“Ready for what?” he asked.
“Maggie will be here any minute!” James said.
“Oh. Right.” He shrugged and resumed writing. “Yes, I suppose so.”
“Should we wait out front, maybe? Or in here?” James began to chew on his fingernails. “Do you think I should make tea or something? It’s fairly warm today, though. So, maybe not. Or, well, maybe she’d still want some.”
Cassian chuckled. “If she happens to want some, then you can make some for her once she’s here.”
“I feel like you should be more nervous. You’re meeting her for the first time.”
“Yes, and I’ve paid for her relocation from Europe, so if she possesses even a modicum of sense, then she will like me.”
James started to pace around the area rug in a little circle. Once. Twice. Three times. He stopped and eyed Cassian with suspicion.
“What are you writing?” he asked, moving closer to him.
Abruptly, Cassian slammed his notebook shut.
“Just a letter confirming everything for the move in a couple of weeks. Also, a list of obligations I have before mine and Ethel’s wedding next month.”
“Can I read it?”
Cassian let out a hum-laugh as he stood and then walked over to James.
“It’s not for you to worry about, my lovely steward,” he said, cupping James’s cheek.
Shutting his eyes, James let out a contented sigh and basked in Cassian’s touch. Cassian was the most physically affectionate person James had ever met in his life. Cassian was always caressing him. Or kissing him. Or... showing his love in other, even more intimate ways.
And James loved every second of it.
James fluttered his eyes open as Cassian pressed a kiss to his lips. Then, Cassian’s hands found James’s bow tie, and a pleased smile crept across his face.
“You look so handsome in this,” he said, pinching the fabric.
Despite the fact that Cassian was likely complimenting his own choice of bow tie, rather than only how James looked in it, James’s stomach still swooped and his cheeks flushed.
“Thank you, Cassian,” he replied.
Just then, a knock on the front door echoed through the hallways. James sucked in a breath.
“Good God, Maggie is finally here.”
“Let’s go see her, then,” Cassian said, smirking.
Together, James and Cassian walked through the too-enormous house to the front entrance. Right when they reached the reception room, John Quinn opened the door. The man had only knocked earlier to signal their arrival. Before James could react, Maggie bolted past John and barreled into him.
“Oh, mercy, it’s really you,” Maggie said as she pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug.
James squeezed her back. “It is.” He buried his face in her hair, which was piled high on atop her head. “You made it, Mags. I’m so relieved. I missed you so much.”
“No one can be more relieved than I am right now. Ever since April, I’ve been practically aching to see you. I needed to prove to myself that you were all right.”
“But I promised you as much in my letters.”
“Even so.”
They hugged for a little while more. Once they finally parted, Maggie let out a forceful breath and looked over at Cassian.
