Chapter 1
Chapter One
ELIZABETH
A Beautiful Memory of Forever
I feel him before I see him, his presence eliciting an electric pulse that is as tangible as lightning striking the ground. Ryder’s warmth presses up against my back, his arms banding around me from behind, so strong and solid. He drops his chin to my shoulder, his lips against my skin.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“On the contrary, you’re just in time,” I tell him as the sun slips below the horizon. There has not been a sunrise or sunset we haven’t seen together since the day we were married. “How was your day?”
He softly kisses my neck. “Long. Exhausting.”
The garage is busiest on Saturdays, and I hate that he has to work on weekends. He takes Sundays and Mondays off instead.
Turning in his arms, I gently push him down onto the patio loveseat, then hike up my sundress and straddle him. “I picked up dinner from Ruby’s.”
Ryder’s hands automatically curve around the cheeks of my ass, and he pulls me in. Tangling his hand in my windswept hair, he pulls me down for a kiss. Soft. Sweet. Perfect.
“Remind me to drive into Highland tomorrow and pick up a part I need for Knox’s bike,” Ryder yawns out.
I take his lower lip between my teeth and pull. “No working on Sundays,” I remind him.
He retaliates by tickling me until I’m begging for mercy.
“ Flubberjizz ,” I relent, breathless from laughing.
“You are so goddamn beautiful.” Those copper eyes heat, and my body immediately reacts, knowing exactly what’s coming.
“And you are still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”
Standing up with me, he slides me down his body until my feet settle on the patio floor. “Dance with me,” Ryder whispers near my ear, and I go up in flames with desire for this man.
Taking his phone out of his back pocket, he swipes to his music app, and within seconds, Sia’s “Helium” starts to play. Our song. The song we’ve danced to a thousand times.
We press our cheeks together, and I curl my hand around his neck, letting my fingers caress through his soft, thick hair.
“What do you want to do for our anniversary this year?” he murmurs in my ear before he begins kissing the skin underneath. I can’t think when he does that.
I make a humming sound when his mouth descends to the dip of my shoulder.
“Beach,” I reply as we sway gently from side to side.
“We were just there in March. You don’t want to go anywhere else?”
I press in close, rising on my tiptoes. My heart begins to hammer in fast staccatos when I ask him, “Do you remember what we did that night on Serenity Point?”
Ryder’s hands go to the straps of my dress. He slides his index fingers under the thin strips and pushes them off my shoulders. My eyes flutter closed, and I get lost in his seduction.
“Of course, I remember. I made love to you on the beach under the stars,” he replies.
I take his hand and press it to my stomach, tears already gathering in my eyes. He glances between us where our hands are joined.
A moment.
A breath.
His eyes fly up to mine. “Elizabeth?”
The tears come freely now, and I nod my head yes. Four pregnancy tests say yes.
Ryder falls to his knees and looks up at me, the beatific smile overtaking his gorgeous face making my heart melt in the most amazing way. “Holy shit! We’re having a baby,” he says in wonderment.
A baby. A family of our own.
And I can’t wait to start this next chapter of our life together.