Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“You’re always beautiful to me.” Lewis leaned down and whispered in my ear, “And always sexy as fuck.”
I shivered at the words and the way his breath puffed against my skin. Oh boy. Swallowing hard, I pulled back to peer up at him. “Seriously, where is Lewis and what have you done with him?”
He chuckled and gestured to a Range Rover parked at the curb. “Ready?”
I immediately pouted. “Where’s the bike?”
“Eh, you’re pregnant.” He placed a hand on my lower back, leading me toward the 4x4. “There is no way I’m putting you on the back of my bike.”
Damn it. I knew he was right. Disappointed but also appreciative of his forethought, I got into the passenger side. “Is this yours?” I asked as he climbed in behind the wheel.
Lewis shook his head. “Borrowed it from Dad. But I’m going car hunting this weekend. We’ll need something big enough for a baby’s car seat.”
“I have a car.”
“I know. But I want to be able to drive you to your doctor’s appointments and whatever else you need.”
As we drove down Castle Street, I found myself staring at his profile in awe. He was buying a car just so he could drive me around. “You … you seem calm about the whole thing.”
He shot me a quick, patient look. “A baby is on its way, Callie. Aye, it’s scary, and we wouldn’t be human if we weren’t terrified, but there’s no point wallowing in that. Because … it’s also exciting. And we have lots to talk about and prepare for.”
At that moment, I felt so ashamed.
I fell quiet as Lewis drove toward the main beach parking. The car park was almost empty, except for a couple of motorhomes. There was nothing but the sound of the surf beyond the dunes.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“What are we doing here?” I asked instead.
Lewis didn’t respond with words. He got out of the car and rounded it to open my door. As I stepped out, he pulled a picnic basket and blanket from the back seat.
With his free hand, he clasped mine tightly and led me toward the beach. A sand-covered boardwalk guided us down through the dunes and out onto the stretch of smooth, perfect beach.
In the twilight, there was not another soul in sight, and a summer morning mist hung in the air.
“Callie … are you okay?”
I squeezed Lewis’s hand. “I have so much to say … and yet … I’m not sure I can.”
Instead of answering, he tugged on my hand, and I followed him down the beach. He chose a random spot to spread the blanket and gestured for me to take a seat. I kicked off my trainers and sat down, pulling my knees to my chest. I was glad for my cardy because there was a cool breeze blowing up from the water. The gentle tide and quiet rhythm of the sea lapping against the shore calmed my racing heartbeat as Lewis sat down and began unpacking the picnic basket.
I watched as he pulled out a bottle of water, sparkling fruit water, and … a bottle of Irn-Bru. Thinking it was a strange choice for an early-morning picnic, but thinking this whole thing was strange, I let it go. There were scones and mini jars of jam and clotted cream. Croissants that looked an awful lot like my mum’s. I hmmed at that and he grinned.
Lastly, he pulled out a bag of peanut M&Ms, Walkers’ pickled onion crisps, and … my mum’s homemade truffles in a Tupperware box. “Where did you get those?” I asked, reaching out to steal one. Mum hadn’t made those in ages!
“The same place I got the croissant and scones.”
“Mum?”
Lewis nodded. “She might have grabbed the pastries from the bakery and made me the truffles last night.”
“But I was there last night.”
“She made them when you left and placed the box outside for me to collect before coming to get you.”
My brows furrowed as I stared at the picnic. When we were kids, the crisps, the truffles, and the M&Ms were all my favorite unhealthy snacks. As was the Irn-Bru, something I hadn’t drunk in years. “What is all this?”
“It’s your perfect first date.” Lewis drew his knees up to his chest, too, his arms dangling over them. Then he gestured to the beach. “A picnic on the beach at twilight with all of your favorite snacks.”
A memory prodded at me. “Why does that … I said that?”
He nodded, meeting my probing stare. “You texted me a list of your perfect dates and this was date one.”
Awed, shocked, emotional, I choked out, “And you remember that?”
Lewis stared at me as if I was the most extraordinary thing he’d ever seen. “I kept all of our texts. I’d read them over and over until I realized I was driving myself crazy. So I saved them to my computer before I deleted them from my phone. When I came back to Ardnoch, I remembered I had them and started reading through our old conversations. There was one where you told me the kind of dates you wanted to be taken on.” His teeth flashed in the dusk. “I had planned to take you on all of them, but date two is zip-lining, so that’ll have to wait until after the baby comes.”