Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
Dane
Gravel crunches under the tires as we wind down the driveway. Kendall is practically sitting on top of the dashboard as she looks out the windshield. When I finally park outside my lake house on Mirror Lake, it’s beautiful, and I have one of the few lots on the lake with some privacy.
The house sits back from the shoreline, off to the side.
Down by the water, I have a beach hut. It took forever for all the sign-offs to get the hut built.
It has it all—electricity, running water, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a guest room.
The house is big enough, but I wanted a place where I could have a piece of heaven closer to the water.
My favorite part of the hut is the front porch.
It’s positioned perfectly for all the summer sunsets on the lake.
We walk up to the side door. “Dane, is this your house?”
“Sweetheart, this is my lake house, and I wanted to share this slice of heaven with you.”
“Okay, so this is your second home?” Her mouth is agape. I think she loves it.
Rylee, my assistant, spent the last few days getting this place ready. I haven’t seen it since Logan and I came here earlier this week. I’m just as surprised as Kendall is with the inside.
I unlock the door and turn the knob. The door swings open. What once was a place I never wanted to visit again is now a place that Kendall is oohing and ahhing over.
“Dane, this place is amazing,” she says as she walks to the windows overlooking the yard and lake. She stands there for a few minutes, taking it all in.
My heart squeezes in my chest. Is it from the memories of what happened here?
I rub my chest and watch her. She doesn’t move, so I stroll over, not wanting to disturb her.
My chest connects with her back, and I wrap my arms around her stomach.
We stand there, watching the moonlight flicker on the water.
Surprisingly, my chest loosens the longer we stand here. Holding her, I begin to sway and dip my head to her ear. “You love it.” I know she loves it; her eyes give it away. The way she is swaying with me and her thumbs stroke my hands, this woman has me—all of me.
Fresh memories of my favorite place with my new favorite person. I slide one of my hands from hers and dig into my pocket for my phone. Fumbling through some songs, I choose Lenny Kravitz's “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” and press play.
She whirls around. “What’s that?”
“A song. Want to dance?”
“I’d love to dance.”
We spend the next twenty minutes dancing.
Her body against mine, my arms wrapped around her, and our hearts beat together.
The fire burning between us is more than just sexual tension.
Our flames intertwine the longer we hold each other.
The complete calmness in my body, all my muscles relaxing, and the watermelon scent of her hair, has me hugging her closer.
Although I’m not sure how much closer we can get.
I want to make new memories here with her. The song wraps up, and I whisper to her, “Want to see the rest of the house?”
“I’m content dancing right here with you.”
“Okay.”
When we finally tear apart several songs later, I give her the tour. Rylee pulled out all the stops in such a short amount of time. The last room is the master bedroom. My heart beats faster as we approach the door. This is where it all happened. I stop in my tracks.
Shit! Can I walk through the door?
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Concern is written all over her face.
We stand in the hallway a couple of feet away from the door. She takes my hands in hers, bringing them to her mouth, and kisses my palms. “Tell me. I can see it in your eyes. Something’s wrong.”
My eyes? She’s full of surprises. I read body language—she reads eyes.
A deep sigh leaves me, and I confess, “It was here.”
“Dane, what was here?”
My throat constricts as I choke out, “Maggie…” I pull my gaze from the floor to her eyes.
Her beautiful emerald green eyes pierce me with an affection that seeps through my body, spurring me to continue.
“She brought him here—my best friend. She tarnished this place for me. I came home early to surprise her. Really early, she never would have thought I would take that much time off from work, but I did. That day.”
She lets go of my hands so she can hold my face and stare into my eyes. I rest my hands on her hips. “You haven’t been back since?”
“I came earlier this week with Logan. I didn’t want tonight to be the first time I walked through the door. Then I had my assistant, Rylee, redecorate.” My head moves to her forehead, closing my eyes. Processing that I’m standing here ready to walk through that door.
“That makes sense. You looked just as surprised as I was when we walked through the front door.”
I lift my head to look at her. “Yeah, she outdid herself. She’s due for a raise.” I chuckle at myself. I keep saying that, so maybe I need to do it when I’m back in the office next week.
“Get on that!” She smiles at me. It brings my shoulders back, making me stand tall.
She makes me laugh again. “So bossy.”
“You haven’t seen bossy yet.”
“This feels like the last piece of me that I needed to share with you. I love you, and my heart is healing because you’re in it. I’m reclaiming this place with you by my side.”
