Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Beau

“The timer.”

“Hmm?” Kit’s eyes are glazed, and the last thing I want to do is let her go, but I don’t want the food to burn either.

Using all my strength, I step away from the woman in my arms and grab the oven mitt from the counter. Turning the timer off, I open the oven door and pull out the vegetables.

“You look sexy doing that.” Pin points of heat hit my back as she watches me, and I smirk.

“I aim to please.” I wink at her, then ask. “Where should I put these?”

She points toward the counter at a space next to the chicken. I place down the baking sheet, turn the oven off, and then remove the oven mitt.

Kit hasn’t moved from where I left her.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, sheepishly. “I didn’t handle that very well.”

She beams, and my chest lifts. “No, you didn’t. But you’ll have a long time and many opportunities to make it up to me.”

“Oh?” I waggle my eyebrows at her and snake my arm around her waist, pulling her close. She nods her head, a sparkle in her gaze.

When her hands lift to my face and her expression brims with affection, a shiver shoots down my spine.

“Beau.” She strokes my chin, her eyes turning mischievous. “Marrying you was the craziest thing I’ve ever done. But I’m so glad I found you at the lowest point in my life.”

Her lips press against mine, and I can feel the truth in her words. When she pulls back, I follow and kiss her again, softly. I lean in for more when her hand covers my mouth, so I kiss her palm instead.

“Please let me finish.” She chuckles at what I’m sure is a pained expression on my face. Her smile is so bright that I quell the desire to tell her we can talk all she wants later and begrudgingly nod. Her gaze glints mischievously at me. The vibration moves through my body, and my cheeks pull up.

She wraps her arms around my neck and presses fully against me. “You’re the best decision I’ve ever made, Beau Matthews, even if initially I felt like I made a mistake—”

I squint at her. “So I was a mistake?”

When she shakes her head and smiles, I can’t help but grin back. “The real mistake was how stubborn I was.”

“You are pretty stubborn.” I pull her tighter against me as she playfully smacks my shoulder and tries to push away from me.

“I’m trying to tell you I love you, and you keep interrupting—”

“You love me?” My pulse skips, and for a second, I can’t breathe.

“Yes.” Her gaze glows, and her lips curve shyly. “I love you.”

Cupping her cheek, I pull her face to me, and just before I can touch her sweet lips, she pushes away from my chest.

“Hey!”

“Do you even have to ask?” I whisper against her mouth.

“After the way you threw a temper tant—”

Cutting off her words, I cover her mouth and pull her up tighter against me—the need to be as close as possible is overwhelming. When she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me to her, I lift her off the ground. When I pull away, her protest makes me grin. “Yes, Christy ‘Kit’ Garrett, I love you. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you from the very first moment you told me off in front of the entire cafeteria.”

“I didn’t tell you—”

“Oh yes, you did.” I murmur amusedly. “In the best way possible.”

Placing her feet on the ground, I lower my body so we’re at eye level. Her eyes sparkling.

My grin swells, and I gruffly ask. “Will you be my wife, Kit? For real?”

An impish gleam fills her gaze. “Dinner’s getting cold—”

“Are you serious right now?” I squeak, and she giggles, her mouth forming an ‘O’.

“I didn’t know your voice could get that high!”

“Kit,” I groan. “Are you going to answer me?”

Placing her hands on my cheeks, she says thickly. “Dinner’s going to be very cold, Mr. Matthews.”

Joy blossoms through my chest, and a grin spreads across my face, threatening to crack my cheeks.

I waggle my eyebrows and say gruffly, “Good thing we can reheat it, Mrs. Matthews.”

“Beau Matthews,” Miles ‘Milo’ O’Donnell, Play It Forward’s Director, pats me on the back, a gleeful smile on his face. “It’s so good to see you here today!”

