water. They were beautiful, and she admired them as they chatted.
Unsure of how to act after their intimate kisses of yesterday, she was relieved when Henry took charge and pulled her to him. His hands ran down her back and his lips joined hers with the softness she remembered. Kissing him was so right. He made her feel safe, like she was cherished and the only one in the world for him.
Married This Year 2: Simmering Love Page 3
