Page 49 of Storm in a Teacup (Love in Edinburgh #3)

Ben

Linny and I are asleep in her bed—I’m asleep at least. That is, until I hear her aggressively whisper, “ Ben. ”

I’ve no idea of the time, but it’s the middle of the night. I feel it in my bones. Without opening my eyes, I reach out to her—finding her face, then her shoulder, then back to her face.

She swats me off. “Ben.”

“Hmm?” I mumble, my hand still searching for her arm. I find something.

“That’s my boob,” she says.

“Hmm?” I mumble again. I become somewhat more alert to the bare lump beneath my palm. Into the pillow, I say, “Nice boob. Do you want my hand off it?”

She doesn’t respond.

I’m attempting to open my eyes. I am. It’s not working. “Lin?”

“I’m trying to decide if it’s comforting or not.”

I nod into the pillow. “Mmhmm. Emotional support boob.”

“Okay, hand off my tit. Ben.”

“What’s wrong, sugar?” I mumble.

“Do we know how to be a normal couple?” she asks .

“I think we did some very normal couple things tonight,” I reply.

“Not sex. I mean, our whole relationship so far has been defined by the excitement of our so-called fake dating. And we started off by going to all these big events. A weekend trip to London, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding. Do we know how to do normal things? Will we not mesh in daily life?”

I roll onto my back, eyes finally opening to her dark bedroom. I reach across her to turn on her lamp. Oscar Wilde picks up his head from the end of the bed, one eye open, giving me a very disgruntled glare before settling back down and closing his eye.

“Might I remind you,” I start, “that we have already done a million normal couple things. We celebrated my birthday with my friends and family. We’ve hung out at pubs, eaten supper, and drank coffee together. I’m sure there’s more that I’ll think of when the sun comes out.”

She shoots back, “But we’ve never sat down and watched TV or a movie together. I’m not sure we’ve really talked about TV or movies. What if we don’t like the same kinds of things?”

I rub my eyes with the heels of my palms. “My interests are not narrow enough to not have a single media preference in common with you.” I throw the sheets off my legs and get out of bed, finding my pants and pulling them on.

I then retrieve my glasses from the nightstand.

“Come on. Out to the living room. Let’s watch telly. ”

She huffs a sigh. “I didn’t mean I wanted to watch TV right now.”

I leave the bedroom anyway, finding my way to her living room and her plush couch.

I pick up the remote to flip on the telly.

She joins me a few moments later, partially dressed, glasses on, and carrying a blanket.

She sits down on the couch with me, settling into my side as my arm automatically wraps around her.

“What about Taskmaster ?” I suggest.

“I like Taskmaster ,” she grumbles.

“See, we like the same things.” As I click play on an episode, I squeeze my arm around her and kiss her on the temple.

“We know how to be a normal couple, Lin. We have the most important things going for us: One, we love each other. Two, we get along incredibly. Three, we have great sex. Four, we have similar interests, and even where we don’t, we are willing to learn.

Five, I’m pretty sure we have similar life goals. Right?”

“Yeah,” she confirms quietly. “Okay, you win.”

“I’m not trying to win, sugar. But I am proving a point.”

She snuggles into me. “Point proven.”

…

After a week of living in our own little bubble, Linny and I are walking hand in hand from a park where we were taking a stroll when we run into Isla coming from the opposite direction.

“Hey!” she yells with a big wave, like I didn’t see her only four hours ago, then turns on me with an aggression. “I’ve been texting you. Game night tonight at Rachel’s. Come on.”

My nose wrinkles. I was rather looking forward to getting Linny back to my flat and bent over my counter, but Linny squeezes my hand. “Game night sounds fun.”

I sigh dramatically but smile. “Fine. Who’s bringing snacks? I can bring dessert.”

Isla points a hostile finger at me. “You’ve an hour, so don’t go all out. And don’t you be stealing supplies from the café.”

I hold my hand up in defense. “I would never .”

“He would,” Linny counters. “But he won’t.”

I squeeze her hand and say, “You’re supposed to be on my side, you know. ”

There’s a glimmer in her eyes. “Future reference, I guess.”

We part ways, finding our way to my flat so I can make something easy—simple biscuits.

As they’re baking, I do manage to bend my girlfriend over the counter.

We don’t have an abundance of time, so I enter and thrust quickly while my hand works her clit.

