Page 21 of Love at First Swim
Gunner
When Arielle fell asleep in his arms, he stayed awake.
Her shop was the one he had been trying to acquire. He hadn’t known what the shop was, but knew that in order to build the shopping mall, they needed it gone.
And now? If she ever found out about it, he didn’t know what she would do.
He could only pray that she didn’t find out.
Shutting his eyes, he breathed in her scent. Her hair was still damp from their swim, and he still couldn’t believe how far they had come.
She didn’t know that he had known about her for weeks, and yet, as soon as they met in person, she was just as willing as he was to jump into a relationship.
He knew it wasn’t just lust for him. That he had longed to meet her, have her by his side and could picture their future just by looking at her picture.
And when they met in person, it was everything. All he had hoped and more.
He didn’t want to rush into anything, but couldn’t help himself. He just hoped that she knew he was in it for the long haul and not just for now.
They hadn’t really discussed the future, but she had acquiesced to his claim on her and of her, hence why she was lying in his arms right now.
He pulled her in tighter, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t leave him and would forgive him when she found out he was the one behind the harassment of the shop.
He was just glad that Miles hadn’t gone through with finding a way to get them evicted.
He hadn’t cared before and his stomach was aching with the thought that he would lose her if she found out.
He shut his eyes and did his best to block out those thoughts.
He had claimed her, and that was that.
He did his best to sleep, and he slept some, but when his alarm went off in the morning he knew he hadn’t truly slept. He pulled himself from the bed and put on his boxers, and his tennis shoes, and then went to the gym to work out.
When he came back, she was gone. And he looked around the house frantically, calling her name and when she didn’t answer, he grabbed his phone and called hers.
She picked up on the second ring, “Hey there handsome.”
“You left. Why didn’t you tell me you were?”
“I couldn’t find you. I told you I had to leave early. I have a ton of projects to work on at the shop today. It’s the weekend, but I still have to get them done.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, “Love, I wish you had told me.”
“I did tell you. Last night. Remember?”
He stifled a growl, “I remember. I just don’t like it.”
His phone beeped and he looked down to see it was Miles. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to know that Miles was at work on the weekend.
He groaned, “Love, can I call you back?”
“Sure, if I don’t answer, I am sewing on the machine and won’t hear it. Just leave me a message and I will get back to you.”
He didn’t like that one bit, “Are you alone at the shop today?”
“Kadence usually comes by sometime, but yes. Today I am just getting things ready for the week.”
He growled, “Love, alone? Are you trying to kill me?”
