That moan . . . I swear it’s one of the best sounds in the whole world, at least it is until I slide inside and listen to her come undone for me.
Me.
I always knew we had chemistry—that came easy to us, from the friendly banter to holding her hand—but now knowing I get to spend an indefinite amount of time lost in her soft skin and her sweet smell . . . well, that tastes like forever, our forever, and I am the happiest man to ever walk this earth.
“So, back to the house talk,” I mumble against her shoulder sometime later. I know she’s exhausted and I am too, but I’m also excited.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” She shifts to lie more on her side, reaches up to run her hand through my hair, pushes it off my face, and then trails her fingers down over my jaw. Just that simple move from her has my heart tripping in my chest, and I hope she’ll touch me like this always.
“Nope, because I might have put in an offer on one of them.” I also am having a hard time keeping my hands to myself, and I reach around her to pull her closer to me. My hand settles on her ribcage, and my thumb slowly brushes back and forth underneath the swell of her breast.
“You did not,” she whisper-shouts, her whole body tensing.
I blink at her through the early morning light and can’t help the smile that creeps up on my face. “Yep, I sure did.”
“Which one?” she demands. Her dark curly hair is spread out all over her pillow, and her eyes narrow suspiciously.
“The Cooke house.”
It takes her a second to register what I’ve just said, and then she shoots up to sit on her knees. Damn, the sight of her naked is something I will never get tired of, and I can’t help it when my eyes drag down over her.
“Stop it for a second.” She shoves me over onto my back, and I laugh. “Are you messing with me?”
“Why would I do that?” I interlace my fingers behind my head and grin at her.
“I don’t know, but I love that house. I didn’t even know they were wanting to sell it.”
“I don’t think anyone did. When I spoke to them about renting the garden for the night, he teased that the house was also for sale if I wanted it. He might have only been partly serious at the time, but I told him to name his price, and he came back to me yesterday with one.”
“How much?” She leans forward, putting her hand on my thigh.
“Don’t you worry about it.” I shake my head and watch as she goes from excited to angry. Her fingers dig into my skin, and I yelp.
“Of course I’m going to worry about it! Those houses are insanely expensive. Jack, what were you thinking?” She gets out of the bed and starts pacing around the room. Again, she’s still naked, and I’m loving every second of this.
“Did you forget that I played in the NFL for ten years? I have money—plenty of it.”
She stops at the foot of the bed and glares at me. “You know I don’t want your money.”
“I know that, but I want you and me, together, forever. Like you said, you love that home—you’ve told me so repeatedly—and we’ll need the space.”
“Forever can be a long time.”
Sitting up so my feet are now hanging over the edge of the bed, I reach for her and drag her back over so she’s standing between my legs. Running my hands up her hamstrings, I squeeze her tiny little ass before I settle them on her waist. She’s looking down at me as I look up at her, and she sees that I mean it when I say, “Forever will never be long enough.”
“Sometimes you really do know how to say the perfect things,” she whispers, wrapping her hands around my face to tilt my head back even more.
“It’s easy when I have the perfect girl,” I tell her, staring into her gorgeous eyes.
Pressing her forehead to mine, she rolls her head back and forth then slides her cheek next to mine before she seals our mouths together in the most delicious, appreciative kiss. She ends it too quickly, but at least I know there will be more, and soon if I have anything to say about it.
“What am I going to do with you?” she murmurs against my lips.
“Well, it’s really pretty simple—I mean I am a simple guy.” I suck a little harder on her bottom lip while running my hands up and down her back, and then I stop them on her ass, pulling her a little closer. “I told you on the day we met, don’t you remember? The two Fs, food and fu—”
“Stop right there.” She jerks back, covers my mouth with her hand, and I chuckle.
“Why? It’s the truth,” I mumble behind her fingers just before I lick her palm. She attempts to snatch it away, but I grasp her to me and lock my legs around her.
“Wanna know my truth?” she asks, gray eyes flaring, attitude present with each word.
“Always, sunshine. Always.” I’m still grinning; I can’t help it.
She then surprises me by smearing her wet hand across my face, and this time I openly laugh.
Lying back, I pull her down on top of me. Her elbows frame my face as she glares down at me, but my affection for her has expanded so much when I didn’t think it possibly could any more.
“I love you,” I tell her, and the glare drops only to be replaced with tenderness and reverence.
“And I love you,” she says, threading her fingers in my hair.
“Do you love me enough to make me some breakfast?” I ask hopefully.
“What do you want?” She drops down so her face is buried in my neck, and I wrap my arms around her to hug her.
“Biscuits and gravy?” I mean, if I don’t ask, I’ll never get it, and doesn’t that just sound so good right now?
“Always starving for Southern, aren’t you?” She shakes her head, and I hug her tighter.
“I can’t help it. You’ve bewitched me. I can’t get enough of your Southern food, or my Southern girl.” I kiss her temple and she sighs.
“I like it when you call me yours.” Her breath is warm against my skin, and I force myself to stay focused on what I’ve just asked for—her feeding me food instead of herself.
