Page 60 of When We Had Forever
He takes care of me. I don’t regret my choice.
I grin, then reach up to run my hands through his hair. He wears it short these days—always tidy, always precise—and gold strands slip through my fingers like satin. “So,” I say. “We’re married.”
“We are.”
“How do you feel?”
“Lucky.” His smile deepens. “How doyoufeel?”
“Lucky.”
The song reaches its final bars, and Michael swoops me into a dip. I almost shriek, but he manages to support my weight without me having to bring any grace into the mix.
To the delight of the crowd, he plants a kiss on me. People flood the dance floor as another song begins—something with a peppy beat that has everyone throwing their arms into the air.
Michael rights me. “I only know how to slow dance. Do you think anyone’ll mind if I just do this all night?”
I lace my fingers behind his neck. “Don’t tell me you’re regretting not taking those lessons now?”
His mouth slants. “You know I wanted to.”
I nod. I do know. Work has increasingly gobbled larger portions of his time. His high-end custom designs have people clamoring for his attention, and most days, I count myself lucky if he makes it home before seven.
But he works so hard for me. For us. So I do everything I can to support him.
Two guests emerge from the crowd and head our way. I recognize Michael’s coworkers—Sarah, who gives me an exaggerated, open-mouthed wink, and Benny Gallagher, who’s changed remarkably little since we went to school together back in Seagrove. He’s still barrel-chested and ludicrously tall, with a mop of sandy hair, a perpetual sunburn, and a braying laugh that permeates the room.
Privately, I’ll never stop likening him to the Jolly Green Giant after he painted himself green and donned a leaf skirt last Halloween, but of course I’d never say so.
“Congratufuckinglations!” Benny shouts. He plucks two champagne glasses from Sarah’s hands and dangles them in our faces. “Are you two ready to party, or what?”
Michael’s expression goes neutral, his grip tightening at my waist.
Which is my cue. He’s been adamant about keeping his struggles with alcohol private, so I whisk the glasses away with a sheepish smile. “Thanks, Benny, but I’ll fall flat on my face if we drink these now. I can barely stay upright as it is. Later?”
“Right, right. Later!” Benny laughs with enough gusto that I have to wonder how many glasses he’s ingested himself. “Time enough to get wasted after Michael’s big honeymoon surprise!”
Big surprise.A frisson of excitement rockets up my spine, and I shoot a glance at my newly minted husband. He’s remained stubbornly silent on the subject of our honeymoon, but, for the first time in...well,ever, he’s finagled a week-long absence from work.
Which means I’m in for something big. The overnight bag in the Audi outside has been packed accordingly, with my passport tucked safely in a bottom pocket. And if I’ve obsessively googled the best times to visit the Acropolis and what the ferry schedules from Athens to the island of Aegina look like, it’s all in the name of being prepared.
I flash Benny a grin. “Surprise, hmm?” Somehow, I manage to keep my voice at a reasonable pitch. “Tell me more.”
Michael cuts him a warning glance, and Benny mimes locking his mouth and throwing away the key.
Which, unsurprisingly, lasts for all of two nanoseconds. “You’re gonna love it!” he booms, then waggles his eyebrows and tornadoes away with Sarah in tow.
My husband exhales and kisses my temple. “Thank god he didn’t ruin it. And thank you for coming to my rescue. Again.”
“No problem.” I hold up the glasses. “I’ll just go get rid of these. When I come back, you can tell me all about thissurprise.”
He chuckles. “Not a chance.”
I weave across the packed dance floor to the bar, where I find Kate lecturing a fuzzy-cheeked bartender on the critical differences between tonic and soda water. He gazes at her with widened eyes, apparently too stunned to make whatever drink she’s ordered.
I nudge her away with an elbow and deposit the champagne flutes in her hands. “Would you stop distracting the poor staff? There’s a half-mile-long line behind you.”
She pouts, then takes an experimental sip. “I wasn’tdistractinghim. He was fascinated. He was hanging on my every word.”
