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My lips twitch. “No.”
“One hint.” His impatient exhale reminds me he’s not used to people denying him.
“No hints.”
“You’ll tell me anything I want when those heels are locked around my waist in a couple of hours.”
Heat floods me.
“I guess we’ll find out.” I pick up my wine again, twirling the stem. “I can’t believe Dad and Haley get here tomorrow morning. Or that Sophie’s going into first grade next year. I still remember when Haley was pregnant with…”
His gaze drops to my stomach, and I stop mid-sip of wine.
“What?” I ask.
“I keep thinking about what you’ll look like when you’re pregnant.”
The way he says it, warm and sexy, tells me exactly what he thinks I’ll look like.
It’s something we’ve talked about but not in a few months.
“My childhood wasn’t the greatest, but whose was? You said I needed something bigger than myself to believe in. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I do now.” His gaze searches mine, and the hope I see affects me every bit as much as his words.
“You told me once you want children who glare at us with my eyes and scream at us with your mouth.” My heart is kicking so hard it might escape my ribs.
“I’ll be a musician forever, Annie. We both will because it’s in us. But I don’t need to have a career like your dad, selling out stadiums for over a decade. I get why he did it though. For you.
“That’s why I want to do this deal. Artists flame out all the time, and the next person to burn out could be me. Your dad is the exception, not the rule. This label, run right, will provide for us after I stop being on stage. If you ever decide to stop, for kids or any other reason, you won’t have to worry. Nor will our kids, or their kids, or their kids’ kids.”
His commitment makes my heart ache. He grew up with nothing, and I know how important security has always been to him. There’s no amount of money in the world that would shake loose that fear in him.
“If it’s only an investment, why not leave it in the hands of the lawyers and financial managers? You’ve worked hard for this time off. We both have,” I remind him.
Tyler’s brows pull together. “I don’t think I realized how big an investment it was when I signed on. But once I started looking through the paperwork, I found something I didn’t expect. Memories. We met at Wicked. I got to know you there, in Philly all those years ago. It’s a piece of our past, and it could be a piece of our future. Only if we want it,” he finishes, sensing my uncertainty.
The tiny lights tucked into the trees leave his face mostly in darkness, and I itch to trace my hands over those planes.
It’s hard to argue with a sentimental Tyler Adams. There are few things he holds precious, and the idea that he treasures those times when we first hung out... My romantic heart can’t find it in me to deny him.
Still, I hate the thought of sharing him this week for a second longer than necessary. I feel as if I’ve always been forced to share him, and I promised myself now would be different.
“Most women wish their husbands got along better with their in-laws,” I say at last. “But you and my dad have this whole other relationship.”
He shifts forward, bracing both elbows on the table. “Before I proposed to you in New York, I went to see him.”
Surprise works through me. “To ask permission?”
Tyler shakes his head. “To tell him that I respect him and appreciate what he’s done for me but that I would choose you. Every time.”
My heart melts even before he produces the small purple giftbag he brought with him. “Open it.”
I peer inside to see a small, brown box like a takeout container. Unfolding it, I laugh out loud. “Rice Krispies squares? I’m not sure a nice restaurant like this will let you bring your own dessert from some café,” I tease.
“They’re not from a café. I made them this afternoon.”
Pinpricks sting my eyes as I realize while I was with Beck and Rae, Tyler was thinking of me, wanting to make tonight our own brand of perfect.
“I love you,” I whisper, and his eyes crinkle at the corners.
