Then he hit the screen with his thumb and looked at me.
I burst out laughing and all that was so freaking good I did this a long time.
When this died down to chuckles I saw Mike standing where he was, watching me. He wasn’t smiling. He was just watching me and doing it intently.
“That was awesome,” I told him, each word as heartfelt as I felt them which was to say a whole lot.
Mike didn’t respond to my comment.
Instead he rocked my world.
“My daughter’s birthday party is Saturday. I want you there. So as not to make a special day for her about her meeting her father’s new woman, I want you out to dinner with me and my kids tomorrow night. Neutral turf so they don’t feel invaded and you feel safe. And if you want to impress her, I’ll give you her wish list. You buy anything on that, she’ll love you for a teenage eternity which, translated, means at least an hour.”
I stared at him.
I didn’t know how long he’d been divorced but it had clearly been a while. I did know he’d had lovers since and not a few. He’d not introduced his kids to one of his other women and if what he told me was true, that included the Vi he was talking about.
But it didn’t include me.
After a clear nightmare with his wife, to protect himself he started dicking around and unfortunately when he did that he dicked around with me.
Obviously, he was done with that. Not kind of done as in not really committed to being done. One thing was crystal clear about Mike Haines. He loved his kids, looked after them and protected them. There was no way in hell he’d introduce them to a woman he wasn’t serious about with that serious being serious.
“You need to be ready at six,” he carried on. “We’ll come by here and pick you up.”
I continued to stare at him but I didn’t speak.
So he prompted, “Dusty, did you hear me?”
I nodded.
“Are you gonna be ready at six?”
I nodded.
He held my eyes.
Then, his voice softer and less bossy, he asked, “Do you forgive me?”
I licked my lips.
Then I pressed them together.
Then I did what I’d always done. I made a decision on the fly based entirely on feeling and went with it.
Which meant I nodded.
I watched his tall, lean body relax and something about seeing it do that, a man like Mike exposing that to me meant the world to me. Because his being tense waiting for my forgiveness and finally getting it meant the world to him.
“Right, honey,” he said gently, “then come here and kiss me.”
God, I’d missed that. I’d had it a day and I’d missed it like I’d had it for decades and lost it for eternity.
So I walked the three feet to him, right into his arms and I tilted my head back. Going up on my toes to kiss him, I didn’t get the chance.
That’s because, his arms closing around me hard, his mouth slamming down on mine, Mike kissed me.
And he did it thoroughly.
My arms were tight around his neck and my entire body was alive when his lips slid along my cheek to my ear and he whispered, “You’ve made me a happy man, honey.”
I closed my eyes and shoved my face in his neck.
“You forget how to talk?” he teased and I grinned.
“No,” I whispered. “But this is a lot.”
“It is,” his arms gave me a squeeze, “you’ll get used to it.”
God, I hoped so. I really, really hoped so. Because I hadn’t lied. If he hurt me again, I wouldn’t survive it. All the men before (not that there was a million of them but still) that I lost didn’t hurt as much as losing him did.
He lifted his head and caught my eyes.
“I wanna take you to bed, celebrate this extensively. But to do that would mean Rhonda, who blushed when she mentioned just talkin’ to your brother in bed, will come home to us on the couch or in whatever room you’re sleepin’ in and I don’t wanna do that to her and my guess is, you don’t either.”
This wasn’t true. I wanted to “celebrate this extensively”. But I didn’t want to do that to Rhonda either.
“I don’t either,” I told him.
“I also am not gonna go,” he told me and I relaxed in his arms because I didn’t want him to go. He felt it and smiled a gentle smile so I knew he liked it. “So, you got a choice, camp out in front of the TV or talk.”
“Will the talk be deep and meaningful?” I asked.
“If you want it to be,” he replied.
“I think I’m topped up on that for tonight,” I informed him and he chuckled.
“Then it can be about nothing,” he offered.
“Okay,” I accepted.
“Except,” he started and I braced, “you gotta know one thing. Audrey will be at Reesee’s birthday party.”
“Oh God,” I blurted and he grinned.
“Not nice, you bein’ sweet, givin’ me another shot and me treatin’ you to trial by fire as payback.”
He could say that again. Dinner with his kids and then his daughter’s birthday party with his ex in attendance.
“At least tell me Vi won’t be there,” I demanded and his grin grew to a smile.
“No, Vi won’t be there.”
“Then I’m good. Your ex, I can handle. Some chick who you fell for, uh…no.”
“She’s married.”
“Uh…no.”
“With a baby.”
“Did I say no?”
He started chuckling.
Then he stopped abruptly, took one arm from around me and cupped my jaw in his hand.
I held my breath at the look in his eyes.
But he just repeated, “You made me a happy man, Dusty.”
“Good,” I replied softly.
“No, Angel, you don’t get it. I haven’t been happy, truly happy without anything f**king it up in eighteen years.”
I stared at him feeling my lips part.
“And tonight, givin’ me another shot, you made me happy. Truly happy without anything f**king it up.”
I felt my throat clog and my nose sting and the word was husky when I repeated, “Good.”
His voice was thick when he replied, “Yeah, it is.”
I took in a stuttering breath.
Then I asked, “Can we start talking about nothing before I start bawling?”
He grinned again and whispered, “Yeah.”
To that I whispered back another, “Good.”
Then he led me to the couch. He flicked off the TV and we started out talking about nothing then we talked about bitchface Debbie’s antics and then before he had to get back home to his kids, we ended up talking about nothing again (with not a small amount of making out mixed in).