Chapter 12

Twelve

HENRY

I try to rid myself of the memory from the last time we went out and the events that followed, tonight is a new night. I am not sure how it will end, but it will certainly not end as it did then. I shake my head to bring myself back to the present. This bar is different from the one we last visited. When we enter it is far more crowded and takes more time to make our way to the booth Mia has reserved for us in the back. I make sure Lucy is in front of me with Oliver in front of her. There are too many people— men —in here. I want to keep an eye on her.

She turns her head over her shoulder and catches my eye. “Looks like tonight you’ll have plenty to choose from.” She tilts her head in the direction of the large group of young women on the dance floor. Nothing about those women tempts me in the slightest and not just because of what paparazzi photographs may come of it, but I am enjoying my time with my family and don’t want another night of Lucy and I going our separate ways. I will be the one to get everyone home at the end of the night, and that includes Lucy.

Shaking my head, never looking away from her, I lean in. “Keep walking,” I say with a firm tone while placing my hand on her lower back, giving the slightest bit of pressure. She laughs and follows my directions. “Good girl,” I whisper. She shivers under my touch.

The booth we are given is in an L shape with two square tables in front of us, allowing for people to get up as they need. This is much better for our large party and much less restrictive.

Lucy and I take the two seats at the bottom of the L shape, with me on the end and Hannah on her other side. After our drinks are delivered, Mia raises her glass in cheers to another amazing evening and then passes something to Lucy. I noticed quickly it’s a pain reliever. “Take it now,” Mia yells, “No headaches tonight. We are partying until the sun comes up.”

Lucy laughs and places the package in her tiny handbag.

“No e-reader tonight? Won’t your fictional boyfriends miss you?”

She smiles up at me. My breath catches, and before I can look too deeply into why that is, she answers, “The bag isn’t big enough for it. So sadly, I will not have their company to fall back on.”

“No need, I plan to provide you with constant and exceptional entertainment this evening.” I have no plans of leaving her side, but I’m not sure if she believes me.

“Take a photo of the table with the drinks,” she says with her glass in her hand .

“I thought we were trying to put distance between the pub scene and myself.”

“The bars were never the concern—it was the company you were keeping. This is a nice night out with your family. It shows your fun side and that you are spending time with your sons and their partners. You can caption it ‘An entertaining evening with my family’ and then link their accounts.” Even in this poorly lit bar, her eyes sparkle as she shares her idea. I don’t hesitate to take the photo while she sips on her red wine.

The waiter comes to take our order for the next round of drinks and yells loud enough for us to hear, “And for the couple at the end, same as before?”

Together, we reply loudly, denying being a couple. The waiter doesn’t care. “Okay, not a couple, same drinks as before?” he says, with intense exasperation. We both nod quickly with everyone’s eyes on us as we avoid eye contact with each other.

Hannah attempts to engage us both in a conversation before Oliver quickly cuts her off and whisks her away to the dance floor.

“Care to dance?” I ask Lucy, trying to sound confident in my request.

“With whom?” Mischief crosses her face, and then she looks away from me as if searching for a dance partner in the crowd. Cute.

I stand and offer her my hand. Her face falls a little. Did I offend her?

She grabs it and tugs on it for me to sit back down, but her efforts are in vain, and I use my strength to pull her up in front of me. She wasn’t prepared and neither was I, for how close we are. “Let’s dance,” I say while my mouth is a breath away from hers. I don’t give her the chance to answer as we make our way to the dance floor. I remember her mentioning having dance lessons when she was younger—maybe I could impress her a little.

The dance floor has varied between sets of club music and variations of contemporary streamlined music. I believe the switch between the two is to allow for each group to break for drinks and whatnot. I appreciate that. The twenty-something celebrities Mia has been fawning over since we arrived have finally moved off the dance floor and into their seats at the bar and various booths like ours.

As the music begins, I pull Lucy into my arms, and she moves with a delicate ease. Oh yes, she knows how to dance. Sure, we’ve touched before, but holding her in my arms is causing my body to heat with a fire I haven’t felt in a very long time.

While it was an admiral plan to impress her, it’s glaringly obvious she is the impressive one. It is as if her body is connected to my thoughts. She turns with precision, sways her hips in time with mine, and holds her posture solid, yet is flexible with each move I make.

The hours fly by like minutes, but after checking my watch, I realize it’s well after midnight. Lucy catches my action and asks, “What time is it?”

I’ve been deprived of her touch since we parted after our last dance, but now she’s provided me with another opportunity. I hold my wrist up, but just out of her reach. She gently grabs my wrist and pulls it in for a closer look, just as I wanted her to.

“It’s late, I think I’ll be heading home soon,” she says, making a grand gesture of letting me know before disappearing again.

