“Is it? Think about the fact that nobody seems surprised by this. Maybe everybody else saw something we’re just coming to ourselves.”
I considered. He wasn’t wrong. There’d been so many remarks from people that they’d seen this coming. But I’d just assumed it was the usual small town gossip and nobody wanting to admit something had happened that they didn’t know about or people’s general assumptions that friends of the opposite sex didn’t work. Because nothing in life was this simple and easy. But what if all those people had been serious?
“Maybe?” I qualified.
One hand squeezed my hip. “Then why don’t you give us a chance to see?”
I searched his face, stroking a hand along the scruff on his jaw. “I can do that. I want to do that.” Even though it scared the ever loving shit out of me. “But what about our engagement?”
He jerked one shoulder in a shrug. “No reason to make a big thing of calling it off until we know for sure this isn’t what we want.”
Was it that simple? I kinda thought it was lunacy to stay “engaged” while we figured out what we were to each other now. But I’d said I’d give us a chance, and I’d meant it.
I blew out a breath. “Okay. Then I guess we’re doing this thing.” I hesitated, catching my lip between my teeth. “And… maybe we could do that other thing all over again?”
Kellan grinned, and like some kind of magician, yanked both our towels away. “As you wish.” Then he rolled me beneath him.
Thirteen
Kellan
I whistled as I hauled supplies from the truck, ignoring the knowing smirks from our crew. Let them think what they wanted. Hell, let them think exactly what happened—that I’d finally gotten everything I’d ever wanted. It was just a little after the schedule everyone else assumed.
Tate stood by the blueprints spread across a portable table, her hair looking like molten honey in the morning sun. My hands itched to run through those silky strands again, to pull her close and taste those lips that had driven me crazy every night since that shower.
She caught my eye, and a blush crept up her neck. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” I set aside the bag of fertilizer and crossed over to her.
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Like you’re undressing me with your eyes.”
“Can’t help it. Already know what’s underneath.” And I was thinking about how I was gonna peel her out of these work clothes to get her back in the shower after work. It was now my favorite time of day. I brushed my fingers across her lower back as I peered at the plans for the Xeriscaped garden we were putting in for the Fletchers, though I didn’t actually see a thing. I was too focused on the woman beside me. The shiver that ran through her body at my touch sent a wave of satisfaction coursing through me.
“We’re at work.” But she leaned into my touch. Just another little sign that she was all mine now.
“Uh-huh.” I pressed a kiss to her temple, breathing in the citrus scent of her shampoo—the same one that now clung to my skin since we shared our showers these days. Life was fucking fantastic.
The past week felt like some kind of dream. Tate in my arms, in her bed, wrapped around me in every way possible. My best friend had become my everything. Maybe she always had been. And it was even better than I’d imagined. She’d even stopped freaking out every time someone brought up the engagement.
She elbowed me in the ribs. “You’re doing it again.”
“Guilty as charged.” I grinned. “But you love it.”
Her blue eyes softened as she looked up at me. “Maybe I do.”
Those three words sent my heart soaring higher than it already was. We hadn’t said those other three words to each other. Not yet. Not since things had changed. We had a lot to figure out still—this fake engagement turned dating, how to navigate being business partners and a whole lot more. But for the first time in my life, everything felt exactly right. I could wait for the rest.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, squinting against the sun’s glare to read the message from Mom.
Mom:
Got that special item from the safe deposit box at the bank Come by whenever you’re ready!
Heat crept up my neck as I shifted out of Tate’s line of sight. Leave it to my mother to make retrieving my grandmother’s ring into a covert operation. I pocketed the phone and glanced at Tate, who’d moved on to directing the crew about proper placement of the agapanthus.
I crossed over to her. “Hey, I need to run an errand. That okay?”
She brushed dirt from her hands. “Everything alright?”
