Chapter Sixteen
Harris
I was taking so much time putting on and adjusting my cufflinks that the fact that I was stalling became undeniably glaring within my own mind. I’d soon be picking Addilyn up to go to dinner—our first date since I fired her—and she was going to end things. I could feel it in my bones and the truth vibrated through my entire body. It felt like walking over a live furnace knowing that at any moment the flames would flare up and consume me but having to continue walking, continue functioning, anyway as if everything was well with the world.
“You’re being an old fool,” I grumbled to myself as I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door. From the minute our relationship started, I had known it was going to end. In fact, I’d done everything I could to push her away. Me lamenting about the end of something that was doomed from the start was useless. It would rob me of any enjoyment to be found within our last night together, and that was definitely not an outcome I wanted to support.
As prompt as always, Addilyn was waiting for me outside of her apartment building as soon as I arrived. Parking the car, I got out and jogged around to her side to open the passenger-side door for her, giving her a kiss on her sweet, pink lips before she slid in. When I got back in the car, the volume of all that wasn’t being said was quite loud and it seemed we both did our best to fill it with the background noise of idle chat. It was a relief when we reached our destination, the Lafayette with its French cuisine and cozy, intimate atmosphere. The bustle of being seated, looking over the menu and then interacting with the waiter kept us busy and lulled me with a sense that possibly things could be okay between us, but then all of the distractions disappeared leaving only me looking across our small table at the most beautiful woman I’d ever had the pleasure of sharing a portion of my life, and in that moment I was sure. That portion of my life was over.
Addilyn’s large, luminous eyes flick from me to the table and then back to me before she licked her lips and adjusted her position in her seat. I was flattered that she was finding ending things with me so hard. Her lips parted, she sucked in a breath, and I knew that the end had finally arrived. “I have something to tell you.”
“It’s okay.” I did my best to sound okay with the complete and total annihilation of my heart. Here it comes.
“Do you remember when you asked me if I’d applied for the engineering program with NASA?”
Okay... maybe it isn’t coming yet. I did my best not to appear thrown by what to me was an abrupt left turn in our conversation. “Uh, sure. Yes.” I nodded like I wasn’t having any trouble keeping up at all.
“Well, I had, and they want me.... or rather, they’ve got me.” She beamed from ear to ear.
“What?” Her smile faltered. Okay, so maybe this is the talk after all. She’d been hired to work for NASA and now she was moving away. She was a smart enough girl to know better than to tether herself to a long-distance relationship with some old guy she’d had a summer fling with, and this was it. We were done. Yet, through these thoughts, I could see that she was disappointed that I didn’t have more to say to her amazing news than a thoughtless ‘What.’ “ I forced my brain to function even though my heart was bleeding out. “I knew you could do it. You’re brilliant, Addilyn. They are lucky to have you.”
Her smile, now dimmed from its original, found a happy middle ground between glowing and sympathetic. “Harris—“
“You don’t have to say it,” I interrupted, needing to rip the band-aide off. “I totally understand. You have to move on with your life.” I took her hand to hold in mine. “I’m just thankful that I’ve gotten the chance to spend some time with you.”
Her lip quivered as her eyes grew wider and round than I had ever seen them, instantly filling with tears. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“No!” My brain scrambled to find its footing. “I mean yes. I mean no, no... Aren’t you breaking up with me? I was just trying to make things easier.”
She shook her head adamantly. “No, I was about to tell you where I’ll be working. It’s about an hour out of the city. I’m... I’m not going anywhere.” Her hand squeezed mine. “You mean a lot to me and I don’t want to lose you.”
It was my turn to shake my head. “But aren’t we at different places in our lives? I’m finally ready to put someone as first in my life, even above my company. I want to have someone to come home to. I want to settle down. You—you’re still exploring, still figuring things out. I don’t want to—“
“To what, love me?” Her smiled warmed. “It’s too late. You’ve already told me that you love me... right when you fired me.” There was a twinkle of humor in her eyes. “Harris Worthington, you are stuck with me... that is, if you want me.”
The flash of uncertainty that I saw in her expression had me bounding out of my seat and stepping around the table to her. She stood to meet me and I took her face in my hands. “I’m yours,” I whispered. “100%, all of me, I’m yours. I never knew how empty my life had become until there was you, and a future with you is the only one I want.”
“I’ll never be a housewife,” Addilyn warned. “I’ll never be the person who waits patiently at home for you. I’ve got a life to live, goals to pursue, and some day, if I get the chance, I’m going into outer space.”
I kissed her, tasting her for the first time of what I hoped would be the rest of our lives. “I’ll keep the lights on and the bed warm for you, baby. I’ll be right here.”
Her gaze flared with heat. “The bed warm?”
“We could pick up a pizza, spend the evening in bed...” I kissed her again. “Then for breakfast, I make some of the best damn French toast in town.”
She mock gasped. “Mr. Worthington, are you asking me to spend the night with you?”
“Ms. Clement, I’m asking you to spend all your nights with me.”
Her gaze dropped shyly at first, then she looked up at me with a wanton confidence that made me love her all the more. “Let’s go get that pizza.”