Page 8 of Red, White, and You (Merry Little Midlife #3)

My phone vibrates on the nightstand, pulling me out of the deepest sleep I’ve had in some time.

We stayed up too late, unwilling to sleep for fear of missing out on even a moment of reacquainting ourselves.

I once knew this woman’s body with my eyes closed, had memorized every inch of her frame, from the curve of her toes to the lone freckle behind her left earlobe, and though the years have changed her in some ways, she still feels like home to me.

Brie stretches out beside me, moaning softly as I reach to silence my phone’s alarm, then I curl back around her and pull her body against mine. Pressing my nose against her temple, I whisper, “Good morning, my love.”

“Mm,” she hums. “Good morning.”

I nudge her temple with my nose, then place a gentle kiss there.

“What time is it? Feels way too early.”

“Seven.”

“Ugh. But I’m on… vacation.” She says the word as if it leaves a funny taste in her mouth.

“You are.”

“I’m not getting out of bed.”

“That lines up with my plans perfectly.” I glide my hand down her naked torso and up over her hip, then dip down between her legs. “Although, unfortunately, I do have to tend to some things before I can spend the rest of the day in bed with you.”

Brie rolls over onto her back, spreading her legs to allow for my searching fingers, and opens her sleepy eyes. “Tend to me first,” she murmurs with a playful whine.

“I plan to.”

“Good.” Her eyes close again and she sighs. “I think I like vacations.”

I laugh as I circle her opening with my middle finger. “Are your vacations always like this?”

“If they were, I might have taken one in the past fifteen years.”

I pause my exploration of her, waiting for her to tell me she’s kidding. “Breezy.”

She opens one eye.

“You haven’t taken a vacation in fifteen years?”

She closes her eye again and shakes her head.

With a sigh, I resume trailing my finger through her growing arousal. “They could always be like this. Going forward.”

Brie’s face tightens briefly, then she opens her eyes. “Don’t do that, Brady.”

I slip one finger inside her. “Don’t do what?”

“Don’t talk about what could be. We’ve been over that before.”

“Not in recent years.” I pull my finger out, then slide two back inside. She stretches, opening her legs wider, and I begin to pump my fingers rhythmically, leaning down to pull her earlobe into my mouth. “I could wake you up like this every morning, baby. ”

Her lips part as her breathing quickens, but her eyes remained closed. Whether too focused on the way it feels to be touched by me or shutting me out, I don’t know.

I press my thumb against her clit, then flick it back and forth. “Think about it. Every morning.” I lick the shell of her ear and she whimpers.

Truth is, I’ve been thinking about selling the lake. I love this place. It’s everything I envisioned and more.

But there’s always been something lacking, something missing that made me feel like a piece of the puzzle was absent.

Now that Brie is here, I am sure of what that something was.

Is.

It’s her.

What good is having everything I ever dreamed of if Brie isn’t here to share it with me?

I push up onto my elbow and lean down over her, slanting my mouth over hers as I bring her to the edge. I kiss her with slow, deliberate strokes, coaxing her orgasm from her with matching pulls of my fingers between her legs.

I’ve spent years wondering if I made a mistake when I let her leave, almost two decades contemplating what life could have been if I’d fought to remain at her side.

And though I know that who I was back then, that young kid without a plan or even an inkling of drive, would have only held her back, it pains me that letting her go was the right thing to do. Because in what world is being without Brie ever going to be right ?

It certainly never felt right.

But now, as I pull back to watch her slowly unravel for me, memorizing the planes of her face all over again, soaking in the soft sounds that spill from her lips, I’m convinced that the time we spent apart was exactly what had to happen to bring us back together.

To bring us to this moment right here.

I don’t understand it, but I believe that everything happened for a reason, and everything led us right back into each other’s arms.

My wife comes quietly this time, still half asleep, and I kiss her tenderly through each tremor, dropping soft kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, her lips, then slowly guide her back down to earth with gentle strokes of my fingers between her legs.

She sighs, smiling softly as she opens those beautiful eyes and looks up at me. “I could get used to that.” As if realizing what she said, she quickly closes her mouth.

I wait for her to make the next move, letting her set the course. I’ve all but told her I want more of this after this week is over, and she’s been quite clear about not wanting to discuss anything past next Friday.

“Do you really have to leave me?” With an emphasized pout, she rolls onto her side and stretches her body along the length of mine. “What will I do in this big ol’ cabin all by myself?” A flash of worry crosses her expression. She’s truly unsure of what to do with herself while I’m gone.

That worry makes my chest ache. I wish I could stay with her every moment, show her how to relax and have fun, but my financial planner is scheduled to arrive shortly, and I can’t miss this meeting.

I slide my hands down to grasp her waist, then turn onto my back and haul her on top of me. She fits so perfectly against me; my cock is already a heavy weight between us, hard and pressing against her center. “Maybe I’ll wear you out so you can sleep in a little longer. ”

“Good thinking.” Pressing her hands against my chest to push herself up into a seated position, she wiggles her hips, teasing me as her slick folds slide along the length of my erection. “I see now why you’re the boss,” she murmurs, “with brilliant ideas like that one.”

I make her come two more times, then race to my first meeting with a smile on my face and a content, settled feeling in my soul.

Like I’m finally whole again. At peace.

Like Brielle was truly what was missing from my life.

Now, when I sell the camp and move to the city, I’ll have more to offer her than the kid she walked away from seventeen years ago.