Page 40 of When I Come Back
Tossing the washcloth back in the bathroom, he exits the room to grab our pie.
That ass.
It’s scary to be this happy. I have this dread in the pit of my stomach telling me it’s too good to be true. I keep pushing it down, but I know the second he leaves, it’ll hit me like a freight train. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I bite down to distract myself from the impending doom I feel.
Luckily, Cary is walking back into the room with two pieces of pumpkin pie on paper plates in his hands, effectively stopping my errant thoughts. My mouth waters at the sight of it. And him. He’s still nude, and I can’t take my eyes off of his body. As he gets to the bed, he hands one of the plates to me, placing a fork beside the pie.
I dig in, bringing the bite to my mouth and moaning the moment the flavors hit my tongue. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cary staring at me. “What?” I mumbled around the pie still in my mouth.
“Should I be concerned that Old Man Abel’s pie is making you moan louder than my dick did?” He laughs, and my face turns to shock at his words as I swallow down the bite of pie.
“Old Man Abel? When did you see Old Man Abel?”
“The one and only. I ran into him at the farmer’s market. But that’s not even the best part.” He pauses, and I stare at him patiently waiting for him to continue. “He knew it was us,” he says nonchalantly as he lifts a bite of pie to his own lips.
“What was us…? Wait—how? He would have killed us if he knew. He literally told the whole town he’d put a bullet in the Berry Bandit when he found out who it was.”
Cary laughs, remembering the same thing. “Pretty sure that was before he found out it was just two kids in love.”
My cheeks heat, and I turn my gaze back to my pie. “You weren’t in love with me then. We were just kids.”
“Pretty sure I’ve been in love with you since the moment I met you, Thea.”
I’m not sure how to respond, and I’m scared if I try, it may involve tears so I shift us back to Old Man Abel. “So… what else did he say about it?”
He goes on to recount his run-in with the poor farmer we stole from as children as we eat our pie. Turns out, it’s the best fucking pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted. It shouldn’t surprise me though, he always grew the best strawberries too.
Chapter Nineteen
Carrington
My ringing phone pulls me out of my dream. The warm body lying halfway on top of me brings me to full consciousness. Thea’s lemony scent mingles with the heavy smell of sex lingering in the air. I snuggle in closer to her, just breathing her in. I don’t know how I’ve survived without waking up next to her all this time. My phone rings again, and I gently move to reach over to the nightstand for it.
Seth.
I check the time and see it’s a little past ten. I’m typically an early riser, but we didn’t get to sleep until just before dawn after getting reacquainted with each other’s bodies and talking. The phone keeps ringing in my hand. I know I need to talk to him—he wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.
Seth has been a lifesaver for me. Not just in the time I’ve been here, but pretty much since I met him. He’s the one who picked up my pieces when Thea left me. He’s the reason I started meeting with Dr. Ferris. He’s an integral part of my success; Iwouldn’t be anywhere if I didn’t have his keen business mind on my side to help with starting my own restaurant. I’ve told him time and again that he could do so much better than hitching himself to my fledgling business, but he says he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
While I’ve been in Indigo Hill, he’s managed to keep everything running as though nothing has changed. I have curated a great kitchen staff at Carina Cove, and they run like a well-oiled machine. I can trust that the culinary experience isn’t suffering without me there, but I am also the face of the restaurant. People come to have me cook for them specifically. I have already missed a few important private events hosted at the restaurant. Thankfully, Seth was able to handle it with his usual grace, but it’s time to go back.
I have to figure out a plan. I can’t be in two places at once, but my heart is very clear about where it belongs. I have to figure out how to leave behind everything I’ve worked toward for almost half my life. No big deal.
Andher.
My guilt gnaws at me. The ever-present pit in my stomach—which eases some when I’m in Thea’s company—is growing deeper every day. She doesn’t deserve this, and I’m sure there’s a special place reserved in hell for me for what I’ve done to her and what I’ll put her through when I get back to Seattle in a few days.
But it’ll all be worth it. I ache to tell Thea I love her, but I need to do it with a clear conscience and with no attachments.
I hit the answer button and whisper, “Hold on, man. Just give me a second.”
I kiss the top of Thea’s head where it’s lying on my chest and slowly disentangle myself from her limbs. She’s a snuggler; she has always needed to have a body part touching me while sleeping. On cold nights especially, she had a way of wrapping herself around my body where I thought I’d have to wear her likea backpack if I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Before I step out of the room, I watch Thea for just a second, enjoying her in her most relaxed state. Her face is soft, her lips slightly parted.
She’s so fucking beautiful.
It’s hard to walk away. I picture her underneath me last night, writhing and trembling, my rough hands on her smooth skin, the sinful sounds she made. I almost slip back into bed and wake her up with my mouth on her sweet pussy. The phone in my hand serves as a reminder that I need to leave the room, but it takes some serious effort to make my feet move. I gently close the door behind me and make my way across the kitchen while picking up my shirt and pants from the floor and slipping into them.
