Page 48 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“What’s that?”
“The keys to the SUV you’ll drive in Sailport Bay. I don’t want you walking home this late, and it’ll be easier if you pack your stuff at your place.”
She crosses her arms and juts out her hip. It’s a little sassy, but the way she bites her bottom lip betrays her nerves. “What if I can’t drive an SUV?”
I relish the fire that comes from her when I least expect it.
“I have a feeling you can do anything you set your mind to, so I’m not worried about it,” I say, playing along because I love this banter.
“Yes, I can drive an SUV,” she says with a whimsical laugh. “If you ever need a ride, I’m only a phone call away.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say dryly. “But I’m hoping for what I’m paying you there will be no more rideshares in your future. And I know we haven’t worked out the logistics of you comingback to Raleigh on your days, but we will. It’s a three-hour drive, and I’ll adjust my schedule so you have a fair amount of time here for…whatever it is you’re doing.” Even my words pout, but when her eyes crinkle at the corners, my heart expands three sizes.
“I know you will, Beck.”
My brows wing up into my hairline. “You do? How?”
One slim shoulder lifts with a sexy shrug. “I guess I just trust you.”
I stand frozen as she turns to leave. I don’t move until I hear the front door close, then hear her using the key I gave her. She wiggles the handle three times before silence descends.
“I’m glad you trust me, Stella. I just don’t know if I can trust myself.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
STELLA
“We might have to rent a van,”Beck says. “Freaking Daisie will take up an entire row, and there’s so much…everything. I should have had the second SUV delivered here and not in Sailport Bay.” He lifts a plastic teething ring with one finger as if it repulses him.
He’s dressed more casually than I’ve ever seen him and it’s messing with my ability to concentrate. His navy-blue shorts and polo shirt with a pink whale on it are so far removed from his suits and ties that I’m finding it difficult to reconcile both sides of him. He looks…normal. And sexy. Super sexy, but I’ll never, ever say that out loud.
“What do you think?” He turns suddenly, placing a hand on my forearm, and heat creeps up my neck to settle in my cheeks.
I can’t remember what the heck he said, so I peer around him at the pile of stuff he has in his family room. It’s everything the company he hired to babyproof brought over and then some.
“So this house we’re going to, in Sailport is?—”
“Sailport Bay,” he interrupts. “It’s a big thing there. Sailport is another town in South Carolina and neither likes to be mistaken for the other—it’s a big rivalry.”
I lift my brows, waiting for an explanation, but he’s back to crossing his arms and drumming his pointer and middle fingers on his opposite bicep. I’ve seen him do this in the office a few times, but it’s so much different when I can see his forearms.
No wonder the guy lifted me so easily last night. When the heck does he have time to work out?
Behind him, Ruby is in a bouncy seat, trying to launch herself into outer space. That kid has a lot of energy. Emmy sits beside her sister on the floor with a book she keeps close by but has never let me read—It probably holds a special memory of her mom.
Emmy tucks her knees into her chest, making herself even smaller.
Someday soon we need to teach Emmy that it’s okay to live loudly and to take up space.
“Wow,” I finally say. “That’s a lot of stuff.”
Beck spins on me with a scowl. “You’re supposed to be the expert here. Are you telling me I didn’t need to buy all this shit?”
I haven’t rolled my eyes this much since I was in middle school. “No, Mr. Grumptitude. You do need it here. But do you need it in Sailport?”
“Sailport Bay, Stella. Sailport Bay,” he cries in exasperation. “I’m telling you, there’s no faster way to get the townsfolk to turn on you than mess up the town name. It’s worse than cursing in church.” There’s that Southern drawl again.
“Townsfolk?” I can’t quite keep the humor from lacing my words.
