Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
CALL IE
I was fully awake when Lewis knocked on the cottage door at three in the morning the next day. The nausea hadn’t kicked in yet either, which was great. Last night, I’d stayed at my parents’ house until eleven in the evening. Dad had been stunned by the news and angry at Lewis, and I had to talk him down from challenging him to a duel.
No, really. I think if we lived in the days of dueling, Lewis would be at the other end of my dad’s pistol.
Yet, to protect Lewis, I found myself explaining everything that had ever happened between us to Dad. Apparently, the truth did the trick. I think Dad had been imagining the worst all this time—that Lewis had cheated on me.
Still, I got the impression that my parents needed me close for as long as possible. Mum had wanted me to stay over, but I knew I had to get used to living on my own at the cottage. Even more so now. Harry was quiet about the whole thing, and I worried that he was anxious the news would make him a target at school again. Hopefully, it would all blow over by the time school started up after summer .
Growing up in a village came with pros and cons. There was always someone there to give you a helping hand, and no one banded together to protect a villager from an outsider faster or more ferociously than those in Ardnoch. We were all so used to the estate’s celebrity members that we didn’t bother them—Ardnoch was a safe space. So much of our economy depended on the estate that no one would dare talk to the press about the members-only club and the people who frequented it.
But bloody hell, did we like to gossip among ourselves. Everybody was in everybody else’s business, and news traveled faster than the speed of light. So I couldn’t allow myself to feel guilty for what was happening to Harry because we’d all dealt with that kind of stuff. Yet I couldn’t help but worry about him on top of everything else.
That night, I’d lain in bed, my alarm set for two o’clock. I didn’t sleep. I lay there worrying about how I was going to manage running the bakery with a newborn in tow. And I worried about this date with Lewis and all the things I needed to say to him. It was a relief when my alarm went off and I could get up to prepare for our date.
“This is the strangest hour for a date ever.” I answered the door as soon as Lewis knocked. I kept my voice low so as not to disturb my neighbors.
Lewis stood on the pavement, the streetlights glowing against the hazy dusk of twilight. His sexy smirk still made me weak at the knees. “You look beautiful.”
I was dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a cardigan, and my hair was pulled back in a ponytail. I wore only a touch of mascara and blush. This was the most boring outfit I’d ever worn on a date, but I didn’t know where we were going, only that it was still chilly at this time of the morning, even if it was early July. “I’ve looked better.” Grabbing my keys, I stepped out of the cottage and s tared up at my handsome date. He wore his hair loose for once and looked like a rock star more than a biker this morning.
“You’re always beautiful to me.” Lewis leaned down and whispered in my ear, “And always sexy as fuck.”
I shivered at the words and the way his breath puffed against my skin. Oh boy. Swallowing hard, I pulled back to peer up at him. “Seriously, where is Lewis and what have you done with him?”
He chuckled and gestured to a Range Rover parked at the curb. “Ready?”
I immediately pouted. “Where’s the bike?”
“Eh, you’re pregnant.” He placed a hand on my lower back, leading me toward the 4x4. “There is no way I’m putting you on the back of my bike.”
Damn it. I knew he was right. Disappointed but also appreciative of his forethought, I got into the passenger side. “Is this yours?” I asked as he climbed in behind the wheel.
Lewis shook his head. “Borrowed it from Dad. But I’m going car hunting this weekend. We’ll need something big enough for a baby’s car seat.”
“I have a car.”
“I know. But I want to be able to drive you to your doctor’s appointments and whatever else you need.”
As we drove down Castle Street, I found myself staring at his profile in awe. He was buying a car just so he could drive me around. “You … you seem calm about the whole thing.”
He shot me a quick, patient look. “A baby is on its way, Callie. Aye, it’s scary, and we wouldn’t be human if we weren’t terrified, but there’s no point wallowing in that. Because … it’s also exciting. And we have lots to talk about and prepare for.”
At that moment, I felt so ashamed.
I fell quiet as Lewis drove toward the main beach parking. The car park was almost empty, except for a couple of motorhomes. There was nothing but the sound of the surf beyond the dunes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“What are we doing here?” I asked instead.
Lewis didn’t respond with words. He got out of the car and rounded it to open my door. As I stepped out, he pulled a picnic basket and blanket from the back seat.
With his free hand, he clasped mine tightly and led me toward the beach. A sand-covered boardwalk guided us down through the dunes and out onto the stretch of smooth, perfect beach.
In the twilight, there was not another soul in sight, and a summer morning mist hung in the air.
“Callie … are you okay?”
I squeezed Lewis’s hand. “I have so much to say … and yet … I’m not sure I can.”
Instead of answering, he tugged on my hand, and I followed him down the beach. He chose a random spot to spread the blanket and gestured for me to take a seat. I kicked off my trainers and sat down, pulling my knees to my chest. I was glad for my cardy because there was a cool breeze blowing up from the water. The gentle tide and quiet rhythm of the sea lapping against the shore calmed my racing heartbeat as Lewis sat down and began unpacking the picnic basket.
I watched as he pulled out a bottle of water, sparkling fruit water, and … a bottle of Irn-Bru. Thinking it was a strange choice for an early-morning picnic, but thinking this whole thing was strange, I let it go. There were scones and mini jars of jam and clotted cream. Croissants that looked an awful lot like my mum’s. I hmmed at that and he grinned.
Lastly, he pulled out a bag of peanut M it was hard to take in after all these years of unfairly resenting him.
He leaned in as if to kiss me, and I backed up. “Uh, no.” I covered my mouth.
Lewis chuckled. “Damn, I forgot. That’s what you do to me. I forget one second from the next, and all I can think about is your mouth.” This time when he leaned in, it was to murmur in my ear, “When we’re done taking it slow, my mouth is going to know every fucking inch of you again.”
This flirtatious side of Lewis was new, but I couldn’t say I didn’t like it. I shivered as he pulled back, a cocky smirk on his face. He knew exactly what affect he had on me.
I playfully slapped his chest and pushed him away. “Big flirt.”
He grinned and tugged on my hand, leading me back up the beach. It was like he couldn’t help himself and needed to touch me all the time. I couldn’t say I didn’t like that either. In fact, I was feeling extremely needy, and his affection was soothing that neediness.
Back at the cottage, however, I convinced him to go to work.
Minutes after he’d left, I slumped over the toilet, exhausted from retching into it again. I wished I hadn’t told Lewis to go to work.
Realizing I wanted him there, needed him, that those few hours on the beach were the calmest I’d felt in weeks, I knew that it didn’t matter if we took things slow.
The moment Lewis Adair walked back into my life, a missing piece of me clic ked back into place. And I’d always need him now. Taking it slow, in reality, meant nothing.
Because I was already as deep in it with Lewis as a person could be.