Page 81 of Massacre Monday

Perching on the edge of the bed, I give her my best puppy eyes and peel her knotted knuckles from the blanket. Holdingher hands, I press my lips to the backs of them and say, “And I want to be that someone.”

She seems stunned into silence, but finally relents with a pert nod. “Yeah. Okay.”

I tug on her arms until she’s kneeling with me and tap a little kiss on her cheek. “Get dressed.”

“We’ve stopped.”

“Yep.”

“Where are we?”

“That’s what I’m going to show you.”

She reaches for some jeans, but I stop her. “Uh, try some shorts instead. It’s probably hot out there.”

Her dark eyebrows pinch, but she listens and pulls on a pair of denim cut-offs and a wide-neck T-shirt over a bright blue bra. Watching her move about our room makes my cock stir. It’s so natural, like this is it. The beginning of our life together.

Once she’s finished in the bathroom, and we freshen up for the day, I grip her hand and tug her toward the living area.

“Where’s the driver?” she asks, looking around the cabin.

“Probably inside his bunk, sleeping. He drove all night.”

“To where?”

With a flourish, I flip the lock and swing the door open, bright sunshine assaulting our eyes until we both shield them with our hands. Helping her down the stairs, I wave my arms out to showcase our surroundings.

“Holy shit, Ryan! What is this?”

“Our beach house. Well, beachneighborhood.”

She tosses her hands on her hips, gazing up at the gray-shingled cottage hugging the short cliff to the sandy shore. Myrtles hung with Spanish moss cover most of the windows and roof, providing much-needed shade for the interior. A tiny, pebbled path leads to the front porch past a white gabled gate.

Shuffles on the driveway make me turn and watch her spin to scan the private road. “Neighborhood?”

“Yeah, I bought the houses along this lane. You can take your pick, but this one was in the best shape. Figured the kids could have the others for family vacations.”

“Kids?”

My only reply is a casual smirk.

“They look, um, a bit abandoned.” Her big eyes observe the house in front of us.

“They need work. That’s why you’re here. To help the contractors decide what to do with it. If you just let me do it, it’ll end up as a modern industrial.” Raising onto my toes, I give her a shrug.

She slips her hand into mine and pulls me forward. “Maybe I want that, too.”

“Yeah?”

“I like your apartment. So it could be cool to do a spin on that look in one of these. You know, for the kids.”

My knees nearly buckle. Bliss makes my heart beat harder. Fuck, I never thought I could be this happy.

While we stroll under the tree branches that I hold out of her way, I ask, “You know I’m from a decent-sized family.”

“Two brothers and two sisters. Five children total?”

“Mm-hmm.”