“I always let you take me home.” She runs her fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck.
“Yeah, but that night, I wasn’t sure you would let me. When we got to your door, you were crying. You were jealous and possessive. Your eyes that night… They glowed, and I felt something stir in me. It was weird. I had never felt something grip me so intensely. I wanted to protect you. I didn’t want you to hurt, and I had caused it. I was already in love with you, but at that moment, I fell head over heels. No one had ever loved me enough to stake their claim in front of so many people. You know my parents didn’t give a shit, but you were this beautiful angel, and you cared. You felt like I was yours and no one could have a piece of me. You took claim of me. You owned me that night.”
She stares at me, soaking that in. “We were so young back then.”
“Yeah, but I think we knew.”
“We came from completely different worlds.”
“We did, but we had something huge in common. We were two kids looking for love.”
“We latched on to each other.” Her face lights up as we go back and forth setting my heart ablaze.
“We did, because when we were together, we finally found where we belonged. We finally found our reason for being.”
She smiles and runs her palm across my cheek. “We were attached at the hip.”
“We were, weren’t we?” I laugh.
“I couldn’t get enough of you,” she whispers, her eyes serious.
“There’ll never be a day when I could get enough you, Kylie.” The energy between us churns to a low burn. “Thank you for coming here with me.”
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Should we eat?” I ask, pointing at the blanket and picnic basket.
“You really did think of everything.”
“I tried. Come on.”
We walk over to the blanket and sit across from each other. I grab the basket, open it, and pull out the champagne, fruit, and sandwiches.
“Wow… yummy,” she says.
I notice the cute grin that lines her face, and a surge of satisfaction shoots through me. I love making her happy and feeling as though I’m doing something right for a change. “What do you want first?”
“Fruit,” she says. “I’m starving. I haven’t eaten today. Cali and I went on a shoe run and hit up Niemen’s for some summer dresses. Before we knew it, it was time to come home.”
“How much damage did you do today?” I ask, raising a brow.
Her cheeks turn red. “A good amount.”
“Do you girls do anything other than shop?”
“No, not really. What else is there to do?”
“I don’t know. Get coffee and maybe just look at the clothes and shoes.”
“What’s the fun in that? The point of shopping is to come home with good things that make you feel amazing. Plus I like hanging with Cali. You know, bonding. Girl time.”
I chuckle. “Well, I’m glad you had fun spending money.”
“I got some stuff for you too.” Her voice drops low and husky.
That piques my attention. “You did?”
“Yep,” she says, the ‘p’ popping off her lips.
I smirk in a ‘please continue this’ way.
She smiles teasingly.
“Are you going to tell me what you got?”
“Nope,” she says, taunting me.
“Why not?”
“That would ruin my surprise.”
I toss her a lopsided grin. “Now you’re surprising me?”
She points toward our surroundings, a smile lifting her lips. “Well, I have to repay you for this grand gesture.”
“And when am I to get this payment?” I inquire, my dick twitching.
“Maybe tonight.”
“Are you really hungry?” I ask, the food losing its appeal.
“Yes.” She laughs. “Mind on the food, Cooper.”
“I’m looking at my food.”
She blushes, and I swear it runs all the way down to her toes.
“I love it when you get that look on your face,” she says, her voice dropping to this husky, sexiness that rips through me.
“What look?”
“The one where your eyes eat me alive. It’s almost as if you’re picturing me naked and spread before you already. It’s like you can’t wait to get your hands on me.”
“That would be exactly what I’m doing,” I murmur, pulling her to me.
She comes willingly, climbing into my lap. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I say right before taking her lips in a searing kiss.
She moans, the vibration racing to my cock. I grasp her hair and pull her into me closer. Having her in my arms again, at our special place, is indescribable.
She pulls back, her face heated and sexy. “We should eat,” she whispers.
“Mmm… I would love to eat.” I breathe, pecking her lips again.
I grab a strawberry and bring it to her mouth. She bites down and chews it slowly. My body’s so hot right now, and my dick is probably poking her in the ass. I’m aching for her, but I need to hold myself back. I don’t want tonight to be about sex. I want to make her feel special and loved, and I still have a surprise to give her.
She finishes the first strawberry, and grabs a piece of pineapple. She drags it across my bottom lip then pulls it back. She leans forward, her eyes connecting with mine, and licks the juice off slowly. I groan, no longer able to contain the surge of bliss that stirs in my blood. She smiles like a vixen, enjoying her power over me, and brings the pineapple to her mouth, taking a slow, seductive bite.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I watch as she swallows, my heart in my throat.
“Maybe.”
“Well you’re doing a good job.”
She giggles and bites her lip. “I can feel that.”
“I’m sure you can.”
“Would it help if I sit over there?” She points at her open spot.
I don’t want her to move, but having her body against mine is nothing short of torture. We’ve been apart for so long that having her back is almost like dating her for the first time. We’re in a honeymoon phase, and I feel as though I need her every second of the day.