It’s a perfect day for Play It Forward’s annual event in North Carolina. Overhead is a clear blue sky, the sun is shining, and the weather is perfect for spring. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

I glance over to find Kit and Jack walking through the crowd, back from the food stands. Kit is carrying a funnel cake in one hand and trying to take a bite out of a pretzel in the other. Jack is munching on a corndog.

A lopsided grin spreads at the sight of Kit with Jack. This is the life I always wanted, but didn’t think I would have.

Missy and Nicky stopped by for a short time but had to leave. When everything is done, Jack will come home with Kit and me.

My gaze roams over Kit. Her skin is glowing, her eyes are sparkling, and her grin is so bright it rivals the sun. She laughs at something Jack says, and the sound sends a shiver of delight through me. When she looks at me, that smile gets unthinkably brighter, a surge of happiness courses through me.

“Who’s the lovely lady?” Milo asks, sticking his head in front of me, to see where I’m looking, and I chuckle. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was being rude. But Milo just likes to show that he’s interested in other people’s lives.

Sometimes, a bit too interested, but not in an unkind way.

“That’s my wife Kit. She’s with my mentee Jack,” I say, just as Kit and Jack get to us. “Kit and Jack, I’d like for you to meet Milo, the director of Play It Forward.”

“So nice to meet you.” Kit smiles and passes me the funnel cake. Wiping her palm on her jeans, she reaches out to shake Milo’s outstretched hand. “We weren’t sure if we’d get to see you today. So glad we did.”

“What did you do to marry such a beautiful woman?” Milo asks, just as I slide my arm over Kit’s shoulders, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“I just happened to get lucky one night.” Recalling the night this amazing woman threw her arms around my neck and changed my life forever. Milo’s eyebrows shoot up, and Kit slaps me on my stomach.

“Beau!” she yells, her cheeks turning pink.

Milo covers his laugh with a cough.

“In Vegas,” I shake my head, chuckling. “I got lucky when she found me in Las Vegas.”

“Oh,” Milo says slowly, confusion written all over his face. He forces a smile. “Well, congratulations to the two of you. May you have many—”

“Milo!” A woman rushes over and starts pulling Milo away. “We have to get ready for the three-legged race. Then we have to head out.”

“This is my assistant, Martha,” Milo tells us as Martha tries to usher him away. “Are you joining the competition?”

“Yes.” I nod, nudging Jack, who beams. He’s been waiting all day for this event. Apparently, he was the three-legged champion in third grade. “Jack was—”

Martha pulls him away as Milo turns back to us and waves. “Good luck!” He yells and starts to say something that we can’t hear with all the other people talking around us.

I lift my hand and wave.

“He’s weird,” Jack says. I press my mouth together to keep from snorting, and I see Kit doing the same.

“We’re all weird in one way or another,” I say, trying to be serious. “It’s what makes us unique.”

“Nice save,” Kit whispers in my ear, giggling.

I see Jack shaking his head and rolling his eyes. I reach over and gently grab his shoulder, giving it a shake. “Ready to go win this thing?”

His face lights up. “Let’s do this.” He raises his hand in the air, and I hit it with mine.

“You gonna wish me luck?” I ask Kit, pushing a stray hair behind her ear. Her gaze darkens at my touch.

The gleam shining back at me has me wondering what she’s thinking. A crooked grin crosses her face as she leans close. Right before she kisses me, she whispers, “I’m going to hope the two of you fall so I can laugh.”

Then she presses her lips to mine. A shudder moves through my body, and my stomach tightens. Kissing her will never get old, but then her words register, and my eyes pop open. “Wait? What did you say?”

She laughs and kisses me on the cheek, turns me around, and says, “Go kick some butt,” before slapping my left butt cheek.

I glance over my shoulder and pull my brows together. When she gives me a mock salute and a wink, I throw my head back and burst out laughing. A grin so big I’m sure my cheeks will crack.

Walking over to Jack, we head to the field where the three-legged contest is being held. My wife follows behind.

I really wasn’t kidding when I said I got lucky one night.