Emotion wells in me again as I watch that community swarm around her now, swallowing her up in a sea of warmth and love.
“Good job, Uncle J,” a voice that’s definitely not my niece says beside me. I glance over, my heart racing at the sight of Hadley. Damn, she’s beautiful tonight. Her hair, her eyes, her smile, everything is a straight-up portrait of perfection. Or maybe it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with how I feel about her.
“Thanks. I’m glad she seems to be enjoying it.”
“She’s thrilled. Look at her.”
Naomi laughs at something Oliver is saying to her, and Viv has her arm draped over her shoulders. She has to be on cloud nine right about now.
“She deserves to be thrilled for a while,” I say quietly. I flinch when a hand slips into mine, warm sparks becoming hot when she entwines our fingers. With each passing second of silence, the nagging voice in my head gets louder and louder. Soon it’s Naomi yelling at me in an invisible kitchen. Don’t be a wuss, Uncle J!
I clear my throat and tug our hands to get her attention. “So, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Her gaze shifts to me, filling with what I’m hoping is anticipation and not dread. I look away, trying to gather the nerve. Shit, how do you do this? I didn’t even have these stupid conversations in high school.
“Julian?” Hadley jiggles our knotted hands.
“Yeah. Um.” My free fingers lock in my hair. I pull, struggling to sort through the tornado of emotions swirling around inside me right now. Maybe this was a bad idea. No, not maybe. This was a terrible idea. I should have done this over dinner or something. Sunsets and roses and all that shit. Not at my niece’s birthday party.
I glance at her quickly, cringing at the expectant look on her face. Crap, it’s too late to back out now. Here goes nothing.
“So Naomi mentioned something tonight that got me thinking.” I can’t look at Hadley as I search for the words. “She thinks we should, well, you know… be together… like for real?” It comes out as a question, and I lift my gaze to hers, my heart pounding.
She’s biting back a smile. Great… that’s what every guy wants to see in this situation.
“Naomi thinks that? So you’re speaking on behalf of Naomi?” she asks, clearly amused.
I grunt, and clench my eyes shut for a second. “No, I mean, not just Naomi. Me. I do too. It’s just, Naomi brought it up and said I need to make a move and lock you in as my girlfriend before it’s too late.” Yeah. So that wasn’t the smoothest line of all time. Shit.
Of course Hadley’s amused smile grows into a grin. She taps her chin, thinking. “Wait, I’m confused. Is Naomi asking me to be your girlfriend, or are you?”
“Me,” I rush out. “Of course I want that too. Not just Naomi.”
“Right. So…” Her eyebrows lift as she waits.
I swallow, having no idea what she’s waiting for.
“So…” she repeats, urging me with a look.
Yeah, still nothing.
She narrows her gaze and yanks our hands again. “How in the world can someone as attractive and experienced as you be so bad at this?”
“You think I’m attractive?” I ask, a smile finally escaping.
“Missing the point,” she mutters. “You still haven’t asked me a question, Julian.”
I tense and stare at her in disbelief. “Wait, you actually want me to say it in literal terms? Do you want it on a piece of notebook paper with a ‘circle yes or no’ also?”
She smacks my chest, and I grin back, capturing her hand against me. We’re now connected in two places, her face inches from mine. God, I love riling her up.
“Fine.” I clear my throat, bat my eyes, and give her the most intense romance movie stare I can muster. “Hadley Crawford, would you do me the honor of officially being my girlfriend?”
She keeps a straight face for all of two seconds before blowing out a snort laugh. “Okay. You were right. It was way better without the question.”
“Told you,” I say with a shrug. She makes a face, but I still win when she leans forward and rests her lips against mine in a long, soft kiss. It’s not enough, and I thread my hands in her hair to deepen it.
“How about this?” I say, finally pulling back to see her eyes. “Hadley Crawford, would you be willing to stay around and be the fixer to my mess?”
Something flickers in her face before she shakes her head. “Actually, no. I don’t think so.”
I drop my hands, confused. Oh shit. How badly did I screw this up? My pulse pounds, shivers running through me. I swallow hard, my mouth going dry as she pulls her arms away as well. I don’t breathe again until she locks them around my neck instead.
Her smile grows, betraying her words as she searches my eyes. “Thing is, I’m starting to really like your mess, Julian Campbell. I’m thinking maybe we should keep it.”
After the main greeting at the entrance of the auditorium, the real party moves to the large backstage area where tables of food and seating have been arranged. If not for the balloons and decorations, it would’ve felt like a preshow green room experience. I’m half-expecting to trip over crates and cases piled around the tables, crewmembers milling around to grab a sandwich during their break. But not tonight. Tonight the buffet chafing dishes are filled with Naomi’s favorites, including a fully-loaded waffle bar. I caught her squeal on video when she saw it.
She’s seated at a small table with Mason’s daughter Brooklyn who instantly latched onto her. I love how Naomi seems just as awed by the attention and treats the much younger girl with patience and interest. I’ll have to talk to Mason about getting these two together more often.
“So this is my pony bracelet,” Brooklyn is saying as I approach and hover out of sight behind them. “It’s pink but not my favorite. Because this is my favorite.” She leans forward, tugging on a beaded necklace around her neck. Naomi slouches lower in her chair to inspect it.
“Oh, that’s cute. It looks like it has diamonds.”
“I know! Because it’s a princess necklace. Daddy gave it to me for Christmas. But they’re not real diamonds, though, because Daddy says I’ll lose them and they’re not good for sandboxes. Did you know I have a sandbox?”
Naomi bites her lip through a smile and shakes her head. “No, that’s cool, though. I don’t have one.”
“What?!” Brooklyn cries. “You can use mine then. Do you want to come over tomorrow and go in my sandbox?”
“Um…” Naomi looks ready to laugh but holds it in. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’d have to talk to my uncle.”
A light slap on my arm grabs my attention, and I turn my head to find Mason standing beside me. He nods toward the two girls and grins. I nod back in a silent pact not to disturb them, even though we’re enjoying the show.
“I like your sweater,” Brooklyn continues. “Do you want to know something?”
Naomi smiles and leans close when Brooklyn takes her sleeve to pull her in. “You look like a princess.”
Naomi startles a bit before her lips spread into a grin. “Really? Thanks, so do you.”