“Eight days ago when I was here, I had no idea what the week would hold. I thought there would be sun, sand, and?—”
She grins impishly. “Cake.”
“Yep. But the trip turned into more than I could’ve dreamed of.”
“What now, Klein?”
My thumb runs over the top of her hand. “What do you mean?”
Worry pulls at the corners of her eyes. “Now that we’re back. What now? On the airplane, I started wondering, what if it was the magic of the island? Will the desert negate it all? Normal life?”
“Eight years ago I liked you when I met you living normal life in the desert.”
A breath of relief pushes from her chest.
I lean in, pressing a kiss to her lips, letting it linger. “Do you have a car parked here?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to give me a ride home? Otherwise I have to call Halston, and I’m not ready for her questions and attitude.” I’m scheduled to work with her tomorrow night, so it’s not like I can avoid her much longer.
Paisley drives me home. We linger in front of my apartment, trading kisses over her console. She brushes a fingertip over her lower lip, saying, “It’s going to be weird not to be with you tonight. To wake up without you tomorrow morning.”
I stroke her face, tuck her hair behind her ear, rub my thumb over the apple of her cheek. This past week changed my life, and I think I’d live in a home built out of Palo Verde twigs if it meant waking up and pulling her body into mine. “I’m off tomorrow during the day, but I’m working tomorrow night. I can come over after? It might be late.” Even that is too much time for me. I miss her already.
She leans into my touch. “Late works for me.”
I haul my bag from her back seat, turning to wave goodbye before I climb the stairs to my apartment. I let myself in, and unbelievably, everything is the same. Soodd for it all to be waiting for me the way it was when I left, but I am returning a different man.
I unpack and start the laundry. Paisley and I text all evening, about everything and nothing.
My chest aches with how much I miss her.
CHAPTER 46
Paisley
“It’sgood to have you back, boss.” Cecily dips a carrot stick into a dish of red pepper hummus.
“We’re going to need you to tell us all the things,” Paloma informs me, biting into a crisp endive leaf.
We’re at our favorite lunch spot. It’s my first day back after returning home yesterday. I’m exhausted, and my body clock is on Eastern Standard Time, but there’s something to be said for adrenaline. I missed work. I didn’t spend much time thinking about it while on the island, but now that I’m back, I’m excited to be in the middle of things again.
I miss Klein more, though. I miss his smile, his expressive eyebrows, the way he drags the pad of his thumb across his lower lip.
“What do you want to know?” I ask innocently, dunking a sesame cracker in the hummus and popping it in my mouth.
“We’re going to need to know how Klein went fromfake todaddy.” Paloma’s eyebrows stay elevated on her forehead as she stares at me.
“It sort of just... happened?”
She shakes her head. “That’s not good enough.”
“It was the captions, wasn’t it?” Cecily wipes her mouth with her napkin.
I scoff. “Yes. The captions you wrote for his social media posts made me lose my bikini. Especially the one about thinking you had hearts in different parts of your body.” I snap a carrot stick in half. “Who knew you were so poetic?”
Cecily’s head tilts, trying to understand. “I don’t mean my captions. I mean his.”
