Chapter Twelve
Amelie woke slowly, the warm winter sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spilling across the bed.
She lay still, with Grant pressed against her back, and his arm wrapped snug around her.
She shifted and felt the pleasant ache throughout her body, reminding her exactly what she had been doing the night before.
She smiled, remembering the three rounds, maybe four, they had gone. Grant had certainly proven his point about the stamina of thirty-seven-year-old men.
Last night had been wonderful.
But beneath the happiness, a familiar anxiety stirred. She stared at the wall, her mind already racing through the questions and decisions that would come next.
“You’re thinking again,” Grant mumbled against her shoulder, his voice rough with sleep. He pulled her closer, his hand sliding up to cup her breast possessively. “I can hear it from here. Sounds like a hamster wheel. Squeak, squeak, squeak.”
Amelie swatted his hand, though she didn’t move it. “I’m not thinking.”
“Liar.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder blade. “I can read your body language. Your shoulders get all tight. Classic Amelie overthinking. Talk to me. What are you thinking about?”
She turned in his arms to face him, cataloging his features in the morning light. He looked sexy with the stubble covering his jaw, his sleep-softened eyes, the small scar above his eyebrow she had kissed a dozen times last night.
She took a deep breath. “Us.”
The single word seemed to wake him more effectively than coffee ever could.
His expression softened immediately. “Us?”
She nodded. “Last night was amazing. Something I want more of.”
The smile that appeared on his face was slow and entirely too attractive.
“Yeah, it was,” he agreed. “And I would love nothing more than to have you in my bed every night.”
Amelie took a deep breath.
“The boys are happy, Grant. Happier than I’ve seen them in a long time.
Every time I watch the three of you together, it feels natural.
Like this is how things were always supposed to be.
And then I start thinking about what happens next.
” She laughed softly. “Which, unfortunately, leads to me trying to solve the next five years before breakfast.”
“Hey.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his expression softening. “We don’t have to solve everything before breakfast. We’ve got time.”
“But we do,” she said, then hesitated.
Before she had fallen asleep last night, her mind had been very active.
She took a breath. “I’ve been considering moving back to the States. For a while now, actually. Before I even knew you were here.”
Grant was quiet for several moments, and when she finally looked up at him again, she found him watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.
“Amelie, if you ever decide to move, I want it to be because it’s what you want. Because it’s what’s best for you and the boys. Not because you feel like you have to do it for us.”
“I want to do this, Grant, for all of us.” She traced his collarbone, avoiding his eyes. “The business is established enough. I could run it from anywhere, really.”
She watched him process this, the hope warring with caution in his expression. “You’d move your whole company? Your whole life?”
“I’d move mountains if it meant we could be a family,” she said.
He was quiet for a long moment, his thumb stroking her hip. Then he shifted, rising up on one elbow to look down at her properly, his expression serious.
“Amelie.” He cupped her face, his thumb brushing her cheekbone.
“I love you. I want you to know that first, before anything else. I love you, and I want the same as you do. I want us to be a family.” He paused, his eyes searching hers.
“But I don’t want you to feel like you have to be the only one who sacrifices everything.
I don’t want you to feel pressured, like this is all on you to figure out. ”
He kissed her forehead. “I can come to Norway. I can work remotely and travel back and forth. My parents are getting older, and they would probably love an excuse to visit Oslo regularly.” He pulled back, holding her gaze.
“What I’m saying is: whatever you decide, however we make this work, I’m in.
I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, Amelie.
Thirteen years apart was enough for one lifetime. ”
He smiled. “I’m ecstatic at the thought of you and the boys moving to Florida. But be sure. Take the time you need. Because whether you’re in Florida or Norway or Timbuktu, I’m going to be in your life. That’s not negotiable anymore.”
Then he switched topics with deliberate casualness. “So what do you have planned for today?”
Amelie blinked at the sudden shift in topic.
“Honestly?” She tilted her head slightly so she could look up at him. “I haven’t really thought about it. I have a few phone calls I need to make this morning, but beyond that, I don’t have any concrete plans.”
His eyebrow lifted slightly. “No meetings? No world domination? No designing jewelry worth more than some small countries?”
A laugh escaped her. “I’m afraid not.”
“Good.”
The answer immediately caught her attention. Amelie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why do I feel like you asked that question because you already had something in mind?:
The grin that appeared on his face was answer enough. “I might.”
She laughed softly. “Is there something you wanted to do?”
Grant nodded. “The boys mentioned yesterday that they wanted to buy you something for Christmas. They were trying to figure out how to do it without you knowing, which, considering they’re your children, wasn’t exactly subtle.”
Warmth instantly spread through her chest. Even at twelve years old, with all the energy, mischief, and chaos they brought into her life, they still thought about things like that.
She knew they were excited about Christmas, snowboarding, and spending time with Grant, yet somehow they had still found time to worry about getting her a gift.
The thought touched her more than she could adequately explain.
“They did, huh?”
Grant smiled. “They were pretty serious about it.”
“That’s really sweet of them.”
His expression softened. “They love you, Mel.”
The simple statement hit her harder than it should have.
“Well, if they’re planning some top-secret Christmas mission, I certainly don’t want to get in the way of it.”
Grant chuckled. “I was hoping you would say that.”
She shook her head, smiling. “I’ll make my calls this morning, maybe do a little shopping of my own, and then I can meet you guys for lunch.”
“That sounds perfect, but first I have some other plans I need to attend to,” he said, pulling her closer, his smile turning wicked.
“And what plans are those?”
“They involve you, me, and not leaving this bed for at least two more hours.”
“Grant, we have to—”
“Nope.” He kissed her, cutting off her protest. “No thinking. Just for two hours. Can you manage that, or is the hamster wheel permanently installed?”
Amelie melted against him, feeling the weight of her decisions settle into something manageable, something right. “Two hours,” she agreed.
“Two hours, sweetheart,” he promised, already kissing his way down her body. “But first, let me remind you of another reason why you’re moving across an ocean...”