Lachlan is peeking out at the gardens when I return. “I think there’s a storm brewing. The lights are being funny.”
The sun is already low on the horizon. He needs to leave now, before the mist comes. I join him next to the French doors and pat his back. “Maybe you should leave before the rain.”
When he’s gone, I can concentrate and sort through everything I’ve remembered.
His mouth curls into a pout. “You’re really going to stay here all weekend? We have a redo with the choreographer scheduled for Sunday.”
“I can’t help the timing.” I bite my bottom lip hard. “Mabel needs me now.”
Lachlan plants a heated kiss on my lips. “But if your cousin’s here, shouldn’t you get a night off?” He clasps my hands. “It just makes me even more eager for the wedding. Come home with me tonight.”
Damn E and his prank—he’s landed me in hot water.
“He’s going home soon. He’s got three little kids at home.”
Lies. Lies. Lies.
Lachlan’s eyes dance. “Then let me stay the night.” He leans in, mischievous. “Sneak me inside your bedroom. Your cousin can let himself out.”
Mist rises in the gardens, snaking between the bushes, and my stomach drops. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes, you can stay.”
I pour him another cup of tea and add a hint of red jasmine and poppyseed, just enough to keep him calm. Something to ease his suspicions and blur the night into something hazy and forgettable, in case he sees shapes moving in the mist—or if E decides to blow my cover.
I grip his sleeve and tug him to the second floor.
He whistles as he steps into my bedroom, and I move past him to draw the curtains shut so the mist won’t catch his attention.
Lachlan sits on the bed and tilts his head up toward the fairy lights strung above it. “Isn’t it creepy to sleep here with all this childish decor? You’re all grown now.”
I cross the room and stop between his knees, leaning down for a kiss. It’s muscle memory more than desire, a routine I know how to perform. Without warning, he slips a hand under the hem of my shirt, unhooking my bra in one fluid motion.
I grip his shoulders. “Wait.”
He places a kiss on my stomach. “Oh, come on, luv. I missed you.”
I can’t have sex with him now. Not when I know E is close by. That he could hear us, or—Dark One forbid—slip past my door andseeus.
I screw my eyes shut. “I can’t. It’s too weird with Mabel right upstairs. I’m sorry.”
He falls back on the bed and rubs a hand down his face. “Then what are we going to do?”
I slip my beloved tarot deck out of my dresser and wink at him, trying to rekindle that spark we found outside these walls. “I’ll read your future.”
He waves dismissively. “You know I don’t believe in all that.”
“I know, but I painted them myself.” I slip the cards out of their box and slide the lounge chair closer to the bed so I can sit across from him.
He frowns at the stack. “I didn’t know you could paint.”
For him to say that, framed by the wall I painted, is a little ridiculous.
“Well, listen closely, and you might learn my darkest secrets,” I tease him.
Maybe this love is worth fighting for. Archer or not, we committed to a lifetime together. Maybe he wouldn’t run. Maybe he’d stay if I were honest enough to show him all of me.
