Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Avery
I wasn’t sure what woke me first: the golden light slipping through the curtains, or the solid weight of Reid pressed against me. I sighed, stretching a little.
But as soon as I moved, a voice, thick with sleep, murmured, “Don’t.”
I turned to see Reid, his eyes still closed, his hand splayed over my stomach, keeping me exactly where he wanted me.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t get out of this bed.” His eyes opened, meeting mine.
“I have things to do,” I teased but made no attempt to leave.
“Yes,” he said seriously. “You do. Right here.” He tugged me closer. “With me.”
He trailed a finger down my belly to the top of my thigh; I shivered with the need he stirred in me so effortlessly. “Everything else can wait.” He lifted himself so he loomed over me as his fingers moved lower until they were between my thighs.
I groaned and let my legs fall open in invitation. “Maybe they can wait a bit longer.”
“No maybe about it, sweetheart.” He kissed me deeply while his fingers worked their magic. Moments later, the only thing on my to-do list was coming, long and hard.
Which was exactly what I did.
And then again a few minutes later, when my sexy husband made love to me. It was slow and easy and absolutely the perfect way to start the day after the stress of the last few days.
“I could get used to this,” I murmured against his chest when I was finally able to formulate coherent thoughts again.
“That’s a good thing because you’re not going to be able to get rid of me now.”
I liked the sound of that. Very much.
I must have drifted off again, content in the afterglow of multiple satisfying orgasms, because the next thing I remembered was waking up to the rich aroma of coffee. When I opened my eyes, Reid was gone.
I felt a flash of disappointment, but only for a moment before I heard him in the kitchen, whistling. He was still there. And this time, he wasn’t going anywhere, because he loved me.
The thought warmed me and put a huge smile on my face. A smile I was still wearing a few minutes later when I was dressed and joined him in the kitchen.
“Oh.” He frowned in my direction. “I was going to bring you coffee in bed.”
“Sorry.” I kissed him on the cheek. “I appreciate the thought, but I had a different idea.”
I took the mug he offered me and led him out to the porch and the swing he’d made for me.
“Ah.” A little grin twitched over his lips.
I settled onto the seat and patted the space next to me. The swing was already amazing and beautiful, but sharing it with Reid, his arm around me, his body weight gently rocking it back and forth, was absolute perfection.
“So, you like it?” His voice was casual, but I didn’t miss the weight behind the question, as if my answer truly mattered.
“Like it?” I ran my hand over the smooth wood and closed my eyes, remembering how it felt the first time I saw it.
Was that really only yesterday?
I swallowed past the rising emotion and reached across the space between us to take his hand. “No,” I said softly as my fingers twined through his. “I love it, Reid. It’s the most perfect gift I’ve ever received. You’re so talented. I had no idea. Honestly.”
His mouth twitched as if he were trying not to look too pleased with himself, and it made me laugh.
I twisted in the seat and tucked my legs up under me so I could face him. “No one has ever given me something like this before, let alone made me something so incredibly special. Thank you.”
His gaze finally met mine. There was something unreadable in his dark eyes. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.” The gesture was more than just a gift, and we both knew it. It was about thought and feeling. It was about knowing exactly what I wanted—what I needed —without me even saying it.
His jaw shifted, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to say next.
So I made it easy on him. “If I’d known you were secretly so romantic, I might have fallen for you a whole lot sooner.”
That made him laugh. “Sooner than the first time you saw me in the hardware store?”
I smacked him lightly on the arm. “You’re so cocky. Besides, I meant it when I said I started to fall for you when I saw you with Quinn for the first time.”
“Because you saw how sweet I really was.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and I shook my head. “You want to know the moment I knew you were going to be it for me?”
I did. I very much wanted to know.
He grinned at me. “It was that day in the Bean Bag when you told Danny Davis you’d already hired me and assumed I would say yes.”
“I knew you would.”
“How could I say no after that?”
“You couldn’t. That was my plan.” I giggled, but the laughter dissolved when I realized what he’d said. “But…that means…”
He nodded. “That was it for me, sweetheart. I knew then that you were going to change my life.” Reid shrugged a little. “I just don’t think I knew how you’d spin me so totally out of control.”
I laughed again and snuggled close. “In all the best ways.”
“You know it.”
We sat like that for a few minutes, rocking gently together on our swing on the inn that was now officially and legally ours.
It wasn’t just the swing that had been built to last. It was the Tamarack Inn. And most importantly, it was us.