She comes with a sexy, sharp intake of breath, and I release myself with her.

The timer still has not gone off, so I drop to my knees, mouth finding her wet cunt.

“ Ben ,” she moans, heels lifting from the ground.

She comes again as the timer on the oven dings. I stand up, satisfied, kissing her deliciously on the mouth before turning off the buzzer.

While the biscuits are cooling, we freshen up. As I’m messing with an annoying new strand of gray hair that will not settle, she comes into the bathroom and wraps her arms around me from behind. She’s wearing heeled boots so her chin can rest on my shoulder, though she still needs to stretch a bit.

“Your hair looks good,” she says.

“It’s being frustrating,” I say back, fingers running over the silver stripe on the side of my head.

“Do you ever think about dyeing it?” she asks.

That question surprises me. “Do you want me to?”

“Absolutely not, but that wasn’t my question. Do you think about dyeing it?”

I hum. “Sometimes. But then I figure that would be a hassle, and I am trying to grow into it naturally. Some days it bugs me more than others, especially as all my roots are starting to gray. But I know it’s just hair and I should be happy that at least I have it.

” I twist my body so I’m facing her, back now pressed to the counter.

She’s pulled back, but her arms are still around me .

“I love your hair,” she says earnestly. “The gray looks great on you.”

I lean down and kiss her. “I think you’re a bit sweet on me, Melinda Eugena Jenkins.”

“I am. Also, so not my middle name. It’s Charlotte.”

“Mine’s William.”

“Ah, like your dad.” She pulls her arms away. “We should get going.”

We arrive at Isla’s place a little bit later. As she ushers us in, I hear other voices besides Rachel’s speaking. I don’t see anyone else, then notice that she is on a video call on her laptop with a man and a woman.

“I should let you go,” Rachel is saying. “Ben and his girlfriend are here.”

“Wait!” I shout. “Is that Nick and Piper?”

She twists around in her chair. “Of course. Who else do I talk to?”

I nudge Rachel out of her seat at the kitchen table, stealing it and immediately getting excited chatter from her best friend and brother.

“Wolftrax!” Piper shouts, offering me the nickname she gave me after we first met last June.

They were having trouble with an electric car outside my café early in the morning.

Piper ended up leaving behind a necklace that I was fortunate enough to find and return to her when I came to Edinburgh to see David.

“How are you?” I ask.

As they answer, I overhear Linny ask Rachel, “Does he actually know them?”

Nick glances behind himself and says, “I’ve got a new batch of jam going that’s almost ready to come out of the pot.”

“Och, your jam. Please send the blackberry next timeyou send it. Rach let me borrow some and I used it in these mini cheesecake cups and they were…” I kiss my fingers, then explode them. Chef’s kiss.

Nick chuckles and says, “Sure. I’d be happy to. Rach isn’t giving all of the jam to you, is she?”

Rachel cuts in, “Not all! But you send me an excessive amount. I am one person who just kind of likes jam. I spread the love. Ben uses it more than I do, anyway.”

“Speaking of love.” I gesture Linny over with exaggerated arm motions.

“Let me introduce you to my girlfriend.” I scoot over so we can share the seat.

I can tell Lin feels mildly uncomfortable by this situation, so I rest my hand on her back.

Piper, however, looks thrilled at her appearance. “This is Linny,” I say.

“Hi,” she says with a little wave.

“Hi!” Piper shouts back. “Linny! That is such a cute name. Is it short for anything?”

“Melinda,” Linny and I say together.

“Ugh, Linny. That is so cute. I love it!” She nudges Nick beside her. “Isn’t that such a cute name?”

“Very,” Nick agrees, appearing lovingly amused by Piper’s excitement over Linny’s name. “So, how’d you guys meet?”

Linny and I look at each other, considering whether we’ll tell the real version. Or, the whole version, rather.

“We met on a bench,” Linny finally says. “We were both having a bad day, and he made me feel better.”

“Me as well,” I agree. “But then we ended up opening the café next to Linny’s antique shop and re-met.”

Piper covers her heart with her hands. “Ugh, that is so cute. Like destiny. Did you start dating right away?”

Linny laughs. “No. Not at all. Well, actually, in a way, I guess? My cousin Melanie was getting married in Edinburgh and I needed Ben to be my date for things so I wouldn’t be alone. Everything got better from there.”

