“Cameron and I are gonna be away for the rest of today. Potentially tomorrow too.”
She pulls back, shock crossing her face. “What? But there’s only a few days until I go back.”
“I know. We have some deliveries to make, and the weather won’t be good enough for us to safely drive back tonight.”
“Oh.” She wilts a bit, looking down. “Well, okay. Stay safe.”
I cup her cheek, forcing her to look at me. “Summer,” I say. “Do… Do you like it here?”
She blinks. “What?”
“At Lochview. Do you like it more than London?”
“Yes,” she says immediately. “I love it here. It’s amazing. If I could, I’d never leave.”
“Right.” I take a breath, my heart hammering. “You know you don’t have to go home next week, baby.”
“Like, extend my stay?” Her smile turns wistful. “I want to. I really, really do. But I have to work. I can’t just bunk off forever.”
I open my mouth. I’m practically bursting to tell her how I feel. To lay it all out for her. To tell her the past few weeks have been the best I’ve had in years. To tell her that I reckon she belongs here.
But I can’t. Not yet. Her first question would be “Do Cameron and Alec want me to stay?” And if they said no, she’d be so hurt she’d probably leave today.
I have to work on them both first.
“I’ll miss you,” I say instead. “If you go next week, I’ll miss you more than anything, London.” I stroke my hand through her damp hair. It’s frizzing up a wee bit as it dries.
Her smile wavers. “Yeah. I’ll miss you too. I’m trying not to think about it, to be honest.” She spreads her hand on my chest. “It’s been amazing.”
I wrap my arm around her waist and drag her in for a kiss. She melts under me, shivering against my front as I take her sweet mouth.
I might not be able to tell her how I feel yet. But I can show her. And this kiss—it’s not the kind of kiss you give a casual fling. It’s the kind of kiss you give someone you care about. She gasps as I draw her in even closer, practically pulling her into me.
“Fraser—” she starts. I just kiss her again, relishing the way her whole body quivers against me.
There’s a sudden bang on the door. “We need to leave,” Cameron calls through the wood. He sounds almost as angry as I am.
I want to kill him.
Summer pulls away reluctantly, cheeks pink. “You should go,” she whispers, shifting on my lap. “I don’t want to distract you guys from your work.”
“Don’t say that.” I give her another rough kiss. “You’re not a distraction.”
“I think that I’m literally distracting you right now,” she mumbles as I tug on her bottom lip.
There’s another heavy knock. Swearing, I finally let Summer go and give her one last long peck on the lips. Then I strideacross the room and yank open the bedroom door, revealing Cameron on the other side.
“We need—” he starts.
“To go,” I snap at him. “Aye. Got it. You gonna say bye to her, or are we in too much of a rush for that too?”
Before Cameron can respond, Summer ducks under my arm and wraps her arms around him. “Please stay safe,” she mumbles into his chest. “Get inside if the weather gets too bad. I’ll miss you.”
His expression is pained as he gently lays a hand on the back of her head.
Oh, yeah. He’s got it just as bad as I do. At least I have the balls to admit it.
“We will,” he tells her gruffly. “Look after Alec. He’ll have a hard night with the storm.”
