“Eh-hem!” The carriage driver cleared his throat in a loud voice. “We’re back.”
Grace blushed, knowing he’d caught them in a hug. How had she managed to forget his presence?
Brad pulled some money out of his pocket, and handed it to the man, who smiled and tipped his hat. Then he climbed down and turned his back to Grace.
“Hop on—your chariot awaits.”
She crawled onto his back, and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying not to choke him. “Hey, where are we going?”
He carried her with ease up the path back into Central Park. “I’m not ready to go home. We haven’t finished talking yet.”
“But I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“I promise to make it worth your while.” His voice carried a lilt of amusement.
“How?”
“Well, after I’ve kissed you enough to make up for the months we lost... No, that would take all night. After I’ve kissed you enough to make up for one of the weeks we lost together, I’ll take you for dessert at Ellen’s Stardust Diner.”
“Can I get a burger and a chocolate shake?”
She felt his laugh rumble in his back. “Sure. But I don’t know how you stay so little with that appetite.”
She laid her head against him, relishing the feel of his warm muscles flexing, until he stopped at a secluded park bench.
“I thought we’d pretty much covered all the topics. What else are you going to make me talk about?” She knew she sounded petulant, but she couldn’t help it.
“I want to know the inside rules.”
“What inside rules?”
“The ones that if I break them, you’ll ditch me. For instance, now I know I’m not supposed to mention marriage unless I’m talking about someone else’s marriage, like Spencer and Emily. What else?”
“There aren’t any rules.”
“Sure there are—you and your sisters know them. I bet I could guess one or two of them. Like, I bet if I ever hit you, you’d ditch me, and your brother would kill me.”
“Well, that’s obvious.”
“Right, so I want to know the less obvious ones, like the one about the M-word. What about the L-word? Am I still supposed to avoid that one?”
“I don’t know. I’ve told everyone else that I... that I... you know... I live you, but I’m scared to say it to you.”
“Then you don’t have to say it until you’re ready.”
The tight feeling in her chest eased a bit. Maybe talking wasn’t so bad.
“And just so we’re totally clear, do you really want to move out of New York City or not?”
“I only wanted you to move because I thought you were working yourself to death. I still think we might need to move some day, and I’d be perfectly willing to go.”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you everything that’s going on, but suffice it to say I’m happy where I am. But explain this to me. How is it you can worry about our future together and where we might live, but you can’t talk about the possibility we might have a future together?”
“Because those are two totally different things, of course. And by the way, I can see you rolling your eyes around, even though it’s dark. Didn’t your mother ever tell you they might get stuck up there?”
“But you’d be willing to move away from your family so we could be together if it was best for me and my career?”
She firmed her lips and nodded once. “I absolutely would.”