Page 39 of Here In Your Arms

“Yeah, uh, yeah, I’m good.” I force a smile and start walking again.

“Rory, if you need to talk…”

“Why would I need to talk? It was just an accident. It’s okay,” I insist, picking up the pace a little to be near Claire again.

Kyle grabs my hand, slowing me down. “Look, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but I can see something is bothering you. I’m here for you, no matter what it is, okay?”

I take a breath and realize he means it. He’s not going to force me to talk about anything unless I really want to. Without realizing what I’m doing, I slam my body into him, wrapping my arms around his strong torso. With no hesitation, he holds me close, dropping a small kiss on my head.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Always,” he whispers back.

Chapter 14

Kyle

Rory and I catch up to Wes and Claire, who are drooling over some fresh loaves of bread. When Rory steps up to Claire, I tilt my head at Wes to come closer. Once he’s next to me, our shoulders touching, I explain what happened with Rory and the coffee and earrings.

“The weirdest part is that I saw her zone out for just a second, then start panicking hardcore,” I tell him. “I have no idea what’s going on in her head, but she refused to talk about it and I’m not going to push her.”

Wes nods. “That’s smart. Whatever it is, there’s clearly some trauma there. Hopefully, she’ll open up to us more.”

I nudge Wes with my shoulder. “I have an idea if you’re up for it. Can you head back to that vendor and grab her a couple pairs of their earrings? She was practically drooling over them before she dropped the one pair.”

He frowns. “Should we just take her over there to try them out?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I want it to be a surprise for later.”

“Okay, how do we do this sneaky? You’re the mastermind here.”

“Grab her coffee cup and say you’re going to throw it away. Claire’s cup too.”

He gives me a small, cheeky salute, and walks up to the girls, gently taking their cups and explaining he saw a trash can a few vendors back. Rory smiles in gratitude before she and Claire move on to see the rest of what the market has to offer.

Thankfully, the rest of the visit goes well, and we walk the girls back to Rory’s car. Rory tells Claire to get in the car first and the moping immediately starts.

“Why do I hafta wait in the car?” Claire whines.

“I’d like to talk to the guys for just a second,” Rory explains.

Claire frowns. “You just wanna make out with Pool God and Wes.”

Wes laughs. “I would be okay with that!”

Claire gags and gets in the car without further complaint. Rory watches with a smile on her face and love shining through her eyes to her niece.

“Thank you,” she says to us. “Claire doesn’t have the best examples of adult men. I really appreciate how well you all took to each other and how kind you guys were with her.”

“She’s a great kid,” Wes tells her. “I’d love to hang out with her again.”

Rory’s smile grows. “That would be awesome.”

“Any chance we can see you again tomorrow? Or even Monday? I don’t want to be that guy, but I can’t wait to see you again,” I tell her.

“I have to work tomorrow, but I would love to see you guys again. Maybe lunch? Or I’m not working Monday so we could meet up that evening too,” she suggests.

“How about we text you and make plans?”

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