“That’s so cute,” Piper says again.

Nick adds, “Yeah, that’s really nice.” His brow furrows. “Linny, you said your cousin’s name is Melanie and she just got married in Edinburgh?”

“Yeah?”

“That wouldn’t be Melanie Riedel, would it?”

“Well, Melanie Parker now, but yeah? Do you know her?”

Nick grins. “Yeah, we work together. I’m in the St. Louis office and she’s in London, as you know, but we collaborate constantly. I actually met up with her last June when she was in Edinburgh visiting…” He laughs as a realization hits him. “When she was visiting her cousin. I assume that’s you?”

“Yeah, the one and the same. This is insane. What a small world.” She cocks her head to the side.

“You know what, I think she mentioned you to me a few weeks ago. She was feeling guilty about not inviting her American co-workers to the wedding and said that one of them even had a sister who lives in Edinburgh.”

“That sister would be our dear Rachel,” I say.

Nick smiles. “Yeah, that would be me. I hope she doesn’t feel too guilty since I would have declined. Pip and I are already planning a trip back to Scotland in June. To visit Rachel and…” His eyes widen before he coughs and adds, “that’s it. To visit Rachel.”

Piper narrows her eyes at him, but doesn’t address the odd end to that sentence. “And hopefully to actually get on the Jacobite this time.”

Rachel laughs from behind us. “I will be driving, so we will make it this time.” She says to Linny, “Don’t let them give you a long speech about the troubles of electric vehicles in Scotland. They have a list of grievances.”

“Ugh,” Piper argues. “A list of accurate issues with the number and quality of charging stations. We have nothing against electric cars as a concept. If you get traumatized by something, I think it’s valid to warn others.”

Linny laughs, looking lost. “Well, my eye doctor advised me against driving, so I don’t think that will be an issue. But I will make sure Ben heeds the warning.”

I kiss her temple, then turn back to Nick and Piper. “I think we’ve stolen enough of your time. We’ll let you be. Talk to you guys soon.”

We stand up from the chair together, and Linny adds, “It was nice to meet you!”

“You too!” they both say, Piper a tad more enthusiastically than Nick.

Rachel slides back into our seat to finish her goodbyes with them.

I ask Isla, “Who else is coming?”

“Corrine and Madison. Aileen and her boyfriend. David and Callum. David is bringing wine.”

I click my tongue. “You should have mentioned that. I would have told him which kinds to buy.”

“He knows what you like.”

“But he doesn’t know what Linny likes.”

Linny cuts in, “Linny is not picky.”

My arm snakes around her waist. “A little picky, though, right?”

Her eyes lift to the ceiling. “When it comes to the people I spend my time with, yes. Not with wine.”

Isla says, “My kind of girl.” There’s a knock on the door. “I’ll get that.”

She opens the door to David and Callum. David does come bearing multiple bottles of wine. I give David a hug—and it’s the most natural thing I can do. Finally.

“I never got a thank you,” he says.

“Thank you for rejecting me,” I respond.

“Not what I meant.”

“Thank you for being so bloody fit?”

“Still no.”

“Oh. Thank you for shoving me when I needed it.”

“There we go.”

I move on to Callum and say, “Sorry about the whole confessing my undying love to your boyfriend thing. I should have apologized before.”

Callum snorts and says, “Not to sound like a complete prat, but you never had a chance, so it’s fine.”

I laugh loudly as I rear back, hand over my heart. “Och—straight for the nuts.”

David gets to work at pouring wine for everyone, jokingly complaining about how he does this at work, so he shouldn’t have to do it at parties. After we get our glasses, I guide Linny to the couch, leaning into her as we sit down.

“Lin, I feel so light. I feel so much lighter than I have in months.”

“You look it,” she says. “In your eyes, in your face as a whole. You seem so happy.”

“Of course I’m happy. The café is doing well, I got over the thing with you know who, and I found my soulmate.”

“Soulmate?” she questions.

“Oscar Wilde.”

Her face falls flat with a glare, which I deserve.

I bite back my grin. “I’m only teasing. I mean you, sugar. ”

“You believe in soulmates?” she asks.

“Yeah. Don’t you?”

She considers this question, and I give her time because the term “soulmate” is powerful. It encompasses a tie so strong to one another that will never break.

“Yeah,” she says. “I think I finally do.”