Chapter 13
ELIZABETH
There are tears in my eyes and emotion clogging my throat.
Devon’s surprise is not what I expected. At all.
We’re at a lookout. Only it’s not the view that has me choked up. Although the Pacific Ocean and sparkling lights of Wollongong are spectacular and deserving of awe.
It’s the set up near the cliff’s edge that affects me most.
Spread out over the grass is a pallet of thick blankets.
Containers filled with what I assume is our dinner cover the middle.
To one side, a pair of glasses rest against a bucket of ice that I’m sure because he misses nothing, holds my favorite wine.
And around the edges of the comfy looking nest are pillows.
Lots and lots and lots of pillows.
He’s brought the comfort of an intimate living room outdoors and I’m grateful he understands me so well. I don’t remember telling him this was a dream. And maybe I haven’t. Devon sees me like no one else.
“Is it okay?” Devon’s words are filled with concern. “I know it isn’t a five star—”
I push to my toes and press my mouth to his. We stand like that, not really kissing, but it’s no less intimate. After several seconds, I pull back, my hands curled in the front of his shirt. “It’s perfect.”
And it is. No one has ever done anything like this for me. It’s like he snuck inside my head and hunted around for my deepest secret dreams and made them come true.
The quiet, simple wedding by the water as the sun set.
The quiet picnic overlooking the city.
The quiet care he continues to shower me with.
I could fall for this man. So, so easily.
As I stare into his eyes, I’m worried I’m already falling.
In four days, Devon has given me more care than I’ve received since Mom was alive.
“C’mon, it’s been a long day, I’m sure you’re hungry.” He urges me forward, steers me to the right, and waits until I lower myself to the blanket before moving to the other side and the bottle of wine. Holding up a glass, he raises a brow.
“Yes. Please.” My voice is hushed. An unconscious action on my part. “This looks amazing.”
“Here.” He holds out my glass, the golden liquid sparking in the moonlight. “We’ve got an assortment of finger foods.”
I watch as he opens container after container. Each one revealing a favorite I had no idea he knew I had.
“How did—”
“I asked Livi and Lexi.” He smiles sheepishly. “They don’t know about the wedding. I just said I wanted to make sure I had what you liked at the house.”
I grin. “Sneaky.” I’m sure my friends are eager to find out what’s happening with me. Except they’ve done what true friends do. Given me the space I asked for.
“They’re ready when you are.”
How does he read me like that? “Are you reading my mind?”
“No. But I think we’ve gotten to know each other well over the last few days and you don’t hide your emotions. They’re in your eyes.”
“Ha. And to think most people call me cold.”
“Shields. Necessary barriers.” His gaze meets mine. “Until me.”
“Why am I so open with you?”
“I don’t want anything from you. Nothing you’re not willing to give, anyway.”
“So you do want something from me?”
“Yes. I want your honesty. Your time. Your friendship.”
“And sex. You want sex.”
“Any man with blood running in his veins would want sex with you, but you could not sleep with me, and I’d still want everything else.”
“So we’re friends with benefits?” I grin. I’ve never had one of those.
“No. We’re husband and wife.”
His voice is a graveled growl and sends a shudder of need through me. “Husband and wife,” I whisper.
There’s no hiding the way that makes me feel, and I know he sees it. He misses nothing. But then I’m not interested in hiding from him.
“Eat.” He holds out a cracker topped with a smear of cheese, a slice of cherry tomato perched like a crown.
“Are you going to feed me?”
“If you want me to.”
He would. If I asked. And maybe I’ll let him. “Only if I get to return the favor.”
“Nothing I do for you is a favor. I do it because I want to.”
His words echo in my ears and I have to wonder if he’s the first person to do things without strings. I know my parents didn’t, except that was so long ago I’ve learned to prepare for the conditions. The requirements of simple gestures like providing a meal.
“You’re not used to it, but we’ll get you there.”
“Years of conditioning won’t disappear overnight.”
“No.” He holds a slice of peach, a creamy blob covering one end, near my mouth. “But I’m a patient man.”
I’m beginning to understand him. His motives might be unclear, and his willingness to help me more so, but there is no denying he isn’t a liar or a cheat. He’s honest even when it might not be what I want to hear. In four days, he’s become the person I trust the most.
“I trust you.”
His head snaps up, his gaze zeroing in on mine. I see shock, a flash of pleasure. “I’ll treasure that. Make sure you don’t regret giving it to me.”
“I know.”
Sitting in the moonlight, staring into the eyes of the man I just married for reasons other than love, I can’t help wondering if that’s where this is heading. Devon makes me feel things I never have. I have to be honest and say I trust him more than my own brother. Or my two best friends.
What does that say about my relationships? Is it me or them?
“No more worrying tonight.” He scoots closer. “Let’s enjoy the view, the food and wine, and embrace this new step in our lives.”
“I want to help with the house,” I say as I reach for a handful of cashews.
“I thought you were.”
“Well, yes, I have, but going forward. I’d like to come over and—”
“Whoa, stop right there.” He puts up a hand. “There will be no coming over. You’re moving in with me.”
“I. What?”
“I just put a ring on your finger, you put one on mine. We’ll live together. Either at my place or yours.”
“I don’t want to go back there.” I had planned to look for a new house. Possibly an apartment.
“Then it’s settled. This week we’ll get you moved in.”
“But this isn’t a real—”
He presses a grape at my lips and shoves it in. “Don’t say it.”
Chewing, I eye the man I married and try to work out why he’s so adamant about this.
“I can see you thinking so let me stop you before you get tangled up in shit that isn’t what this is. You are my wife, I am your husband, we will live together. If you don’t want to share my bed, I’ll order one for the other room that’s finished.”
“Sharing your bed isn’t a problem.”
“Okay. Then it’s the house.”
I laugh. “There is not one thing wrong with your house. I love it. In fact, I love it so much that if you decide to sell when you finish fixing it up, I want first dibs.”
“Then it’s living with me,” he says with a frown.
“No. Although I’ve never lived with a man before.” In fact, Devon is the first man I’ve spent the whole night with. Not that I’m telling him that. For some reason, that makes me feel pathetic.
“Good. I’ve never lived with a man either.” His grin is cheeky and I can’t help laughing at him. “Seriously, I’ve never lived with anyone except my brothers.”
My laughter subsides and leaves me smiling.
“I like knowing this will be a first for both of us.”
“A few firsts.”
“Hmm…” he hums around a bite of peach.
“First runaway bride, first marriage, first midnight picnic, first co-habitation.” I tick each one off on a finger, mentally tick off the ones I’ve done on my own. Wall demolition. Spending the whole night with a man. Shower sex.
“Are you keeping track?”
I shake my head.
“What other things haven’t you done?”
“The list is too long to make.”
“You should make one anyway. We can work our way through it.”
“We won’t be together for—”
“Don’t. And whatever happens, I’ll always be happy to help you tick off firsts.”
“What if I wanted to jump out of plane?”
“I know a place.”
I choke on a sip of wine. Coughing, I cover my mouth and say, “I was joking.”
“I’m not.” His gaze is serious and I know if I asked him to jump out of a plane with me, he would.
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“Being you. Accepting me.”
“You’re worth accepting, Lizzi Lu.” He leans over and presses a kiss to my forehead. “And it’s my privilege and honor to call you my wife.”