She Writes Love... (21 page)

“Not until after the first of the year.”

“So that means I get you all to myself until then?” I smiled as I kissed his lips.

“Yep, and after that, and after that, and after—” He laughed.

Room service arrived and set up our breakfast outside. It was a beautiful clear and sunny day and it was going to be hard to leave here. I picked up my phone, which was sitting on the table, and sent Keaton a text message.

“Thank you, little brother.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you’re happy.”

“Very happy.”

“When are you coming home?”

“Soon. Tell the family that I’ll be home soon.”

“Well, hurry up. I miss you and so does Romeo.”

“I will. I love you, Keaton.”

“I love you too, sis.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you!” I squealed as I looked at Ben. “I’m on the last chapter of my book.”

“Paisley, that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you. I just want to finish it up and, when I get back home, I’m going to start sending it out.”

“Can I read it?” he asked with a smile.

“I would love for you to read it. But you have to wait until it’s finished.”

“Deal.”

****

B
en rented a surfboard and we took them down to the water. We paddled out and I looked over at him.

“Watch out for the sharks.” I smiled.

“That’s not even funny, Paisley. Wasn’t there just a shark attack here a couple of months ago?”

“I think so. But it wasn’t near here.”

“Doesn’t matter. Those fuckers swim all over the place.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. After we paddled out far enough, I stood up on my board.

“What are you doing?” Ben asked.

“What I came out here to do,” I replied as I took off my wedding ring. I looked straight out into the water as I held my balance on my board. “You said that one of the happiest times of your life other than marrying me was our time spent here. We made beautiful memories together. Being here, it’s like I can feel you with me. Almost as if you’re watching over me. It’s time for me to move on and I want to leave this symbol of our love somewhere that was close to both our hearts.” I brought the ring to my lips before I threw it as far as I could out across the ocean water. I sat down on my board and Ben paddled his board to mine. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.” I smiled lightly as I placed my hands on each side of his face.

We spent the next three days surfing, making love, and exploring Hawaii. In between all of that, I finally finished my novel. It was time to go home and let life fall into place. Things would change now that Ben was completely in my life and we were a couple.

Paisley

W
e landed in LA and it felt oh so good to be home. We picked up our luggage and loaded it into Ben’s truck. I sent a text message to Keaton, telling him that we were on our way home.

“It’s good to be back in LA.”

“It sure is.” Ben smiled as he brought my hand to his lips.

The second we pulled up in the driveway, Keaton opened the front door. I jumped out of the truck and ran to him, hugging him tightly.

“I missed you, sis. Welcome home.”

“I missed you too. Now where’s my cat?”

“Go on inside and I’ll grab your luggage.”

I didn’t argue because I couldn’t wait to see Romeo. When I walked through the door, I saw him sitting on the couch. I sat down and picked him up. He immediately started to purr.

“My baby. I missed you so much,” I said as I held him close.

“Meow.”

“Did you have fun with your Uncle Keaton?”

“Yeah, we had a great time. Go on, Romeo, tell your mom that your Uncle Keaton gave you lots of catnip and you were as high as a kite.”

“Keaton!” I exclaimed.

He laughed and so did Ben. “Hey, Mom is having a welcome home dinner tomorrow night for you and Ben. So the two of you better be there.”

“For me and Ben? How did she know that Ben—”

Keaton put his hands up. “I slipped. I’m sorry. The whole family can’t wait to see the two of you.”

I sighed and Ben walked over and put his arm around me. “It’s all good, babe. It’s all good.”

“You’re right.” I smiled. “It’s all good.”

“Well, now that the two of you made it home safe, I’m going to head out.”

“You don’t want to stay?” I asked.

“Nah. I love you, sis, but the two of you should be alone on your first night back.” He winked. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow and we’ll catch up. Oh, wait until you see how fat Charlotte’s getting.”

I shook my head as I hugged him goodbye. Romeo wouldn’t stop rubbing against Ben’s leg.

“I think he missed you more than me.” I laughed. I placed my hands on his chest and reached up and kissed his lips. “Would you like to spend the night tonight?”

