| |
I tried to catch her before she went, but within a matter of seconds, she was pulling out of the driveway and hitting the round again—nearly winging my car in the process, actually, as though she had something to prove. I stared after her, trying to work out what the fuck had just happened, but nothing was coming to mind.
I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. My girlfriend? I didn’t have a girlfriend. Well, unless you counted her, and we hadn’t had the talk about us dating yet, so I had assumed we were still just having fun. But the way she’d reacted...
The door opened, and Haley stood there on the threshold, phone in hand, brow furrowed.
“What was that about?” she asked me. And that was when it hit me.
She must have seen Haley in the house and thought she was some secret girlfriend I had been hiding from her. I slapped the heel of my hand to my forehead as it hit me—shit, this must have looked bad, really, really bad. I didn’t know how to get it through to her there was nothing for her to worry about, but I needed to catch up with her and make sure she understood that there was nothing at all happening between Haley and me.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” I told her. “Nothing for you to worry about, but I need to make it right.”
“Oh, okay,” she replied. “Andrea’s arriving soon, by the way. She wants to check out this fair thing this evening. You want to come with us?”
“I would love to,” I replied, “but there’s something I have to take care of first. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied, still looking as confused as when she had come out of the house. I thought about explaining a little further, but I knew what mattered now was getting to Ellie and assuring her I wasn’t messing around. My feelings for her were real, and the last thing I needed was for her to get it into her head that I didn’t care about her when I was starting to fall for her so hard it was making my head spin.
I hopped back into the car and followed Ellie back to her place, where I assumed she had scooted off to after she told me off. I prayed she would believe me. I didn’t know what her dating history was like, and I hoped she wasn’t dealing with too much baggage to believe me. I needed her to know I would never do something like that to her, I cared about her too much for that, and I wanted to keep whatever we had going while I still could. I wasn’t going to lose her over some stupid misunderstanding—but I could see now I should have told her about the woman who was staying at my place tonight. She had every right to be confused by it, and every right to think something strange was going on.
I arrived at her place and jumped out of the car, rushing to the door and banging on it hard. I wasn’t even sure if she would answer me, after what she thought she had seen, but I had to try, right?
A moment later, though, I heard her footsteps coming down the stairs, and the door opened a tiny crack. I could see a sliver of her face behind it, her eyes narrowed as though doubtful of anything I was about to try and tell her.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“We need to talk—”
“Do we?” she snapped back. “What could we possibly need to talk about?”
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea,” I explained as calmly as I could, trying to keep the grin off of my face. She was going to think this was so funny when she heard the mistake she had made, but I didn’t want her to think I was laughing at her or anything. I knew how hard it could be for people to deal with trust issues if they’d been fucked around with before, and who knew what a vulnerable state she was in after everything that had happened the last couple of days. I wanted her to know I wasn’t going to brush off her concerns, and I was going to do everything I could to make sure she felt listened to and cared for.
“Why?” she replied. “I saw that woman in your house. She was talking to you on the phone, wasn’t she?”
“What?” I replied. “No, no. I was driving. I would never take a call while I was driving.”
She fell silent. She knew me well enough to at least believe that part. I wasn’t reckless in that way, and I would never have put other people at risk to take a call.
“So who is she?” she demanded. “What’s she doing at your house?”
“Her name’s Haley,” I explained. “And she’s an old friend.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, sure,” she replied. “An old friend who looks that comfortable in your place? Who’s there when you’re not around?”
“She came in from out of town to help with the case I was dealing with last night,” I explained. “She’s a surgeon.”
She fell silent. She scanned my face, as though looking for some kind of sign I was lying. I wasn’t sure what else I could do to convince her.
“What’s she doing staying in your place?” she demanded.
“She didn’t have anywhere to stay, so I offered her my place for a couple of days so she can rest up.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, her mind processing the new information.
“And why didn’t you tell me she was going to be there?” she asked. “Was that why you couldn’t meet for dinner tonight?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” I explained. “Her wife’s coming in from out of town; she’s also a friend of mine. I thought we could all hang out together and go to the fair.”