“That might be a good idea because big, hard, wide Cooper wants to come out and play with little Kylie right now.”
Her face turns beet red, and she bursts out laughing, rolling off my lap. She laughs so hard that tears drip down her cheeks. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
I grin stupidly and laugh too. “Neither can I. You make me feel like a teenager.”
She pulls herself together. “That line was brilliant, but I don’t want you to ever call my pussy little Kylie again. It’s kind of creepy.”
That pulls a deep laugh from me. “Noted.” I take a bite out of the sandwich she hands me. “Do you remember Mr. Patty?”
“Your grandpa’s friend, right? He was the one who owned this property.”
“Yep.” I nod. “You know he was going to expand his farm out here but never did.” I look at the trees and lake that are now dark in the twilight. “I’ve always loved this spot. It’s so private.”
“It’s beautiful,” she says, looking at the nature around us.
“He put it up for sale three years ago.”
“He did?” she says, taken aback. “Are we okay to be here?”
I chuckle. “We’re fine. He was getting older and wanted to move to a smaller place. Taking care of the crops and animals got to be too much for him, and this piece of land was just another thing to take care of. He didn’t want the expense, so he put it on the market.”
“Wow. I haven’t seen him in years.”
“Yeah, me either.”
“So who bought the land? Why are we okay to be here if it’s not his anymore?”
I gaze at her and smile. “I bought it.”
“What?” she exclaims. “When? You never told me that.”
; “I was keeping it as a surprise. Right before I proposed, I saw it in the paper. I used some of the money I had received from my parents when I turned eighteen. I couldn’t let our spot be sold to someone else.”
“Why would you keep this from me?” she asks, scrunching her nose.
“I wanted to give you something after we had our first child,” I whisper. “I wanted to build you a house here. Do you remember when we found the lake house?”
“Yeah,” she says.
“Well, we bought that right before we got married. You fell in love with that place within five seconds of stepping out the car. So I thought I would keep this place in my back pocket. We had the house and then the lake house. I saw no point in building a third home. I figured once the baby was born, I would broach the subject of moving out here.”
“I can’t believe you own our spot,” she whispers.
“We own our spot.” I correct.
A blinding smile takes over her flawless face. I decide to go on and tell her why I brought her out here today.
“I want to sell the lake house and our home and build a new one out here,” I say. “I want a fresh start for us. A place where we have good memories already. The lake house and our home feel tainted, Kylie. I want something new for us, a clean slate. This right here is the best of both worlds. We have our lake that we love.” I point toward the glistening lake. “We can build a big home, custom made with everything you want. It’ll be a new start, away from everything that’s held us back.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and she smiles, sending relief through me. “I’d love that. I’d love a fresh start with you.”
I smile back, feeling lighter. I wasn’t sure how she would take that. I’ve been thinking about it so much over the last month, and I didn’t know how to bring it up. I thought she might freak when I brought up getting rid of both places.
“Okay. This is good.”
She laughs. “It is.” Her eyes rake my body and move back to my face. “Thank you, Cooper. Thank you for loving me. For giving me a second chance.”
“Baby,” I breathe, my heart beating wildly, “please don’t thank me. I don’t deserve it. This is what I should have been doing all along. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she breathes as she climbs in my lap.
“But I let you down”
“But we’re okay now.”
“I promised I’d never, ever abandon you.” I continue, my chest aching. “I made your biggest fear come true. I left you to face so many things alone. I’ve broken every promise I’ve made to you.”
My anger at myself blisters fresh across my skin. I can’t believe who I became over the last two years. Who I allowed myself to become. When I look at her, I feel an intense amount of guilt. I let the woman I love more than life itself suffer. All she wanted was to be loved and taken care of, and all I did was hurt and avoid her.
“That’s not true. You didn’t break every promise,” she says. “We both promised each other the world, and we thought we could give it. We’ve both done things we regret. It’s part of growing up. As long as we do it together, we’ll be okay. Losing Kayla was something we never imagined would happen. I don’t think we ever considered the fact that there was a chance. We were naïve, and we didn’t know how to cope. It’s taken us a while to work through that, and it’ll still take time. We got lost, but look at where we are.” She slashes her hand through the air to indicate our spot. “We’re back where we started. This is us. We’re naturally happy people, Cooper. We were always happy before the misery set in, and we can be happy again. We just have to find it and come to terms with the fact that our baby is never coming back.” She closes her eyes for a second. “I don’t know how to make peace with that. Maybe that’s where Dr. Kincaid comes in.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I murmur. “It’s hard to undo what I’ve done.”
“We can’t go back, but we can go forward. Together. None of the damage is permanent. We can heal over time. That’s why we’re in therapy. So we can learn from what we did, grow up a little, and find ways to cope with the fact that Kayla’s gone.”
“You like her though? Right? The doctor?”
“Yeah, she’s nice. This week was hard though.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “For me, too.”
