Life Should Be Beautiful (Summer Lake Silver #12)

Chapter Eighteen

After Booker left for work on Saturday evening, Davin went straight to the kitchen and poured two glasses of wine. Alexis followed him with a puzzled smile on her face.

“Thanks,” she said when he handed one to her. “Is this your way of saying that you need a drink?”

“Nope. It’s my way of setting up our evening.”

“You don’t want to go out with all your friends?”

He shook his head. They’d talked about it earlier – everyone was meeting up at The Boathouse for dinner. Adam had called him to ask if they were going, and Cal had called Alexis. “We can if you want.”

She gave him a wry smile. “I’d rather not, if you’re good with that.” Her smile faded. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re cooped up here with me and missing out on your social life.”

“I don’t. The way things have been going lately between Booker, and dinner with Adam and Evie, and all the rest of it, I’m looking forward to having an evening just for us. I’ll make us dinner and we can just hang out. How does that sound?”

She came to him, and he closed his arms around her, loving the way she hugged him tightly and rested her head against his shoulder. “It sounds wonderful to me. I promise that I’ll make more of an effort to get to know people and be sociable; I don’t want you to feel trapped.”

He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. “I don’t feel trapped. I’m loving this.”

“It’s not wildly exciting though, is it? I mean, you pretty much moved straight in with me – and into a very domesticated kind of life, complete with a teenaged boy.”

“So did you. Are you really saying that you’re feeling trapped?”

“No! I’m loving every minute of this, even though it has taken me by surprise.”

“Then why would you think that I’m not loving it, too?”

She made a face.

“What? Tell me?”

She blew out a sigh and tried to step away from him, but he held her tighter.

“All right. It’s just that if you were with someone younger – say, someone like Zoe – you’d be … I don’t know – freer.”

“I’m free now. I’m free to do whatever the hell I want. And I’m doing it. I want to be with you. I want the kind of life that we’re starting to build. I want what we have. And I wish you could understand about Zoe. It wasn’t that I wanted her – I wanted this, what we have. I was never going to be able to share that with her. For one thing, she’s not looking for this kind of life, you’re right about that, but what you’re not considering is that I am. I knew she wasn’t my person.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “You are.”

She held his gaze for a long moment before she nodded.

“What?” he asked. “What else is bothering you? We should talk it all out.”

“Nothing. Honestly. You’re right – of course. And I don’t feel insecure or jealous about Zoe, I’d hate for you to think it’s because of that; it’s not. It’s just that I’m aware that you have the option of a very different life.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “And what part of I don’t want that; I want you and what we have don’t you understand?”

She laughed. “I understand it. I get it. I do. I just …” She shrugged.

“Are we good then?”

“We are. Now that we’ve aired it all out, I’m going to relax and from now on, I’ll accept that you’re happy – and that you’ll tell me if you’re not.”

“I am and I will – will you promise me the same?”

“Of course.”

“Okay then. Want to take these outside and sit for a while before I make us dinner?”

Once they were seated at the table on the back deck, he rested his hand on the table palm up and waggled his fingers. She placed her hand in his with a smile.

“I love the way you do that.”

He smiled. “I love …” He stopped short. He’d been about to say I love you. And it caught him off guard. He swallowed, and his mind raced. He hadn’t analyzed his feelings for her. He’d been going along with the day by day, caught up in the flow of hanging out together, helping Booker out, seeing the horses and … The tension left his shoulders when it hit him, he hadn’t noticed because it had happened naturally – he’d gone and fallen in love with her.

She raised her eyebrows, and he smiled – there was no reason to hold back.

“I love you.”

She didn’t look surprised, but she did look happy. Very happy. “I love you, too.”

He stared at her for a long moment, trying to catch up with himself while at the same time realizing that he didn’t need to. Things might be moving quickly between them, but they weren’t kids.

She squeezed his hand. “Are we moving too fast?”

“No. We’re not starry-eyed kids. We know ourselves and we’ve each explored enough of what doesn’t work for us to know that this will.”

She held his gaze. “I think so. And even if it turns out that we’re wrong – even if we don’t work out, I promise you that I’ll do my best to make it as easy as possible. You’re someone I want in my life, Davin. If that’s only as a friend, then I’ll take it.”

He leaned in and she came closer. He curled his fingers around the back of her neck and brushed his thumb over her nape. “I want to be more than friends. I want you in my life as my partner, my love.”

