The crowd went wild as the final guitar trailed off, thundering the street as they roared and cheered with applause. A sympathetic police officer took a step towards the impromptu musician, then his eyes softened and he hooked the handcuffs back on his belt—giving the two lovebirds time to do whatever they needed before he reluctantly called it in.
Dylan didn’t see any of them. He only had eyes for one girl.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he murmured, still holding out his hand as he gazed up at her from the pavement. “Will you forgive me?”
Lacy pursed her lips, trying her very best to restrain a smile. It wasn’t easy. His eyes were sparkling with the light of the early morning sun, as it haloed behind his blond hair. The crowd pushed and jostled around her, coaxing the two of them together. When that wasn’t direct enough, one woman actually shouted, “Just marry him already!” before vanishing up the road.
A little grin finally broke through, as she reached down to accept his hand. The crowd went wild again, but none more so than Dylan. He pushed to his feet with a radiant smile, lifting her up in the air at the same time. Her latte fell from her hands, splashing on the sidewalk behind them, as he pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss.
“I really am sorry,” he whispered.
Their faces hovered together, just inches apart.
“I know.” She stroked back a lock of his hair, before kissing him again. A second after that, she spotted the policeman still lurking behind him and cocked her head. “We should probably get out of here. You know, before you get arrested.”
He nodded, but didn’t set her down. From the way he was holding on, a part of her didn’t think he was ever going to set her down again.
“Where would you like to go?”
She glanced down at her empty paper cup.
“Well...you just spilled all my coffee.”
He pulled her in for another grinning kiss, whispering lightly in her ear.
“There’s coffee back at my house...”
“And I do need to get these clothes off fast...so nothing stains.”
Chapter 5
They made it back to Dylan’s house, but they never made it to the coffee. The second they pushed through the door, he lovingly attacked her—kissing her neck, her lips, her face, her hair. Anything and everything he could get his hands on. She let out a giggling shriek and tried to run for cover, but he was too fast for all that. She hadn’t made it two steps down the hall, before he grabbed her around the waist and dragged her back once more.
“I thought you were apologizing!” she cried, holding up her hands to protect her face. A rather counterproductive strategy, since he just started kissing those too. “I thought you were—”
“I am apologizing,” he said playfully. “This is my apology.”
Without another word, he tossed her over his shoulder and started marching up the stairs. She shrieked again and pounded on his back, but it was no use. He only smiled as he made his way to the bedroom, carrying her as effortlessly as if she was a doll.
“Don’t worry, love.” He grinned as he kicked open the door. “After this, you’re going to start asking me to apologize all the time...”
ABOUT FIVE HOURS AND countless ‘apologies’ later, the happy couple was nestled down in the bathtub—staring at the tiles as a random collection of suncatchers scattered little rainbows all across the wall. They had been sitting in silence for the better part of an hour, occasionally letting out the cooler water and refilling it with hot. All the bubbles had long since faded. And yet, there was a strange sort of peacefulness in the air. A blissful sort of contentment that only grew stronger as Lacy nestled down into his arms.
“I could stay here forever,” she murmured, leaning back against his chest as her eyes fluttered shut. “Become one of those bath people.”
He laughed silently, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.
“There are bath people?”
“You know: don’t have jobs, permanently pruney, never leave the water? Bath people.”
He leaned his lips down to whisper in her ear. “They call those mermaids.”
She broke off in a fit of laughter, splashing a handful of water over her shoulder. “I want to be one of those then. As long as you’ll come with me.”
He straightened up, staring down at her with a crooked grin—as if she was proposing something rather significant. “Lacy Larson, are you asking me to become a merman?”
“Would you do it?”