Page 90 of Second Chance with Seth

“I want you, so fucking much,” he whispers into my mouth, and although I can’t speak, I sigh out my reply, clutching at his arms, just as the smell of burning broccoli reaches me, and I pull free of him.

“Veggies,” I cry and he ducks away, grabbing the oven mitt and rescuing them from a state of cremation… just. “Oops,” I mumble and he chuckles, watching as I add the gnocchi to the pan, giving it a stir.

He replaces the tin in the oven and turns back to me with a glint in his eye. Before I can let myself get distracted by that, though, I hand him the cheese.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” he says.

“Grate it.”

“Okay. I think I’d rather kiss you, but if you insist.”

I’m not sure I’m capable of insisting, especially when kisses are on offer, but I’d rather not burn the dinner, and he finds the grater, exactly where he knew it would be and sets to work, while I make a sauce, struggling to concentrate, but getting there in the end.

I add some of the cheese, while Seth gets the veggies from the oven, and then I pour over the thick sauce, adding more cheese on top and let him put it back to bake.

“How long does it need?” he asks.

“Twenty minutes.”

He smiles, and while I’d love to get back to what we were doing before, I know that twenty minutes isn’t long enough for what we both want… and that we need to talk, so as he grabs our wine and leads me to the couch, I ask, “What have you been doing for the last few days?”

He puts our glasses on the coffee table and turns, looking down at me. “I’ve given up my job,” he says simply, like he’s telling me he’s bought a new sweater, not done something life changing… for both of us.

“Y—You’ve done what?”

“I’ve given up my job,” he repeats, unnecessarily.

I can’t believe this, and as he sits on the couch, pulling me down with him, I lean back and stare at him.

“Are you crazy?”

Chapter Sixteen

Seth

“About you? Yeah. I’m completely crazy. About everything else? I’m just starting to see sense.”

“You think?” she says, folding her arms in a fabulously defensive posture and I have to smile.

“You don’t need to protect yourself from me, babe,” I say, leaning over and unfolding her arms, pulling her closer to me. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“And your decisions?” she says. “Are they gonna hurt me?” I shake my head, pulling a little harder. She’s stiff and resistant, but I’m not having any of it. I’ve missed her too much during my enforced absence, and I lift her onto my lap, holding her tight.

“Relax, will you?”

“How can I? You’ve left your job.”

“Yeah, because it was the right thing to do.”

She stiffens still further, leaning back as far as I’ll allow her, and glares right at me. “The right thing?”

“Yes.”

“Because of Davina?”

I let out a sigh. I thought she was over her insecurities. We talked about this before I left, and I thought she understood. It even felt like a breakthrough at the time. I remember it. The fact that she kissed me so hard when I got back here just now suggested I was right about that, as did her invitation tostay… because that’s what it was. She didn’t phrase it like an invitation, not to start with, but she said I could see River during the night, and that’s pretty much the same thing.

It seems I was wrong, though… about her insecurities at least, and I reach out, caressing her cheek with my fingertips, hating the way she bristles against me.

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