Page 34 of Back to Me
“Well, doesn’t matter now. You are home and I am never letting you go again.” I pressed my lips against his chest.
“There’s nowhere else I would rather be.” I let out a small sigh as he moved to pull the covers over us and I closed my eyes. My body was completely relaxed, and I could feel sleep creeping up on me.
“I love you, Ally.” I heard him softly whisper to me, but I was too far gone to be able to reply.
* * *
I woke up to the sound of an alarm going off and groaned. I hadn’t had enough sleep to deal with morning yet.
“What time is it?”
“Seven, sorry, I forgot to change the time.” He pressed his lips to my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.
“Do you want coffee, or do you want to go back to sleep?”
“Both,” I mumbled. He leant in and pressed his lips to mine. I opened my eyes to look up at him. He brushed his fingers down my cheek.
“I’ll get your coffee.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at him as he pulled away and put on his boxers. I took in the tattoo on his back as he left the room, wondering who had done that for him. I closed my eyes as he disappeared down the stairs. I drifted off to sleep again and was rewoken by the smell of coffee.
“You want this, you have to wake up, Duchess.”
“No. Go away.”
“You sure you don’t want it? I made it just the way you like it.” I opened my eyes to glare at him. “If you don’t get out of bed, then we can’t go to the shop either.”
“You suck, you know that right?” His lips curled into a smirk, as if remembering last night. I grabbed his pillow and smacked him over the head with it. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You love me really.” He bent down and pressed his lips against mine before getting up off the bed and moving to his bathroom. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and took the coffee cup from the bedside table. The words Austin whispered to me before I fell asleep coming back to the front of my mind as I quietly sipped my coffee. I was almost done with it when he came out of the shower. My eyes trailed down his body, water droplets covering his skin, a towel sitting around his hips. When my eyes met his, he raised a brow.
“You good, Duchess?” I cleared my throat and nodded. Drinking the last of my coffee, I sat it beside me and pushed the covers back. Walking over to him, his eyes giving my naked body a once-over as I moved, I placed my hands on his waist and stood up on my toes. Pressing my lips against his, I whispered softly against them.
“I love you, Austin.”
“Heard that did you?” I nodded, and he wrapped his arms around me. “I meant it and didn’t expect you to say it back to me.”
“I know you well enough to know that you don’t say anything you don’t mean. I told you how I felt last night too, just not in so many words.” His hands moved to my legs, his knees bending as he lifted me into his arms. Wrapping my legs around his waist, he carried me over to the bed and laid me down on it. So much for heading into the shop once I was done with my coffee. Not that I minded one little bit.
ChapterEighteen
Austin
I’d spentthe whole previous day with Ally at the shop so I could do her wall. She decided not to open. Instead, she got everything ready for the following day; plus we aired it out to try and lessen the smell of paint when customers walked in. I had clients, so it was back to work as normal today. Parking in the back, I’d decided to walk through the connecting shops and passed the girls. Ally had told me some of what was in the letter that Savannah had given her. I was going to be an uncle! They asked her to take care of the gender reveal, but she wouldn’t tell me if they were having a boy or a girl, so I couldn’t taunt Savannah with it but she didn’t need to know that.
As I walked in the door, Belle stopped midsentence when she saw me. “Good morning, ladies.” Savannah narrowed her eyes at me as I smirked on my way past.
“Morning.” I unlocked the door that led into my shop and just closed it behind me. I didn’t lock it like I normally would. Going to my office, I moved around behind my desk. Then, 3… 2… 1… “You know, don’t you?”
“Don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Liar! Ally told you what was in the letter. Why else would you come through the back door when you have been going through your front one for weeks now.”
“I am extending the olive branch, Vannah.”
“I don’t believe you.” I shrugged and took out my tablet to check on the design for my first client today. It was only a small one, but I still needed to get set up. I had time though; I had come in early, after all.
“Your choice.” I lifted my head to look back at her as she turned to walk away. A minute later, she was back.
