Just Say Yes (Just Say Yes #2) (13 page)

I immediately called him back. A minute later, his face popped up on the screen and my heart thudded in my chest at the sight of him.

“Sorry I’m late. This has been a crazy day.”

“It’s fine, Zoey. I knew you would never stand me up.”

“I just stepped out of the shower. Do you mind if I eat while we talk?”

He chuckled. “Of course not. This is a date, remember? You’re supposed to eat on dates.”

I was wound up from rushing around, so I took a deep breath and when I did, I smelled flowers. I looked around my room only to find the most exquisite bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen on my dresser.

“Did you send me flowers?” I asked as I hopped off the bed for a closer look at them.

The card read:

“I did. Do you like them? Sorry you can’t plant them, but I didn’t think they’d let you take a live plant home on the plane.”

“They’re perfect. Thank you. I love them…and you,” I replied happily.

“Eat your dinner, please. I’ll entertain you while you eat.”

Entertain?

I grinned deviously. “Are you gonna strip for me or something?”
Yes please.
He returned my devious look with one of his own. In the next second, he stripped his T-shirt off and tossed it behind the couch onto the floor.

“Mmm, thank you, Sexy,” I teased as I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

“Better?” he asked.

“Uh huh. Definitely.” He was wearing a chain around his neck with something dangling at the end.

“What is that around your neck? I haven’t seen it before.”

He looked down, grasped the end of it in his fingertips, and held it up to show me.

“These are my mum and dad’s wedding bands. I found them in an old box I hadn’t unpacked since we moved from New Zealand.”

He didn’t seem upset about them. It didn’t even seem to faze him when I asked what they were. He must have been dealing with what he wanted to while I was gone. If I had asked last month, he would’ve gone quiet and rubbed his hands down his jaw. Not today, though. It made me happy for him.

“Do you know how beautiful you are wearing that chain with all those tattoos?”

He chuckled. “You know men aren’t supposed to be beautiful. They’re supposed to be handsome and masculine.”

“Let’s not forget sexy, too,” I added. “You are all of that and more. When you add it up, it equals beautiful. Sorry, I can’t help it. You’re just too…”

He put his hand up to stop me from going any further. “Zoey, I get it. I’m too sexy, remember?” He laughed at his own cheese ball joke.

“Actually, you’re “Sex on Fire” now. I changed your ringtone ages ago to something a bit more fitting.”

He arched his brows. “I guess I’d better check the song out later. Speaking of songs, I want you to sit there and
eat
. I have another pressie for you. Sit tight for a sec.”

He moved his laptop back further, then stood and reached over the back of the couch to pick up his guitar from the stand. I was blessed with a nice shot of his gorgeous ass, and stared at it the entire time it was on the screen. As he sat back down, I quickly wiped the smile from my face so he wouldn’t notice.

“I’ve been learning new songs while you’ve been gone,” he said as he sat back down and situated his guitar on his thigh.

Since he’d moved his laptop away, I had full view of his half-naked body from his knees up. He was wearing my favorite jeans, and he was
beautiful.
I don’t care what he said.

“Please don’t laugh if I suck at singing this, ’cause I’m really nervous.”

He’s going to sing?
I thought he was only going to play the guitar for me.

“I’d never laugh at you. You’ll be perfect.”

He shook his head and grinned at me. “Beautiful. Perfect. Zoey, you’re gonna give me a big ego if you keep it up,” he laughed.

We sat in silence while he fine-tuned his guitar. I definitely wanted to remember this day, so I reached down and hit the record button so I could make a video of him to watch again later.

Andy rubbed his forehead nervously with the back of his hand. “Okay, here goes. I’m sure you’ve heard this song before. It’s called “Fade Away.”

He took a deep, anxious breath and began strumming his guitar. I didn’t immediately recognize the song until he started singing.

His performance absolutely blew me away. The man could
sing
. It was a perfect song too. His voice sounded very much like the man who actually sang the song, deep and sexy.

As he sat on his couch playing and singing, my eyes pooled with tears. I longed to be sitting on the couch next to him while he serenaded me. Listening closely to the lyrics it was clear to me why he picked that song to sing.

The song was amazing when the band Seether performed it, but with him sitting there with only his guitar, and me watching, I had never felt so special and loved in my life.

He finished the song and looked at me apprehensively to see whether I approved or not. By that time, all the tears that welled up in my eyes were running down my face and onto the dinner plate I’d abandoned on my lap.

There were no words. He was amazing.

“What’s wrong? Was it so
bad
it made you cry?” he joked. He knew I liked it.

“Ha ha, very funny. Please tell me you have more songs to do.”

He smiled. “Just one more, but I need to switch guitars. Give me another minute. Eat!” he demanded with a grin, pointing at my plate.

This time when he stood up, he left my view completely so all I could see was the empty couch.

I heard him in the background rustling around, when James hopped up on the couch in front of the webcam. “James,” I called, trying to get his attention. “Hey, James, what are you doing?”

Yes, I was talking to my cat as if he was a person. He heard me and walked to the edge of the couch, trying to decide if he should jump to the table to get closer to the laptop. He was teetering on the edge, still trying to decide, when Andy walked behind the couch with his amp and guitar.

“James,
no,
” he stated firmly.

