Chapter Twenty-Nine
Riley
Even though I loved the job and finally being able to use my degree, there was a dull ache in my chest the entire time. I thought about Jeremy almost constantly. I could almost tell what he’d be doing every single moment of the afternoon. I was jealous of this new nanny. Yep, jealous.
On Thursday afternoon, my heart all but melted when Duncan sent me a picture of the two of them. He'd finished work early and taken Jeremy out for dinner.
There was a physical ache in my chest, like a capsule around my heart. Crap. Maybe it would get better with time.
I typed back quickly.
Riley: I wish I was there with you.
Duncan: You will be on the weekend. Go kick ass.
And I did.
Duncan kept his promise and picked me up every evening. I knew he couldn't keep it up forever because his mom had to come stay with Jeremy whenever he went out, but I was going to enjoy it while it lasted. Then he brought me home.
On Friday evening, I finally felt like I could breathe again. Duncan was coming to pick me up, and we were spending the evening at his condo. Jeremy was sleeping at his grandmother's tonight, and we’d pick him up tomorrow to go camping again.
Duncan was waiting for me about a block away from the entrance to the office building, mostly because it was the only place where he could park. I was smiling from ear to ear and nearly lost my composure on the walk to him.
Stopping right in front of him, I put my arms around his neck, and he laced his around my waist. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. This was my free time.
I groaned. "I can't believe this week is over."
"It is, and I'm going to make sure that you are spoiled rotten the entire weekend."
He’d suggested that I sleep at the condo the past few nights, but we hadn't outright spoken with Jeremy about us. I figured it would be confusing as hell for him to see me there in the morning, so we'd decided to wait and then tell him everything this weekend when we went camping.
"I'm all yours to do whatever you want with," I said before we got in the car. I chatted his ear off on the way. "On Sunday evening, my team wants to meet for drinks.”
"That's very smart for the newbies."
I nodded. "Line managers will be there too."
"That's great. It’ll be good for networking."
"It just means that we'll have to come back a bit earlier from our trip."
"No problem."
We were only going half an hour away this time, so I figured it wouldn’t cut into our weekend too much.
I was so tired that I toed off my shoes.
Some of my colleagues were always changing into flat shoes when they sat at their desk.
I'd been judging them for about three days, but on the fourth one, I understood why.
It was extremely uncomfortable to even sit with high heels on all day.
I could see myself adopting the same strategy at some point.
When we arrived at the condo, I felt myself relax from the second I stepped in. It helped that it smelled amazing. I sniffed the air. "What's this?"
"I've got something in the slow cooker," he said. "I figured you'd prefer to have dinner and wine at home."
"You thought right," I said. I was absolutely not in the mood to go out to eat.
I threw my shoes in the corner as we came in, then made a beeline to the kitchen, peering into the slow cooker. He'd made turkey chili. My heart fluttered. His arms came around my belly, and he pulled me back against his chest.
"You spoke to my sister?" I asked.
"No. Actually, I spoke to your mom."
I gasped, turning around. "What? How?"
"I first called Paula to ask her. She admitted that she had no idea what your comfort food was as a kid."
I laughed. "That's not a surprise. She's much younger than me."
"Anyway, then she gave me your mom's number. She’s excited that you’re visiting her next weekend.”
“Oh my God, that’s right. I forgot to tell you. Paula and I are going to see her. I promised myself a long time ago that I’d spoil both of them with a spa trip with my first real paycheck, and I’m going to deliver.”
“That’ll make her happy.”
I grinned from ear to ear. "I haven't eaten this in a long, long time."
"It's the first time I’ve made it, but I did follow her recipe, so let's see if it tastes as good as you remember."
My eyes widened. "You not only asked what my favorite was but you even followed her recipe? I think you might be my favorite person ever."
Laughing, he kissed up and down my neck. "I'd better be."
This felt so amazing. I had my dream job, and this wonderful man had cooked for me and was doing everything in his power to make sure I was happy.
He captured my lips, kissing me slowly. Savoring him, I groaned against his mouth and pressed my pelvis into him, then gasped. He was semihard.
"Riley," he muttered between kisses, "careful."
"Or what? You’ll devour me? Spoiler alert: that's what I want."
"We've got time for that after dinner."
Hell, now that he mentioned it, I was pretty hungry. I playfully pushed him backward.
