Page 38 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“I never thought I could be this happy.” ~ Blossom

Blossom

“W hat do you think?” I ask as we park in front of the house.

Jaxon shrugs. “It’s fine. All of the houses we’ve toured have been fine.”

“I don’t want fine. I want a forever home.”

“Petal, are you putting too much pressure on this?”

“I haven’t had a home since my parents died. I want a home,” I insist.

“Okay.” He kisses my cheek. “Let’s go get you a home.”

We get out of the car and walk hand in hand toward the house. I love it already. It has a wraparound porch. I can imagine us sitting on the swing sipping whiskey or beer and watching the sun set.

The door opens and our realtor, Jade, steps outside.

“First impressions?” she asks.

I smile. “I love the bright red door and black siding. ”

She motions us into the house. I bite my tongue before my jaw drops to the floor. The entire first floor is an open concept, allowing a view of the ocean through the French doors to the deck.

“Sold,” Jaxon says.

“What?”

“It has a front porch you love, a view of the ocean, and I spotted a hot tub on the deck.”

“We haven’t seen the rest of the house.”

“As long as it has good bones, we can fix it up however we want.”

“We don’t know how much it costs.”

Jade clears her throat. “It’s at the top of your budget at five hundred thousand.”

“It’s a seller’s market. How much do we need to bid to get this house?” I ask.

“I’ll cover the extra cost.”

I glare at Jaxon. “We agreed to split the cost of the house fifty-fifty.”

“I’m not letting you spend all of your inheritance on a house.”

Jade groans. “I’ll be outside on the deck.”

I wait until she shuts the door behind her before laying into Jaxon.

“You don’t let me do things. I do what I want.”

He sighs. “Please excuse my terminology. I don’t want you to spend all of your inheritance on the house.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Better. And? ”

“And I shouldn’t have spoken about money in front of the realtor?”

I kiss his cheek. “Good job.”

“I’m confused. Does this mean we’re buying the house and I’m paying the extra cost?”

“Nope.” I shake my head. “We’re still splitting the cost fifty-fifty.”

“What about keeping your inheritance money to pay for college for our kids?”

My heart thumps in my chest. “Kids? We never discussed having children.”

“Oh. Do you not want children?”

He appears adorably confused. I debate allowing him to be confused a little longer but I can’t. After our big blowout, we agreed to be honest with each other at all times.

“I do want children.”

“As do I.”

“How many do you want?”

He shrugs. “How many bedrooms does this house have?”

I giggle. “Are you seriously deciding how many children we should have based on the size of this house?”

“You love this house. You spent an hour last night in bed staring at the pictures.”

“I thought you were asleep.”

Jade enters the house again. “I figured it was safe to return since you aren’t yelling at each other and there’s no broken glass.”

“How many bedrooms does this house have?” Jaxon asks .

I let Jade answer despite knowing everything there is to know about this house. I did spend an hour last night staring at pictures online. “Five but you may want to use the small bedroom as an office.”

“Four bedrooms minus the primary suite means three children. Do you want to give me three children?”

Warmth spreads through me. Jaxon may have stumbled but ever since we talked things out on the beach, he’s been one hundred percent in this relationship. We haven’t spent a night apart and he always answers his phone when I call. He’s the perfect partner. I never thought I could be this happy.

“I’ll give you as many children as you want.” It’s the truth. Whatever Jaxon wants, I’ll give him.

He frowns. “That’s my line.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. “Let’s not make any decisions about children today.”

“Okay. We can always buy another house if we decide to have more.”

“There’s already planning permission to add a mother-in-law suite,” Jade says.

Jaxon’s brow wrinkles. “I don’t have a mother-in-law.”

“She means we could add another bedroom and bathroom. Am I right?” I ask Jade.

“Correct. The addition would be on the ground floor. You could move your primary bedroom downstairs with the children upstairs.”

I giggle. “Leave Raider children alone? Not a good idea. ”

“Maybe Nelson-Raider children will behave,” Jaxon says and my eyes get hot.

