Page 74 of Until You Came Along

“I had a complicated and exhausting day,” he said, and I could tell from his voice that he really was tired and also seemed worried, “I’d love to be there with you to forget about everything.”

“Are you okay?”

“I would be if you were with me,” he stated.

“Don’t do that, Hermes, you’re emotionally blackmailing me.”

“Did it work?”

“No, because we already agreed that we’d see each other later, though if you’re that tired, you should go rest and we can see each other tomorrow.”

“No,” he declared in his domineering voice.

“Hermes, I’m not sure how long I’ll be with Serafina. It makes more sense for us to see each other tomorrow.”

“No. I’ll come for you whenever you’re done and we’ll spend the night together. I need to see you, Delfina. I need to go to bed with you by my side.”

That confession took me by surprise and filled me with a warmth that sent shivers throughout my body. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but it was impossible not to harbor hopes about his love.

“You know you’re very, very stubborn, right?”

“Am I? I didn’t know that,” he said, and I could tell he was smiling.

“And what’s worse is that you easily acknowledge what you consider your virtues, but you don’t recognize your flaws.”

“Maybe I don’t have any.”

“Arrogant—there’s one for you,” I stated, and he burst out laughing.

“See, we’ve only been talking and you’ve already improved my mood a bit. I haven’t laughed since this morning.”

“Well, that’s not news. Let’s agree that laughter isn’t one of your characteristics,” I stated, and he laughed again.

“On that we agree, but with you I laugh quite a bit.”

“Are you calling me a clown, Mr. Darwich?”

“No, I’m saying that you make your optimism and joy contagious to me. You make me happy.”

Oh my God! That man had left me speechless. That phrase was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to me. If I had him by my side at that moment, I would have hugged and kissed him until he was breathless.

“Why did you go quiet?” he asked, concerned.

“Because what you said touched my soul.”

“I spoke the truth,” he affirmed with certainty.

“Thank you, that was beautiful.”

“Don’t thank me. If anything, I should be thanking you for bringing some light to my darkness.”

And now my jaw was truly on the floor. This man was romantic without even trying and said the most beautiful things I had ever heard.

“You’ve convinced me, I’ll see you later. Now I want to hold you, kiss you and…”

“Fu—”

“Hermes!” I exclaimed, interrupting him, and he burst into laughter again.