“Did she bring up Kayla?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“I don’t know why I can’t face her grave. I can’t even think about going there. The thought of it hurts too badly.” Tears pool in her eyes.
“I understand, baby. You’re her mother. Of course it’s going to be hard on you.”
“But I feel if anyone has abandoned anyone, it’s me. I can’t believe I let her down. I didn’t see her laid to rest. I didn’t get to say good-bye, and the sickest thing of all, I haven’t been to see her once. Not once,” she breathes, regret lacing every word she just spoke.
“We’ll get through this.” I hold her face and kiss her. “We’ll get through this. That’s why I brought you here. I want a fresh start for us. I don’t want the memories in those places following us. We’ll keep going to our therapist, and we’ll work up to you going to see her. You’ll do it, and I’ll hold your hand through it. You’re doing the best you can, and I should have acknowledged that from the beginning. She’s not there. She’s here.” I place my hand on her heart. “She’s with you, sweet girl, and she’s with me.” I place her hand on my heart. “We’ll learn how to move on together.” A couple tears trail down her cheeks, so I take my thumbs and dry them. “I don’t deserve you, but I swear, Kylie, I will do everything in my power to get us where we need to be.”
“I love you,” she whispers. “Through all this, we’ve been screaming for her and each other. Our world broke, and I don’t think it’ll never be the same. But I don’t want to go back, Cooper. I never want to go back to what happened and what we became.”
“We won’t,” I exhale. “Never again. I promise you from this day forward that no matter what happens, I’ll always, always fight for you.” The tenderness behind her eyes, the sweetness behind her touch and the feel of her in my arms soothes every aching, oozing wound I have.
“I know you won’t,” she whispers. “Do you want to know how I know?”
I nod.
“Look at where we are. Look where you brought me. Do you know what this means to me? How this made me feel? You’ve brought me home. This was where we started.” She examines my face, really seeing me. There’s a lightness to her, an ethereal beauty that melts me. “Here… right here”—she pats the grass—“you asked me to be your girlfriend. It was right here that you made love me for the first time. God, do you remember the way that felt? The way you made me feel that day was indescribable. You asked me to be your wife here. Every good thing began here, and every private moment we’ve had was captured here. This is our spot. You’ve brought me back and offered me the world. You’re a wonderful man, and I love you with every fiber of who I am.”
“I love you too. More than anything in the world. I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving that love to you.”
“And I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve. I’m sorry for hurting you, for being selfish and taking things into my own hands. I’m sorry I left you without thinking about what I was doing. I acted like an immature brat, and I’ve done some pretty despicable things to you. I know you never wanted to open our marriage. I forced that on you. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry for everything.”
“Me too, sweet girl. Let’s make a promise to each other.”
“Okay.” Her blue eyes twinkle in the moonlight and lanterns, glisten against her creamy skin, stirring every ounce of my body.
“Let’s promise that there’ll be no more ‘I’m sorrys’ over what’s already been done. From this moment on, we’ll look forward and tackle things day by day, together, getting the help we need along the way. I forgive you, Kylie. Your mistakes don’t reflect on what I think of you. I know your heart. I k
now who you are. I hope someday you can let this go and forgive yourself, and then forgive me for not being the man I promised you I would be.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” she whispers.
I look at this beautiful, magnetic and captivating woman that owns my soul and know that I would lay down my life for her. I would walk through hell, again and again to be the man she deserves.
“Thank you.”
“So we’re building a home here,” she says, her eyes widening with delight.
“If you want to.”
“Yes, I want to. When can we start?”
I laugh. That’s her. That’s exactly who she is, an impatient, shopping obsessed, sexy, tell it like it is, loving, strong-willed spitfire. “I guess we’ll start tomorrow. I think we need to get the new house built before we list our home. I’m going to go ahead and put the lake house on the market, though.”
Her face glazes over with sadness. “I’ll miss that house.”
“Me too,” I whisper, “but there are so many better memories ahead of us.”
“Mmm… like what?” she asks, her body turning to putty in my arms as she straddles me.
I lick my lips and look at her, trying to hold back from laying her on the grass and ravishing her. She looks edible. “Do you have my present on under that little black dress that’s riding up right now?”
She pulls back and flips her eyes to my mouth. “I’m not sure. I might.”
“You might?”
“I think you’re going to have to open me up and take a look.”
I groan, feeling my body hum from the heat seeping off her skin. “Champagne first.”
A seductive smile takes over her face. “Are you holding out on me, Mr. Bailey?”
“I’m trying to be a good boy tonight and just spend time with you,” I mutter. “It’s not working. You look so damn good all I can think about is getting under that dress. Did you get this today?” I run my fingers across the swell of her breasts.
Her throat bobs as she swallows and goose bumps pepper her arms. “No, but what’s underneath it is new,” she purrs.
I move my eyes from her breasts to her face, sliding my hands up her smooth thighs. “You’re torturing me.”
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