“I was hoping you’d ask.” He smiled.

****

Ben

T
he smell of her hair was what I loved waking up to in the morning, besides holding her in my arms and feeling her naked body pressed up against me. Paisley had set the alarm for seven a.m. because she had to go into the office. Romeo was confused all night as to why I was sleeping on his side of the bed. While Paisley was in the shower, I took my phone from the nightstand and sent Leah a text message.

“I’m back from Hawaii and I brought Paisley home with me.”

“Yay! I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thank you. What are you up to?”

“Packing. You know we’re moving in a couple of days.”

“I know, and then you’ll only be a five-hour drive away.”

“Keaton said he’s going to come visit me over the holidays and for my birthday.”

“That’s right. You’re going to be eighteen in a couple of weeks.”

“Yep. I can’t wait.”

“I’ll talk to you later, kid.”

Paisley stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to her dresser drawer.

“Did you know that Keaton is planning to go visit Leah over the holidays?”

She gave me an odd look. “No. I didn’t know they still talked.”

“I didn’t either. She’ll be eighteen in a couple of weeks.”

“Well, Keaton is only twenty-one. Do you have a problem with my brother dating your sister?”

“No. I just don’t want Leah to get hurt. Keaton is kind of a playboy, you know.”

“I know, and Leah’s a very intelligent girl. I’ll have a talk with him.”

“You seemed to have had a problem with Keaton dating that Brielle girl and she’s the same age as Leah,” I said.

“Leah’s different. Brielle was just—”

“No need to say it.” I chuckled.

I climbed out of bed and walked up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and softly dragging my tongue across her neck.

“I want you,” I whispered. “Do we have time?”

She brought her hand around and ran her fingers through my hair while tilting her head to the side so I had better access to her beautiful soft neck.

“I think I can rearrange my schedule to accommodate your needs.” She smiled.

“I like your answer.” I pulled the towel off of her body and placed my hands over her beautiful breasts, tugging at her already erect nipples. I didn’t waste any time taking her from behind against the dresser.

As soon as we got dressed, I drove her to her office and told her to call me when she was ready for me to pick her up. She said that she’d probably spend most of the day there, which was good because I wanted to get home and work on the sofa table. As soon as I kissed her goodbye and she got out of the truck, I called Finn to let him know that I was back.

Paisley

“P
aisley Logan?” Kenny said as I shut the door to Ben’s truck.

“Hi, Kenny.” I smiled as I lightly hugged him.

“Did I just see you kissing that guy?”

I could feel my cheeks getting red. “Yeah. I guess you did.”

He hooked his arm around me as we walked inside the building. “Put your things away and come to my office.”

When I stepped into Kenny’s office, he was on the phone but motioned for me to shut the door and sit down. As soon as he hung up, he leaned back in his chair.

“You look amazing, Paisley. Hawaii agreed with you. Or could it be that man I saw you kissing?”

Once again, I blushed. “That was Ben and I think it’s a combination of both.”

“Well, it’s good to see you back and I don’t mean just back in the office. I mean it’s good to see you back to your old self. I wanted to thank you for keeping up with your Dear Paisley columns while you were gone. I received some emails from people saying that if Dear Paisley ever goes away, so will they.”

“Don’t worry, Kenny. As long as people keep submitting questions, I’ll keep answering them.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” He smiled.

“I do need to talk to you about something,” I said. “I wrote a book.”

“A book? Really? About what?”

“My story about trying to cope with life after my husband died and how life can and will go on.”

“Interesting. I like it. Have you had someone look at it yet?”

“No. I was going to start submitting it to publishers this week.”

“I have a friend who works over at Doyle Publishing. Let me give her a call and see if she’s interested in reading it.”

“Really?” I asked with a hint of excitement.

“I want a copy too. Do you have one?”

“You want it right now? I haven’t been to the print shop to print any copies yet.”

“Use ours. Do you have it on a jump drive?”

“Yeah. I have it in my purse.”

“Give it to me and I’ll print two copies. One for me and one for Doyle.”

