Page 39 of Claiming His Wife
“I missed you, too.” Did I? She was still in shock, and in the haze of emotions coming to the surface, dismay was rising fast. She spied her sister over his shoulder. Kaiya gave her a pitiful stare, and Kalilah turned away, unwilling to allow the guilt to make her scramble out of his embrace. An embrace that used to make her feel warm and loved only served to make her feel smothered now.
He released her from the embrace and then grabbed her by the hand and dragged her toward the dining room. He deposited her in a chair and took a seat himself. He dragged his chair closer to hers then captured her hands within his.
“You’re here. Wow!”Was that her voice?It sounded squeaky. In her defense the words just fell out of her mouth without input from her currently fried brain.
“You sounded so sad over the phone, and I missed you so much. That’s why I decided to come cheer you up,” he said with a smile and somehow, the gesture did not sound as romantic as it should have, as it would have before. Somehow, his travelling all the way from Seattle to ‘cheer her up’ was not something she cared for.
She would have preferred it if he had stayed away until she had gotten to a point where she could understand her own emotional state. She cursed at her thoughts as he leaned closer and smiled into her eyes.
“You look tired,” he informed her.
“I’m just coming back from work. It’s been a long day,” she offered as an explanation, her brain scrambled.
He leaned back with a wistful smile.
“Ah, yes. You got a job at a shelter here.”
He traced a finger across her cheekbones. She leaned into his hand as he looked over her face, concerned. Knowing he was worried about her comforted her so she said, “I’m just exhausted; nothing a good night’s sleep will not cure.” He hadn’t changed; his love was still readily available to her. Too bad she couldn’t say the same about herself.
“You need a few days off. I know that you love your job, but you’re not looking so good, angel.” His voice was soothing, but they’d had this debate many times and she wasn’t about to do it again.
“Let’s save this discussion for later,” Kalilah said, then stood up and reached for her sister's mug. Jonathan stood too, intercepted her hand and pulled her to him with it. He smothered her in his signature embrace and lowered one hand to her chin to tilt her face up to his.
“You’re not mad at me, are you? I don’t want to fight; I just missed you so much and I just wanted to see you.” He looked at her intently.
She leaned closer and rewarded him with a small kiss.
“I know you worry about me, but I promise you that I’m taking care of myself.” She moved out of his embrace and beckoned Kaiya closer. “I guess you’ve met my sister?”
“Yes, she definitely kept me entertained while waiting for you.”
“I aim to entertain, especially when guests are worried,” said Kaiya.
He squeezed Kalilah’s hands, gave a reassuring brush of his lips against her skin before he released her. She immediately felt bereft as he directed a shy smile at Kaiya.
“I can’t say for sure that I’m still not worried.”
Since he was here now, she felt the tiredness slipping away, like it was a heavy blanket that was being towed away. The evening that had seemed so stifling was suddenly beautiful; the sun was streaming in through the window. The sound of traffic came in a muted roar and she felt compelled to show him around Montréal.
“We’re going out!”
“We are?” Jonathan looked at her in surprise, and even Kaiya looked at her askance. “You should rest.”
Her smile widened at his concern.
“I’m suddenly not as tired as I originally thought. I want to show you all of my favorite places in the city. Let me go freshen up!”
She went towards her bedroom, and Kaiya followed her.
“What’s going on with you?”
“I’m just happy,” she answered simply.
“I can see that, but what about Finn?”
“What about him?” The one word robbed her of her former enthusiasm; she stopped her contemplation of her wardrobe. She returned to the bed with a cotton blouse in her hand. “In fact, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Kaiya walked closer to engulf her sister in a hug.
