Ash and I told everyone goodbye and made our way across the parking lot to our vehicles. We had stayed with Sidney's class for about an hour, and I knew Ash had a good time. I could just tell. I loved the way he interacted with the students. Sidney always laughed a lot with them, and Ash fit right in, making jokes and laughing at theirs.
I never did tell them that he was a famous musician. They would have loved that bit of information, but we talked about so many other things that it just didn't come up.
"Are you off the rest of the day?" he asked.
"I am," I said, smiling. "I get to start my weekend early. What about you?"
"I have to be at the hall at five," he said.
"How about your weekend?" I asked.
Part of me was asking because I wanted to spend more time with him, but I hoped I mentioned it casually enough and he thought I was just being friendly and making conversation.
"Technically, I'm off," he said. "We'll add a few weekend rehearsals closer to the first concert, but for now, we're just meeting in the evenings. We already know the pieces. It's just a matter of getting comfortable playing them with each other."
We had come to stand next to my car, but I made no move to open the door. It was parked in the shade, and we both seemed to be comfortable to stay there and finish our conversation.
"Why'd you say technically?" I asked.
"When?"
"A second ago. You said you were technically off this weekend."
"Oh, because I don't have to go to the hall for rehearsal. I'm technically off, but I'll work most of the weekend. At home."
"Practicing?" I asked.
He nodded. It seemed as if he was about to add something, but he didn't.
"I bet you have to do a lot of that, huh?"
He nodded again, giving me a half smile, saying that was an understatement.
"It probably gets bothersome," he said.
"Why? Don't you enjoy it?"
"Oh, no, I love it," he said. "I thrive on it. I can play the same piece a thousand times, and it's still fun and exciting for me. I really do love my instrument. I feel like I was created to play it. I'm thankful."
"Why'd you say it's bothersome?" I asked.
"Not to me," he said. "To my friends and stuff… well, not my friends, but uh, the people who… you know, people who wish I didn't spend so much time playing."
"Are you talking about women?" I asked with a little teasing smile.
"Probably."
"Is that why you're not married?" I asked.
He let out a little laugh. "Getting married was never even a consideration," he said. "But, yeah, it's probably why I don't date."
My chest tightened. I felt the bitter sting of disappointment at his words. He came to see me at the country club, stuck around while I ate lunch, followed me all across town, and then went with me to feed the fish with Sidney's class.
My hopes were officially up.
I could so easily fall in love with this guy, and now here he was, making this big declaration that he doesn't date. I wanted so badly to assure him that I wouldn't interfere with his practice schedule. I wanted to tell him that he could practice as much as he needed and it would never become bothersome to me. I was tempted to make all sorts of promises to this man without even knowing if I would be able to keep them.
"I, uh, would love for you to come over," he said.
I had been lost in thought, so I looked up to meet his gaze when he said that. We were standing in the shade of a tree, but it was still bright out, and he squinted a little because of it. I could see his whiskey-colored eyes peering through those dark lashes. He was ever so handsome, and it didn't help matters that he was so sweet and sincere with Sidney's class.
"Would you like to?" he asked. "It doesn't have to be today, necessarily, but sometime."
"What was the question?" I asked.
"I asked if you'd like to come over sometime. Not to see the fish… I mean, we can see the fish, but not just to see the fish." He sighed. "Or maybe I could just take you out to dinner."
I smiled and shook my head at him. I was tempted to tease him about not dating, but I couldn't decide if I should or not.
"What?" he asked, noticing me hesitate.
"You've only seen me in my work clothes," I said.
He nodded. "I know. What's that got to do with it?"
"I couldn't possibly go out to dinner with you," I said.
"Why is that?"
"Because I'd probably be wearing normal clothes and not smelling like fish."
"How is that a bad thing?" he asked.
"It'd be too much," I said. "You'd have to throw your no-dating policy out the window."
His smiled broadened and he shook his head at me. "I'm already throwing… I'm already doing and saying things that aren't at all… I'm already… see, Abigail? I'm tongue-tied. I can't even think straight around you."
"I was just messing with you," I said. "I know you have to do what you have to do to focus on your career. I know you won't be in Miami very long. I definitely enjoy hanging out with you, though, and I'd be happy to get a bite of food sometime."
Ash looked slightly disappointed for a second and then his face changed to a thoughtful smile. "That would be wonderful," he said. "I'd love to get a bite of food with you."
"Okay," I said with a nod. "We'll do that."
"When?" he asked. "Tomorrow?"