I take her hand and tug her through the doorway behind me. Flipping the light on, my eyes are wide and I’m speechless—nothing comes out of my mouth. There is a new four-poster bed with crisp white linens and an endless array of pillows.
Who needs that many pillows?
It’s even positioned differently, still able to see out the wall of windows overlooking the water.
The matching nightstands with new lamps—simple with white shades.
There’s a tall dresser on one wall and another smaller dresser on the far wall.
There’s an oversized chaise lounge with a small table for coffee or a book.
The room is drastically different. I don’t feel the tightness in my chest anymore. What I see now is possibility. And we sure as fuck are going to christen this bed at some point tonight.
Kendall walks forward, leaving my hand behind. Her flowing red hair flows behind her as she walks through the room.
“This is magnificent.” She walks over to the chaise and slides herself onto it. “One word—comfortable. Come sit with me,” she says, patting her hand.
I step back and shut off the lights. Then, I make my way through the dark to climb onto the chaise with her. The darkness allows us to stargaze from the chaise. Not as good as being on the porch of the hut, but we haven’t even gotten that far on our tour yet.
This chaise is huge; if I can fit with Kendall by my side, it’s monstrous and feels plush. I drape my arm around her, and she leans back onto me.
“The view of the lake in the morning is breathtaking,” I say to her just before my lips kiss her cheek.
“I’d like to see that.” She snuggles up close to me with her head resting on my shoulder.
“We will today and every day,” I promise her.
She turns and places her hand on my face. “I love you.” Her lips meet mine, and she flings her leg over me, straddling me.
If we stay here, there’s no way we'll make it outside. The sky is clear, and all the stars shine brightly. I kiss her back. Light kisses, no tongue, sensual. Regardless, my dick is ready, per usual. She grinds her pussy down onto it.
I take both of her arms in my hands and pull her slightly away. “We have a couple of choices. We could walk down to the water and see the hut, or we can stay right here.”
She leans back even further. “The hut?”
“Yeah, there’s a hut I had built by the water. Like a tiny house with a porch and we could watch the stars down there…Or we could stay right here and continue kissing and see where it leads us.” I kiss her neck.
“Now I’m intrigued. A hut? I have to see this.” She slides off and grabs my hands, yanking me to my feet. As strong as she is, I don’t budge.
I tug her toward me and say, “A kiss before we head down.” And the kiss isn’t rushed. We linger on each other’s lips.
“Okay, let’s check out this hut.” She’s bouncing on her toes. I’m proud of the design; it’s everything I wanted in a waterfront hut.
With fingers interlaced, we walk through the house and out to the yard. We are both barefoot; the grass under our feet is lush. Kendall stops in the middle of the yard.
“Sweetheart…”
She covers my mouth with her finger. “This yard is private. We could do some…things on this grass and no one would see us.” Brushing her toes into it, “It’s cozy…but they’d definitely hear me.” She proudly moves through the rest of the yard and then bolts for the front door.
“Wait, don’t step in without me.”
Whipping her head around, she says, “Then hurry up, slowpoke.”
I jog up to the porch, and my hand brushes over hers as I turn the knob. Kendall enters first, with me on her heels. Flipping the switch, I’m in shock. Rylee also redecorated the hut.
“Dane—this place. It’s just as breathtaking. What do you even do here?”
“When I used to come every weekend, I’d stay in here. I felt like I was away from everyone being down here. The house is too big for one person; sometimes I want to live a simple life.”
“A simple life, huh?! I feel like that occasionally. Getting away from everything, it’s nice to decompress in a space that hugs you. This place hugs me.” Her eyes roam around the space, taking it all in.
I look at her with curiosity. “I’m not sure I feel the hug part, but I think I know what you’re saying.”
It’s a small house, so the tour takes less than five minutes to complete. The bedroom is a mini version of the master bedroom. Rylee even found a smaller chaise to put in the corner of the room.
“This is the most luxurious bathroom,” she says as she walks in, turning on the light. “That soaking tub is calling my name.”
The tub has one of the best views of the lake. You can see out, but onlookers would have to be up against that glass to see inside.
“Go for it.” I gesture to the tub.
“Not now! We still have some stargazing to do.” She turns around and leans up to stroke my beard. “Let’s go check out that porch.”
When we first came in, we sped by the porch, wanting to look inside, but it doesn’t disappoint.
I smirk, thinking about her lying in the bathtub—naked, her breasts peeking out at the top of the water with bubbles all around her. Fuck, that will be hot.