Page 28

“You’ve lived there for all of three months.”
“I adjust quickly.”
His eyes raked over her body. “God, I hope so.”
The way he looked at her made her heart speed up. “Why do I feel like we’re not talking about living arrangements anymore?”
“Because we’re not.”
When the realtor cleared her throat, Mary sent her an apologetic smile. Hector didn’t seem to care that the poor woman was drowning in their sex talk.
“I’m not really sure about this place,” she said, since Hector seemed to leave the choice up to her.
The realtor showed them two more mansions, neither of which appealed to her. She was afraid Hector’s patience would be running thin by now, but he surprised her. He was as chill as three hours ago. Still, it wasn’t fair to him, or the realtor, to have them running around town like this.
When they left the last monstrous mansion, she stepped up to the woman.
“Do you have smaller places to show? Less, um... flashy? Perhaps closer to where Hector works, but more outdoorsy?”
This stopped both Hector and the realtor in their tracks.
He immediately came to her side. “Baby, we’ve talked about this. I can afford this place.”
“Yes, we did. It’s just that none of the places I’ve seen so far is homey. Yes, they are beautiful, but I was hoping for something less elaborate and more in nature, if possible. I think you’ll be more comfortable there too.”
“I think I might know what you want,” the realtor chimed in.
Their next stop was a beautiful cottage. It was smaller compared to the houses they’d seen before, and had more of a rustic feel to it.
The realtor slid open the patio door and walked them onto the deck. The ocean view that greeted them was breathtaking. The deck went all the way around the house and ended in the master bedroom.
It was love at first sight. “I love it.”
Hector nodded. “We’ll take it.”
“I’ll take care of the paperwork,” the realtor said and left, busy talking on her phone.
“I’m confused,” Mary admitted.
“About what?”
“All of this, actually. I thought you were sorry about agreeing to marry me, and that was why you avoided me.”
“You don’t know this yet, but my word is my bond. Once I give it, I don’t take it back. As for the reason for me avoiding you…” He swooped her off her feet. With a startled cry, she put her arms around his neck. “It’s difficult to keep my hands off of you.”
The most intelligent retort she could come up with was, “Oh.”
“I’m not used to denying myself what I want,” he growled as he walked up the stairs.
“I don’t remember asking you to do that.”
“I wanna do this right. You know, take you on our wedding night. I can wait two more nights.”
She liked the idea of her wedding night being her first time, as old-fashioned as it may seem. “I would like that too. And, um, it’s only for… I mean we are getting married in only a few days, so…” When he grinned, she gave him another thump on his shoulder. It was like hitting a rock.
He dropped her onto the bed and crawled over her. “You shouldn’t have done that. It hurt.”
She scoffed. “As if.”