Page 68 of Shallow Remains

He took in the dishes set on the counter, and the oven light was on. “Did you cook?”

“I made a casserole and a salad. Blaine placed a grocery order for me, and I paid him back.”

“A casserole with all kinds of ingredients touching?”

“A Greek chicken casserole with the correct kinds of ingredients touching, and topped with crispy phyllo,” she said with a wry twist of her lips. “What can I say, I’m quirky. But we’re having the salad on a different plate because of the hot/cold thing.”

He grinned. “Good idea.” She was gorgeous and thoughtful, and he wanted to eat her up. Set her on the island top right now and push that tight skirt up to her hips so he could sink to his knees and go down on her right here in the kitchen.

But he wouldn’t because her first time was happening in the privacy of his bedroom, where she could stretch out and relax to enjoy it properly.

It felt like the fly of his jeans had shrunk three sizes in the past two minutes.

She laughed. “I see that look on your face. We’re not wasting my dinner after I went to the trouble of making it for us.”

“I’d happily go without any food and eat you instead.”

She blinked at him, her cheeks flushing dark. “I…”

He grinned and closed the distance between them, kissing her gently before pulling her into a hug. Holding her close, he exhaled and savored the feel of her wrapped around him, warm and trusting and completely unaware of how sexy she was or what she did to him inside.

That little voice at the back of his head warned him not to let her in any further, that it was already going to hurt like a bitch if they kept going and she left. She was only here temporarily to take a break from her real life.

This kind of lifestyle wasn’t for everyone. Some people struggled with the quiet, could never adjust to the slower pace and isolation of island life. Sometimes with terrible consequences. But Maddy seemed to like a quieter, slower pace of life. It gave him hope that they could build something together.

“I missed you so damned much today,” he murmured, silencing the warning voice. He would enjoy their time together for as long as it lasted and guard his heart while it did. It had taken him this long to move forward after losing his wife. Wasn’t sure he could withstand another heartbreak, and Maddy already held the power to crush him.

“As far as I know, no one’s ever missed me like that before. I think I like it.”

The way she said things like that, little insights that told him just how alone she’d been in the world, it undid him. “That’s impossible. No one missing you.”

She cleared her throat and pulled away. “Dinner’s ready. I don’t want it to get cold.”

He helped her bring everything to the table. Followed her lead in taking salad into a separate bowl and eating it first, then putting the casserole onto his plate.

“This is incredible,” he said after his first bite. The casserole itself was creamy and tangy with a kick of garlic, and the crispy phyllo topping was incredible.

“It’s my favorite. My mom used to make it for me on Monday nights when I was growing up.”

It was the first time she’d talked about her mother to him with a smile.

They told each other about their day. He talked about his trip up the southeast part of Vancouver Island and through Canadian waters to some of the Gulf Islands. “It was a good group. Small and tight knit. They really enjoyed it.”

“That’s good. I took a look at your website,” she said between mouthfuls. “No offense, but it’s not very good.”

His smile was dry. “I have to keep it basic because I’m the one who has to update it. Believe it or not, I’m stretching my tech abilities as it is.”

“I made a list of templates that I think will work better for you. I also signed you up for a trial of the software I told you about earlier. I mocked up some worksheets and onboarding plugins to show you how it could all work together. If you let me know what you like, I can design a simple site for you that will automate your reservation system and send it right to your phone so you don’t have to keep checking email and cross-referencing things anymore.”

He blinked in surprise. “Wow. Thanks for all of that. You’ll have to walk me through it though.”

“I’d be happy to. It sounds more complicated than it really is. Don’t worry. I help my parents with tech stuff all the time, and trust me, you’re a lot more tech-savvy than they ever will be.”

Just as he finished cleaning his plate, a familiar ringtone went off. He groaned. “No, come on.”

“What’s wrong?”

He dug his phone out of his pocket. “It’s SAR. I’m on call.” Dammit. “McCaffrey,” he answered. Rachel gave him the situation and told him they were short on manpower. It’d just be him, Grey, Emma, and Chris for this one. “Understood. I’ll update you on my ETA once I’m on the road.”