They finished their drinks. He’d been about to order another round for them, but Chris came over. “You guys mind settling up? I want to close early tonight.”
“That’s weird.” Rachel frowned at him. “You never close early.”
“Then maybe I’m due.” Chris folded his arms across his chest, raising his brow. “Are you telling me my business now?”
“No, but—”
“I’ll settle up,” Jamie interrupted, taking out his wallet. Chris shot him a grateful look, one of a man eager to get to a woman. Jamie recognized the look—he’d seen it in the mirror ever since he’d met Rachel.
They said goodbye to Chris, and he escorted Rachel out of the bar before she could interrogate her friend any further.
“I’ll walk you home?” he asked, taking her hand as they started down the sidewalk.
“Yes, please,” she said as they stepped out to cross the street. “I left my overnight bag there.”
He stopped. “Your overnight bag?”
She looked around, tugging his hand. “Jamie, we’re standing in the middle of the street.”
“Are you coming home with me?” he asked, pulling her closer.
Softening, she nodded. “Unless you have other plans.”
He grasped her head, holding her steady so she could see the seriousness in his eyes. “The only plan I have for the rest of my life is to love you.”
She melted visibly. “That’s a really nice thing to say.”
“You still don’t believe me.” He’d known it, but seeing it felt like a strike to his heart.
She ran her hands up his chest. “It’s just that I don’t see how you won’t eventually get tired of playing house with me and then go back to your old life. It has to happen, right?”
“You don’t have faith in my feelings for you.” The pang in his chest was sharp, like a dagger pierced him.
“I know you love me,” she said surely. “I love you too.”
“But?”
She shrugged. “We can’t play house like this indefinitely. You’ll get bored.”
She was right. What she didn’t know was that he didn’t want to play house. He wanted to have a home—with her. He was done living a transient lifestyle, traveling all the time, moving from city to city at the whim of a football club.
The path was so clear, so strong, that he was surprised he hadn’t articulated it to himself before. He wanted to tell her what he wanted, but he knew it wasn’t the time to strike. He had to wait until the lane opened up. Right now, Rachel was blocking it.
“I have an idea about that,” he just said in the end. “I haven’t figured it out completely, but it’s starting to come together. Come on. Let’s get your things and go home.”
“The apartment?” she asked as they started walking again.
That apartment felt more like home to him than the villa in Turin that was technically hishome. “Yes, the apartment.”
She mustered up a smile. “It was a good idea renting it.”
“I have lots of good ideas.” Hopefully she’d see them that way too.
Eighteen
Rachel was late getting into work. She wanted to blame Jamie, but it was entirely her own fault.
Weak—that’s what she was, especially when Jamie joined her in the shower. She hadn’t told him she didn’t have time; she didn’t ask him for a rain check. She just opened her arms and saidyes.