“Hey, be nice to my baby, you big meanie.” James became sidetracked by something and jumped to the floor. Yep, our kitty had a short attention span.

Andy chuckled in the background. I still couldn’t see him on the screen. “He jumped on the kitchen table last night from one of the chairs and knocked over my cup of ice water,” he laughed. “The cup was aimed at me and it spilled all over my lap. It was a bit, um—”

I could not control my response. “I bet it was cold and you had to take your pants off, huh?”

He sat down on the couch, smirking. “I’m not taking my pants off for this song, Zoey.”

Damn.
“That’s too bad. I was kind of looking forward to seeing you without your pants,” I joked.

He shook his head as he settled his electric guitar on his thigh then leaned forward to look directly into the webcam. “Zoey, when you get back here, neither one of us will be wearing
anything
or leave your bed
for at least two days. I’m tired of taking cold showers while you’ve been away.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said because the anticipation was already killing me. “We need to stop talking about this or I’m gonna take matters in to my own hands.”

I laughed and wiggled my eyebrows so he
knew
what I meant. At that point, I was not opposed to taking care of my own needs since he was in California and I was in Cabo.

Andy’s eyes shot up to mine and he raised a brow, shocked at what I’d said. God, I loved it when he did that. “Did you really just say that to me, Zoey? Oh fuck, the visual from that alone is going to keep me busy later tonight.”

My jaw dropped and I giggled, realizing we’d just dirty talked each other over Skype. Andy stuck his guitar pick between his teeth, reached behind the guitar on his lap, and I could only assume he adjusted himself in his pants. When I laughed at the grimace on his face, he playfully glared at me.

“You ready for our song?” he asked after he took the guitar pick from between his front teeth.

Our
song? I nodded and hit the record button again.

As soon as he started playing his guitar, my heart started thumping faster in my chest.

He learned to play and sing “An Olive Grove Facing the Sea.” Holy hell. I was not expecting it at all. It was wonderful watching him play his guitar because he was so good at it. His long fingers moved smoothly and precisely over the neck and strings.

Vocally, he was flawless. He even hit the higher notes perfectly. It made my heart swell hearing him sing the lyrics aloud after our birthday dance. I would definitely try to get him to sing with me one day.

He finished the song and set his guitar aside. “Well? Did I suck at that one?” he asked.

“Um, no. I don’t want you to get a big ego or anything, but…you were perfect. You can sing for me any day, Andy.”

“You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

I nodded. “Of course, and I would for you.” I missed him so much it hurt. I really wanted to touch him. A long sigh escaped from deep within my lungs. “I wish you were here, even if it was for just a day. We could lounge on the beach in the sun.”

His eyes lit up and he smiled. “It would be nice, wouldn’t it? It’s cold, especially without you here. James isn’t much help. I swear he hogs the bed more than you do.”

Even if it was at my expense, I loved how he knew to rein me back in when I started to get a little sad.

I am no bed hog.

“Maybe I’ll take you home to New Zealand someday,” he added.

“Sounds amazing, Andy. Count me in. I’ll start saving some money when I get back.”

He shook his head. “No, you won’t. I said I’d
take
you to En Zed, which means I pay for everything.”

I smiled and shook my head. I was definitely going to start saving up for our trip.

Realizing my full dinner plate was still sitting on my lap, I picked it up and set it aside. I hadn’t touched a bite of it. I wasn’t even hungry anymore.

“Zoey, please go eat your dinner. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Alright, bossy. Thank you for the flowers and the songs. I love you.”

“Love you too, Beautiful. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

After we disconnected our chat, I sent him a text.

“New York,” by S.P.

It was a song from the newest album, and of course had the perfect lyrics.

The song made me think about what each of us went through before we found each other, the hurt we both experienced and saying we loved each other before we really knew each other, but meaning every word.

It made me miss him, the scent of his cologne and the feel of his skin on mine.

I seriously considered packing my bag that night to catch the next flight home.

For the next several days, I kept myself very busy. I was enjoying myself at the stables working with Josie, but I was ready to go home. I missed Andy, my family, and my friends.

Andy had been mysteriously missing-in-action each day until later in the evening. When I asked him what was keeping him so busy, he always answered “work.” I let it go because I was
not
going to be one of those girls who demanded to know where their boyfriends were every second of the day. He did have a life besides me.

When I did speak to him, he was very attentive and loving, but something was up. I also knew he would tell me what was going on when the time was right for him.

We were taking it day-by-day, right? I still had feelings to work through before I went home. I was almost ready, but just needed a few more days.

While I was helping Josie with the horses, she was helping me to get myself back together. I didn’t realize she was doing it because she was very good at what she did. She knew it, of course, but she didn’t push me. She must have been
really
good at her job as a therapist at the horse ranch. We talked constantly when we were together and I told her about things I never talked to anyone about, not even Dr. Jensen.

The Thursday morning before I was to fly home, Josie invited me out on a ride with her. It would be just the two of us going on one last trip. During our talks, I’d asked her only once to tell me about how she became an orphan. Her response was that she would tell me before I left and
only
after she was certain I’d figured out who I was, since it was my goal. We made a deal that if I didn’t figure out who I was by the time I left, she was going to make me go snorkeling with her for one last visit with the ‘piranha.’