Chapter 28
twenty-eight
. . .
Winnie
The sun coming through the opening in the curtains had me stretching my arms over my head as I glanced around the room.
I was in Archer’s bed, and the spot beside me was empty now.
I lifted the comforter and noted that I was still naked. Not surprising, seeing as we’d had sex three times.
Three times.
In one night.
Definitely a first for me.
But the more surprising part was that the thin black ribbon that had been tied around the chignon at the nape of my neck was currently tied around my hips with a little bow, like it was a present.
I chuckled just as Archer came strolling into the room with two cups of coffee.
“Good morning, beautiful.” He smiled as he set one mug on the nightstand on my side of the bed, then moved to the other side of the bed and slid in beside me.
“Good morning. Why is there a bow tied around my hips?”
“Because your pussy is magnificent, and clearly it’s your other superpower, so it should be rewarded with a bow.” He smirked.
I sat up, taking the blanket with me and tucking it beneath my arms to keep it in place.
“You’re ridiculous,” I chuckled. “But my body is on a high, so I’m in no position to complain.”
“Good. That was the plan.” He winked as I reached for my mug and took a sip.
“Yep. It’s good to know that the sex I’ve been writing about in the pages of my books really does exist. This was actually the best kind of research.”
Who knew?
Certainly not me.
He glanced over at me, a sexy grin spread across his handsome face. “Good to know. But it’s not always like that.”
“So I’m not the only one who hasn’t had good sex?”
“I’ve had plenty of good sex, but it didn’t compare to what that was last night. That was—different.” His tongue swiped along his bottom lip as his gaze locked with mine.
“Different in a good way, right?” I set my mug down and turned to face him.
He tugged the blanket from my hand, and it pooled around my waist. He set his mug on the nightstand beside him.
“Don’t hide yourself. Not from me. I’ve spent months wondering what was beneath your clothing, and it’s even better than what I imagined.” He traced his fingers over my breasts, moving from one to the other, as shivers ran down my arms.
This man touched me in a way that I’d never been touched.
Made me feel things that I’d never felt.
“Fine. Answer the question.”
“I’ve never had sex like that with anyone, Winnie. It was fucking fantastic.”
“What was different?” I pressed, because I loved how open we were with one another.
He tugged me close to him and wrapped his arms around me as his fingers traced along the bow he’d tied around me.
“For me, I think it has a lot to do with our connection. I don’t know.
Ever since Melody was born, I’ve kept my relationships very casual.
I’ve been open with the women I’ve been with, and it’s not like I’m out there hooking up with women every weekend.
I don’t get out that often.” He chuckled.
“So it’s been good, but nothing like last night. ”
“So your last serious relationship was with Scarlet?”
“Correct.”
“Do you think you closed yourself off to anything other than casual just because of Melody, or do you think you were protecting yourself after she left?” I tipped my head back to look at him, and he arched one eyebrow, clearly surprised by my question.
“Are you a therapist now, Winnie?”
“Just a romance author who loves to deep-dive into people’s backstories.” I leaned up to look at him as I chewed my bottom lip. I wondered if my questions were pushing things too far.
Jaden was always annoyed by questions. In all honesty, he was kind of annoyed by conversation in general.
It had a lot to do with me pouring my feelings into the pages of my books.
My marriage had been a very lonely place for me these last few years.
As if he could read my mind, Archer’s hand moved to the side of my face. His thumb stroked my cheek. “Hey, you can ask me anything you want. You can also tell me anything you want to tell me as well. I love that you care so much.”
“Thank you,” I said, my voice quiet now.
“I think maybe it was a mix of both. But I’ve always been a man who trusts my gut.
And my gut has been pointing me to you for a while now.
” He tucked the hair behind my ear. “But yes, I think I was being cautious because I want to protect my daughter, but I’m sure I want to protect myself a bit, too. ”
“And you don’t feel like you need to protect yourself from me?” I asked with a grin.
“Oddly, no. I don’t. And what about you? I know you had a plan to be single. But if we’re going to continue this whole friends-who-date-with-all-the-benefits thing, that might make things complicated for you.”
“Well, I made that whole decision before I knew that book boyfriends really exist.” I laughed. “I’m happy to secretly date you, Archer Chadwick.”
“I don’t think we have to keep it a complete secret. I think we need to be cautious with Melody, but I don’t think that means no one else can know.”
