Own Me (The Wolf Hotel, #5)(28)
“Yes, we’ll have to be more vigilant with her,” Gayle says. “This all feels overwhelming. We were a lot younger and the world was different the last time we parented a teenager. I can’t even imagine the kind of trouble she can get into now.”
Henry slides his wallet from his back pocket and digs out a business card. “If you need me for anything, please do not hesitate to call.” He sets the card on the console table and then turns toward the door but hesitates. “I wasn’t trying to scare her, but this must stay between us. If the media catches wind of this story, they will run with it, and they will not be kind to Audrey’s memory. That’ll only hurt Violet more.”
Howard chews his bottom lip and nods. “We’ll talk to her. Make sure she understands.”
The door creaks behind us as we leave Audrey’s family to their grief.
CHAPTER 9
Steam fogs the bathroom, but Henry’s naked form is clearly visible through the glass as he stands beneath the showerhead, letting hot water pour down over him.
I lean against the sink and admire the view for a moment. Will I always feel this stir in my lower belly when I look at this man, even as the years pass and age erodes muscle and sags skin, when life has worn us down? Yes, I’m sure I will. All I have to do is close my eyes and imagine the electricity in his touch, the feel of his weight on top of me, the smell of his skin, and my pulse begins to race.
And yet now I see him differently than I did yesterday. Not worse. If anything, more human, more capable of mistakes.
More vulnerable.
Henry is a father.
He was quiet on the drive home from Philly, and when we arrived here, he went straight to the home gym, running on the treadmill for an hour as if running for his life. Maybe he was running from it. I still don’t know what he makes of this news.
He turns then, notices me standing there. “Get in here, Abbi,” he demands. His tone is hard and unmistakable. When he’s in this kind of mood, I always end up sore and supremely satisfied.
I slide my robe off my shoulders, allowing it to pool onto the tile floor. I slip into the shower stall behind him.
“I found the obit in the newspaper and sent flowers,” I say, ogling his hard ass and web of muscle over his back as he rinses the soap from his chest. “They’ll be delivered to the funeral home tonight, in time for the ceremony tomorrow.” An enormous arrangement that made me choke when I saw the final bill. “I put our names on it.”
“I was going to ask Miles to send them. But thank you.” He turns his head to show me his profile. “Should I go to the funeral? Would that be the appropriate thing to do? What do you think, Abbi?”
The word appropriate left the conversation sixteen and a half years ago, but I keep that to myself because he’s asking for my help to navigate this complicated mess. It’s so rare for him to do that. “I think it’s best you give Violet her space. Her mom just died. They haven’t buried her yet. She has her grandparents. She knows them. She doesn’t know you at all.”
He snorts. “She thinks she does.”
Moving in to loop my arms around his waist, I shut my eyes against the spray of hot water and press my lips against his spine. “She needs time, Henry. And then she’ll realize how lucky she is to have you in her life.” Is that what Henry wants, though—to be in this girl’s life? He hasn’t hinted where his head is at. “Thank you for letting me come with you today.”
“Let?” Finally, I hear a smile in his voice. “You surprised me. You’re not usually that forceful.”
“And you don’t usually give in so easily. Why did you?”
He pauses on his answer. “Because you tend to get insecure about women from my past, and I didn’t want to give you time to sit here and create something in your head that doesn’t exist.”
“I barely slept last night,” I admit sheepishly.
“I figured as much. I know you, Abbi.” He pulls my left hand to his lips, kissing my bare knuckles. “Where’s your ring? Having regrets about marrying me already?” he says lightly, but I don’t miss the edge in his voice.
“It’s on the bedside table.” I lay another kiss against his skin. “And don’t be silly.”
He turns in my arms so we’re facing each other, our bare, slick chests pressed together. “Are you sure?”
In his bright blue eyes, I see concern. It’s almost laughable, given it was me who was worrying about Henry having regrets just last week. I stretch onto my tiptoes until I can skate my lips against his. “Yes, I’m sure.”
He sweeps the damp, clinging hair off my face and leans down to kiss my forehead. “Let’s forget everyone and get married tomorrow.”
I slide my palms up and down his biceps, memorizing their size and shape. “That would be much easier.” With Violet storming into our lives the way she did, I haven’t had time to think about last night’s disastrous dinner in Greenbank. Mama hasn’t called or texted since and, knowing her, she’ll wait for me to make the first move. “But I want everyone I care about to be there when I marry the man I am hopelessly in love with.” I gaze up at him. God, he really is the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
His jaw tenses. “And you’re not afraid of the next thing that’s waiting around the corner?”