Page 81 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

When her laptop finally blinked to life, she opened her email and sighed. She should have started earlier. Blane had set out on his run a while ago, but she’d spent the last half hour watering the plants before she came inside. She checked her watch. He’d no doubt be back soon, but as tempting as it was, she wasn’t going to close the laptop again when he arrived. He’d said he’d go straight upstairs to shower anyway, and she really did need to see if any of her clients needed anything from her.

She’d just opened the first email when she saw him come jogging up the lane. He was quite a sight. She made herself look back at her work.

When he came into the kitchen a few minutes later, he rested one hand on her shoulder and planted a kiss on top of her head. “You okay, darlin’? Don’t mean to disturb you. Just wanted to say hi before I head upstairs.”

“You can disturb me anytime you like.”

He chuckled. “Might need to remind you that you said that sometime.”

She slapped his thigh, not hating the idea at all. But then he narrowed his eyes, and she followed his gaze to the screen of her laptop.

“Shit. Sorry. Didn’t mean to be nosy. Shouldn’t be looking.”

“That’s fine. It’s only work, like I said.”

“Yeah, you said.” He was still looking at the screen. “Still don’t get it.”

She shrugged. “They’re people I’ve worked for for a long time now. It’s only freelance. It doesn’t take too much of my time.”

He nodded, then frowned at the email. “Who’s Beatrice?”

She laughed. “I am, of course.”

He looked at her for a moment, then back at the name on the screen before turning to her again. “You’re Bea.”

She nodded. And something about the simple certainty with which he said it made her smile. To the people whose lives she’d helped organize for years, she was still Beatrice. To Blane, she was Bea.

~ ~ ~

Blane straightened up, feeling pretty dumb. Of course she was Bea, but seeing her full name there on the screen like that had hit him wrong. To him, she was Bea. But seeing Beatrice, and seeing her working, somehow pierced the little bubble he’d been living in.

She wasn’t just the woman from the concert, the woman who’d arrived here at her new home in Crete, the woman he was enjoying getting to know. She had a whole life, a history, friends, family, clients he knew nothing about. And that wasn’t a problem. Obviously, she had a life. What landed hard when it hit him wasn’t that he didn’t know more about her, but that there was so much more to know, and he wouldn’t be around long enough to learn it all.

“I’ll head up and take that shower. Let you work.”

“I won’t be long now.”

“Take your time.” He dropped another kiss on the top of her head. “I’m not going anywhere.” As he went upstairs, he didn’t let himself anywhere near the thought that, soon enough, that wouldn’t be true.

It didn’t take him long to shower and change, and as he made his way back down the stairs, he was still trying to unravel just how he’d come to feel so at home with her so fast. For years, he hadn’t really had a home of his own, not as such. Since he and the guys had set up the company, they’d built what was effectively a compound, with a big training space and living quarters for the teams. The guys had rooms in the main buildings, while he, Cash, and Mav had their own apartments. His was private, comfortable, and he had everything he needed, but he’d never really thought of it as a home.

He ran a hand over the railing as he went, automatically checking the repair he’d made the other day. Downstairs, he could see Bea through the window, working with her plants. It was easy to see that she already felt at home here; the strange thing was that he did too.

He’d never thought of himself as the domestic type, because he wasn’t, and yet in the few days he’d been here, he’d enjoyed not only fixing things around the house and helping Bea settle in, but the actual being here. He pursed his lips as he thought about it. He was relaxed. He was enjoying himself, even when they weren’t doing much of anything.

He headed outside to ask Bea what she wanted to do with the afternoon. She’d talked about wanting to move some of the big terracotta pots, and he figured he could help her with those and whatever else she wanted to do in the garden.

The way she smiled when she saw him coming tugged at something in his chest. He loved the way she did that, the way she always seemed genuinely pleased to see him, even when they’d only been apart for a few minutes. He curled his arms around her waist and held her close, loving the feel of her soft body against him.

“What you doing, darlin’?”

She shivered and slapped halfheartedly at his arm, making him laugh.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like me calling you that. We both know you love it.”

She laughed. “I’d never say such a thing. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

He cocked an eyebrow.