“Let me,” Cal insisted, covering my hand when I reached for the bill. His eyes pinned mine, and I couldseehow much he ached to take care of this—of everything, really. To make up for the time he’d lost, the opportunities he didn’t get to do so. I smiled, nodding my permission, and he seemed to relax. He leaned closer to me, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. I caught a whiff of his cologne, and my blood pressure rose. Even the smell of him got to me—his natural scent coiling with the cologne to create a heady, intoxicating scent that stroked the embers of my desire for him.
He was gone a second later, his hands moving too quickly to track as he tucked cash in the black leather check holder and closed it. “Well, Nik. It was really great meeting you.”
“You too,” Nik said, sliding out of the booth so Asher could get out and grabbed his coat and bag from the lower hook.
“Bye, Raina!” I waved, making eye contact with her as she stood at another customers table with the credit machine. She nodded and lifted her chin in farewell, distracted and guarded—purposely keeping her distance.
“See you tomorrow,” I heard Asher tell Nik, and the three of us started to the door while Nik moved to the counter so the busboy could wipe down our table.
Calum pressed his palm to the small of my back, and we made our way out of the diner and back to the bookstore, where his Jeep was parked. Ellery’s car was gone, the lights in her apartment off, and darkness cloaking the store.
The welcomed pressure of his hand disappeared as Cal stepped around me to open the doors for us. Asher hopped in the back, climbing into his booster with ease and tugging the belt over his chest.
“Can we play Minecraft when we get home?” he pleaded as I climbed into the passenger seat. Calum closed the door behind me, taking his time to walk around the front.
“Maybe,” I considered, twisting to look at him. “Do you have any homework?”
“Already did it during homework club.” He shrugged.
“Okay, you can play for twenty minutes, but then it’s bedtime.” He groaned in protest, and I smiled sympathetically. “We’ve had a lot of late nights recently. We need to catch up on sleep. You have a recital coming up, not to mention your birthday party.”
“That’s true,” Asher nodded solemnly, seeing the need for concern the moment I mentioned his party. During our conversation, Calum slipped behind the wheel and started the vehicle. He was listening to us. His lips turned upward in a small smile. “I accept these terms.”
The drive didn’t take long, and Calum was pulling in beside my car less than five minutes later. Asher unbuckled his seat belt the moment the ignition shut off and leaned forward, holding his hand open for the keys. I handed them to him, and he flew out. “I’ll get the game set up!” he called out, closing the door behind him and charging up the steps.
Chuckling, I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out. Calum grinned at me over the top of his Jeep, his eyes holding a connection with mine until he joined me at the bottom of the porch.
I climbed them first, feeling the heat of his body against my back. Asher had already hung up his jacket and set aside his boots. He’d brought his backpack into the kitchen, placing it on the island and was rummaging through it for his lunch bag.
Sliding on socked feet over to the freezer, he placed his cooler pack inside it and dumped the crust from his sandwich container in the trash before leaving it in the sink. Racing full speed to the living room, I heard the telltale signs of him turning the Xbox on—all before either Cal or I could even take off our boots.
That meant we were left momentarily alone in the mud room. Calum tugged me aside, pressing me against the wall that separated the kitchen and mudroom. He tugged my coat zipper down, his hands sliding along my torso, wrapping around my hips.
He stole a kiss—but he made every second of it count. The thud of Asher’s footsteps had him pulling away and casually toeing off his boots and slipping out of his jacket while I struggled to find oxygen. “All set up?”
“Yup!” Asher grinned, holding out a remote to Cal. He took it, sending me a look that held a lot of promise as he passed by me and entered the kitchen, following Asher to the living room.
Hanging my jacket on a hook, I bent forward and took off my boots, my eyes tracking their movements until Cal disappeared around the corner, into the living room.
Grabbing my phone from my purse on the bench, I padded into the kitchen, listening while I puttered about. They spoke to each other with a familiarity and comfort, absorbing new details about one another with quiet acceptance.
I’d always known they were a lot alike, in so many more ways than appearance. It’s why I was never able tohateCal for what he did. How could I ever hate him when I loved his son so completely? When he’d given me that very gift?
Calum
Harper hesitated before a black canopy bed, her hand wrapping around the thick black ebony post, and instantly I knew that this was the bed she was going to choose.
We’d been furniture shopping for a couple of hours. The first thing we settled on was bedroom furniture for Asher—that was easy. I gave him the reigns and let him pick. He hemmed and hawed a bit, before settling on a rich charcoal grey double bed that had drawers underneath. He picked out a new mattress to go with it. The bed was a part of set, with a desk, a matching dresser and side shelf compartments with drawers. I told the salesperson we’d take it all.
Next, we found a couch—a chunky, comfortable sectional so dark grey, it was almost black. End tables, a coffee table, and a matching TV stand came next, with the store’s best seventy-two-inch screen soon to follow.
By the time we reached this particular bed—the bed that would beours—Asher was yawning audibly. Harper glanced over her shoulder, her hand still clasped around the post and looked at him with a concerned downward tilt of her lips. “Are you tired, bud?”
“A little.” He admitted, looking guiltily at me, as if he felt bad about it.
“It’s okay, I think we got the essentials.” I winked, gesturing to the salesperson who was assisting us to come over. Her silver nameplate saidRita, and her frizzy blonde hair bounced in its ponytail as she flounced towards us with her tablet.
“Can you add this bed and the rest of its set to my bill? And your best medium soft pillow top mattress. King-sized.”