“One moment,” I tell her with my pointer finger up in hopes she won’t disappear the moment I turn around. She nods.

“Finn, Oliver.” I wave them toward me. It may just be my advanced age, but I believe the music has continually increased in volume since we arrived. They both lean over to hear me. “Ready to head out?” They know I had intentions of us all leaving together. Looking back at their girls, who are leaning toward each other in the booth, showing signs of depleting energy. They nod back at me. “I’ll call for the car. Should only take them a couple of minutes.”

Returning to Lucy’s side, I take advantage of the loud music, drape my arm around her shoulder, and pull her close to speak directly into her ear. Just as I had hoped she rests her hand on my leg as she turns her body in toward mine. Electricity runs through me at her touch. “I just messaged the driver and said we are ready to leave. He will let me know when he is here.”

Reluctantly, I begin to pull away from her. As I do, her lips brush my cheek as she leans in to speak with me. Those soft lips caress my cheek with the most delicate of touches, but I know their touch will leave a lasting impression, strong enough to ingrain in my memory forever. “You don’t have to leave because I am. I can get a cab.”

Absurd.

Never will I allow her to leave a shared evening alone again. Escorting her safely to her apartment will be a far better experience than I can have with anyone in this bar tonight. “We are leaving together,” I say firmly while looking directly into her eyes as a promise not to act as foolishly as I did before.

It seems to have the opposite effect on her. It looks as if she snaps out of a trance and pulls her hand from my leg quickly. Did I say something wrong? Could she have plans to meet someone after? Perhaps our time spent dancing has caused me to be more comfortable than she is with our new friendship.

I look around to the rest of our party, but they don’t appear to have noticed. At that moment, my phone buzzes. It’s the driver letting me know he’s outside. We make our way to the exit, and Lucy begins to struggle with her coat again. I jump at the chance to assist her.

Finn and Mia are first at the door, followed by Hannah and Oliver, and then us at the end. As soon as Finn opens the door, flashing lights begin to flood the entrance lobby. He closes it and looks back at me. Finn and Oliver are familiar with this situation, as are their partners. No one enjoys it, but we all know what to do.

“Fix your hair, check your makeup. Looks like we are all about to get our photos taken tonight.” Finn always tries to break these tense situations with a joke.

Then I turn to Lucy, whose face has lost some of its coloring. My stomach sinks at the effect this is having on her. Placing my hands on her shoulders, I lower my face to meet her eyes. “You don’t have to acknowledge them at all. Just stay very close to me, keep your eyes forward or down, and we will get to the car as soon as possible.”

“Why are they here?” She’s still trying to process this, and the longer we stand in here the more suspicious the photographers will become.

“I believe it is due to the many celebrities inside tonight.”

“I didn’t notice anyone famous, well, aside from you,” she says, and my heart flips a little. That place was filled with celebrities, including many handsome young men whose attention she caught without even noticing. Could that perhaps be because I held her attention all night?

No, don’t go down that road.

“We are all going to leave now. Once we get in the limo, everything will be fine,” I pause, “I’m sorry about this.” I doubt it will be the last time I apologize to her for this. “Stay close to me, all right?”

She nods and moves to my side. I give Finn a nod, and he opens the door again. My left arm goes protectively around Lucy’s waist as we exit the bar. She leans her body against mine as we begin our swift walk to the curb where the limo awaits. Photographers begin yelling my name, I ignore it, but it clearly has an effect on Lucy. With her right hand, she grabs onto my suit jacket as if to pull me closer to her. I lean down to whisper in her ear, “You’re doing brilliantly, just a few more steps.” I feel her slight nod as she looks forward.

She shuffles into the limo behind Hannah. I practically leap in behind her. Once the door is closed and we are en route, Oliver breaks the silence. “Welcome to the family, Lucy.”

Hannah leans over and pats her knee. “You did well. The first time that happened to me, I froze in place, and Oliver and Finn had to practically carry me to the car.”

Lucy’s smile returns to her face and I find myself now indebted to Hannah.

The short ride is spent with Mia listing the celebrities who were in attendance and what they were wearing. Everyone is shocked that Lucy didn’t notice a single one.

I help Lucy out of the limo and walk her up to her apartment. She stops just outside her door, keys in hand, and turns to me. Before she can say anything, I say, “Lucy, I apologize about the photographers, I should have realized they would be out there.”

She grows distant once again like she was earlier when she pulled her hand from my leg. “No need to apologize, Henry. Thank you, I had a wonderful night.” Her tone sounds rigid and almost practiced.

“Yes, of course. Goodnight then.”

She quickly unlocks the door and hurries in. Before closing it, she turns back and says, “Goodnight.” I wait to hear the lock and make my way back to the limo.