“Well, you are mine. You’ve always been mine.”
She rises up, her hair tickling my face, and she smiles down at me. “And for that—for not giving up on me—I will make you your breakfast, even though I’d rather be sleeping.”
She climbs off the bed and finds my shirt on the floor. I watch, completely enamored as she slips it on and rolls up the sleeves. It’s so long on her she could put on a belt and wear it as a dress, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s sexy as hell.
“We can sleep after that. Just think about how much better it’ll be with a full stomach.” I stand and rub mine animatedly.
Her eyes travel down the length of me, and I watch as she tightens her hands into fists before she turns for the door. “If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Grabbing my boxer briefs off the floor, I tug them on while telling her, “Listen to your best friend—he knows what he’s talking about.”
With those words, she stops moving and turns back to look at me. “You are my best friend. That hasn’t changed.” If she’s nervous about this, she shouldn’t be.
“I’m glad, because you are mine, and so much more. I should warn you . . . I do plan on taking every title.”
“Every title?” Her brows have risen.
I don’t even need to answer her; I just give her a look that has her face smoothing out and her cheeks flushing pink. I do plan on it, every title: best friend, lover, boyfriend, fiancé, husband—you name it, it’s going to be mine. The only question now is how fast I can make it happen.
“All right, handsome. I hear you. Let’s go get you fed.”
Of course I follow as she walks out of the room, and not just because my stomach is rejoicing at what’s to come; I would follow her anywhere. She is the piece of me I didn’t know I was missing, and now that I’ve found her, there’s no going back. We’re going to be teammates for life.
Sausage Gravy for Biscuits
One ye
ar later
EVERY TIME WE visit Wolff Winery, I find myself overlooking the vineyard and the rolling hills at the base of the Smoky Mountains. They are calming and serene in a way that can’t be found in the city, and I feel rejuvenated and inspired each time.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Jack asks, coming up behind me and caging me against the railing with his arms.
“Just enjoying the view.” I turn my head to the side, and he leans in to steal a kiss. His lips are soft, warm, and yummy with the lingering taste of lemons from the frozen lemonade cake.
“Yeah, me too,” he says, his eyes holding mine so I can understand his meaning before he wraps his arms around me and pulls me back against his chest.
“Anything in there upsetting you at all?” he asks quietly, with concern. He’s been worried about today for a while, even though I assured him that wasn’t necessary.
“No, I promise you, it’s not. I am so happy for them.” And I truly am. My heart is full.
I’ve now been cancer-free for eight years. It might seem silly to some that I still count the months and years, but it’s not to me. I am grateful for this time, even if sometimes I feel like it’s all just borrowed.
One month after Jack returned to Charleston, we moved into the Cooke house, and it officially became the Willett house. Jack swept me up in his arms on the sidewalk outside the gate and carried me down the little path to the front door, but instead of crossing the threshold, he put me down and got down on one knee. To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but as he talked about how the rest of his life had already begun with me and he didn’t see the need to wait to make it official, I fell in love with him even more. He was mine and I was his, and he wanted the world to know.
We didn’t have a big wedding, instead deciding to elope. Of course, if we had wanted it, all of our friends and family would have been there, but these days everyone is so busy, our schedules are all so different, and well, it made sense to us. So, with our marriage license all set to go, we headed off to the city hall with Eddie, his wife, and Taylor as our witnesses.
Of course I found the most gorgeous little white dress and completed the look with a stunning pair of white Alexandre Birman heels. I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t in heels, and I know Jack appreciated them too as he discreetly told me he expected me in the shoes and just the shoes later that evening.
It was a beautiful June night, the sky clear and the humidity low. We decided to take a carriage ride around the city and drink champagne, and although they weren’t for our wedding but for the many others that were happening that Saturday evening, the bells from the churches of the Holy City rang so loud and joyously, they may as well have been for us.
It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Jack settled into his new role at The Citadel with ease. The staff and the team love him—I mean how could they not—and he immediately switched up the playbook, changed how the practices are organized, and made it fun by bringing Bryan up from Tampa to do a mini clinic with his quarterbacks. He’s loving his job, and this past season they finished with a record of 7-3, earning them a spot in a bowl game. They didn’t win it, but they were so happy to be there they may as well have.
“Okay. Do you want me to stay outside with you?” he asks as he ducks his head down and drops his lips to my shoulder.
“No. You go back in and visit with your friends. You don’t get to see them enough as it is.”
He turns me to face him, his brown eyes warm and affectionate. He wraps his hands around my face, bends down to place his lips on mine, and gives me the most delicious kiss. I swear there is nothing I wouldn’t do for this man.
Pulling back, he smiles at me, dimples on full display, and then he slides his hands down to my backside and squeezes.
“I’ll never get tired of doing that.” He grins.
“I hope not,” I tell him. I do love those large hands on me, anywhere he wants to put them.
“Let me know if you need anything,” he says lovingly.
“I will. I promise.”
He studies my face for a brief second longer, gives me a wink, and then wanders back inside.
