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Instead, I watch my hand hang the phone up and I calmly turn to the back door, watching Valentine trotting back in his tail swishing.
I squat down and run my hands through his now freezing fur, his warm tongue lapping at my face.
I close the back door and lock it, shutting off the light and only crossing the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge before I head back to Rachel.
I consider her for a moment, lying there so peacefully on the couch, knowing I should pick her up and carry her to bed.
Our bed.
But she’s so calm, so quiet. Like an angel, and Valentine’s already curled up on his new favorite spot.
Both of them looking like we’ve been doing this for years.
I feel for David Beckett, I really do. But the swelling I feel in my heart, my own satisfied joy right now at this moment means more.
Sliding back under the blanket next to her, feeling her warm hands over mine again as they slip back up under her chin before my own sleep overtakes me, I feel at home for the first time in my life.
Chapter Eleven
Rachel
With one sexual experience under my belt, even though I’m still a virgin, it’s time for a few more confessions. I’ve never drunk and I’ve never woken up before an alarm.
I usually sleep like the dead, so when I wake up in a strange place all alone and with a sick feeling of dread in my stomach, I guess I kind of know how it must feel to have a hangover.
Those few seconds before I open my eyes, it all comes back to me, some of it making me want to keep them shut a little while longer.
I can still smell Conor on me, but I can’t feel him. I know I’m lying on my back by myself.
The sweet memory of him pleasuring me and holding me so close afterward once I told him I’m a virgin doesn’t bother me.
I’m so glad I finally told someone, and I know when the time’s right that I’ll only ever give myself to Conor.
What’s making me feel so awful is knowing I’ve brushed off my dad for a whole day and a night, not even telling him where I am and we’re supposed to be moving tomorrow.
Conor’s fault for hanging up the phone, grabbing me, and doing what we both know we wanted from the moment we first met.
No, I can’t blame him.
I try not to groan out loud, peeling my lids open as I will myself to think of a way I can have my cake and eat it too.
I want to keep dad happy, moving with him to support him in his new job, but Conor Fox.
Is there really a decision to be made there, girl?
Conor Fox.
I feel myself sighing out loud at the thought of him, replacing my groans of despair in an instant.
But where is he, and what time is it?
I don’t feel like getting up, can’t really. Looking for the robe I had on, I notice it’s gone and there’s no sign of Conor or Valentine.
The door’s closed and the curtains are drawn, but it feels dark outside even though I can’t see it, early morning. Way too early for me to be getting up.
I can’t just lie here though. Feeling my worry rising to the same levels that my happy place is at is enough to get me up.
I use the blanket Conor covered me with as a makeshift gown, wrapping myself up in it once I decide to go find him.
I don’t have to look too far, the other huge room opposite the sitting room is lit up and the door’s open.
I poke my head around the thick wooden door and figure this must be his workroom or office space.
Like the rest of the house, huge room with a high ceiling that has ornate plasterwork and a big old cast iron fireplace that’s been restored. There are framed photos of buildings lining the walls, the same heavy wood framing them that the door’s made of.
The same heavy wood that runs around the border of the room at floor level, tall and thick skirting that gives sharp lines to the thick pile carpeting.
It’s bold, simple but the kind of decorating I love.
Valentine gives me away before Conor looks up from his work, he lets out his trademark high pitched whine before yawning and flashing me a big doggy smile.
Conor’s at a huge white drafting desk, perched on an equally tall padded stool that he swivels around in.
He smiles too, and I feel a shiver run through me.
He has glasses on, something I know for a fact I’m gonna ask him to wear next time we… Well, needless to say, glasses on Conor are a freaking huge turn on for me.
