I got out of the car and jogged to the front door as all thoughts and worries dissipated. Nothing mattered but spending the evening with Molly.
“Hi, Alfie. Good to see you again.” Peyton opened the door and gave me a quick, formal hug before moving back. “Come on in. Molly is still getting ready.”
“Good to see you too.” I walked in and breathed in deeply. The scent of Molly’s perfume filled the place. “I hate that the last time we saw each other, we were running around Ashburton looking for Molly.”
“Right? Fucking Harry,” she mumbled and walked toward the kitchen. “Come on in here and talk to me. I’m making some brownies. She’ll be right down.”
“Nope. No sitting down. I’m ready.” Molly walked through the other opening in the kitchen, stealing my breath. Her dark hair was half down and half up, and the cream-colored sundress she wore accented her heavy breasts and thick hips.
My whole body locked up as the blood from every extremity raced to my cock. Fuck. She was everything I’d ever dreamt of having in my life. How could I tell her that I wanted her forever when we barely knew each other? She’d just been through hell too. There was no way around it. I was just going to have to win her over slowly.
“Wow,” I whispered and moved over to stand in front of her. The heat between us was almost too much as I glanced down at her. “Don’t you look beautiful?”
“You like it?” She turned around and giggled softly. “Peyton made me buy it for our date.”
I glanced over my shoulder as my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest. “Thank you, Peyton.”
She glanced up and laughed. “Don’t mention it. Now, get out of here. I don’t have a date, and I’m getting jealous already!”
I turned back to Molly and leaned down, brushing my lips against hers as I pulled her close. “Where are we going, love?”
“Let’s grab sandwiches and go to my favorite spot in all of New York.”
“Which is?” I lifted an eyebrow and smirked.
“I’m not telling you. You’ll just have to wait and find out.” She lifted to her toes and pulled me down for another kiss.
Peyton clearing her throat behind us had us chuckling and leaving.
“You kids have fun!” Peyton called out as she stood at the front door.
“We will.” Molly slipped her hand into mine. “I’ve missed you.”
“You’ve no idea, lass. You’ve no idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Molly
After stopping by my favorite deli, we made our way to the outskirts of downtown loaded with sandwiches, chips, sodas, and cookies for our evening meal. It felt so damn right being with him. I could have lived in a shack and eaten hotdogs for the rest of my days if it meant that the two of us would be together and we’d have the courage to confess our feelings for each other.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same as I did. Maybe he held back because of all I’d been through with Harry. Hell, all we’d both been through.
Or maybe he didn’t feel the same. It hadn’t been more than a few weeks. Maybe I was jumping to Alfie because I was in rebound mode. I’d done that a few times in my life and lived to regret those types of decisions. I tried to think through whether that was where I was as he pulled up to the address I’d typed into his phone.
“Now, where are we again?” he smiled over at me in the car.
“I’ll show you. Just grab the food, and let’s go. I think you’ll love it.”
“You lead, pretty woman. I’ll follow.” He got out of the car and took all of the bags, refusing me when I asked for one to carry. He was far too much of a gentleman, and I was one lucky girl.
The feeling of Alfie’s warm fingers threading around mine made my stomach flutter as I led him to the back-patio stairs. He followed behind me without question, not even phased by the fact that we were literally twenty-four floors above the ground as we climbed up the rickety, metal stairs to the balcony right before the roof.
I wasn’t disappointed in Alfie’s reaction when we reached the patio that jutted out from the building. He gazed out across the sparkling New York City skyline with the stars twinkling above us with an awe-struck expression. The warm wind nipped at our clothes as we stood on the balcony that overlooked the crowded streets.
“This is beautiful,” Alfie said. “How did you know about this place?”
“I used to come out here all the time when I was a college student,” I said, smiling. Wrapping an arm through his, we stepped closer to the balcony railing. “Whenever I needed to clear my head, this is where I would go to do it.”