Page 54 of Mr. Edwards

“You know my childhood was less than stellar, and from what little I know about my extended family, my mom’s mother wasn’t much better than she was. Both my parents are fuckups, and neither of them should have ever procreated. I have a chance to stop that cycle, so kids have never been on my radar.”

Her answer is an honest one, and part of me gets where she’s coming from, but she’s so strong, caring, and loyal to the people she cares about. I’m confident she’d never follow in their footsteps.

“You’re nothing like them you know? I happen to think you’d be an amazing mother.”

“I don’t even know what a good mother looks like.”

“Well, you haven’t met mine yet, but you will soon.”

Her eyes widen. “She’s not coming here today, is she?”

No,” I say, chuckling. “It’s just you and me, pretty girl. If I told my mom you were coming over, chances are she would’ve sprung a surprise visit on us. But I’m not readyto share you just yet, I want to keep you all to myself for a little longer.”

Her expression looks grim. “I’m serious about the children thing, Grayson.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I know you are, but what I love about this whole situation is you’re not fighting the fact that you’re going to be my wife one day. That in itself is a huge win for me.”

She thumps me in the chest when I bite back a smile. “I never agreed to that either.”

“I beg to differ.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“Now that’s not a nice way to talk to your future husband, Miss Just-Carlee.”

“Ugh.”

Reaching up, I bop her cute little freckly nose and laugh when her frown deepens. “Come on, let’s get you inside. I have big plans for us today.”

“Are you ready?” I ask when I look over my shoulder and see the next wave coming. Carlee’s lying toward the front of the board, and I’m behind her. My torso is resting between her spread legs, my chest leaning against her luscious ass. Her knuckles have turned white from the death grip on either side of the board, and it has me grinning.

I’m using my dad’s old board today; he’s the one who taught me how to surf. I rarely bring this one out, but it’s alot longer than the modern-day surfboards, so it’s perfect for the two of us.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she answers as I start paddling to gain some momentum as the wave encroaches.

I place a chaste kiss against the middle of her spine as I use my flattened palms to push myself into a standing position. Carlee drags herself up onto her knees as I taught her, and I crouch down and slide my hand around her waist, helping her to her feet. We only remain standing for a few seconds at best, but it’s the closest we’ve gotten so far.

We both tumble into the whitewash and the smile that’s plastered on her face when she breaks the surface of the water steals all the air from my lungs. It’s a look that has more power over me than anything, or anyone, should.

“I fucking did it,” she screams, punching the air. “Did you see that, Grayson, I can surf.”

I reach for her as she throws her arms around my neck, planting an overenthusiastic kiss on my lips. I love seeing her happy and carefree like this, so I don’t have the heart to tell her that our attempt barely qualified.

“You were awesome, sunshine.”

When I first informed Carlee I was going to give her surf lessons today, I kind of expected her to freak out. You know the old…“I’m not getting my hair wet,”or“I don’t want to mess up my makeup,”bullshit, or my personal favorite,“Gasp. You want me to get in the ocean with all those slimy creatures? Nah-ah.”And yes, I’ve heard them all before.

But this is Carlee we’re talking about. She whipped off her sundress, revealing her sexy-as-fuck, high-wasted, white bikini that was underneath, and said,“Let’s do it. I’m going to suck, and I can’t really swim that well, but I’ll give anything a go once.”It had me beaming.

If anyone is allowed a woe-is-me attitude, it’s her, but that’s not who she is. Carlee grabs life by the goddamn balls. I seriously love that about her. It takes tremendous courage and strength to grow up and become the person you were meant to be all along. She’s like a lioness… brave and graceful, with a fierce and mighty roar.

“Mmm,” she moans and those sexy little noises travel straight to my dick. “So good. If I didn’t watch you cook it with my own eyes, I’d never have believed you made this.”

“Glad you like it.”

We’ve had the best day; I don’t want her to leave.

I want to keep her here forever.