He held up the tie, grinning happily. “I love Christmas ties!” He put it on over his T-shirt making her laugh. “And I can’t wait to find out what your favorite songs are.”
“You can’t wear a Santa Claus tie with a T-shirt. You need an ugly Christmas sweater!”
Al shook his head. “I don’t want to get too fancy. You might not be able to keep your hands off me!”
“That would be rough for you, wouldn’t it?”
He laughed softly. “I’m not sure I could take it.”
“Better not try that then. I’m already looking at you lustfully with that tie on over your T-shirt. Might break me if it was over a Christmas sweater…”
“Well, since you’re feeling so lustful toward me, you may touch me if you need to.” He took her hand and placed it on his chest. “Go ahead!”
Erin laughed. “No, it’s time for me to open my present.”
He deposited a wrapped gift in her lap. “Go for it.”
Feeling funny opening it under his watchful eye, she carefully tore the paper and opened a big box, which revealed two small jewelry boxes. “Jewelry? I barely know you…”
He chuckled. “Maybe so, but you’re my wife, and jewelry seems appropriate.”
Erin felt her heart pounding as she opened the larger box first, guessing correctly it was a necklace. She pulled the pendant toward her and smiled. “It’s a heart!”
He nodded. “Symbolic of giving you mine. I was hoping I’d marry someone I could give my heart to.”
“What if you hadn’t?”
He grinned. “I have a book as a booby prize if I didn’t like my wife.”
“You do not!”
Al laughed as he stood up to go to the bedroom, coming back a moment later with another wrapped gift. “Are you sure?”
She took it from him, tearing off the paper, and revealing a book called, Making Your Marriage Work. “I guess I’m flattered not to be given this. How awful!”
“Open the other one,” he urged as he sat back down beside her.
“The stones in this are kind of an odd color. What are they?” she asked. They were a light brown, and she wasn’t certain she’d ever seen a stone of that particular shade.
He smiled. “I thought chocolate diamonds would be appropriate.”
She shook her head. “And you didn’t even know me then!” She fingered the other box, very nervous that it might contain a ring, and she wasn’t ready for a ring from him, which made no sense at all, because they were already married. She didn’t know why it bothered her, but it did.
He grinned. “Well, I knew a chocolate diamond from a chocolatier would be appropriate for any woman.”
“I wish you’d just brought me some more fudge.”
“I didn’t know if it would be okay to bring it overseas, and I didn’t think you’d want me to just give you chocolate for every gift for the rest of your life. I do have better manners than that.” He watched her. “Aren’t you going to open the other box?”
“I got you a tie! I didn’t know what else to get you, and now if feels very lame in comparison.”
He slipped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him. “It’s about the thought that went into a gift. You knew nothing about me. And I will wear that Santa tie. Probably on the Fourth of July to drive the people around me crazy, but I’ll wear it.”
She smiled, still turning the jewelry box in her hands over and over. “Thanks for being so sweet about it.”
“I think you’ll find me to be the sweetest, most wonderful man in the whole wide world—as long as you don’t have anyone to compare me to!” He kissed her cheek. “Open the other box.”
She opened the small box and was relieved to see a pair of earrings to match the necklace. “They’re beautiful.” Each earring was two interwoven hearts with tiny chocolate diamonds in it. “Thank you.” She turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Both gifts are perfect. Why weren’t you already married?”
He chuckled. “It’s hard to meet women when the only time you stay out late is so you can experiment with a new batch of fudge. Sometimes…you just have no time to meet new people. I was dating a girl when I graduated from college, but when she found out I was going to have Misti living with me, she told me to forget it.”
“That’s really sad.” Erin sighed. “Why can’t people be kind?”
“No idea.” He stroked her cheek. “I’m a mostly happy man. I mean, I was sad about her breaking up with me for a little while, but I got over it. I made my own little chocolate empire.”
“And I’m now your chocolate empress!”
He laughed softly. “Of course you are. I can’t think of a more fitting empress for a chocolate empire either.”
Erin turned to face him fully on the couch. “My gifts were wonderful. Thank you for them.”
Al smiled. “Just so you like them and will wear them.”
