42. Tish

Chapter Forty-Two

Tish

That evening, I experienced a mix of emotions. I was deeply relieved Griffin was home with me and Teddy. I was still unsettled by the call from Paul. Even though I felt comfortable moving forward with visits with Teddy's grandparents, it had drained me emotionally to deal with them today. Somehow, Griffin knew exactly what I needed.

I was a little sheepish about the state of my house. With me working again and Griffin gone recently, it was a little messier than I liked. As soon as we got home, he helped me get Teddy settled in the playpen and began tidying up in the kitchen while I organized the living room and bedroom. He even offered to make dinner.

"You're doing too much!" I protested.

"I'm not, Tish." He swept his hand in an arc. "All I did was wash the dishes."

My cheeks heated. "Fine. We could order takeout."

He waggled his brows. "Or, I could make mac and cheese."

I snorted. "Let's get something delivered. We can do the Gallery Café or Alpenglow Pizza. Your pick."

"Speaking of delivery, when is the brewery here going to start offering takeout in town?" he asked.

"I don't know exactly. They have the brewery almost ready, and Archer and Chase have mostly been focusing on getting the distribution center going here. The restaurant is scheduled to be fully operational by next summer," I explained.

Griffin nodded. "So, what do you want for food tonight? That's the pertinent question."

"You pick," I replied.

"Let's do the Gallery Café."

Hours later, after we'd had dinner and Teddy was asleep, Griffin made lingering love to me. After driving me beyond the edge with his fingers and his mouth, I savored the feel of his weight coming over me when he stretched my arms above my head.

His gaze held mine, dark and intent, as he filled me in a slow slide. "Can you come for me? Just once more, sweetness?" he whispered in my ear.

I was caught in a haze of need, almost drunk with pleasure. "Yes," I gasped when he drew back and thrust forward.

We flew together moments later, and he held me close as we fell asleep.

A few days later, I met Stella at the office to review the updated agreement. Blessedly, there hadn't been another phone call from Paul.

Stella waited patiently, her hands folded together on the conference table. "Colin says everything should be all set after we finalize this."

After I reviewed everything and signed, I glanced over. "Any updates on Paul from Colin? I don't want to ask, but he was so angry in his last call that I was worried."

"Colin has spoken with his attorney and advised we'll file a protective order if he does anything like that again. My understanding is his parents have also spoken with him," she explained.

"Should I be worried?" As if I could stop worrying. I internally rolled my eyes.

Stella twisted her lips to the side. "I'd like to say no. But family cases tend to be messy. I don't think you need to worry about him getting custody, and he certainly doesn't seem interested in visitation, but it doesn't mean that he can't make things uncomfortable for you."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"Please reach out if anything comes up at all. We can handle it," she assured me.

"I hope so." I was just about to leave when I remembered to check on payment. "Where are we with the billing? I know it's adding up, so I'd like to maybe set up a payment plan." I hated worrying about money, but attorneys were the opposite of cheap.

Stella slid her laptop closer. A few clicks later, she glanced up. "You're fully paid."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Positive."

"Can you call Colin? There must be a mistake."

A moment later, she had him on speaker. "What can I do for you?" Colin asked.

"Colin, Stella's saying there's no payment due. That doesn't make sense," I said.

"Griffin took care of it just this morning."

"Excuse me?"

"Just what I said."

My cheeks were on fire and I felt mortified. Obviously, I appreciated Griffin's intentions, but I needed to do this myself.

I tried to sound calm as I thanked Colin. Stella and I walked out together. With Stella's office beside Firehouse Café, the parking lot was visible from here. When I glanced over, I saw Griffin standing beside his truck. Without thinking, I immediately veered in that direction.

"Griffin! You could've at least told me you were going to do that." I stopped in front of him a minute later.

"Tish!" I heard Stella's voice but ignored it. "You left your keys!"

I stayed focused on Griffin. "Tell you what?" he asked.

Griffin was standing beside another man who I'd seen before, but didn't know. He looked from me to Griffin. "You must be Tish," he said with a smile.

I gave him a distracted glance. "Nice to meet you."

Stella caught up to me. "Here." She thrust my keys at me.

I reached for them and promptly dropped them on the ground. Griffin leaned over to scoop them up.

"Here you go." It annoyed me that the subtle brush of his fingers against mine sent sparks in a hot scatter through me when he handed over my keys.

"Is everything okay?" Stella asked next. "You ran off pretty quick there."

My gaze whisked around the small circle, and I let out a sigh. We officially had an audience and I didn't want to get into my embarrassment about the bill. "Have you met Griffin?" I asked Stella. "If not, this is Griffin Cannon. And?—"

"Hudson," Griffin filled in. "Hudson, this is Tish and Stella." His gaze paused on Stella. "Nice to meet you."

Hudson smiled between us. "Nice to meet both of you. Griffin missed you, by the way."

When Hudson looked at Stella, I didn't miss the flare of appreciation in his eyes. Stella was adorably cute and sexy, so I didn't blame him one bit. She smiled up at him. "Are you a firefighter too?"

"Yes ma'am," he drawled.

"Seems like there's a lot of those around here," she said.

As if on cue, an actual firetruck pulled up on the street and several firefighters piled out.

Griffin glanced at me and nudged his head to the side. "What is it?" he asked once we were out of earshot beside his truck, while Stella and Hudson were talking with the other firefighters who had just arrived.

"You could've told me you were going to pay my bill. I can take care of it," I ground out.

He was quiet for several beats. "Tish, I just wanted to help. I should've told you."

I chewed the inside of one cheek as I studied him. "Thank you."

"I guess maybe I need not to rush into things. I planned to mention it tonight."

Trying to keep my annoyance in check, I shrugged. "Just talk to me when you're feeling that helpful."

"I will." He startled me by dipping his head and giving me a fierce kiss. Enough so that when we broke apart, my cheeks were on fire and I was hot all over.

Somebody nearby let out a whistle and I glanced over. Griffin reached for my hand as he glanced over. "Really, Beck," he said dryly.