“What are you saying, Archie? Do you want to date me for real?”
“Are we in high school? Oh wait, you weren’t there that long ago, were you?”
“I’m twenty-five years old now. And you’re thirty-four. Hardly too old to date. And I swear you have the penis of a teenage boy. It’s very eager and easily impressed,” I said over a fit of giggles as he flipped me on my back and hovered above me.
“Only for you, Winnie,” he said. “But I kind of want to fire you now.”
My eyes bulged. “Why would you fire me?”
“Because how does this work? We’re going to actually date one another, and you live in my casita and cook dinner for us and do Melody’s laundry—it feels barbaric.”
Loud laughter bellowed from me. “You actually don’t ask me to do anything outside of caring for Melody. I added in a lot of things because I like to do them. And let’s face it, your eggs are terrible. I wouldn’t be eating at all if you were doing the cooking.”
He nipped at my earlobe, and I squealed.
“I don’t want it to be weird. I’d like to see where this can go.”
“Then don’t make it weird,” I said. “And you’re not firing me. I’ll file a complaint with the HR department.”
He snorted. “Fine. You can keep making us delicious meals whenever you want.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“‘Boss,’ huh? I’ll show you just how bossy I can be,” he said as he leaned down and kissed me.
And I couldn’t get enough of this man.
“Okay, this is by far your best book yet. The acts of service this man does for her. I can’t even handle it,” Emilia said. We were having our boozy book brunch at the Honey Biscuit Café, and we were discussing my book, of all things.
“Agreed. I stayed up all night and finished it.” Eloise reached for her mimosa.
“Girl, I don’t know where you come up with this stuff, but it’s so addicting,” Lulu added. She broke a piece of her muffin off and popped it in her mouth.
“And you even had them riding horses in this one.” Wren wiggled her brows.
“That horse wasn’t the only thing she was riding,” Lulu said as the table erupted in laughter.
“Seriously, how lucky are we that we get to hang out with our favorite author all the time?” Henley leaned her head on my shoulder.
“Thank you. I feel like the lucky one. I appreciate you all reading this new one early for me.” I tried not to get emotional, because finishing a book and handing it over was a very vulnerable feeling.
“We love you,” Lulu said, “but are we all going to ignore the elephant in the room?”
“Are we talking about Josh Black, who keeps staring over here?” Henley asked before taking another sip of her mimosa.
“Nooooo. He’s a whole other issue. I’m talking about ‘The Taylor Tea.’ Has no one read it this morning?”
Everyone shook their heads no.
“It just came out this morning. I don’t usually even hear about it until Sunday dinner,” Emilia said.
“Same,” Wren and Eloise said at the same time.
“Seriously? I wake up on Saturday mornings and I pull it right up. It’s brilliant.” Lulu turned her attention to me. “And this morning’s article was very captivating.”
“Did my pen name get exposed?” I whispered, because the way she was looking at me made it clear that it was about me.
“Ummm… no. But you’ve been holding out on us, you dirty little bird.” She wagged her finger at me.
“Ahh… I do have something to share, but now I want to know what the article said before I come clean.”
“Let’s hear it, Lu,” Henley said as I reached for my mimosa.
Lulu read in her most dramatic voice, per usual, as we all listened with rapt attention. She went through the usual tidbits about local things that were going on, and then her voice grew more playful.
“‘Our favorite single daddy seems to be swooning over his lovely nanny. Word on Main Street is that there’s a lot more going on here than the usual childcare duties. Many have noticed the time they spend together, and heads up, Roses, these two lovebirds have been caught out alone… Can’t imagine the job requirements include a romantic dinner for two at our favorite steakhouse, where they left hand in hand.
Seems like they’re awfully cozy these days, and our favorite bachelor might be off the market. ’”
All five of them turned to look at me, all gaping aside from Lulu, who just had a wicked grin on her face.
“So, there’s been some changes on the home front,” I said with a laugh.
“I knew it,” Emilia and Wren said at the same time.
“I suspected it, too.” Henley pulled me in for a hug.
“Really? Of course you did. We all did!” Lulu tossed her hands in the air. “You’ve clearly been picturing one another naked for weeks at Sunday dinner. I know that look, and you’ve both had it bad.”
I had to laugh. “I do have it bad for that man.”