“Any woman would wear chocolate diamonds given to her by her own personal chocolate maker.” She leaned forward, brushing her lips against his.
He pulled her closer until she was completely pressed up against him, deepening the kiss. “I think you’re pretty incredible Erin whatever-last-name-you-choose-to-use.”
She laughed, burying her face in his throat. “You’re a pretty great guy. I’m not sure I deserve you.”
“Well, you don’t deserve me if you’re not going to feed me breakfast.”
She sighed. “Am I always going to be in charge of breakfast?” she asked, trying to make it sound like she didn’t want to be. As soon as they were home, she’d buy a couple of boxes of cereal and call them set if that was the case.
“For this week, yes. I’ll handle suppers.”
“All right. French toast?” She got to her feet and headed toward the kitchen.
“Sounds delicious.” He loved to watch her in the kitchen. She wasn’t nearly as confident there as he was, and it was fun to watch her fiddle around, trying to get the right thing and measuring everything exactly. He had been one to add a little of this and a pinch of that for years. Recipes were never followed. Watching her, it seemed as though she had memorized an exact recipe for making French toast, and she was following it.
She put sausage and the French toast on the table a few minutes later. “Are you a coffee drinker? I should have asked.”
He shook his head. “I’m more of a juice or milk with breakfast kind of person.”
“Me too. Good. I won’t make coffee.” She put both milk and juice on the table and a couple of glasses for each of them. “There. Am I forgetting anything?”
He shook his head. “Looks good to me.”
After breakfast, he got out a big map of Switzerland he’d apparently brought with him.
“You’re not going to use GPS to get places?” she asked, surprised.
“Mostly, I am. I’m just trying to get an idea which directions I’ll go and what kind of terrain we’ll be driving through.”
“What exactly are we doing this week?” she asked. He still hadn’t told her.
“I want to tour different chocolate factories here. We’ll taste their chocolate and see exactly how they do things.”
Erin got really excited for a moment until the truth of the situation hit her. “You’re using our honeymoon for a tax write-off?”
“But you’ll get free chocolate samples…”
“I approve of free chocolate, but Al…how tacky!”
“Sorry.”
“What if you’d married a woman who didn’t like chocolate? There are a few crazy people like that out there!”
Al shook his head. “Not loving chocolate is like not observing Taco Tuesday as the national weekly holiday that it is!”
Erin’s eyes widened. “Today’s Tuesday. Did we buy the stuff for tacos?”
“I was kind of surprised they had tortillas at the grocery store we stopped in, but if you’re up for tacos made from corn tortillas, I’ve got you covered.”
“Sounds good to me.
As long as I don’t have to miss out on Taco Tuesday. It hadn’t occurred to me it would be harder to observe here in Switzerland.”
They changed and went out onto the porch to make use of the hot tub there. Erin was slightly nervous about being in a bathing suit in front of him, but he was her husband after all. If he didn’t like the way she looked in a suit, he was welcome to run away screaming, but he couldn’t expect her to put out after that either.
Once in the tub, she sighed, sinking deep into the water. “This feels good.”
“The view isn’t bad either.”
Erin agreed, but when she glanced over at him, he wasn’t looking at the mountains as she was. His eyes were locked on her. She had a hard time knowing what to say to that, wondering what they should do for the rest of the day. She was always so busy at home, and when she wasn’t, she was reading. It was strange having real free time with nothing to fill it.
He scooted closer to her on the bench in the hot tub, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “What do you think of Switzerland so far?”
“It’s gorgeous. I’m used to mountains, so I didn’t think I’d love it quite as much as I do. I could just stare at that scenery all day every day.”
“Each mountain range has a different feel to it. Have you ever been to the Ozarks? I’m not even sure how they can call them mountains, but they do!”
“Yeah, they seem more like hills than mountains,” she agreed. “I think these are my favorite mountains I’ve been in.”
“Then I picked a good place?”
“Well, sure. You’re writing it off, aren’t you?”
Al sighed. “Does that bother you?”
“Not since I’m getting chocolate out of it. If you’d been a banker and came here to tour banks, I’d probably get bored, but chocolate? Who can say no to free chocolate?” She turned to him, stroking her hand over his cheek. He had a very short beard, and she was still trying to decide if she liked it. She’d never dated a man with a beard.
