Bridget
I knew that, when I woke up curled against Elias’s chest with his arms caged around me, today would be a good day.
The morning rays are peeking through the gap in the curtains and they cast a serene and warm glow over Elias’s olive toned skin.
Messy hair covers his eyes as he snores softly.
When I make a move to get out of the bed, he tightens his grip and presses a kiss to the back to my neck.
I’ve always struggled sleeping next to someone, but when it’s Elias, I seem to sleep soundly, and it doesn’t take long for me to fall back into a peaceful slumber.
Olivia bolts into the room around seven thirty and jumps on the bed until we’re both fully awake.
Oscar appears around the door frame a few moments later, wearing a pair of red plaid pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt.
He doesn’t think twice about strolling into our room to retrieve his child, but only when he sees the both of us clutching the blanket does he smirk.
Elias throws his pillow at his brother’s back as Oscar cackles as he makes his way out of the room.
Once we manage to drag ourselves out of bed, we get changed into our pyjamas and make our way downstairs to the kitchen where everyone’s already congregated.
The kitchen area is quite big with dark oak cabinets and a white marble countertop. A large butler sink sits directly underneath a large window that looks out onto a gorgeous landscape, and I can’t stop myself from sighing in delight at the dips and curves of the hills.
The oven’s on, with what looks like sausages in a glass dish inside, and on the stovetop are two frying pans; one with bacon and one with eggs. At the back is a small saucepan which looks to have porridge inside, and all the aromas made my stomach grumble.
Isobel and Helen are already seated at the large dining table talking between each other.
Helen is perched on the chair at the far end of the table, her eyes warm and welcoming as she smiles at the two of us walking in.
Elias rests his hand on my lower back as he steers me to the table.
Olivia sits on a booster seat in between her mother and grandmother, the two of them fussing over her.
Helen pulls out the seat beside her as I approach and pats the table.
“Here,” she says, motioning for me to take the seat. I marvel at the comfort of the pale green cushion as I sit. “I hope you slept well.”
Isobel chuckles from behind her coffee mug and waggles her eyebrows at me—I guess Oscar told her how he found the two of us this morning. “Very well, thank you,” I reply.
A mug of steaming tea slides in front of me, and a corded and muscular forearm appears at my side.
Elias angles his body toward me, one hand resting on the back of my chair and the other on the table.
I look up at him with a grateful look, closing my eyes when his lips connect with my forehead.
I feel him smile against my skin when Isobel and Helen start gushing from beside us.
“How sweet,” Helen hums, taking a sip from the glass of orange juice in front of her, “Bridget, I woke up rather early this morning, so I’ve taken it upon myself to create some invites for you both.
I’ve emailed them to a friend of mine who will print them out.
Do you think you’ll be able to pass along your parents’ number?
Your mother and I can go about mailing them off. ”
Elias keeps his arms caged around me as the two of us find a way to respond. “It’s quite late notice. I’m not sure how many people will actually be able to make it. Maybe we can keep it small and intimate?” he answers for us.
Helen waves her hand. “Nonsense, darling. You only get married once and you should want your families there. Plus, if you invite select people then someone is bound to throw a fit, and then you’ve got a family feud on your hands, so no, darling. Small and intimate won’t do.”
He sighs and leans down to nuzzle his face in my hair. “I tried,” he whispers into the shell of my ear and then kisses the same spot.
Oscar joins us a few moments later, placing a plastic plate in front of Olivia.
Small pieces of sausage, bacon, and egg take up the majority of the plate, save for a small corner which has cut up strawberries and a small handful of blueberries.
Olivia’s grabby hands snatch up a slice of bacon and she gnaws at it hungrily.
We sit around the table for another hour or so before Elias tugs me away back to our room. After we shower together, Elias deposits me on the top of the bed in nothing but a towel, and roots through his bag.
“I was thinking we could go on a walk and spend some time together?”