“Can you print three copies?”

“Sure, Paisley. I can print as many copies as you want.”

“Thanks, Kenny. I don’t know what to say.”

“Nah. You don’t need to say anything. Get out of here, kid, and work on your columns. I’ll stop by your office and pick up that jump drive.”

I got up from my seat and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for everything, Kenny.”

“You’re welcome, kid. Now go.”

Later that afternoon, I called Ben to come pick me up. I didn’t have time to stop home first before heading to my parents’ house for dinner. The minute my mom heard the front door open, she ran into the foyer with tears in her eyes.

“Paisley, I’m so happy you’re home,” she said as she hugged me.

“It’s good to be home, Mom.”

“Ben, it’s wonderful to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too.”

“There’s my little girl.” My dad smiled.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“You did good, sweetheart. I’m happy you did what you had to do.”

“Thanks.” I kissed his cheek.

My dad took Ben into the living room with him to talk sports while I went into the kitchen to talk to my mom. I was surprised the rest of the family wasn’t here yet.

“You’re okay?” she asked.

“I’m great, Mom. Hawaii was good for me.”

“I see you took off your wedding ring,” she said as she started the water for some tea.

“It was time.”

“This is what he would have wanted, Paisley.”

“I know that now.”

I turned around when I heard the sound of heels clicking on the tile floor.

“There she is!” Piper exclaimed as she hugged me.

Charlotte followed behind and when she hugged me, I felt her baby bump. “Oh my gosh, you’re already starting to show.” I smiled as I put my hand on her belly.

“I know. Everything is getting so tight. I need to go shopping for maternity clothes.”

“I’ll go with you. Just let me know when.”

She smiled. “It’s so good to have you home. I heard about Ben going to Hawaii to find you. I completely swooned over him. He’s so romantic.”

“He is and he’s such an amazing guy. Where’s Keaton?” I asked.

“He’s up in his room,” my mom replied.

I went up the stairs and when I walked into Keaton’s room, I saw he was skyping with Leah. He turned around and flashed me his charming smile.

“I didn’t hear you come in. Come say hi to Leah.”

I walked over to his computer and waved to her. She gave me a huge smile and waved back. She told Keaton that she’d talk to him later and to go be with his family. I sat down on the edge of the bed and, as soon as they said goodbye, Keaton sat down next to me.

“So what’s going on with you and Leah?”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends? That’s all?”

“For now.” He smiled.

“Spill it, Keaton,” I commanded.

“I really like her a lot. More so than any other girl I’ve ever dated or met. She’s beautiful, funny, and she’s way beyond smart. She’s my level of smart and I like that. We have the same taste in music, interests, except surfing, which I’m going to teach her, and we have a lot of fun together. Ben’s going to kill me.”

I placed my hand on his knee. “He’s not going to kill you. He just doesn’t want you to break her heart. She told him you’re going to visit her over the holidays.”

“I am and I can’t wait to see her again. Her birthday is coming up.”

“I know.”

“Did you know that she’s graduating high school in January? She has all her credits and she applied to UCLA for the spring semester.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that and I bet Ben doesn’t either.”

“Don’t tell him. Let her be the one.”

We heard our names being called from the bottom of the stairs, alerting us that dinner was ready. When I walked downstairs and into the dining room, I smiled when I saw Ben take his seat at the table. Before sitting down, I kissed the top of his head.

“What was that for?” he asked with a smile.

“Just because.”

“I like your ‘just because.’”

****

Ben

A
fter dinner and drinks, we climbed into the truck and Paisley asked me if I would help her put up her Christmas tree.

“Of course I will.”

“Do you have one?” she asked.

“Buried in the basement somewhere. I didn’t put one up last year.”

“I didn’t either, but this year will be different. We’re both going to put one up. Deal?” She smiled as she held out her hand.

“Deal.”

When we arrived back to her house, I went down in the basement to find her tree. Once I found the box, I carried it upstairs and set it in the living room. Romeo jumped on top of it and started sniffing around. A couple of hours later, the tree lit up the entire room.