“Kaiya?” Rachel said.
“Rachel,” Kaiya said, excited like always. “Molly said you’re back in town.”
“I am. Hey, sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. Things went a little sideways this summer.”
Travis stood, his gaze holding hers as he moved behind her and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. Then he moved to pull on his shirt.
“I wasn’t calling about that,” Kaiya said, even as Rachel’s gaze tracked Travis’s movements. “Molly said you do the personal assistant thing, and I’m drowning over here. I was hoping we might be able to talk? I just hit international sales director level. Now there are all these meetings I’m trying to keep track of, and orders to put through, and I could just really use some help.”
Oh, well… Rachel helped. That’s what Rachel did. She rolled her tongue over her bottom lip, widening her eyes in Travis’s direction. This was good. Great, even. Fantastic. “I’d love to talk to you about what I do,” Rachel said, hoping to keep an air of professionalism even as her heart beat faster. She grabbed a pen and made a new list so the sieve of her mind wouldn’t forget this later. “I’m getting over this stomach bug thing, but can we get together later this week?”
“Yes.” Kaiya’s voice filled with her smile. “Absolutely. That would be amazing. Also…”
“What’s up?”
“This is weird…” Kaiya let out a sigh. “I told myself I wouldn’t make this weird.”
“It’s okay, you can tell me whatever you need.”
“I know some of your other clients had been difficult in the past.” The smile in Kaiya’s voice dimmed, just a little. Barely noticeable, really. But Rachel did notice.
“I just wanted to assure you that I’m not a dick with work stuff,” Kaiya finished.
Rachel grinned. She glanced at Travis and smiled bigger because he was standing there in her bedroom. He looked as happy as she felt inside. “I appreciate that.”
She wrapped up the call with a promise to meet later, and then she met Travis’s gaze once more.
“That sounded promising,” he said, not moving, just standing there like he belonged.
Which, for the record, he did.
“Maybe things will work out, after all,” Rachel mused. “For now Mama’s also being extra nice,” he said. “She was worried about you yesterday and made it a point not to leave until your fever broke. I think she’s coming around to you and me being an us.”
Rachel turned back. “Seriously?”
“She spent a lot of time yesterday cleaning up downstairs. Man, your boys were like an unsupervised tornado while you were out.”
Gah. This was exactly why she couldn’t get sick. Ever.
Ever again.
Speaking of… “Where are the kids?”
“Gavin took them to his house with the dogs. They wanted to make you lunch today. Brady suggested they grab you some soup from that place you like over on Champa.”
The thought of food was not a welcome one. For the first time since she could remember, “I’m not ready to think about eating just yet.”
“When you are, they’re waiting for the go-ahead.”
She grabbed new clothes from her dresser—nothing special, just a clean set of yoga pants and a sleeveless T-shirt with a shelf bra built in. “Thank you for staying.”
Travis swallowed, the Adam’s apple in his throat bobbing up and down. “I think we need to discuss that.”
“The staying?” She wasn’t following.
“The fact that I don’t want to leave.” Oh. That.
“Do you think we’re at the stage of the relationship where we should be having sleepovers?” she asked. “I don’t want to confuse the boys. Maybe we’re more at the almost-sleepover stage of things.”
