New Fic-Wishful thinking -20

Rob was standing in the lobby. He snapped his cell phone shut, amazement widening his sapphire eyes. "I don't believe it," he said.

"I know." I glanced at the closed doors to the theater. We'd missed the beginning of auditions. I wondered who would play Professor Harold Hill opposite Carmen. I didn't really care.

"I can't believe Randolph called me back," Rob said. "Not after I blew him off a month ago."

"I guess he really wants you."

"Us," he said, putting enough emphasis on the word that my breath came short. "He wants us."

Before I knew what was happening, Rob closed the distance between us. His arms folded around me, pulling me close, and I realized that I'd missed him even more than I thought I had. I could hear his heartbeat, strong and steady, and I tried to remember how many times we'd stood like that, how many times I'd felt our breathing match, how many times we'd started to laugh at the exact same instant.

How many times he'd kissed me with so much heat I thought my knees would buckle.

His fingers were tangled in my newly luxurious hair when I forced myself to step back, to look him in the eye. "What about Carmen?"

A flicker of doubt flirted with his lips before he frowned. "I don't know what I was thinking. I was angry with you. Confused. I'd wanted you to be happy for me, to support me—"

"I should have—" I started to explain, but he cut me off with another kiss. When we could speak again, I said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

I consciously changed the topic. "I can't believe they want us out there by Wednesday."

"Your father will throw a fit."

I smiled. "I don't think so. Somehow, I don't think this will be such a surprise to him."

Rob glanced at the closed theater doors. "Ready to get out of here?"

I didn't want to be the voice of reason, but someone had to be. "How will Carmen get home?"

Rob shrugged. "She'll grab a ride with someone. She's friends with half the world."

"The male half," I said. The words slipped out before I could stop myself.

Rob cupped my face with his palm. "You know, Carmen and I were just friends."

"Yeah, right." My glib denial hurt, but not as much as I expected it to.

"Seriously. I knew early on that she was never going to be the woman for me."

"When?" I asked, curious despite myself.

"The first night I tried to get her to eat a Tower of Love sundae. She said coffee ice cream was disgusting with the strawberry and pineapple. And she hates whipped cream."

I laughed, even as my stomach rumbled with hunger. "Hey, let's go raid the freezer at Mephisto's! A Tower of Love would make a perfect breakfast."

Rob pulled me close as we stepped outside, and his whisper was for me alone: "As you wish."

THE END