Chapter 12 Nova
Nova
Sitting on the side of my bed, my fingers brush over the corner of my mouth where Easton’s lips touched mine while I stare blankly at the floor.
When Easton plowed into me, and I fell, a panic attack hit so hard that I froze, just like all the times when Trent used to beat me.
But instead of being engulfed in pain, Easton started peppering my face with kisses, shocking me to my very core.
Holy crap! Easton Rowe kissed me.
Well, partially, but that doesn’t matter. His lips touched mine.
It’s getting harder and harder to hide my love for Easton. We’ve fallen into a routine of watching TV or talking about the good old days after Rachel and Lainey go to bed. I’m getting used to having him to myself for a couple of hours every night.
A knock at my door makes my head snap up. Thinking it’s Rachel, I quickly get up from the bed and open for her.
I’m surprised to see Easton. “Oh. Hey.”
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, and it makes me think of the ‘partial’ kiss.
“Rachel is taking a nap,” he says. When he steps into my bedroom, I quickly move backward. After he shuts the door, he asks, “How do you feel?”
My tongue darts out to wet my lips before I murmur, “I’m okay.”
When he reaches for my cardigan, my heartbeat speeds up, and I’m engulfed in a hot wave of shame.
“You can stop wearing this,” he says while tugging it down my arms.
I feel super self-conscious about the light marks on my bicep, but then Easton brushes the pad of his thumb over the area. I glance down at where he’s touching me, and tingles rush through me.
My eyes fly back to his face when he says, “I’m sorry I made you fall.”
I let out a nervous chuckle. “Accidents happen.”
His thumb brushes over my skin again, and I become aware of the fact that there are only a few inches of space separating our bodies.
Needing to put his mind at ease, I add, “I’m really okay. Please don’t worry about me.”
Easton lowers his hand to his side and stares at me until I begin to feel incredibly awkward. Worried that he’s upset about what happened, there’s a tremor in my voice as I ask, “Are you okay?”
He takes a deep breath before nodding. For a moment, it looks like he wants to say something else, but then he steps away from me and opens the door again. “Let’s head downstairs.”
Following him out of the bedroom, I suck in a desperate breath. When we take the stairs down to the first floor, I hear Frances, the housekeeper, in the kitchen. Every time we’ve interacted, she’s been very nice to me.
Frances smiles when she notices us. “What would you like for dinner? I can prepare the meal, then you can just warm it up when you’re ready to eat.”
Easton glances at me. “Any preferences?”
I quickly shake my head. “No, but Lainey mentioned she’s craving pizza.”
“Pizza it is, then,” Frances says while letting out a chuckle. “That child would live on pizza if we gave her half a chance.”
“Please make one without pineapple,” Easton mutters. “I have no idea how Lainey can stomach fruit on pizza.”
“You’ve never liked fruit,” I say with a teasing tone.
“Especially not when it’s warm on pizza.” I’m surprised when Easton takes hold of my hand and pulls me toward the sliding doors. “Let’s sit outside.”
Honestly, I’ll sit anywhere he wants me to.
I shake my head at my silly thoughts and take a seat on one of the lounge chairs on the veranda. Again, Easton surprises me by pulling his chair right next to mine before sitting down.
It’s nice spending time with him, and even though I love him with all my heart, I know deep down there will never be anything more than friendship between us. But it doesn’t stop me from cherishing these precious moments I get with him.
He turns his head to look at me. “If I’m not mistaken, Lainey starts spring break next Friday. I want to arrange a day where we do everything Rachel loves.”
“I like that idea.” I sit up a bit straighter and move slightly in my chair so I can face him. “What do you have in mind?”
“We can watch that movie you both loved in school. The one with the vampires.”
“Twilight?” I let out a chuckle. “That’s one of my favorites. Rachel just tolerated watching it a zillion times for me.”
“Oh.” His eyebrow lifts. “Let me think.” His gaze drifts over the backyard before settling on me again. “We could arrange another spa day?”
I nod enthusiastically. “She enjoyed the one we had on Monday.” I consider other things we could do, then ask, “Maybe a day at the beach?”
“Yes.” Easton pulls his phone out of his pocket, and I notice he opens a weather app. “Sunny days for the next week. We can have a barbeque as well.”
“We can end the day by playing a board game. She always loved kicking our butts with Monopoly.”
“That’s because she cheated,” he mutters.
My eyes lock with his. “Then we let her cheat to her heart’s content.”
Suddenly, his phone rings, and I glance at the screen. As he accepts the call, I stand up so I can give him privacy, but his hand shoots out and grabs hold of my wrist.
“Hey, Sylvia,” he answers while indicating with a nod of his head that I should sit back down again.
I do as I’m told, overly aware of his fingers around my wrist.
“I don’t care what the fucker says. I refuse to work with him,” he growls.
The anger in his tone has me tensing, but then his thumb begins to brush softly over the inside of my wrist. My gaze locks on where he’s touching me while my heart scampers off at a crazy pace.
“No interviews. I’m spending every day with Rachel, and I’ll probably take some time off so I can be there for Lainey,” he tells her before listening to whatever she says.
