“Tell me about it,” I say, and we laugh a little together.
“I’ve never seen him so happy,” she says softly. “I’m not normally this upset, but being back home with my siblings makes me ache for them. I hate that I had to move so far away. I loved growing up here, and my kids are missing out on their aunt and uncle. Well, soon to be more than one aunt I’m sure.”
“I promise you, I’m going to fix this,” I say.
I see the pain in her eyes and I can’t imagine how much she misses her family. She ran away and she’s isolated herself for far too long. I’ve got my own strings I can pull, and I can do this for her and for Barrett. This whole family needs closure, and on Monday when I go back to work, I’m going to talk to the mayor again.
“I hope my brother knows how lucky he is.” She nudges me as we hear the back door open. “If not, you’ve got my number. Just call me and I’ll come kick his ass.”
“My ass?” Barrett says as he slides in beside me. “Think again, baby sister.”
“I’m full of fried food and ready for bed. You coming, Steph?” Lynn says as she grabs her keys.
“I don’t know, this house is so beautiful, and it’s got more than enough rooms.”
“You’re welcome to stay,” I offer, but Barrett puts his hand over my mouth.
“Goodnight, sisters,” he says.
I give Lynn a hug and she whispers in my ear that he better not screw this up. Then I go to hug Steph and I tell her I’m going to keep my promise. The two of them smile at me, then Barrett walks them to their car.
When he comes back in, I’m turning off the lights in the kitchen and locking the back door. For a second I think I see movement out back in the trees, but Barrett comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.
“Do you want to go see the skylight again?” he asks, and I hum in pleasure as I lean into his strong body.
“You’re damn right I do.”
Chapter 19
Genevieve
I smile as Barrett kisses me all along my neck, slow and sweet. I stir my coffee looking out the window wondering if life could get any more perfect than this. This whole weekend has felt like a dream. I turn and go up on my tiptoes to rest my arms on his shoulders. His rich scent fills my lungs, and it makes me feel so safe.
“I don’t wanna go to work today.” I want to stay here with him. The weekend went by way too fast and now it’s back to real life. I don’t want to get lost in stacks of paperwork when I’d rather get lost in him.
“I’m going to work on the house then swing by my place and grab some stuff.” He squeezes my ass and lifts me. My legs wrap around him the best they can as he steps over a few feet and sets me down onto the counter. “So feel free to quit and hang out with me today.”
He gives me a teasing wink, making me wonder if it’s true that in every joke lies a hint of truth. It would be so much fun to help him on some of his historical rebuilds. It’s always been a dream of mine, but I don’t voice that to him. I don’t want to come off as a stage five clinger, but that might already be too late.
“How much stuff?” I ask, changing the subject.
“A good amount,” he tells me before kissing me and leaving me breathless.
“Are you always going to kiss me so perfectly that you make my world stop moving?” I sigh. I keep thinking I’ll get used to it, but somehow each one is better than the last.
“Yes,” he says before he kisses me again.
This time I feel it all the way to my toes and I try to deepen it. But just as I pull him closer, a loud beeping sound echoes through the house. I look around the kitchen trying to figure out where it’s coming from.
“It’s an alarm I installed. It goes off when someone pulls in the driveway.” He points at an iPad lying on the counter. “Everything runs off of that. I’m going to mount it on the wall today and you can access it though your phone, too.”
“Are there going to be cameras, too?” I ask excitedly.
“Yeah. A few in the house as well.”
“So I can stalk you from work.” I wiggle my eyebrows. I really like this idea. Though I might not get much done other than studying Barrett’s ass.
“If you want. It will be nice when we have kids, too.” He places a kiss on my nose then nods towards the door. “It’s your sister.” A moment later she’s whirling through the front door. “She needs to learn to knock. I could have had you bent over this kitchen counter,” he tells me in a low voice so only I can hear it.