I watch as he drops his towel and reaches down to put on a pair of navy briefs, pulling the material over his strong legs, and my mouth watering as my gaze trails over the dark hair that covers his skin.
His ass looks phenomenal, and I grumble under my breath when he pulls his briefs over it, obstructing the view.
Elias looks over his golden shoulder and winks at the sounds of my protest. He prowls over to me with a mischievous smirk, and as he nears my throat grows dry at the sight of water droplets roaming down his broad chest.
Elias looks down as he stops in front of me and lifts his hands until his fingers are running along the edge of the towel.
A trail of goose bumps follows his featherlight touch against my chest, his fingers brushing up and over my collarbones.
My body hums responsively to his touch, and I lean into him, chasing his touch.
Gently, he tugs at the towel until it falls open and lands on the bed.
His eyes roam my body slowly—hungrily—and I watch as runs his thumb over his bottom lip.
Leaning down, he captures my lips between his own and pecks me once before pulling back with a tight smile.
I rest my hands on his hips and give them a squeeze, pulling him closer and he puts his hands gently on my wrists and swipes his thumbs over the pulse points.
The touch alone has my body shivering and I look up at him from under my lashes.
“Stop looking at me like that, Bids,” he groans, his dark eyes locked onto the way I clamp my teeth down on my bottom lip. “Otherwise we’ll never leave this house and the views here are too beautiful to ignore.”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance, and lean back onto the bed.
I prop myself up onto my elbows and cross my right leg over the left.
Elias eyes darken even further, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as I put myself on display for him.
I run my right hand over the soft bedsheets and blush as I reminisce at how they felt against my bare skin last night.
“Who says that staying here all day would be a bad thing?” I whisper as I blink up at him.
He huffs, and I smirk preemptively, thinking I’ve got him—but I don’t.
Elias tips his head back and shakes his head before turning on his heel and over to his bag. “You’re an evil little thing, you know that?”
I push myself up and off the bed, making my way over to him. I press a kiss against his shoulder as I move around him and to my bag. “It was worth a shot.”
Elias wasn’t wrong when he said the views were beautiful.
I thought driving into Nelson was beautiful, but as we trek along the trails and further into the forest, I fall more and more in love with this place.
Tall birch trees careen around us, curling and wrapping their leafy branches over us.
Elias walks ahead of me, looking over his shoulder every now and then to make sure I’m still close by.
He looks radiant, beaming as he holds his hand out for me to take.
With his fingers loosely tangled through mine, he tugs us farther up a path and into a steady stream of sunlight.
It’s warmer than I anticipated and I feel myself growing clammy underneath my long-sleeved shirt.
As we near the top, Elias comes to a stop and turns to look at me with a soft—almost shy—smile. “Thank you for coming here with me,” he says softly as he takes my hips in his hands and pulls me closer. “Let me take you on a date.”
Elias rests his forehead against my own and presses a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose. “Like, a real one?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “A real one. One where we don’t have to pretend and we can just be us. I wasn’t kidding the other day when I said there’s no going back now. Plus, I think it’s important that I take you out on at least one date before our wedding.”
I nod, but I can’t ignore the tense feeling that begins to form in the pit of my stomach. “Sounds good,” I hum through a tight-lipped smile.
Elias doesn’t pick up on my terseness and pulls back to look down at me with an adoring expression. “There’s this nice restaurant here that I stumbled upon one time when I was out with my brother, and I think you’d love it. We should go tonight.”
The smile I give him doesn’t quite reach my eyes, and if he notices he doesn’t comment on it as he tugs on my arm and pulls me up the trail.
I try to keep my mind off the dread filling me from head to toe as we spend the rest of the day together, but can’t help but let my mind succumb to the negative thoughts.
The thoughts that make me feel like a bad person and the ones that have my questioning my own morality.
Even though a small part of me feels shameful, I don’t want to stop being with him because the more time I spend with him, the more I realize how wonderful it would be to love him—and I’m not ready to let that go just yet.