It takes a second for that to compute. “But you’ll be here.” She doesn’t answer. “You’re going back to London for it? Will you come back afterward?”
She gently extricates herself from my arms. “For the last day of my trip? Not much point really, is there? Um, I’ll go make some tea.” She heads to the kitchen.
I follow her, my head spinning.
She’s leaving.
She’s leaving in just a couple of days, and she isn’t coming back.
“I’ll be sad to leave early,” she continues, filling the kettle. “But it’s too big an opportunity to miss. I need to reestablish myself in my career, you know? This is my chance to start fresh.” She turns on the kettle, and a low hiss fills the room.
I watch her silently. My chest aches.
I can’t stop her. But God, right now, I want to. I want tomakeher stay. She potters around the kitchen. Her makeup is smeared, and her damp hair is starting to curl. She’s so beautiful.
Overhead, thunder rumbles through the sky again. My head snaps to look out of the window. The rain is lashing down now. Jesus, it’s getting closer. Fear grips me. My breathing gets faster.
Suddenly, Summer is in my arms. I jolt as she cuddles me.
“Everything’s fine,” she says, burying her face in my chest. “No offence, but I think you, like,superneed to go to therapy about this.”
As I hold her, the realisation washes over me like a warm wave. I can’t let her leave. She’s sogood.Kind and sweet and generous. She makes me feel happy. It’s been a long, long time since I felt that.
I shift her in my arms. “Stay,” I manage.
She looks up at me. “What?”
“Stay. Here. With us.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“You can go back for the party if you want,” I say. “But let us come with you. And then come back to Lochview.”
A lot of emotions cross her face very fast. For a second, I think she’s going to say yes.
Then she steps backward, out of my grip. “Why would you ask me that?” she demands.
I’m at a loss. “Because…I want you.”
“I have a job. My career is important to me. This has been…I mean, the best few weeks of my life. But I’m not going to move to a different country just to have casual sex with you all. I can’t just be on holiday forever.”
I’m screwing this up. “I don’t mean as a holiday. I want you to move in with us, as our girlfriend.” Her mouth falls open. “You can do your work here,” I say, the words tripping out of me. “Whatever you need, we’ll get for you. When you need to go back to London for events, we’ll take turns travelling with you. But Lochview could be your home.”
“Yourgirlfriend?” she repeats, her eyes wide. “I’d have three boyfriends?”
My mouth curves. “I think we might just be able to keep up with you.”
She’s silent for a moment. “But…what about Fraser and Cameron? What about what they want?”
I tuck some hair behind her ear. “Sweetheart. You seriously think Fraser will say no?”
“Well. No,” she admits. “But Cameron might. He doesn’t date.”
“Cameron will say yes.”
“You say that, but you don’t know.” She pulls away from me. “You can’t invite me to move in with you. We’ve only known each other a few weeks. You might change your mind and not want me anymore.”
“Not possible.”
