Page 74 of Connected By Souls

Later that night, we fall asleep in each other’s arms after making love again. Before I drift off to sleep, A single thought enters my mind. I don’t dream when she’s here next to me.

* * *

I waketo several texts the following morning from people needing to hire me for clean-up jobs. I schedule them in over the next few days as Emma and I have breakfast together. The library has the electricity back on, so she’ll be going to work today too. “I might try and do a yoga class after work today,” she says, taking a bite of her avocado toast.

Looking up from my phone, I smile. “I think you should. You keep saying how much you love it and want to go on more than just Thursdays. My mom will be excited to see you.”

“I’m excited to see her again too. How’s your latest book coming? Do I get any special privileges like reading it before anyone else,” she asks, her eyes lighting up.

Grinning, I take a bite of my toast, “I’m almost done with the first draft, and yes, you can even help me edit it if you want.”

“Are you serious? I’ve always thought being a book editor would be such a cool job. I’m so excited,” she says, clapping her hands.

Laughing at her enthusiasm, I tell her, “First drafts can be kind of rough, but as long as that doesn’t bother you, I would love your help. They’re a big part of you, too, so it feels natural to work on it together.” I take a sip of my coffee.

“This is going to be so much fun.” She beams at me.

“Maybe we can start tonight after your yoga class? I could grill us some salmon and put a salad together.”

“It’s a date.”

After breakfast, I help her get her Bronco out of the garage so she can go home and change for work. I kiss her goodbye, telling her I’ll text her later to see how her day is going. I head back inside after seeing her Bronco pull into her drive and get ready for a very long day ahead of me.

* * *

The next twomonths fly by. We find ourselves in a nice routine of writing in the morning before work, and at night, we edit my book in bed after dinner. We alternate houses, but we usually end up here, rarely spending a night apart. Next week is Thanksgiving, and Skye and Cole will fly in on Tuesday.

“You almost ready?” I ask, coming up behind Emma in the bathroom and wrapping my arms around her before kissing her neck.

“I am.” She smiles at me in the mirror as she puts her lip gloss on. “What’s on the agenda tonight at your parents’ house?”

We’ve been going to Sunday dinners at my parents’ house and letting Luna pick the games for the night. “God, I hope she doesn’t pick headbands again. I swear it took me an hour to figure out I had a guitar on my forehead the whole time.”

“I got a lot of good pictures that night with you and your cute headband. Who knew a guitar could be so hard to figure out.”

“Yeah, who knew.” I laugh with her as we both walk downstairs to leave.

“Are you ready to go see your dad, Nala?” Emma rubs behind her ears. Nala enthusiastically wags her tail and jumps at her feet, knowing we’re taking her somewhere.

We pile in the Bronco, which has become my favorite way to get to places and head to my parents’ house. “Mav will probably stop by tonight. He usually does it on enchilada night. I brought extra margarita supplies just in case.”

“Good call.” Emma laughs. “He’s been a bit moody lately and will probably need it. Is everything going good at his work?”

“As far as I know. I know Bella’s been filming for him more. He’s been building up his social media pages, and they’ve been getting a lot of attention from his surf clips and showcasing his new merchandise. Come to think of it, she’s been more moody too. They must be butting heads again.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what is up with those two.”

“Hmmmm,” I hear Emma say.

“What?” I ask, looking at her.

“Oh, nothing. I’m sure they’ll work it all out at some point.”

“I hope so, for all our sakes. Our last two game nights have been brutal.”

“Yeah, they definitely have been getting on each other’s nerves. I don’t think Maverick likes that she’s been on a couple of dates.”

“He’s just being an older protective brother. I’m the same with Sophia, just not to his extent.” I turn into the driveway. “I let Bella do her thing as long as I see she’s making good choices. I try not to interfere much. Mav just interferes too much.” I chuckle.

“Hmmm.”

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