She brushed her lips over his and rested her hand on his thigh. “Want to take this upstairs, then? We should make the most of having an empty house to prove just how much more than friends we are – and not have to worry about keeping it quiet.”

He closed his eyes and kissed her deeply, loving the way she kissed him back. She met him eagerly, opening up to him and demanding that he do the same. When they finally came up for air, he got to his feet and tugged her hand so that she stood to join him.

“Ooh, I like it,” she said with a laugh. “Are you back to being a caveman and dragging me off to your cave?”

He laughed with her and bent to hook his arm behind her knees, lifting her as he headed for the back door.

“I won’t beat you over the head with my club and drag you, but I will carry you, how about that?”

Her eyes shone as she reached for the door handle to let them back into the house. “It works for me.”

~ ~ ~

When they reached the bedroom, he threw her down on the bed before going back to lock the door behind him.

She smiled as she watched him tug his T-shirt off over his head. “Booker’s at work. He won’t be back until late.”

“I know, but I’ve gotten used to being more cautious.”

He came to the bed and lay down beside her, spearing his fingers into her hair as he looked down into her eyes. “With the door locked, we can forget that the world’s on the other side of it.”

She nodded as he tugged at her shirt and said, “We can get naked together, and make as much noise as we like.”

Within seconds, they were naked, and she ran her hand over his chest. “You took me by surprise earlier.”

He covered her hand with his own and held it over his heart. “I took myself by surprise, too, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I love you.”

“And I love you. This is … different, than anything I’ve known before.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Better, of course.”

He chuckled. “Of course, but in what way? I feel closer to you than I have with anyone else – even after I’d been with someone for a long time. We just … I feel like you understand me.”

“I do.”

“More than that, you respect me.”

He nodded. “I do.”

She made a face at him. “You’re just agreeing with me.”

He laughed. “Because you’re right.”

She pushed at his shoulder. “And because you want me to stop talking and …”

He grabbed her hips and turned her onto her back. His eyes shone as he hovered above her. “I do. When you said that you didn’t want to keep this quiet, I didn’t think that you wanted to talk the whole time.”

She looped her arms around his neck. “What else did you have in mind?”

He winked and dropped his head, nuzzling his lips against her ear.

“Something like this,” he murmured.

“Ooh.”

“And this,” he said as he moved down over her body, leaving a trail of kisses over her collarbone. He cupped her breasts and kissed each nipple, making her moan.

He lifted his head and smiled. “That’s the kind of noise I was hoping for.”

He slid his hand between her legs, and she closed her eyes. When his thumb circled her clit, and his fingers teased her entrance, she moaned again, and he nodded.

He kissed his way down over her stomach and when he closed his mouth over her and sucked, she grasped the sheet beneath her and rocked her hips in time with him.

He teased her with his lips and tongue until she was moaning with need, then he thrust his fingers inside her. Her hips came up off the bed and she was only barely aware of the noises she was making as he carried her higher and higher until he sent her flying over the edge.

He brought her down slowly, and while she was still recovering, he positioned himself above her, his hot head pushing into the slick heat between her legs.

She held his gaze; he was amazing. The connection between them was unlike anything she’d known before. She cupped his face between her hands and brought his head down so that she could kiss him. As their tongues dueled, he pushed inside her. It was slow, gradual – not his usual deep, hard thrust. Her inner muscles fluttered around him, grasping him, needing more, pulling him deeper. All the while they didn’t break the kiss.

When his hips were flush with hers, he rocked them gently, making her moan again.

He lifted his head, placed his hands on the mattress and pushed up, arching his back. He rocked slowly, driving her crazy with need.

“I love you, Alexis.”

She grasped his ass and tried to move him faster. “I love you – now, please?”

He chuckled. “You want this?” he asked as he pulled back and then drove deep and hard.

“Oh god, yes!”

He picked up the pace, driving deeper and harder, giving her everything as she surrendered to him. She was only vaguely aware of the sounds she was making. He was pounding mercilessly, driving her toward a second orgasm that crashed over her like a tidal wave, hitting her so powerfully that she struggled for breath. Davin let out a growl as he let go. His release swept her away on another powerful surge of pleasure. She gasped his name, and he held deep. She felt as though that moment bonded them together in a whole new way.

He collapsed on top of her and murmured, “Damn, I love you.”

