Why Not Now? (The Blue Vista Crew #2)

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Ava

A fter two nights of not seeing Derek, I know when I rush home after work, it’s because I’m excited to see him again. We’ve talked or texted every day, but he hadn’t come over, saying he didn’t want to distract me from getting enough rest. We’ve had phone sex, but it isn’t the same as having his hands and mouth on me.

Like all the other times he’s taken me out, he hasn’t told me where we’re going tonight, only that it’s a fancy place. I remember he’d told me about getting complimentary tickets to something, and since we haven’t done anything that needs those and this is our last scheduled outing, I’m certain tonight is the night. I’m so curious about where he’s taking me, but any time I’ve asked him over the past few days, he refuses to answer.

I quickly say hello to Lacey, who is officially on winter break from school, then get into a shower, shaving and scrubbing until I’m pink. When I emerge, I hear a knock on the front door, but it’s too early for Derek to be here.

As I’m scanning the items in my closet, feeling a little frustrated that I really have nothing fancy to wear, someone knocks on my bedroom door.

“Ava?” Lacey calls. “There’s someone here to see you.”

“Tell him I’m not dressed yet, and he’s early.”

“It’s not Derek,” a woman’s voice says, full of laughter. Lis?

“And you not being dressed is perfect,” says another voice I’m almost certain is Adalie’s. “Put on a robe or something and let us in.”

I blink in confusion but do as they request, opening the door to find all three of them grinning like fools, shopping bags in their hands.

“We come bearing gifts,” Adalie says.

They enter my bedroom and lay out the things on my bed. Lis picks up the green teddy bear I hadn’t put away on the chair this morning.

“This guy is so cute.”

“Derek got him for her a long time ago,” Lacey says.

“How do you remember that?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I stole him from you after Mom and Dad died. I kept him for about a year.”

I’d forgotten all about that. When she gave me back the bear, I had put him on the chair with the other stuffed animals and tried not to think about him after that until Derek came back into my life. I shake the thoughts away as Lis returns him to the bed.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask.

“We came to get you ready for your date tonight,” Adalie says, taking a look around my room. “Makeup and hair first?”

Lis nods. “Then the dress. He didn’t get you underwear. We advised against it, since fits can be tricky, even if you know the right size.” She pulls something out of one of the bags and I realize it’s a dark green dress. My breath catches as I see it, the ribbons at the top, the full skirt. It’s so pretty and cute and I just want to be wearing it.

When did he get this? I can’t believe he would have done something so thoughtful. Even though he spent more money, I can’t bring myself to say no.

Lis continues, “You’ll need something that will work with this. What do you have?”

I’d already put on some underwear, but I go to my drawer and find a different, matching set in black lace.

“I’ll go change into these. You don’t need to help me with the rest, though.”

“Bring back whatever you need to get ready,” Lis orders, and I can tell she’s used to taking charge. She leads a whole kitchen, so that’s not really surprising. I find myself doing as I’m told before I even think about it, heading into the bathroom again to change my underwear and returning with my makeup bag, hair brush, and blow dryer.

They’ve already taken all my stuffed animals off the chair and sit me in it when I return, Adalie beginning my makeup first while Lis and Lacey watch from the bed.

“If I’ve learned anything from my years running a wedding venue,” Adalie says as she works, “it’s that you should do makeup before hair.”

“Why are you even here to do this?” I ask. “I could have done it myself.”

“Of course you could have,” Lis says. “But isn’t this more fun? A bunch of girls hanging out, doing girly things? We should have some wine. Lacey, do you have wine glasses?”

“We don’t have any wine,” I say, but Lis pulls out a bottle of chilled pinot grigio from one of the bags.

“This one is a gift from me, not Derek.”

She and Lacey go upstairs for the glasses, returning shortly. After pouring and distributing it, they move on to my hair, Lis taking over. She brushes and dries it, twisting it up, pinning it in place so a few tendrils fall.

“Perfect. Now the dress. You want us to go?”

I shrug, already standing and eager to put it on. I haven’t worn something so pretty in such a long time. I drop my robe to the floor and pick up the dress.

“Um. Ava,” Lis says. “Are those hickeys?”

I glance down at my body and realize how many of them I have right now. Even after two nights of not being with him, the ones he’d given me previously are still there. A few are covered by my bra, but he’s given me a bunch on my thighs that are fully visible. I hadn’t really thought about it in my haste to get my new dress on.

“Maybe?” I say, my voice little more than a squeak. I glance at my sister, who isn’t looking at me, her face pink.

“Well.” Lis says, a sly grin on her face. “You learn something new every day.”

“Not necessarily something I wanted to learn,” Adalie says haltingly. “I’m just glad I don’t know any of your secrets.”

Lis laughs. “I could tell you some if you want.”

Adalie flushes even more pink than Lacey as I pull the dress over my head to hide the marks.

“That’s all right,” Adalie says. “I’m happy living in ignorant bliss, not knowing any more than I have to about my best friends’ sex lives.”

Lacey turns back to me as soon as I’m dressed. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course,” Lis says, though I’m a little nervous to hear what it is.

Lacey turns to me. “Do you like it when he does that?”

No one says anything for a moment as they wait for my answer. The tentative sound of the question tells me she’s not asking to be intrusive. But I don’t know why she’s asking. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend. Does she?

