Page 46 of Crumbling Truth
If not for the dwindling hours between now and the tree lighting this weekend, I would have gladly stayed right there all day long.
As I rolled onto my back, I groaned quietly at the pleasant ache suffusing my limbs. “I don’t think I can move,” I grumbled, causing Theo to laugh and tickle my ribs.
“Unfortunately, I’ll need to run home to feed Queen Toni her breakfast,” he said as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He glanced back at me over his shoulder and grinned. “And put together my disguise for condom shopping, I suppose. What do you need to get done today and how can I help?”
I flung one arm across my eyes as I thought through my to-do list. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I’ll probably get more done without you here to distract me,” I said, hoping the truth wouldn’t offend him.
Theo circled the bed and dropped a kiss to the center of my chest. “Then I’ll go stock up and stay out of your way for a while. Can I pick up dinner for you, maybe? I can’t imagine you feel like cooking after baking all day long.”
“That would be heavenly.” I plopped my arm back onto the bed to smile up at him.
“Text me what you want and whatever allergy instructions I need to give them,” he said as he leaned down to kiss me for real.
A rush of affection washed over me as I nodded, caught him in a more lingering kiss goodbye, and watched him dress to return home. He ordered me to stay in bed rather than walking him out, so I lay there, listening to his footsteps and the sound of the door closing behind him.
This is temporary,I told myself, but my body didn’t care about that. Every nerve ending inside me was still dancing, buzzing with pleasure. I could lie here all day, floating through the memory of every incredible moment with Theo.
No, you can’t.
I had preparations to get through and I’d be damned if I lost sight of everything I’d worked for just because a man with magic hands came into my life. I rolled out of bed, trudged to the shower, and reminded myself—again—that this fling had an expiration date.
Unfortunately, while my mind understood it, the rest of my body seemed content to remain in blissful ignorance of that fact.
Chapter Nineteen
Theo
IfIhadn’talreadybeen remembering all the reasons I hated small town life, finding a place to buy condoms without drawing attention to myself would have done it. I even considered convincing Ollie to get them for me, but that would’ve led to a conversation I wasn’t ready to have.
Not that Esther was asecret.She was a treasure, but I wasn’t ready to share that, not even with my best friend.
In the end, I drove for forty-five minutes before deciding a drugstore at the outskirts of Rochester would be anonymous enough. I made it in and out of the store without running into anyone I knew, though the kid behind the counter smirked when he scanned three value-sized boxes of condoms and put them in a paper bag for me. My goal was to not have to come back anytime soon.
Without flinching, I stared back at the young cashier, daring him to comment, but he simply handed me the bag and my receipt with a quiet, “Have fun.”
Oh, I would.
I grabbed lunch, stopped at the hardware store for a few things since I had nothing better to do just yet, and returned home to putter for a few hours before dinner. I left the condoms on the kitchen table, caught up on some work emails and payroll, and—in true creeper style—glanced repeatedly out the kitchen window toward the guest house. Each time I picked up my phone to text Esther, I forced myself to set it back down. The last thing she needed was me interrupting her while she was working.
After fixing a squeaky plank on the basement stairs and watching a documentary about whale decomposition that made me cringe so hard I worried my face might get stuck that way, I jumped when a text from Esther appeared.
I read through her food choices and instructions, recognizing it as the same dish she’d ordered when we were at The Mermaid with Sofia and Oliver, asked what time she’d be done with her baking, then ran upstairs to shower and change into something less grungy. When I called to place our order, the server who answered the phone passed me straight to the chef herself.
Maybe I was projecting, but the woman sounded equal parts competent on the food allergy front and ecstatic about Esther being part of a dinner for two.
By the time I picked up our dinners—reconfirming that all of the allergy protocols had been followed, because I didn’t want to risk fucking it up and harming Esther—I was filled with the kind of nervous energy I associated with first dates. It was ridiculous, given that I’d spent most of the night inside her and the rest wrapped around her, but my pulse was hammering by the time I knocked on the guest house door.
She opened it quickly, still wearing a purple apron withThe Nutless Wonderemblazoned across the front. Her smile was a little shy but so wide it immediately soothed my nerves.
“Hi,” she said softly, stepping back to let me in.
“Hi,” I repeated as I paused to kiss her lightly on the lips. Traces of telltale sweetness lingered, and I winked at her before admonishing, “Someone’s been sampling the goods.”
Eyes wide with feigned innocence, she blinked up at me. “I’m responsible for quality control. My sidekick was away on a very important mission.”
I laughed and set the takeout bag on the table. “Was your day productive?”
“Very,” she replied, untying the apron to hang it on a hook in the kitchen. “And was your mission successful?”