“Nelson-Raider?”

“You don’t have any siblings and your parents are gone. I thought you might want our children to carry your name.”

I sniff but I can’t stop the tears from falling.

“What did I say wrong?” Jaxon wipes the tears away. “Tell me how to fix this.”

“You know the rule. Hold me until the tears stop.”

He tightens his arms around me. “Please, don’t cry. I can’t bear it when you’re sad.”

“I’m not sad. I’m moved by how sweet you are. By how much you understand me.”

“I love you, Petal.” He kisses my hair. “I know you better than anyone else.”

I lean back to meet his gaze. “Better than I know myself?”

“Um…”

“Why don’t I show you the upstairs bedrooms before you decide to make those babies now?” Jade asks.

Jaxon’s cock twitches against my stomach. I guess I don’t need to ask if he’s ready to make babies with me.

“Go.” He kisses my nose. “I need to grab something from the car.”

“What do you need to grab?”

“You’ll see.”

“You’re being mysterious.”

“Good.” He smiles and kisses my nose before releasing me and heading outside .

Jade sighs when he’s gone. “Girl, I don’t know how you did it but you have that man wrapped around your finger.”

“Good. Since I’m wrapped around his.”

“I’m happy for you.”

I squeeze her shoulder. “You’ll find your happy-ever-after someday.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ve dated every man on this island who is age appropriate and some who weren’t. I think I’m done.”

“You never know what the future will bring.”

“I do. The future will bring us upstairs to view the bedrooms.”

I follow her up the stairs and quickly tour the five bedrooms. Besides the one small bedroom, they’re all a good size. Plus, there are three bathrooms. Two bedrooms have attached bathrooms while the remaining two bedrooms share a Jack and Jill bathroom.

“It’s perfect,” I tell Jade as we walk down the stairs where Jaxon is waiting for us in the kitchen.

“You want to put in an offer?”

I glance at Jaxon. “Asking price plus ten percent to start,” he says.

“I’ll make up the offer and let you know how the buyers respond. Lock up when you leave.” Jade waves as she shuts the door behind her.

I make my way to Jaxon and he pulls me into his arms. “Do you want to tour the upstairs bedrooms?”

“Later. First, I have a surprise for you. ”

“A surprise? We just bought a house. Isn’t that enough of a surprise?”

He hands me a gift bag. “I enjoy surprising you.”

“What is it, nerd boy?”

He growls. “Do not get me all horny. I am not having sex in this house until we own it.”

I waggle my eyebrows. “But once we do, we’ll have sex in every room?”

“As often as you wish.” He presses his lips to mine but when I try to deepen the kiss, he retreats.

“Open your present.”

I remove a bottle of whiskey from the bag and read the label. “Cherry Tidings.”

“It’s the holiday whiskey I was working on when you inspired me to add the cherry flavor.”

“You named it after me?”

He brushes the hair off my forehead. “Of course, I did. Without your inspiration, this whiskey wouldn’t exist.”

“You’re really killing it at being the best boyfriend ever.”

“Husband,” he corrects.

“I love you, husband of mine.”

“And I love you, Petal.”

I never thought lying to my ex to stop him from stealing from me would lead me to love, but here I am. Standing in my new house, I plan to make a home with the man I love.

His phone beeps with a message. “It’s not you. I’ll ignore it.”

But then my phone beeps with a message. “Go ahead. I know you have to answer. ”

I’ve been going to therapy to deal with the trauma of losing my parents and the aftermath with Alan, but I haven’t managed to ‘cure’ my impulse to answer every message and every call yet.

I dig my phone out of my pocket and open the message. I gasp when I read it.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s a message from Jade. We got the house.”

“We got the house?”

I nod.

He smirks. “Excellent. Time to begin our journey of having sex in every room.”

“You won’t hear me say no.”

“Love you, Petal,” he mutters before his lips crash to mine.

Thanks for reading! I hope you fell in love with nerd boy as much as I did!