“Let me stay with you, then.”
“Don’t you have work?”
“I can fob it off for a few hours.”
I turned in his arms. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. And if you’re buying a house, you should really go to work.”
At my pointed comment, he tugged me closer so my breasts were flush with his chest. “Did that freak you out?”
I chuckled. “Surprisingly, no.”
“If they accept my offer, I’d like you to come see it.”
I nodded, my stomach somersaulting again at the thought of Lewis buying a house he thought I might like. He was so wonderful; it was hard to take in after all these years of unfairly resenting him.
He leaned in as if to kiss me, and I backed up. “Uh, no.” I covered my mouth.
Lewis chuckled. “Damn, I forgot. That’s what you do to me. I forget one second from the next, and all I can think about is your mouth.” This time when he leaned in, it was to murmur in my ear, “When we’re done taking it slow,mymouth is going to know every fucking inch of you again.”
This flirtatious side of Lewis was new, but I couldn’t say I didn’t like it. I shivered as he pulled back, a cocky smirk on his face. He knew exactly what affect he had on me.
I playfully slapped his chest and pushed him away. “Big flirt.”
He grinned and tugged on my hand, leading me back up the beach. It was like he couldn’t help himself and needed to touch me all the time. I couldn’t say I didn’t like that either. In fact, I was feeling extremely needy, and his affection was soothing that neediness.
Back at the cottage, however, I convinced him to go to work.
Minutes after he’d left, I slumped over the toilet, exhausted from retching into it again. I wished I hadn’t told Lewis to go to work.
Realizing I wanted him there, needed him, that those few hours on the beach were the calmest I’d felt in weeks, I knew that it didn’t matter if we took things slow.
The moment Lewis Adair walked back into my life, a missing piece of me clicked back into place. And I’d always need him now. Taking it slow, in reality, meant nothing.
Because I was already as deep in it with Lewis as a person could be.
Twenty-Six
CALLIE
Most mornings Callie’s Wee Cakery was open, there was already a queue at the front door, waiting for us to unlock it. I’d spotted Aisla Rankin at the head of that queue, and I somehow knew right away why she’d made the effort this morning.
I shot Mum a concerned look. “I only told Lewis two days ago. Surely, not everyone knows?”
“Who did Lewis tell, other than his family?” Mum and Regan had been calling each other constantly since the news broke. And we were all set to have a family dinner next weekend. I was a bit nervous of that because I was still so early in the pregnancy. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have told anyone until much later, but the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.
“No one else, as far as I’m aware. Not even the rest of the Adairs.” Lewis had phoned Eilidh yesterday to relay the news, and I knew he’d sworn her to secrecy. She then video called me to squeal hysterically in excitement before dissolving into blubbering sobs about how we were finally going to be real sisters, and she couldn’t wait to be an aunty. I didn’t want to tell her she was jumping the gun a bit with the sister stuff because … well, I didn’t want to voice that, even if maybe it was technically true.
“Morwenna?”
I nodded. Once Eilidh calmed down, she also told me Lewis mentioned that Morwenna had been feeling neglected by her older siblings and confessed as much when Lewis told her about the pregnancy. “I’ve got a few days before I ship out to Romania, so I’m stopping off at Ardnoch to see you and to check in with my baby sister,” Eilidh said, guilt etched on her expression. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
I was so looking forward to my friend’s visit home.
The thought that everyone somehow knew about my pregnancy and Aisla Rankin was here to insult me made me want to run and hide in the kitchen. But I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing my anxiety. “Mor wouldn’t have said anything.”
Mum shrugged. “She’s a kid. She maybe told a friend without thinking. Maybe even Harry did.”
“No, we swore him to secrecy.” But we hadn’t sworn Mor to secrecy.