I couldn’t contain a grin. "When do you want to?" I asked.
"Tomorrow."
"We're doing this thing at my house in the afternoon… grilling some food and getting out on the water. Kristen loves to ski, and I think she's got some people coming over. You're welcome to come by. Or we could plan on doing something later in the evening. What were you thinking?"
"I'll probably practice until about three. I could come by around four or so and meet your friends, or I could pick you up a little later for dinner. Whatever's best for you."
"Why don't you come by when you're done practicing?" I said. "Four is perfect. We might not be skiing anymore, but we'll still be hanging out at the house—swimming and everything. We can grab some dinner if you like, but I'm sure there will be a ton of food at the house. We can just play it by ear… see how we feel."
"Great," he said.
He unlocked his vehicle, opened the door, and leaned in. I couldn't see what he was doing but he came out with his phone. He handed it to me, and I started entering my number.
"I'll press 'call' so I can have your number, too." I said. "I'll text you my address later so you'll have it for tomorrow." I smiled as I typed my number into his phone. I added myself as a contact, and when it came time to put my name, I wrote, "My Darling Abigail." I felt nervous doing it, but I thought it would make him smile when he found it later. I called my number from his phone, but I hung up after one ring. And then, rather than hand his phone back to him, I set it in his truck. His door was still open, and I was already anxious about having written that silly phrase as my name. I regretted doing it as soon as I set the phone down. I wanted to pick it up again and delete the words 'my' and 'darling', leaving it to simply say Abigail like it should have in the first place.
Ash saw me hesitate. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, even though I wasn't.
If this guy only knew how much I liked him. If he only knew that my heart was pounding and I could barely breathe.
"I assume it's casual tomorrow," he said.
I let out a laugh. "Yeah, don't wear this. Y-you can if you want. It looks nice and everything, I just…"
He smiled. "It might be a little much for a pool party."
I gave him a tiny shrug. "I think your landlord has the number for the shop, but now you have my number. You can call me directly if there's ever a problem with the fish."
He smiled. "Don't tempt me," he said. "I almost threw a pizza in there when Mandy told me you weren't coming back till next week."
"Oh, no, don't do that."
"I wouldn't. But I might have gotten desperate enough to call and make up a problem."
"Well, now you have my number," I said. "Don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you," he said. "Thank you for everything today. I had fun. I'm so glad I tracked you down."
"I'm glad too," I said. "Sidney and the kids were happy to meet you."
"They were awesome," he said.
"I wish I would have told them you were a musician," I said. "They would have loved that."
"I'm kinda happy you didn't," he said.
"Do you not like telling people?" I asked. "Because if you come tomorrow, I don't have to tell anyone. I mean, I think my roommate already knows who you are, but I could ask her not to mention it if you—"
"It's not that," Ash said. "It's just that part of me is happy you forgot to bring it up. I guess it just feels neat that it's not the first thing on your mind when you think of me."
I let out a little laugh. "I still kind of think of you as the mover."
"And you're still keen on having dinner with me," he said as more of a statement than a question.
"Well, you are a really handsome mover," I said. "And it's just as friends, anyway. Remember? Since you don't date."
"That's my rule."
"I know," I said, nodding. "That's what I'm saying. You've got a rule against it, so it's not a problem."
"No, I mean, it's my rule. I'm the one who made it, so I'm the one who can break it. I say whether I date or don't date."
"Yeah, but just because you change your policy doesn't mean I'm automatically going to go out with you."
Obviously, I wanted to go out with him. I would drop everything to go out with him. I had absolutely no rules against it or reservations about it. I was totally bluffing about refusing him, and I was sure he knew it.
"I think I'll be able to talk you into it," he said. "I think I have a chance. I'm pretty sure you like me a little since you just accidently admitted that you've already mentioned me to your roommate."
I gave him a shy smile and shook my head as I opened the car door. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I said with a shrug.
He smiled as he watched me get into my car, and then he turned and climbed into his truck. I wanted to squeal, but I held it in. Once we parted, going in different directions, I clinched my fists and pounded the steering wheel, letting out my contained squeal.
Ash—in all his splendid, well-dressed glory—tracked me down at work and then let me drag him around town.
I was on cloud nine for about three minutes.
Until I remembered the name I had programmed into his phone.
My stomach turned.
My darling?
Really?
Had I seriously done that?
I slapped a hand to my forehead. At the time, I thought it was cute and funny, but now I would give anything to get that off of his phone.