I held up the bag with sandwiches and potato salad from the deli. “Thought I’d fix the shelf Lady broke while we ate. If it’s okay with you, I thought I could continue to tidy up some more, too. I’ll stay out of your way since you need to work, but I don’t mind getting dirty.”
A sly grin appeared on his handsome face. “Yeah, I think I’m aware of that now.”
I couldn’t hold back a laugh as I leaned in for a kiss.
We worked while we ate and I was thrilled to be able to see Riley in action as he built a base for the bird feeder Jim Turner ordered for his wife’s birthday. When we finally went upstairs, his shop was almost entirely cleaned up. After a long afternoon of hard work, my body was just as drained as my mind.
I sipped from a glass of water by the sink while Riley prepared a snack for us before slipping his arms around me from behind, as if sensing my weariness. He didn’t say anything, only offered his physical comfort. It was beautiful, the way we were falling into a new normal, where friendship and intimacy were woven so closely together there wasn’t one without the other, yet it only amplified my unease about the uncertainty of our future. Whether I liked it or not, I’d need to return to Atlanta soon, even though it was beginning to feel less and less like “home” to me. Riley felt like home now, and he’d made it clear Reedsport was where he belonged. The thing was, the longer I stayed in the small town, the more I could see myself settling down and living in this converted warehouse with him, building our lives together. I could easily picture myself marrying him and raising a couple of kids with him by my side someday. None of it terrified me at all, it just… overwhelmed me, mostly because I wasn’t sure how Riley would react if he knew I was having these thoughts so soon.
“Thank you for your help today,” he whispered, gently kissing my back. “I really like having you here, Beck.”
I let those words sink in, taking them for the gift they were. I wasn’t sure if he meant his shop, his home, or Reedsport. Maybe all three. But there wasn’t any treasure in the world that would mean as much as those seven words did right then. Riley might not be quite on the same level as me, but there was no doubt he appreciated how natural and right things felt between us.
We made our way to the living room and sat down. Riley tapped his foot against mine after I kicked my shoes off and propped my feet on the coffee table.
“Turtles huh?” he said, laughing. “I think those might be my favorite pair of socks yet.”
I smirked. “Wait until you see the skittles ones.”
“It’s comforting to know my boyfriend wearssomecolor since everything else he wears is morbid grays and blacks,” he mused.
My heart stumbled a little, catching on that single word. “Boyfriend?” I whispered.
Riley’s eyes warmed as he kissed me. “Boyfriend,” he agreed.
After eating the apple slices and peanut butter Riley had prepared for us, he lay on the couch with his head in my lap. I instinctively draped an arm across his chest, enjoying his nearness. It was such a familiar, comfortable position, something we had done a million times back in the tree house, but now there weren’t any hidden lines or uncertainties between us and I took a moment to enjoy the freedom of it.
I remember thinking how strange it was that he didn’t have a TV in his living area, but after spending the evenings in his home this last week, I was beginning to see why he didn’t need it. Watching the waves roll in through his huge windows was far more relaxing than watching the latest episode ofArrow.
“Thinking about your case?” he asked.
I realized he’d been studying me, clearly worried about why I’d been so quiet and unfocused.
“Kind of.”Not really.
“How’d you get into P.I. work anyway?”
“I was an MLE officer when I was in the army.”
“MLE?”
“Military Law Enforcer. I did a lot of the investigating while I was deployed because that’s just what I liked doing. It kept my mind busy, you know? Solving puzzles.”
“But you didn’t want to continue when you got out of the army?”
I shrugged. “It didn’t feel like the right job for me.” At his pinched brows, I added, “I felt trapped in the army, I guess. Stuck in their routines and rules, you know? So I guess I thought I’d feel the same way if I became a police officer. Like I’d be trading one prison for another.”
“I can see that,” Riley said softly. “So, you found another way to solve puzzles?”
“Yeah. My brother-in-law hired me to help him find some stolen Atlanta Braves memorabilia and I discovered I really liked doing it. So, I looked into what it would take for me to open my own P.I. business and it was surprisingly easy.”
Riley was trailing his fingers up and down the length of my arm as we talked. I don’t think he was even aware he was doing it. I was though. I felt every second of it, amazed his fingers were still so soft after the laboring work he did with his hands.
“Aren’t the cases you take dangerous, though?”
I heard the worry in his tone and quickly reassured him. “Some are, yes. But the army taught me how to take care of myself. Besides, want to know a secret?”
“What’s that?”
