“What if I don’t want you here?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.

“You do.” He smirked.

“No, actually, I don’t. Do you not remember our conversation yesterday?”

“Yes. I remember it well. Now sit down and eat.”

I walked over to the table where he had set the plates of food. He removed the metal cover, revealing a plate of eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, and toast. He picked up the carafe and poured coffee into the white ceramic mug.

“Thank you,” I spoke as I sat down.

“You’re welcome.”

Placing the napkin on my lap, I looked at Alex.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“Why not?”

“Did it ever occur to you that I left to get away from you?”

He shrugged. “Yes, and I away from you. But the truth is you’re glad I’m here,” he smugly spoke. He looked around the cottage. “This is very nice. I approve.”

“It’s all they had available.”

“Nice bed. Is it comfortable?”

“Very comfortable. I slept like a baby last night.”

He took a bite of his eggs. “Good. Then I’m happy to know that I’ll be sleeping like a baby tonight.”

My eyes darted up at him as I grabbed my coffee. “Excuse me? You aren’t sleeping in that bed. If you’re planning on staying, you better get your own room.”

“Can’t. They don’t have anything available and since I’m paying for this room, I’ll be sleeping in that bed right there.”

I laughed. “I’m paying for this room. This is my room.”

“Correction, Emerson. I’m paying for this room. I gave Noelle my credit card and told her to charge the entire stay on it.”

“Who the fuck is Noelle?”

“Who the fuck is Felicia?” He grinned.

“You really do live in your own little uptight world. Don’t you?”

“Yes. I suppose I do. Noelle is the blonde at the front desk.”

“Ah. I see. So she told you what cottage I was in. Isn’t that against policy or something? What if you were here to murder me?”

“Money talks, baby. I slipped her a hundred for the info.”

“Did you just call me ‘baby’?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Yeah. Don’t take it too seriously. It’s just part of the phrase.” He winked and, suddenly, my panties melted.

“You can’t steal my lines.” I pointed my fork at him.

He chuckled. “So what are we doing today?”

“I’m going to explore Napa. I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Guess I’m exploring Napa with you.”

I sighed and then looked down. Placing my napkin on the table, I got up from my seat.

“Today’s not really a good day, Alex, and I prefer to spend it alone.”

He got up from his chair and walked over to me. “I know what today is.”

“How?”

He didn’t answer me. His eyes just stared into mine and I knew at that moment how he knew where I was.

“Oh my God! Adam told you. Didn’t he? He told you I was here.”

“I promised I wouldn’t say. But he didn’t want you to be alone.”

“He didn’t want? What about what I want? Damn him!”

Alex clasped my shoulders. “If you really want me to go, I will.”

His scent. That damn scent got me every time. Fuck my pheromones.

“You came all the way here, so you might as well stay. By the way, how did you get here?”

The corners of his mouth curved up. “There’s these things and they’re called planes. Maybe you heard of them.”

I smacked his chest and smiled as he pulled me into him.

“Emerson, I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“You suck, Parker. But apology accepted.” I smiled up at him.

“Are you going to tell me who Felicia is?”

“Are you still on that?” I reached for my phone and googled “Bye, Felicia” and handed it to him.

His eyebrow arched as he read the definition out loud from the Urban Dictionary site. “When someone says that they're leaving and you could really give two shits less that they are. Their name then becomes ‘Felicia,’ a random bitch that nobody is sad to see go. Their real name becomes irrelevant because nobody cares what it really is. Instead, they now are ‘Felicia.’ I think I’m insulted.”

“You should be.” I grinned.

He leaned in, his lips mere inches from mine, his scent soaking my panties. “I think I need to kiss that sassy mouth of yours.”

“Oh yeah? What if I don’t want you to,” I whispered.

“You do.” His lips softly brushed against mine.

Our soft kiss became passionate as our tongues met once again. The ache down below was fierce and I was on fire with desire to feel him inside of me. Suddenly, I heard something. I broke our kiss and stared at him.

“Do you hear that?” A smile beamed across my face.

“Hear what?”

“Come on!” I grabbed his hand and flew out the door.

“Emerson, stop. We’re going to get wet.”

“Alex, it’s raining. The rain was my and Emily’s thing. We loved it,” I spoke as we stood on the cobbled walkway in front of the gardens while the rain fell down on us. I began to turn in a circle, holding my hands up to the sky with a smile across my face. “This is because of Emily. I asked her earlier to give me a sign that she was here. This is her sign.” I smiled as I looked at Alex.

“Of course she’s here with you.” He took hold of my hand.

The smile never left my face as I looked up at the sky, letting the rain hit my face.

“Come on.” I pulled him behind me.

“Where are we going?”

“For a walk in the rain. Sometimes, Emily and I would walk until it stopped. We always said that the rain washed away the sins of the past. It cleansed our souls, so to speak.”

“Do you think that maybe we can grab an umbrella?”

I looked at him and shook my head. “No, Alex. Don’t you see the beauty of the rain?”

“Umm. I don’t see what the beauty is in getting soaking wet.”

I sighed.

“You take a shower, right?”

“Of course.”

“Why do you take showers?”

He stared at me blankly. “To get clean.”

“Exactly! The rain is pure. A gift from God. It cleanses the land, helps things grow.” I let go of his hand and started walking backwards so I was facing him. “You take a shower or bath to cleanse your body, but you walk in the rain to cleanse your heart and soul.”

“Oh,” he spoke.

I laughed. “Feel the rain. Lift your hands up and feel the way it falls on your hands.” I took his hands and faced them upwards. A small smile fell upon his lips as he stared at me. “I’m sure your soul needs a lot of cleansing. Take it all in, Parker.”

“Thanks, Emerson.” He frowned.

I laughed as I let go of his hands and picked up the pace in front of him. Before I knew it, he came up from behind and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. I stopped, placing my hands on his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking in all the beauty.” He kissed my cheek.

Chapter 22

Alex

Watching her dance in the rain was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. The way she viewed life and things were so different from the way I viewed them, but yet, the way she did started making sense to me.

I let go of her and she turned around and looked at me, wiping the rain from my face.

“We can go back to the cottage if you want.”

I gave her a small smile as I placed my hands on each side of her face. “No. Let’s walk a while longer.”

The corners of her mouth curved upwards and I hooked my arm around her as we continued our journey in the rain. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the rain stopped and the sun reappeared.

“Guess it’s time to go back now and change out of these wet clothes.” She smiled.

“Let’s go.”

When we entered the cottage, the first thing I did was kick off my shoes and take off my wet shirt before starting the water for a bath.

“What are you doing? Are you taking a shower?” she asked as she began to strip out of her wet clothes.

“We are taking a bath together.”

“Oh?” She arched her brow.

I took off my soaking wet pants and boxers and held my hand out to her. “Are you coming?”