Page 99 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

BUTCH

“You’re the cutest and sweetest man in the world.”

I woke up early and asked Claire to help me make a breakfast tray for Kit. I just woke her up with a kiss on her forehead.

“I don’t know about all that,” I say, my face starting to blush as I place the tray over her legs. “I just wanted to make sure you had a good breakfast before you left for the airport.”

“Don’t try to fight me on it. You’re the absolute cutest and sweetest.” She smiles as I pour her a cup of coffee. “Are you blushing?”

“Kit,” I say, trying to make my face as stern as possible. “Stop.”

“For now,” she says, kissing my cheek. “This is a lot of food. Are you sharing with me?”

“I ate when I woke up, but I’ll have some coffee. And probably another one of those blueberry things.”

“Scones,” she says, putting one on a napkin and handing it to me. “And the flowers are beautiful. Every color in the rainbow. Where did you get them this early?”

“Claire has a garden on the side of the inn. She helped me,” I say, looking down as my face starts to blush again. “I told her I didn’t know what your favorite color was yet so she picked one of each.”

“Pink,” Kit says, pulling that one out of the vase and smelling it. “Just like your grandma.”

“Noted. Then there will always be pink flowers.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Are you going to bring me breakfast in bed every day?”

“Not unless someone else cooks it,” I say, laughing as I grab a piece of her bacon. “I can do a bagel with cream cheese and lots of coffee. Will that work?”

“Yes, but you’re going to spoil me.”

I lean over to kiss her. “No one deserves it more.”

“You’re all tough on the outside,” she says, rubbing her hand over my cheek, “but so soft and squishy on the inside.”

“Maybe,” I say, putting my hand over hers, “but keep it to yourself. I don’t want to lose my membership in the alpha man club.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” She takes another long drink of coffee and crawls out of bed. “I’ll finish this after I get out of the shower. Nash and Elle are picking me up in a few hours to take me to the airport.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” I grab my phone off the table. “I can probably still get on your flight. Let me check.”

“Butch,” she says, leaning down to kiss me again. “I’ll be fine. You know I can take care of myself.”

“I know. It’s not that. I’m just going to miss you.” I grab her hand as she tries to walk into the bathroom. “Why don’t you let me drive you to the airport at least?”

“Drive me in what?” she says, smiling. “You don’t have your car here.”

“You can come with us in the Suburban,” I say, trying to pull her back into bed. “They won’t mind stopping at the airport.”

“Millie and Mason are dying to get back to Mo. They’re not going to want to divert to LAX for an extra hour.” She pulls her hand away. “Nash and Elle are driving me. Now let me get ready.”

I follow her into the bathroom. “But I don’t want to be away from you yet.”

“I don’t want to be away from you either,” she says, turning on the shower, “but it’s only two weeks. Maybe quicker if my work will take less notice. And we’re going to talk every day.”

“I know.” I pick her up and put her on the counter. “But it won’t be the same.”

“Not at all the same.” She wraps her legs around me and starts running her hands over my chest. “I don’t think I can go two weeks without this chest. Can we FaceTime?”

“Do you want to FaceTime with me or only my chest?”

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