He glanced away, drawing in a deep breath. I'd already brought him so close that he was about to lose control. Wow.
"All right. Plate," I said, turning around just in time to hide my smile.
Duncan cupped my ass. "I saw that smile."
"I wasn't trying that hard to hide it."
I served the chili for both of us. It smelled amazing and transported me right back to our small trailer. We'd used the slow cooker a lot because it was easier and cheaper than turning on the stove.
This was delicious. I could tell without even tasting it. The mix of spices seemed just right.
Wait a second…
“You had all the necessary spices already?”
"No, but I went shopping."
I turned around. "I love you," I blurted. I couldn't hide it anymore, and I didn't want to. And if there was ever a time to blurt it out, it was after he'd prepped my favorite dinner. But most of all, Duncan made me feel special, and I loved him for it.
He put down the wineglasses he'd taken from the oversized cabinet and said, "Damn, woman. I'd planned this whole declaration after dinner. I love you so fucking much."
This time, I did jump him. There was no one to see and absolutely no reason to hold back.
He kissed me hard as he picked me up and sat me on the counter.
I threaded my fingers through his hair, nipping at his lips, then wrapped my legs around him, putting my ankles above his ass.
"Fuck, woman. See what you do to me?"
"Yes, and I love it."
He'd gone from semihard to hard as a rock almost instantly.
He cleared his throat. "Let’s have dinner. I want to bury myself inside you tonight and make you scream this place down. And you're going to need a lot of sustenance for that."
"Ha, well, when you put it like that, I can't argue. It's very good logic."
He moved to open a bottle of white wine. It didn't matter if he was right next to me or at the end of the counter, I felt closer to him than ever before.
He loved me.
We sat down at the dining room table. It felt weird to be here without Jeremy.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"That I miss Jeremy. He’d like this.”
“He’ll have some tomorrow. There’s plenty left. Tell me if you like it."
"I always eat it with a spoon," I informed him.
"Ah, I was wondering why you put out spoons."
It was still hot, so I blew on it before taking a small mouthful.
I closed my eyes, and the trailer appeared in front of me.
The mustard couch that was also my bed at night.
The small table that was chipped at every corner.
Mom's laughter as I took a huge mouthful even though she’d warned me it was hot.
"I take it as a compliment that you're not saying anything."
I opened my eyes.
"That's a very cute smile you have on," Duncan said.
"I swear I just stepped back in time. This is truly perfect."
"Smile again. I want to take a picture of you," he said. "Your mom requested one."
"Wait. I know just what to do." I loaded my spoon with so much chili that I could never fit it into my mouth. I held it next to my face and grinned.
He laughed, snapping a picture. "Okay, I sent it."
We sipped wine while eating—it was a delicious combo. When he gently nudged my leg under the table, I fell in love with him even more.
Could this really be our life? I'd come here from work and spend time with Duncan and Jeremy?
I didn't want to dream too much, but it felt almost impossible not to. I felt as if everything was in my grasp.
After I finished the food and the glass of wine, he asked, "Want to move to the couch?"
"Oh yeah," I said.
He filled our glasses again, and I took those with us as well. As I sat down, I put my feet on the couch. Duncan immediately scooted next to me, taking my legs in his lap. "See, this is why we need a couch on our camping trip too."
I laughed. "Oh, Duncan, we don't have to go camping again. Jeremy and I would be just as happy in a hotel, honestly."
"No, I have photographic evidence from last weekend that you two were having the time of your lives in that cramped little tent."
He tapped his phone, then turned it to me.
There was a picture of Jeremy and me putting the tent together and then another one assembling the camping chairs. And another one where we played with the zipper of the tent. My heart expanded just looking at the time we’d spent together.
"You both had a lot of fun."
I couldn't disagree. Jeremy and I were laughing so hard that I was surprised we didn't pull a muscle. "I miss him so much."
"Fuck, I love you even more when you say that."
He put the phone down, then pulled my leg so that my ass landed in his lap. I latched on to his shoulders for dear life.
"I can't believe you care about him in such a way."
"Of course I do. I love him too," I said. "And this week, it became apparent to me just how much. It physically hurt here to be away from him." I put a hand on my chest. "I can't even imagine how things will be when I have to travel to see clients or something."