The door opened another inch, and Ellie leaned on the side of it and sighed.
“So I just made a total fool of myself?” she asked quietly, sounding utterly humiliated. I smiled at her kindly.
“Look, I get it,” I promised her. “I know how it must have looked to you. But I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t want more than one woman in my life. I just want...I just want you. Haley’s a friend, and I know you’re going to get on with her great. Her and Andrea, actually.”
She nodded slowly, and I felt a flood of relief seeing that she was beginning to believe me. I didn’t want her to hate me. I liked her way too much to even think about it, and, after so long trying to deny my feelings for her, I didn’t want to fuck this thing up.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, rubbing a hand over her face. “I’m just...I’m just a little on edge with everything. With my mom, and then what happened with us...”
She trailed off, raising her eyebrows at me apologetically.
“It’s okay,” I promised her. “I know how it must have looked. But Andrea’s coming in from out of town tonight, and we need someone to show us around the fair. You think you could see your way to helping us out with that?”
She smiled as she finally pushed the door open all the way, allowing me to see her properly. I was so glad she seemed to believe me. I would be able to prove myself to her soon enough, when I introduced her to my friends, but I was relieved she seemed to at least have a decent amount of trust in me. She must have been through some shit in the past to jump to the worst conclusion like that, but it was okay. As long as she was willing to give me the chance to explain myself, I would take anything she threw in my direction.
“I think I could manage that,” she agreed, and she looked up at me with an apologetic expression on her face.
“I’m really sorry,” she muttered. “I—I just thought you were screwing me around, and I didn’t think I could handle that.”
“I get it,” I promised her, and I tentatively reached out for her hand. She let me take it.
“I don’t want you to think I’m going to treat you like that,” I told her gently. “I really like you, Ellie.”
“I guess I really like you, too,” she remarked. “Given the way I just freaked out about the thought of you with someone else.”
I grinned, rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand as comfortingly as I could.
“It’s okay,” I promised her. “I think I’d have reacted the same way, too.”
“I’m not your girlfriend or anything,” she pointed out. “I don’t really have any right...”
“You could be,” I suggested. “If you want. If you’re going to react like that, I mean, you might as well be.”
She giggled. I could see the tension starting to leave her body as she began to relax.
“Okay, yeah, maybe I might like that,” she agreed, lifting her chin and looking me in the eyes. “Would you like that, too?”
“I really, really would,” I replied as I stepped toward her, pulling her into my arms. The thought of being able to call this woman mine was so appealing to me—I loved the thought of it, getting to hold her close and tell her how much I cared for her already. How hard I was falling for her, and how much I wanted to show her off to everyone as my girl.
She smiled, brushing her nose against mine.
“Well, then,” she murmured, “it’s settled.”
“That was easier than I thought,” I remarked as she slipped her arms around my shoulders and gazed up at me.
“What are you implying?” she teased, faux-defensive, and I laughed and leaned down to kiss her. As our lips brushed against each other again, I felt myself relax. She just needed the reassurance that I wasn’t going anywhere and I had no intention of messing around on her. She was the only woman I was interested in, the first girl I’d met in a long time who had drawn me in the way she had, and I didn’t want to do anything to screw it up.
When she pulled back, she leaned her forehead against mine for a moment and closed her eyes as though taking in the sweetness of how close we were.
“Thank you for coming here and not freaking out on me,” she murmured. “I’m sorry. I really am. I should have given you a chance to explain.”
“Promise you will if you’re worried in the future?” I asked, and she nodded.
“I promise,” she replied. “But how often am I likely to come to your place and see a strange woman there?”
“I promise it’s not something you’re going to have to worry about,” I laughed. “How about we go down to the fair and I get you something delicious to make up for it?”
“Funnel cake,” she replied. “That’s the only kind of apology I accept.”
“Funnel cake it is,” I agreed, and I tipped my head back toward my car. “Come on. There’s some people I’d like you to meet. I know you’re going to love them.”
