Chapter 31
31
A s the band played their last song, he held Margo in his arms. They'd danced several times tonight, and she looked like she was genuinely enjoying herself. He knew he was.
The last chords of music played, and he whispered in her ear, "Will you come home with me?"
She pulled her head back and looked up into his eyes. "Yes."
"Good answer." He grinned.
She laughed, and he spun her around a couple of times as the last note played. They walked back to the table, hand in hand. Their friends were standing to leave.
He thanked each of them for coming. "Thank you for coming and helping me celebrate ladies and gents. I sure do appreciate it. I'm looking forward to all the wonderful things happening in the future."
He looked at Margo and winked. Her cheeks turned an adorable pink, and he thought it was stunning on her.
Sid helped Grace out of her chair, reached across, and shook his hand. "Good on you buddy, good on you."
He smiled and nodded at his friend. "It's nice that we've all found happiness, isn't it?"
"That it is bud. We've all earned it."
Sid grinned. "Fact."
Quinn came around and hugged him, then shook his hand. "Congratulations, bud. I'm looking forward to the first day we break ground."
Jace chuckled. "Me too. I'm glad you're with me on this one man."
"Me too. We're gonna build you a beautiful place."
Jace helped Margo push her chair in. "Don't worry about it. Night crew will get that."
He took her hand in his. Carley walked alongside them and the three of them skipped going inside and instead, sauntered to the parking lot directly.
Margo handed Carley her keys. "I'm going home with Jace."
Carley grinned. "Awesome." She hugged her sister. He watched them. They were similar in height and build. You could certainly tell they were sisters, but Margo had something that Carley didn't have, at least for him.
Carley waved to him, climbed into Margo's car, and pulled away.
Margo turned to Jace and grinned. "Are we walking?"
"We're walking." Hand in hand, he led her to the path he always took from Sunset Beach Road through the copse of palm trees and to the back gate of his garden.
He unlocked the gate, let them in, and locked it behind them.
He led her through the backyard and up the back steps to the house. He couldn't wait to make love to her again. And again. And again. But probably not all tonight.
He led her through the kitchen. "Do you need anything to drink?"
"No. My god no." She laughed.
He grinned, pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, unscrewed the cap, and drank half of it down.
She stood looking at him, a small smile on her face. "I'd love a tour of the house, I didn't really get one yesterday."
"Well, I was remiss in not giving you a tour."
"Follow me." He walked to her and grabbed her hand. He led her around his beautiful home. He was proud of the work he had done. In some of the rooms, he had framed before pictures taken and hung them on the wall.
Margo stared at the before pictures of the formal living room. "I have to admit I didn't know what it had looked like before. I've never been in the Governor's Mansion. I'd only seen it from afar and never inside. Over time, the trees and shrubs had grown up around it, and the house was barely visible from any of the roads."
"That's what I loved about it." He took her through the entire house. "You've now had a formal tour."
She chuckled. "Well, that was fantastic. You've done a beautiful job here."
"Thank you. I can't take all the credit. I hired an interior designer. Quinn did the remodel work. I just paid the bills."
She laughed. "Well, you did a great job paying the bills, and I'm sure even though somebody else was designing and doing the work, you had a lot of input about colors and furniture selection."
He laughed. "I did. I did my best."
He led her upstairs. "This is the best room of all, though."
She laughed as he led her to the bedroom. He slowly undressed her. She slowly undressed him. He wasn't sure which part was the best. Her undressing him, or him undressing her. Both were simply fantastic. And when they stood before each other naked, he reached forward and pulled her body close to his. He wanted to feel her skin against his. But his cock had different ideas. He lay her on the bed, crawled over the top of her, and slowly entered her. They made love. Fell asleep in each other's arms, and he couldn't imagine a better way to fall asleep.
The next morning, he got up. Margo still slept. So he snuck downstairs and made fresh coffee. He called Hanna's bakery to see if he could have cinnamon rolls delivered for breakfast.
She chuckled. "Yes, actually, I just hired a delivery person to help me out with that. What time would you like them?"
He said, "As soon as you can get him here would be great."
She laughed. "They'll be right there."
She chuckled as she hung up the phone. He grinned.
Margo came into his kitchen looking wonderfully disheveled, thoroughly loved, and sexy as hell. She sauntered over, kissed his lips, and he quickly handed her a cup of coffee.
Then he took her other hand and led her out to the back deck where he had chairs set up. They sat quietly, looking at his gardens.
He looked over at one point and grinned. "I have cinnamon rolls coming."
"That's wonderful, thank you," she said.
He took a sip of his coffee and then he asked, "Are we a couple?"
She turned her head. Her brows furrowed a moment, then relaxed.
She burst out laughing. "I suppose. What makes you ask that?"
"I just wondered if we were a couple. I mean we've been out on a couple of dates, but I didn't know if we were, you know, what do the kids call it these days? An item?"
"I think we're a couple." She grinned.
"Okay, that's all I wanted to know."
She laughed as she sipped at her coffee. The doorbell rang. He got up. "Cinnamon rolls."
He tipped the delivery boy, who he thought looked familiar, but he couldn't place the kid. He hustled back out to Margo and sat next to her. He opened the box and let her pick first. They silently ate their cinnamon rolls.
After they'd finished, she quietly said, "Do you want to be a couple?"
It was his turn to laugh. "Yeah, I want to be a couple with you."
"Good." She sipped her coffee again and swallowed the last of her cinnamon roll. "Because I really like mornings like this."
He grinned. "Me too."