“If I didn’t like it, he wouldn’t do it,” I say.

Lacey nods as though that was the answer she expected. I wait for a moment to see if she wants to ask anything else or tell me anything else. But she says nothing.

Eventually, Lis checks the time on her chunky watch. “Derek will be here soon. Do you want to wear stockings? And he mentioned your grandmother’s shawl?”

Tears prick my eyes. He remembered my shawl. I’d worn it to our graduation dance, and I remember him telling me how the sparkle in the fabric matched the sparkle in my eyes. It had been so cheesy, but I’d just laughed and kissed him.

I go to my closet and pull it out and around my shoulders. I opt against stockings and slip my feet into the new shoes he bought. Just as I finish, there’s a knock on the front door. We all look at each other, then start giggling. Lacey races up the stairs first, so by the time I get to the living room, followed closely by Lis and Adalie, Derek is already waiting inside.

He looks absolutely, heartbreakingly gorgeous standing with his hands clasped behind his back in his charcoal grey suit and pressed white shirt. He’s not wearing a tie, leaving the top button on the shirt undone. His dark curls are damp from the rain, which just makes me want to run my fingers through them more.

His eyes catch sight of me and I notice him stop breathing. I spin around for him, quick enough to make the skirt flare out.

“You are breathtaking, sweetheart. Like a queen.” His fingers lightly touch my chin, tilting my head up so he can press a soft kiss to my lips. “I brought you something else,” he says, pulling his other hand out from behind his back.

He holds up a square velvet box, a bit bigger than his hand, and the breath catches in my lungs. I meet his eyes and shake my head slightly, not really saying no to the gift, more in disbelief that he’s gone through all this trouble and spent what must have been hundreds of dollars on pretty things for me.

“Derek,” I say, a protest in my voice, though I don’t say anything more.

He opens the box, revealing a gold necklace and matching earrings, teardrop emeralds mounted in a setting with tiny diamonds. My breath is shallow as he removes the necklace from the box and places it around my neck, doing up the clasp, his fingers brushing my skin as he does.

My hand goes to my throat to touch the pendant.

Next he takes out the earrings, putting them on for me as well.

“Derek, they’re gorgeous. You shouldn’t have.”

My voice barely comes out as a whisper as he puts the second earring in, then straightens in front of me. I can’t stop touching the pendant on the necklace, barely believing it’s there.

“You need to know, Ava. Anything I can do to make you happy, I want to do it. Just say the word.”

Tears fill my eyes, threatening to spill over when Adalie shouts, “Don’t cry! Your makeup is perfect.”

I laugh and am able to blink the tears away, only to turn to see all three of the others with tears in their eyes as well.

Lis and Adalie decide to remain behind to watch a movie with Lacey while Derek leads me to his car, opening the door for me, holding my hand as I settle into the seat. He hands me his phone so I can choose the music before he goes around to get in on his side.

Instead of Christmas music, I choose the Cool Down playlist. He glances at me as “Treasure” by Bruno Mars begins.

“Do you remember?” I ask.

“The first time we slept together? Vaguely.”

I laugh and smack his shoulder. He captures my hand and presses a kiss to my fingers, not letting go after. We don’t speak as I listen to the music, remembering our first date and some of the drives we would take just to get out of our houses and spend some time alone. He pulls into a parking lot as the third song ends and a fourth one begins that makes my heart clench.

It doesn’t get further than the first few piano chords before Derek turns the car off.

“We’re here,” he says.

I turn to him, emotions swelling within me, from the dress to the shoes to the jewellery, and now the song and the memory that comes with it. Derek’s arms around my waist, my arms around his neck as we dance. His face pressed into my neck as he whispered to me—

“Ready to go in?”

I blink, dispelling the memory, finally noting where we are. I gasp. “Are we going to see The Nutcracker ?”

He grins. “You got it, sweetheart.”

I hop out of the car before he can come and open the door. I skip around to link my arm in his and he laughs, kissing my temple.

“I thought you’d like it,” he says, leading me toward Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

“I’ve always wanted to see it.”

“I know,” he says. “I was going to bring you that last year, but your parents were taking you to visit your aunt in Alberta before Christmas. So I was going to take you the next year, but…” he trails off and shrugs. “When I came up with this whole Christmas thing, I assumed you hadn’t gotten around to going yourself over the past few years and this was the one thing I wanted to take you to. I called Nessa right after to figure out if she could still get me tickets.”

“Nessa?”

“Carter’s wife.”

We arrive at the doors and he shows our tickets, then we’re inside among the crowd. My heart is racing with excitement. I can’t believe we’re here.

“Would you like a glass of wine or a program or both?” he asks.

I look up at him. He’s already spent so much money on me for today, even knowing he didn’t pay for the tickets to the show. I touch the necklace again.

“Are these real?” I ask.

He turns so we’re facing each other and tugs my body flush against his. “Yes. Those are real—small—diamonds, and those are real emeralds. And yes, you are worth every single penny I spent on them and I’m not taking them back. They’re beautiful on you. Now. Do you want some wine or a program or both?”

I blink away the tears and kiss him, allowing myself to lean in to his warm strength.

“Both,” I say. “I would love both.”