Page 89 of Pulled By the Tail
“As did I,” Talen replied.
Fiona had been taken back to the Watchtower due to a warrant for her arrest. Her sticky fingers and gambling habit caused quite a lot of trouble for herself.
The event went off without a hitch, Achaval family drama aside. Clarity changed into another dress, burgundy with gold embroidery. Music played. People danced. Wine flowed. As the clock approached midnight, guests headed to their rooms or for their vehicles. A few clusters of guests remained, camped on cushions and drinking coffee.
Georgia cradled a steaming mug of tea and sat on the terrace. Lights and sounds of the ballroom spilled out from behind her. The sweet, minty aroma of the tea helped ease the tension from her body. She felt exhausted but was too wired to sleep anytime soon.
“Are you well? I will send for a medic.” Talen joined her at the balustrade, leaning on the stone lip.
“I’m fine.”
“I can hear your heart racing and smell your stress.”
Delightful.
She took a sip of the minty tea. “I just need to calm down but I’ve never been good at letting my anxiety go.”
“And the kit? Stress can harm the kit.”
“Constantly elevated high blood pressure, sure, you big doof. One stressful night wouldn’t harm the kit.” Once she said the words, she doubted herself. Freema would tell her to see the doctor and Talen would drag the doctor to her if she wouldn’t go to the clinic. “In the morning, okay?”
She needed to see the event through until the last guest left, because burying her emotions under physical activity until she was ready to deal was how she coped. Life skills.
He moved behind her, wrapping his arms around and pressed his face to the juncture of where her neck met her shoulder. “Such sweet words of affection, my heart. Pray never tell me the meaning of a doof, because I already know it means love.”
She snorted, nearly spitting out her mouthful of tea. “That was a bit harsh. I’m sorry for calling names.”
She looked across the dark garden. The moon hid partly behind the clouds and the stillness surrounded them.
“It went well tonight,” she said. “No one was murdered, I can’t believe that’s a benchmark now, and our first event went off without a problem.”
“You did well.”
“Wedid well.” Another sip of tea. “Fuck, I’m tired. I think I’m going to sleep in until noon tomorrow.”
“You need an assistant.”
“I’m fine. Don’t be ridiculous.” They were booked up but not out of the financial woods yet. She couldn’t go spending money like mad.
“You will only grow more tired with the kit. Once our Hairy Correction arrives, you will require an assistant.”
“We are so not naming this kid Harry Correction, so don’t even joke about that.” She set the cup down on the ledge and turned to face him. “Do you miss it? Talmar. Being royalty?”
He scratched behind an ear in a thoughtful gesture. “I was young and I remember little, that has always been true. If it was not for the photographs of my parents in that damned book, I don’t think I’d remember what they looked like.”
She made a humming noise in her throat. Her mother had been gone for over thirteen years now. While her memories were fading and getting fuzzy at the edges, she remembered her mom’s smile and her long hair that always seemed to be tangled from the wind. She doubted she’d ever forget those details.
“That was the past. Those kits are gone,” Talen said. His hands stroked the length of her arm, warming her in the chilly evening air.
“Don’t you ever wonder what your life would be like if you could go back? If you had never left?”
“That is a cruel game to play. What purpose does it serve other than to make myself miserable?”
She gave a thin smile. That cruel game had always been one of her favorites, imagining the life she had if her father never abandoned his family, or if her mother beat cancer and lived. Sometimes she had even fantasized about what it would have been like to have been adopted when she was a teenager and in foster care. “I suppose you’re right. That person wouldn’t be you, and I’m pretty damn fond of this version of you.”
“You carry my heart.” His lips caught hers and the kiss deepened to last for always. “My future is here, with you.”
Chapter 22
