He dipped his head next to my ear, and the sound of his voice washed over me like a cleansing rain. "I've missed you, too." Then his lips met my temple, and he pulled back to see my face. His eyes scanned my features before he finally asked if I was ready to be seated.
Hand in hand, we followed the hostess to our table. The ease that normally surrounded us was off, and I knew we needed to address it, even though all I wanted to do was sweep it under the rug.
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he said, "Thank you for the little presents. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get in touch with you this week. Things haven't been good at work, and I've been living in my office putting out fires."
I waved him off. "It's not a big deal. I figured you needed time to sort through things."
"I did
