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“Then why are you over there?”
I get up off the armchair and walk around the coffee table, sinking onto the couch beside him. He lifts my legs and tucks them over his lap.
“Much better,” he says. He’s let his stubble grow out again. I love how it looks, rugged against his shirts and suits.
I prop myself up on a pillow. “I like it when you’re here.”
“I like it when I’m here, too,” he says and puts a big hand on the outside of my thigh. His skin is warm on mine.
“Would you want to meet one of my friends on Sunday?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Who?”
“Becky. She had her daughter the same day you showed up, remember?”
“I remember,” he says. “Your goddaughter.”
I nod. Little Riley is only three weeks and four days old, but she’s already the cutest-looking baby. I haven’t seen her or her mother much; only to return Ziggy and then to drop off a few meals and a big bag of groceries during their first week. Becky’s the one who wants to meet up for a slow walk in the park this Sunday.And by slow,she’d written in her text,I mean snail's pace.
“Yeah. She’ll come along,” I say.
“Sure Becky won’t mind me crashing?”
“I’m sure. She really wants to meet you.”
“Ah,” Phillip says. “The best friend test. Should I be scared?”
I grin at him. “Don’t worry, you’ll pass with flying colors.”
His thumb starts to move in slow sweeps over my bare thigh. “You’ve told me how she encouraged you in Barbados, to go for it with me. I owe her a thank you.”
“Mmm, probably,” I say. His dark-brown hair is mussed from earlier, and his eyes dance with the same happiness I’m feeling.
I can’t believe he’s here… and that he’s mine.
His eyes narrow. “You’re looking at me like that again.”
“Like what?” I ask, but I’m smiling, too.
His fingers dig softly into my flesh. “You know exactly like what… like you did earlier.”
Yes. And we both know what had happened then, after eating takeout, right here on this very couch. “Whoops,” I say.
He smooths his hand up my thigh and beneath my shirt,hisshirt, and over my bare hip. “You didn’t put your panties back on.”
I wriggle closer, but I keep my legs shut. His touch sends shivers up my body. “Nope,” I say. “But I’m curious about something.”
“Tell me,” he says.
“What did your family say? About you taking this three-month position out here?”
His hand stills on my hipbone, the heel of his palm pushing down right at the top of my thigh. Just inches away. “Eden,” he says.
I give him an innocent smile. “Come on, I’m really curious.”
“They were surprised,” he says and leans his head back against the couch. “But I think it made sense to them—after they thought about it—that I might want a change of scenery. You know, after everything.”
“I get that,” I say. “My parents were almost expecting me to move away after the whole debacle with Caleb and Cindy.”