She closed her eyes and clung to him. “I love you, too.”

He rolled off her and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, and she curled her arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Do you like it here?” he asked after a while.

She tightened her arm around him. “I do, although I don’t think I could stay here all night. We skipped dinner, remember?”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“What then?”

“I meant here, in this house.”

“Oh, not particularly, no. It was only meant to be a temporary measure. It was kind of Terry to offer, but I told Cal from the beginning that I didn’t want a long-term lease here. This house isn’t … It’s not me.”

“What were you planning to do?”

“First, to see if I even liked Summer Lake enough that I’d want to stay.”

He turned his head so that he could see her.

She laughed. “You already know the answer to that. I love this place, but more importantly, I love you. I don’t see you wanting to leave town any time soon.”

“No.” He frowned. “I couldn’t ask you to stay here for me if you didn’t feel it was the right place for you but …”

She tapped the tip of his nose. “Stop thinking so hard, there’s no need.”

He laughed. “How do you know? You don’t even know what I’m thinking.”

“I bet I do.”

“Go on, then.”

“You’re thinking that it’s not fair to want me to stay here for you when you don’t know if you could bring yourself to leave for me.”

He pursed his lips.

“Are you going to tell me that I’m wrong?”

“No, well, yes and no. You know that I’ve worked with Adam most of my life, but if you want to live somewhere else, I don’t think I could watch you go.”

She patted his cheek. “I told you, there’s no need to think so hard. It’s not a decision that you’ll have to make. I’m quite happy to stay here. I wouldn’t ask you to leave, I understand. Your roots here are important to you. Going somewhere else would just be a whim to me. The two don’t compare. You don’t need to give it another thought. Okay?”

“Okay.” He rolled onto his side to face her. “So, if you’re going to stay, and I’m going to stay with you, how would you feel about getting a place of our own?”

Her heart raced and she nodded slowly. “We could.”

He laughed. “I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm.”

“I love the idea, but I want to know your reasoning. We have a perfectly good place right here.”

“And you already said that you don’t love it, and it was only meant to be a temporary measure.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I don’t want us to be temporary.”

“Nor do I. Are you talking about renting or buying?”

He shrugged. “I’d love to buy somewhere, but maybe that’s not a good idea?”

She searched his face. “Are you seeing it as a commitment or an investment?”

“Both?”

She laughed. “Why did that sound more like a question than an answer?”

“Probably because I’m hedging. The truth is that I’d love it to be a commitment – not to a house, but to us and to our relationship. At the same time, I know that it’s a big commitment for people who’ve only known each other for as short a time as we have. So, if we played it right, it could turn out to be an investment. In my mind, that’d be worst case scenario – if we had to sell it again because we didn’t work out.”

“It makes sense.”

“Which part?”

“All of it. Since you were brave and spelled it out, it’s safe for me to say that I would love to buy a place with you. And if we buy wisely, my practical side doesn’t have to dig its heels in and force me to be more cautious. I’d love to believe that we’re playing for keeps here – I do believe it.” She looked into his eyes. “Let’s start house hunting, shall we?”

He nodded happily. “This side of the lake, or over at Four Mile?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. We’ll have to explore and see. Do you have a preference?”

“Wherever you are is all I want.”

She patted his cheek. “We’ll see. I’m guessing that this side of the lake will make more sense.”

“Why?”

“Because most of what we do is over here. There’s your work, first of all. But there’s also Giuseppe’s, and the barn, and the gym – those are all places that we go to every day. I haven’t seen enough of Four Mile Creek yet, but I don’t think that there’s anything over there that would outweigh the practicality of staying over here.”

“We should take a drive over there tomorrow and see – you might fall in love with it.”

“Okay. You’re off all day?”

“I am.”

“What do you say – should we see if Booker wants to go for lunch over there? He’s at the barn in the morning, but I know he doesn’t need to be at the restaurant until five.”

Davin ran his fingers down her cheek.

“What?” she asked.

“I was going to say that he doesn’t know how lucky he is, but that’s not true, I think he does. And I know how lucky I am, too.”

She caught his hand and kissed his fingers. “I’d say that I’m the lucky one. Not so long ago, I felt like everything I enjoyed in life had already ended, and the only people I had left were people who didn’t quite fit. Now, I have a whole new beginning, with you and Booker – and you’ve quickly become the most important people in the world to me.”