Page 56 of The Wrong Groom

I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts. Dinner. Focus on dinner. I tap a few times, settling on a sushi place, but it feels like I’m just going through the motions.

I place the order, then take a few seconds to compose myself before returning to the kitchen.

“Dinner’s on its way.”

Peyton jumps up excitedly. “Yay! What are we having?”

“Sushi,” I reply. I look up at Margaret, who’s started cleaning up the spilled flour on the countertop. “Margaret, you’re more than welcome to stay for dinner if you want. I ordered way too much food.”

She glances over her shoulder at me. “That’s very kind, Gabriel, but I’ve got a few things to take care of at home. I’ll leave you all to enjoy your evening once I finish clearing up this mess.”

“Leave it,” I say, gesturing. “I’ll take care of it.”

She smiles at me. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

As Margaret leaves the room, I take over the task of cleaning the countertop, wiping down the flour and frosting remnants. It keeps me occupied and prevents me from looking over at Alexis, who’s focused on Peyton and her latest cupcake design. This one’s a heart. Or maybe it’s an apple. It’s hard to say.

Dinner arrives shortly after the cupcakes are finished and the kitchen is clean. Alexis, Peyton and I sit down to divvy up the sushi, spreading out the various rolls across the table. Peyton isn’t shy about claiming her favorite salmon roll. She’s usually a picky eater, but sushi is one of the least controversial options for delivery.

Alexis and I are quiet as we eat. It’s not the easy quiet of just being in each other’s company, it’s the silence that comes with unspoken things. I know that tension in the kitchen earlier didn’t escape her notice. I can only hope that the outline of my cock pressing against my pants did.

Peyton fills the silence readily, chattering about her day at school. She was so shy and reserved when Alexis first got here, but now, she’s as talkative as ever. After Alexis gave her advice that day we went to the beach, the two of them have been inseparable.

Between the three of us, we manage to make a dent in the mountain of sushi I ordered, but finishing it was an impossible task to begin with. Alexis stands up and starts to collect the takeout boxes, glancing over at me with a smile.

“It’s definitely bedtime,” she says. “I can take care of the leftovers if you guys want to head upstairs.”

“I’m not tired!” Peyton protests. Even as she speaks, though, she rubs at her eyes, her voice losing some of its conviction.

I smile, ruffling her hair. “Sure, you’re not. But bedtime is bedtime. C’mon.”

Getting to my feet, I reach out to Peyton, who hesitates for a moment before slipping her small hand into mine. She pouts, but doesn’t argue as I lead her upstairs.

I make sure Peyton puts on her pajamas and brushes her teeth, then usher her into bed and tuck her in. I start to read her a story, but she doesn’t last long. Her shallow, even breaths tell me she’s already asleep before I even finish the first page. I smile, marking my place in the book, and lean down to kiss her forehead.

“Goodnight, Bug,” I whisper, smoothing the blanket around her.

When I step out onto the landing, I give my head a shake, like I can dislodge all thoughts of Alexis. Maybe if I get in bed now, I can be asleep by the time she comes upstairs, and⁠—

No. There’s no way that’ll work. My mind is racing, agitation bubbling under my skin. I’m not going to be able to sleep like this, and even if I could, I’m certain I’d dream about her.

I need to deal with this. Now.

A few muffled sounds drift up from downstairs, letting me know Alexis is still down there. I let myself into the bedroom and slip into the bathroom, then turn on the shower and strip out of my clothes while the water warms. When I step under the spray, the hot jets hit my back and shoulders, and the tension knotted through my muscles starts to loosen. My cock is still half-hard. It’s been that way since the kitchen.

It’s been a long fucking day, but the day isn’t what has me wound this tight. It’s her.

No matter what I do, my mind circles right back to Alexis. Everywhere I go in this house, something reminds me of her. It might be the hint of her scent in the hallway, or the image of her body that I can’t shake. She’s always there.

What throws me off so entirely is that I didn’t think I’d feel this way about anyone ever again, not after Melanie. When I lost my first wife, I lost any interest in being with someone else, and I made my peace with that. The possibility that I might find a woman who’d wake all of this back up never crossed my mind.

I feel like a goddamn teenager, and I can’t help it. Everything about Alexis pulls at me, from the way she smells to the way her body moves to the way she looked at me over the kitchen island earlier.

The maddening part is that she isn’t trying to do any of this. She’s just herself, take it or leave it, and somehow that’s the most alluring thing about her. She has a sweetness that doesn’t match where she comes from, and I can’t get enough of it.

I should crank the water to ice and drown these thoughts under the freezing spray. I shouldn’t be thinking about her as anything but a business arrangement, let alone imagining what it would be like to have her.

But I can’t stop doing it.