“Awww… I love this so much,” Eloise said as she squeezed my hand. “You both deserve to be happy. You’ve been through it, and so has he.”
“Yeah. I love when good things happen to good people.” Emilia raised her mimosa and motioned for us to all do the same.
“Cheers to finding your own real-life book boyfriend,” Henley said as we all clinked glasses.
“I’m so happy for you both,” Wren gushed. “Axel and I were saying how much happier Archer has seemed these last few months, and that’s all because of you. I think you really complete both him and Melody in a way.”
“She was the missing piece.” Emilia smiled, her eyes wet with emotion.
“Well, they complete me, too. It sounds so corny, but it’s true.
I didn’t know what I was missing in my life before coming here.
I just wanted a fresh start, you know? I’d been unhappy for a long time.
In my job, in my relationship—and it’s easy to settle and just try your best not to rock the boat, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I did that for a long time. ”
“I relate to this so much,” Wren said, a genuine smile spread across her face and her eyes crinkled in the corners. “I think we can stay stuck for a long time because change is… uncomfortable. But when you take that leap, it’s so freeing.”
“It is. And coming here has just been filled with so many unexpected surprises that I didn’t see coming,” I said.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” Lulu said. “You make boozy book brunch even better. And we get the perks of reading all your books early,” she added with a laugh.
Aunt Edith walked over with fresh mimosas and set them down.
“I wanted to ask you a favor, while your uncle is in the back eating far too many blueberry pancakes,” she said, leaning over the table as she faced me.
“Of course. Anything.”
“Well, the man is driving me crazy because he has basically confiscated my laptop because his keeps freezing up and is having all sorts of issues. I’ve tried to get him to go into the city and have it looked at, but you know how stubborn that man can be,” she said, and we all chuckled.
“Do you want me to take him into the city?” I asked.
“No. He won’t do it. And we aren’t tech savvy, but I thought maybe you could look at it and see if you could fix it?
It could be something simple. He likes to get on there and write poetry just to keep his writer brain sharp.
But now he’s on my computer every night instead, which means I don’t have one to use now. ”
“I’d be happy to look at it. And Archer is pretty good with that stuff, too.” I smiled up at her.
“Bridger could check it out if you can’t figure it out,” Emilia said as she reached for her glass.
Bridger was a billionaire IT guy, so if Archer and I couldn’t figure it out, we’d definitely ask him.
“Ahh… that would be great.” Edith sighed. “Don’t tell him I said anything, because he won’t want to bother you with it. I’ll drop it by your place later today.”
“You’ve got it. My lips are sealed, and I’ll try to get that fixed so you can have your laptop back.”
“Thanks, doll,” she said as she walked off.
“Ummm… Oscar writes poetry?” Lulu gaped at me.
“He does. He’s actually the reason that I got into writing.” I leaned in, keeping my voice low. “Oscar was a famous author back in the day. Have I not told you this?”
“Oscar Smith was an author?” Wren asked, her brows cinched together as if this was the most puzzling thing she’d ever heard. “I’m surprised ‘The Taylor Tea’ hasn’t vetted this out.”
“Right? Probably because he doesn’t talk about it, but he was pretty famous. He wrote fifty-seven books before retiring over a decade ago. His pen name was James Covington. He wrote thrillers, and he had a huge following.”
“Shut up!” Eloise gasped before her hands moved to cover her mouth, which was now hanging open. “Oscar is James Covington. I’ve read everything he’s ever written. He’s brilliant. I literally binged his books within a couple of months when I was in college.”
“I’m shook.” Emilia’s eyes were wide. “I’ve also read everything he’s written. How is this not known?”
“He’s pretty private about it, but it’s not like it’s a secret, really. They moved full-time to Rosewood River after he retired and opened the café, and he just left that life behind him. But he’s always encouraged me to write, and he’s been my biggest cheerleader.”
“Clearly ‘The Taylor Tea’ is for amateurs. We’ve got two big-time authors living in our small town, and the people here are completely unaware.”
“Well, some things are meant to stay private,” Henley said with a chuckle. “But I’m glad we know this little secret because I will be diving into those books right away.”
Eloise told her where to start on his backlist, and they all agreed to keep his past career a secret.
I was grateful that I’d found such amazing friends in these women.
They felt like family.
And this town felt like home.