Page 149 of The One

She was smiling so hard, and I fucking loved to see it. “Are you saying you went shopping? For me?”

“Baby, the Coles have a private shopper. I wouldn’t call what I did shopping. I’d say I looked at a rack of clothing that had been picked out for you, and I pointed at the items I wanted. The thing is, I liked everything that the shopper had pulled, so I bought it all.” I nodded toward the house. “It’s inside, along with some toiletries—for the record, I didn’t pick any of that out, but our shopper said it’s the best shit. What the hell do I know about face cream? Nothing.”

“I don’t even know what to say right now.” She traced my lip with the back of her thumb. “You brought me to a spot that’s such a memorable place for us. You booked us a house for the weekend. You bought me everything I could possibly need for the stay. Do you ever forget anything?”

Even though the sky was darkening, filling with magenta and burnt orange, the diamonds in herRnecklace still glimmered.

I held on to her ass, making sure her legs were positioned around me, and I stood. “You tell me,” I said as I walked us to the beach house.

She laughed in my arms. “You left the blanket and the cooler and our shoes and champagne?—”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it all later.”

I carried her up the flight of stairs and entered the code on the door before walking us inside. Since it was far too bright inhere, I flipped the switch, turning the lights off, and the room became aglow with candles.

“Rhett, oh my God.”

On the floor were rose petals, thousands of them scattered between the candles, the perfect contrast to the all-white room.

“Aside from your apartment, I’ve never been in a space that smells so much like you.” I kissed her before I set her down, and I watched her face while she took in the sight.

“This is … stunning. You did this all?”

I smiled. “I might have gotten a little help, but I put the plans in motion and picked it out.”

“That’s the most important part.” She wrapped her arms around my neck.

“I want you to know—and this might not make any sense to you—part of the reason I haven’t devoured you yet is because I needed to know where things stood with your dad. In my mind, there were two steps to this.” I palmed her cheeks. “The first was getting you back, and the second was making sure your parents supported that decision. If we didn’t have that, I didn’t know if you would still be with me.” I moved my lips close to hers. “And I didn’t want to make things physical, knowing there was a chance I could lose you. That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to. That doesn’t mean I didn’t obsess about your body every minute of the fucking day. And that doesn’t mean I didn’t think about your pussy and how wet it was going to feel, how tight”—I kissed her—“and how badly I want to come inside you. Waiting has been straight-up fucking torture, but now, I have my answer.”

“I had a feeling, and that’s why I didn’t push you.” Her fingers dived into the back of my hair. “But you have their support now …”

My hands returned to her ass, and I lifted her feet off the floor and moved her legs around me before I walked her to thebedroom. “And I’m going to do everything I’ve been dreaming about for the last fifteen years.”

She looked around the room, at the rose petals on the bed and the floor, the candles on every surface that was large enough to hold a votive. “Rhett, I’m blown away. This is exquisite.”

“They’re in the bath, too, where I’m going to take you once I’m done with you.”

Her head shook in awe. “I’m so in love with you.”

I felt the smile move across my lips.

And, damn it, it felt good.

“Show me,” I ordered.

She laughed. “Gladly.”

While she kissed me, I set her on the end of the bed, pulling the loose-fitting dress up her body and over her head. I knew she didn’t have a bra on underneath—there was no room for one with the way it cut across her tits—and I’d been admiring the hardness of her nipples all night. Beneath, I found a thong, and I yanked it past her hips and down her legs, flinging it behind me.

Now that she was naked, I didn’t rise off the floor. I stayed kneeling in front of her, looking at her body as the light from the candles lit up her skin. “My God, Lainey. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

“I feel it by the way you’re looking at me.”

“And that fucking smile.” I moved in between her legs until I was only inches from the bottom of the mattress. “It makes me so happy when I know you’re grinning for me.”

Her fingers raked through the top of my hair. “For the rest of my life, this smile will only be for you.”

I knew that. I felt it.