We’re here at Zach and Shelby’s this weekend to shower Bryan and Lexi as they are having not one baby, but two. Twins.
Lexi still laughs when she tells the story about them at the doctor’s office in the ultrasound room. Bryan was standing next to Lexi, and she was on the bed. The technician was pointing out different things on the monitor, and then she showed them the second heartbeat. She said Bryan made a strangled noise, they both turned to look at him, and then he passed out—like knees collapsed and out cold on the floor. He also hit his head on the way down, splitting it open, and there was blood everywhere. The technician ran out for help, all these people swarmed around him in the little room, and there she was standing in the corner with no pants on because at eight weeks it’s a vaginal ultrasound and not one done on the lower stomach. It was chaos, it was messy, and she said when he finally came to, he was so horrified and excited at the same time that he cried.
Lexi got her first set of black and white images of their babies, Bryan got a nice set of stitches, and hand in hand they left the office with their world changed.
As for me, I can’t have children, at least not in the traditional way. I’m okay with this, and as much as I was nervous about telling Jack, which I did that night under the gazebo, he was okay with the idea too. That’s why he’s worried about me today, but he doesn’t need to be.
At twenty-one, I had a full hysterectomy. They did leave the good untouched ovary to not send me into menopause, but as for the rest of my reproductive organs—gone. We did choose to freeze some eggs in case I should ever decide on third-party reproduction where someone else would carry an embryo from us, but I’m not sure I want to go that route. Instead, Jack and I have met with two different adoption agencies. We know no matter which path we take, it will be a long process and will most likely come with some heartache, but we’re prepared for what life has to give us. With him by my side, I know we’ll be just fine.
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? And that’s life. With each glass, we’re taught lessons about ourselves, about others, and ultimately about what matters most. It’s why I’ve amended my five promises and dropped them to four. After all, I created them, so I can erase them, too, or drink them. Lessons in lemonade—it has a nice ring to it, I think.
Maybe I’ll put it on my menu.
Silently, Shelby and Lexi slide up next to me, and instinctively we wrap our arms around each other. The three legs of the tripod.
“How are your feet holding up today?” I ask Lexi as we all bend down to look at them. She’s had some swelling issues, but that’s to be expected as she’s now in her third trimester.
“If I could see them, I’d tell you, but I can’t.”
We all laugh. Her stomach is so large; it’s strange to see, and I can’t even imagine what it’s going to look like by the end.
“Well, they look good to me,” Shelby reassures her, and I think about our conversation earlier where Shelby all but said, No babies, not yet.
After the success of the southeast regional Food Network magazine, Zach and Shelby both were launched into a new place with their careers. For Zach, the winery is now booked most weekends with events, and distribution contracts have doubled. For Shelby, her pitch for a network show was picked up, and the pilot of her series will air in the fall. Aside from Zach, no one is more proud of her than me.
And at that thought, my eyes swell with tears.
I feel so lucky.
“It’s been a pretty amazing couple of years, hasn’t it?” I look at them, and they look at me.
“It really has,” Lexi answers, each of us gripping a little tighter in our embrace with a clear understanding.
Maybe I’m feeling more sentimental today because we’re all here together, or maybe I’m just feeling more blessed because w
ith Jack I finally feel more hope than fear. Whatever it is, I’m finding it easier to admit to myself that I’m looking forward to seeing where we all are in five years. I’ve spent so long just trying to live in the moment, to not take each second for granted, that I never really made any long-term goals. Lately, though, I’ve been trying, and the future that once felt so bleak and scary now feels bright.
“Lexi.” Shelby leans in and whispers so only the three of us can hear. “Now’s your chance since Bryan isn’t around—tell us the names.” Her eyes are large and excited as she nods her head like this is the best idea ever.
“What? No!” Lexi tips her head back and laughs.
Lexi wanted to know the genders of the babies, but Bryan didn’t. He wanted it all to be a surprise, but of course he caved to her wishes, and in return they made a pact to keep the names a secret so that would be the surprise when they arrive. One boy, and one girl—perfect for the two of them.
“Why not? We won’t tell anyone,” Shelby declares.
Lexi glows as she grins. “That’s not how it works and you know it. I don’t need him mad at me if he finds out. I need him to rub my back—daily.”
I can’t help the giggle that escapes me.
“Fine.” Shelby takes a step back and flips her blonde hair over one shoulder like she’s mad, although we all know she’s not. “But it’s his fault there won’t be any monogrammed blankets or baby hats at the hospital.”
“Not true. I ordered blankets, so stop worrying,” Lexi tells her.
“You did?” she asks, surprised.
Lexi nods.
“Well that makes me feel a little better. I can’t help it, you know. I love you and I want everything to be perfect,” Shelby says so tenderly.
“I love you, and it already is.” Lexi squeezes her hand.
“All right, if you say so.” She lets out a deep sigh. “Okay, enough slacking on the job for me. It’s time for me to get back to the kitchen and for us to break out the cupcakes! Either one of you need anything?”
We both shake our heads no, and inwardly I groan at the thought of eating more food.
Lessons in Lemonade Page 26