“Well, I’m happy he was there for you.” He rocks me slowly to the music. “But I wish you’d shown me the painting.” He stops dancing and looks at me. “It’s really amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“You better not let anyone buy it.”
I laugh softly. “I won’t.”
“Lucy, I love you. Whether you’re mad or happy or scared or sad. I know it’s not always going to be perfect between us, and we’re probably going to have to weather a lot of storms over the years. But I want to be your life raft. And want you to be mine.”
I look at his handsome face and admit, “Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell you when I’m feeling scared or insecure, especially about us. You’ve been dealing with so much lately. But I promise I’ll be up front with you from now on. I won’t ask for your heart without giving you mine in return, completely and honestly.”
He pulls me close again. “That’s all I want.”
“What is this, a dance party?” Bas asks, making his way over to us as the music changes to another Dua Lipa track. He snaps his fingers to the up-tempo beat of “Be the One” and slowly rocks his shoulders from side to side as he closes the space between us. “Hey, Sam.” He grins. “When did you get here?”
I look at Sam, then I look at Bas. “Wait. Did you know he was coming?”
He sways from side to side and turns his palms up. “Guilty.”
My mouth pops open and I give him wide eyes. “You let me mope for the last two days!” I smack his arm and he laughs.
“Well, I couldn’t ruin the surprise.”
“You were moping?” Sam asks, smiling softly.
“Of course I was. I hated the idea of being here without you.”
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. “I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to miss something this important to you.”
I look up at his sincere eyes and kiss him softly. “Thank you for surprising me.” I look over at Sebastian. “Is that why you were such a freak on the way over?”
“Well, he was supposed to surprise you before the show, but his flight was delayed.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Did you know?” I ask Paul.
“Nope. This was one of the many Lucy secrets I wasn’t privy to.” He narrows his eyes at Sebastian playfully.
Sebastian waves him off and keeps swaying to the music. “He’s still mad that I didn’t tell him about you and Sam when you first got back together.”
“Or that you were pregnant,” Paul says to me.
I wrap my arm around Bas’s waist and press my cheek to his shoulder. “That’s because he’s the best friend anyone could ask for.” I give Paul an apologetic look.
Sebastian smiles and takes my hands, and swings my arms back and forth as he sings, “Oh, baby, come on, let me get to know you, just another chance so that I can show that I won’t let you down, oh no…No, I won’t let you down, oh no.”
I laugh and sway back and forth with him to the music, until he gives my hand to Sam, and he takes Paul’s. I smile at them dancing between paintings and people who are watching and smiling too. Sam lifts my hand and I spin under his arm, but I quickly yank it down when I see an unfamiliar shadow of ink inside his sleeve.
“Did you get a new tattoo?” I ask, pushing his jacket up his arm.
He unbuttons his sleeve and shows me the tattoo on his forearm, and I gasp when I see my face taking up a rather large section of his skin.
My mouth falls open, but all I can say is, “Sam.”
He smiles softly. “Do you like it?”
I bob my head and put my hand over my mouth. “I can’t believe you had my face tattooed on your arm,” I say, blinking back tears.
He looks at me and says, “I didn’t want to go another day without seeing it.”
I release a quiet breath and say softly, “You don’t have to.”
He wraps his arms around me, and I hug him tightly.
“Hey, what do you say we stay in the city for a couple of days?” he asks, putting a wide smile on my face.
“Really?”
“Yeah. You can show me around like you wanted to. We can see the sights.”
I press my lips together over an amused smile. “You want to go sightseeing?”
“I mean, it might be cool to see the city from the top of the Empire State Building.”
I nod softly. “I’d love to do that with you, Sam.”
“And maybe you could show me that art museum you like so much.”
“The Met?”
“Yeah.”
My excitement quickly wanes when I think about what Paul said. The paparazzi will be worse here. “Do you think it’s a good idea? I mean, with how the media’s been lately.”
He holds his head back and grins. “You worried about me?”
“Always.”
He shrugs. “People can say whatever they want about the Crawford fight. They’re going to do it anyway, whether I’m here or in Atlanta. But this might be our last chance to get away for a while.”
I inhale a slow breath and gaze up at him, relishing the moment and the promise of the next couple of days alone in the city with Sam. “Okay.”
Chapter 20
Lucy
I love the Met for five reasons. One: it’s old. Nearly 150 years old. Two: it’s massive. You can spend an entire day in it and not see it all. Three: it sits on the edge of Central Park. Sometimes when you’re inside, you forget that you’re in the city, because all you see from the windows is green. Four: the art. From Georgia O’Keeffe to Claude Monet, the Met is home to some of the most extraordinary art in the entire world. Five: afternoon tea.
The midafternoon sunlight filters into the café through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Central Park, reflecting off our teacups. I dunk my peppermint tea bag in the hot water a few times while it steeps and Sam does the same. He holds his teacup between his strong hands and I giggle softly. “You’re so cute.”
He studies the sandwiches and scones on the three-tiered silver plate stand and grabs one of the egg salad sandwich wedges. “How am I supposed to fill up on these?” he asks, popping the whole thing in his mouth.
I grab one of the cucumber wedges. “You’re not. It’s afternoon tea. It’s just a snack.”
He picks up a lemon raspberry tart and flicks the raspberry off onto his plate. “Is this supposed to be dessert?”
“Yes.” I laugh.
He leans across the table and says, “Tonight, we’re going somewhere good.” He winks and leans back in his chair.
“Where?” I ask curiously.
“It’s a surprise.”
I purse my lips over a smile. “Okay. But first, I want to show you one more painting.”
He grabs another sandwich wedge. “Okay.”
We finish our afternoon tea and meander through the sprawling galleries for another hour, until we reach Woman with a Parrot. I stare at the painting, recalling the last time I was here with Sebastian and Paul, laughing quietly to myself at Sebastian’s interpretation.
“You wanted to show me a naked woman?” Sam asks, giving me a sideways glance.