“Can you go to the counter and order your father a double-shot latte and a piece of rhubarb pie? He gets so disappointed when I return home with nothing for him.”
“There’s table service.”
“I know. But Mrs. Gerald is right there at the coffee machine, and my knee’s not great so…”
Sky was tempted to tell her mother that her knee was perfectly capable of the three steps to the counter, but that would just end in more arguing.
With a sigh, she rose and crossed to the counter, careful not to look Becket’s way. To not even glance in the vicinity of his booth.
Mrs. Gerald looked up from the coffee machine. “Hi, Sky. Something else?”
“Would I be able to grab a double-shot latte and a piece of your rhubarb pie to go?”
“Of course. Won’t be long.”
“Thanks.”
Someone stepped up beside her, and she knew—not just from his pine scent, but his familiar warmth—exactly who it was.
“Hey, Peaches.”
She tried to get her suddenly uneven breathing steady before finally looking up. Mistake. Big mistake. His eyes were too dark and too beautiful. “Hey.”
“How’s your day been?”
Really? He was asking about her day? “Fine.”
“Mine hasn’t been great either.”
Because of her? Were those his unspoken words?
Her heart started to beat faster, the hair on her arms standing on end. “I can wait at the—”
“You don’t have to do this.” He stepped closer, his fingers curling around her waist.
“I do,” she whispered.
“No, you don’t. I can take care of myself.”
“You can’t outrun a car, Becket. You’re not superhuman.”
His jaw clenched. “I miss you.”
“It’s only been a couple of days.”
“It feels longer.”
It really did. Who knew a couple of days could be so torturous?
That thumb on her waist caressed her, making a cascade of butterflies take off in her belly.
The words “I miss you too” were on the tip of her tongue. And other words…like “I made a mistake” and “I need you back.” But she swallowed them, keeping them buried deep inside her. Because she couldn’t be selfish and take him back, only to lose him like she’d lost Charlie.
“Here you go, Sky.”
Thank God. She swung around and paid for the drink and pie. “Thank you.” She forced her attention back to Becket. “I have to go.”
“Don’t run from this, Sky.”