Easton adjusts his fingers until his index and middle fingers are right over my pulse. Realizing he can feel how fast my heart is beating, I quickly pull away from him.
His eyes snap to my face as he says, “Fine. Let me know how things go.”
As he ends the call, I glance at the garden and pool, feeling embarrassed and worried. I contemplate hightailing it into the house.
“Where were we?” Easton asks, and when I look at him again, it’s to see him setting the phone down on his thigh. “We should ask Rachel what she’d like to do.”
My voice is barely audible as I reply, “Definitely.”
“Nothing else you think we should add?”
I glance down at my wrist where I can still feel his touch.
Did he notice how my heart was racing?
Maybe I’m lucky, and he didn’t.
“Ahh . . .” My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “We could all tell her how much she means to us? We could share happy memories?”
“Good idea,” he agrees. For a moment, his eyes drift over my face, then he places his hand on mine and asks, “You look a little tense. Are you okay sitting out here with me?”
My heart races wildly as I answer, “Yes.”
With all his attention focused on me, he asks, “Do you feel safe with me?”
I don’t even have to think about the answer as I admit, “You’re one of the few people I feel safe with.”
“That’s good to hear.” His voice sounds deeper and intimate, causing goose bumps to break out over my skin.
My mind is starting to play tricks on me.
His palm brushes up and down my forearm. “Are you cold?”
Oh God, he noticed the goose bumps.
It’s a hot day, but I don’t want him to think my reaction is because of him, so I nod. “Yeah.” I clear my throat. “It’s a bit cool in the shade.”
The hell it’s not, but please believe my lie.
“Come here,” he murmurs as he lifts his arm.
“Huh?” I can only stare at him with wide eyes as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and tugs me close to his side.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he chuckles.
Is this really happening to me right now?
I lean against Easton, my thoughts racing a mile a minute while conjuring up hopes that have no place sprouting in my heart.
Don’t, Nova. Easton is just being nice. He would’ve done the same for Rachel and Lainey.
“We’re home!” I hear Lainey call out.
I quickly pull away from Easton and dart to my feet. Walking to the open sliding doors, I force a smile to my face and say, “Are you ready to bake?”
“Yes!”
I move closer to the girls and notice Lainey’s best friend looks adorable with her pigtails.
“It’s great to finally meet you, Porsha. Lainey’s told me so many good things about you.”
A pretty smile forms on her face. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Nova’s my godmother,” Lainey says with pride in her voice. “But you already knew that.”
I give Lainey a sideways hug, then glance at the kitchen, where Frances is wiping down a counter. “Is there space for us, Frances?”
“Yes. The pizzas are in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, just pop them into the oven for twenty minutes.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
A wide smile stretches over Lainey’s face. “Pizza?”
I nod as I walk toward the kitchen. “Last night, you said you’re craving some, so I figured we could have it for dinner.”
“You’re the best!”
I notice the girls’ bags lying beside the couch. “Why don’t you take your bags to your room and wash up while I get the ingredients for the cookies ready?”
“Okay.” Lainey’s attention is drawn to Easton when he comes into the house. “Hi, Uncle Easton.”
“Did you have a good day at school?” he asks.
She nods. “Only one week until spring break. I can’t wait.” She glances around. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s taking a nap but will be up soon,” Easton replies. “So be quiet while you’re upstairs.”
“Okay.” The girls giggle as they grab their bags and head to the second floor.
I walk to the pantry, and opening the door, I gather flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and anything else we’ll need to bake the cookies.
I carry my haul to the island and place it on the marble top.
Easton comes to rest his hand on my lower back and leans into me. “Anything I can help with?”
If the man keeps touching me, I’m going to start getting ideas that have no place being in my head.
I clear my throat. “Ahh . . . can you get the eggs and milk?”
“On it.”
I walk to one of the drawers and take out mixing bowls before grabbing a few spoons and a whisk.
After Easton places the milk and carton of eggs on the island, he takes a seat and rubs his palms together. “What’s next?”
I let out a burst of laughter. “Are you planning to bake with the girls?”
He shrugs. “I have nothing better to do.”
Lainey and Porsha come back down, and each of them climbs onto a stool.
I pull the recipe closer and say, “Let’s get to work. Your mom said we need to bake two hundred cookies.”
We all crowd around the piece of paper with Rachel’s handwriting on it. The process goes slow, and I keep having to check the recipe so we don’t make a mess of things.
I’m focused on cracking an egg open when Lainey smears a streak of flour over my cheek. The girls’ laughter fills the kitchen while I chuckle and try to rub it off with my shoulder.
“I’ve got it,” Easton says. He grabs a paper towel, and coming to stand in front of me, he carefully dusts the flour off my skin.
“Thank you.” I lift my gaze to his, and my heart fills with so much love I fear it might burst.
There’s something tender in his expression as he replies, “You’re welcome.”
I’ll be happy if this is all I ever get from him.
My lips curve up as we get back to work, and I relish how wonderful it feels to be a part of this amazing family after being separated from them for so long.