Page 21 of Earned Husband

“Then I’ll come,” I said.

She started talking again and I just leaned back and listened. Sitting here with her, I forgot all about the shitty week I’d had and all the pressure I was facing at work and on the family front. Instead, it felt like I was planning a trip with her, already getting excited to visit the places she’d mentioned and to explore the country that seemed to be part of her soul.

When we were finally done eating, Deja rested her chin on her hand and smiled at me across the table. “What should we do now?”

I blinked at her, trying to remember the last time I’d spent a whole Saturday away from work. In my entire adult life, I wasn’t sure I’d evernotgone into the office on a weekend, but I didn’t even want to think about that right now.

“Well, it sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time at Gabrielle’s house since you’ve been here. Is there anything you’d particularly like to see before you go home?”

Those golden eyes lit up and she leaned across the table, holding my gaze so intently that my mouth practically dried up. “Sure. There’s just one more thing I need to see.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Everything.”

CHAPTER 10

DEJA

Ifollowed Colin out of the diner with absolutely no idea what we were going to do next. Normally, I liked having a plan, but it was mostly because my days were usually so jam-packed that going without one meant something important would slip through the cracks.

Checking my calendar was such an integral part of my daily routine that it felt blissfully rebellious to just hand over the reins and let him decide. On the other hand, Colin had grinned and paid our check after I’d told him I wanted to seeeverything, but he also didn’t seem completely certain about what that meant.

As we climbed into his car, I buckled up and turned to face him. “What do you usually do on Saturdays? I wouldn’t mind just getting to experience an ordinary weekend in your life.”

“Trust me, you don’t want that,” he said as he turned over the engine, a thoughtful sort of glimmer in his eyes before he covered them with his sunglasses. “Unless you want to gain an in-depth knowledge of the financial workings of Thayer Steelworks, that is.”

Both of my eyebrows jumped in. “Does that mean what I think it means? You usually spend your Saturdays playing golf and then going back to work?”

“That’s exactly what it means.” He laughed. “At least it pays well. Other people spend money on weekends. I make it.”

“That’s tragic.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one, but I’m a creature of habit.”

“Your habit being work.”

“Yep.” He glanced at me as we pulled up to a red traffic light. “I’m willing to bet you often do the same thing.”

I paused, wanting to tell him that wasn’t true, but I couldn’t do that without lying—and I didn’t really want to lie to him. The man had let me crash his alone time, he’d taken me to lunch, and now, he was sacrificing the rest of his day for me.

The least I could do was be honest.

“Fine.” I sighed. “Maybe I do also work often on weekends, but when I’m not working, I’m either spending time with my family or I’m browsing the markets.”

“The flower markets?”

My nose wrinkled. “Yes.”

“So that’s also for work.”

“Well, yes.”

He chuckled but let it go, obviously not feeling the need to drive his point home after making it. Instead, he pointed toward what appeared to be a stadium in the distance. “Have you ever been to a ballgame?”

“What kind of ballgame?”

“Baseball.”