Page 71 of Seven Summers Ago
“Hey, how are my best girls?” He rounds the corner into the kitchen with a bag of Chinese takeout in his grip.
“Hi, West!” Charlie runs to him and when he crouches, she shoots into his arms.
And dang it if my heart doesn’t shift in my chest.
“I missed you,” he says into her hair. “How was the beach?”
“It was so fun! I’m going to get my shells to show you.”
While Charlie races off to her room to retrieve her treasures, West scoops me up in his free arm and presses a forceful and possessive kiss to my lips that leaves my head spinning. Pulling back, I search his expression to read what this mood is.
“I missed you the most,” he says, but his smile is tight.
“Yeah, me too.” I take the bag from him and set it on the counter to pull out the contents.
“You look tired.”
Gee, thanks. Love that for me. My fiancé basically pointing out that I look like crap.
“Guess the beach wasn’t as restful for you as it was for Charlie.” He loosens his tie at his neck before slipping his suit jacket off his shoulders and hanging it on the back of the stool pushed up to the island.
There’s an obvious buzz of distress in the air between us.
“Actually, the beach was amazing. But Dottie’s service, the reading of her will, and going through her things was exhausting.” I’m not sure why I have to remind him why I went to Golden Harbor in the first place, but here we are.
“I bet. I’m sorry you had to do that. And alone.”
That addedalonescrapes underneath my skin. Is he expecting me to admit I wasn’t exactly alone? Or is this a sad excuse for an apology for not coming with me? With West, who can say.
“But you’re home now.” He rounds the kitchen island and squeezes my arm, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“Thanks for bringing dinner. And getting off early.”
“Of course. I want to hear all about your week in Golden Harbor.” Yanking his tie over his head, he unbuttons the top two buttons on his collared shirt and waggles his brows at me suggestively.
I force a smile and pull a few plates from the cupboard. Even though it’s takeout, West doesn’t like eating out of the cartons. “I was hoping we could’ve talked last night. Ya know, after we got home.”
“Yeah.” He waves me off and fills his plate. “I was super tired. My day was stacked with meetings. And I had one early today.”
“So Piper mentioned,” I quip, waiting for an explanation.
“You know those drain me, sweetie.”
I bob my head along while he talks. “Well, it’s just that there’s something really important we need to talk about.”
“Okay, sure. After dinner.”
“But—”
Charlie runs into the kitchen with her fist full of beach treasures and the stuffies Beck gave her underneath her arms.
Crap.
“Let me see what you got there.”
“Look at these pretty shells I found. And look, West. This is sea glass. And I got two new stuffies.”
“Wow. Your favorite.”