His eyes were on hers as he leaned down and kissed her softly, tentatively. When she opened her mouth, he deepened the kiss, pulling her onto his lap, his hands stroking over her back and shoulders. Her swimsuit was a one piece, so she was mostly covered, but it left little to the imagination.
When his hand strayed around to cup her breast, she pulled away for a moment, startled. His eyes remained on hers. “Okay?”
Erin nodded, leaning back into him for another kiss. They were married. He was kind and loving, and she wanted children. It was okay.
It wasn’t long before the hot from the water didn’t compare to the hot from within her. She climbed off his lap and stood up, offering her hand to him. “I think we’d be more comfortable doing this in bed, wouldn’t we?”
He wasn’t going to argue. He dried off as quickly as he could, grabbed her offered hand, and dragged her toward the bedroom.
Erin choked back a laugh at how eager he obviously was to drag her to bed. Life with Al would never be even a little bit dull.
******
An hour later, Erin was lying in Al’s arms, her head pillowed on his chest. She couldn’t seem to keep her hand still. It was constantly stroking his shoulder or his chest.
Al smiled, catching her hand and bringing it to his lips. “Thank you.”
She laughed softly. “We are married, you know.”
“I know. I didn’t expect that to happen quite so soon, though.”
“I told you I just needed a little time to get to know you better. I feel like I’ve had that.” And she was ready for children. Since her sister had become pregnant, having a baby was all she’d been able to think about.
“I guess I just expected that to mean a month or two…not that I’m complaining, of course.”
She laughed. “Well, we can wait another month or two if it’s that important to you!”
He growled, rolling over quickly and pinning her to the mattress. “I’m not sure that’s an option at this point.” He pressed his lips to hers, his hands going to her sides to tickle her lightly.
“No tickling,” she said as she giggled hysterically. “That’s not fair!”
“All’s fair!”
“In love and war! This is…tickling! Nothing’s fair in tickling!” She pushed him away and quickly rolled to the edge of the bed. “Now I’m hungry.”
He groaned, putting his arm over his eyes. “From what I’ve seen, you’re always hungry.”
“Pretty much. I’m going to go get a snack. Do you want anything?”
Al shook his head, watching her go. She’d pulled the cover from the bed and wrapped it around herself toga-style as she left the room. He couldn’t help but grin. He had an awfully special woman for a wife. Dr. Lachele had outdone herself, and he couldn’t wait to tell her so. In fact…
Five minutes later, he read over the quick email he’d typed and pressed send. That crazy purple-haired whirlwind had done something he’d never thought possible. She’d found him a woman that he could very easily fall in love with. He was thrilled with the match and wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
He wasn’t sure what it was about Erin that appealed to him so much. She had a very sharp tongue. She had no ability to keep her opinions on anything to herself. She wasn’t terribly competent in the kitchen… But she was sweet. He’d seen the way she’d looked at children in the airport, and he knew she wanted her own. And she was beautiful. He’d never seen a woman that was quite as perfect for him as Erin was. He was going to keep her. He just hoped she realized that he was perfect for her as well. If not, he’d have to keep working on her until she did.
Chapter Seven
By the time they were home from Switzerland, Erin was already half in love with Al. They had one day after they arrived home before they both had to head back to work, and they were exhausted from jet lag.
They had decided to live in the house he currently owned—the house he and Misti had grown up in. Within a few minutes of arriving home, the work calls started to come in for him, and he disappeared before her eyes. He changed from her lovable husband Al into a businessman. He closed himself off in his office, and Erin watched him go, wondering when he’d be back out to talk to her. They’d planned to grocery shop together, but he seemed to no longer be interested in doing anything that was not work-related.
She shrugged and picked up her phone, calling her mom. “We’re home, safe and sound. You can stop worrying now.”
Mom sighed. “If your baby girl was off in another country with a total stranger she’d married, you’d worry too!”
“But I’m not anymore. The worry has passed!” Erin looked at the closed door of the room Al had closed himself off in. “He’s really a good man.”
“How was Switzerland? Did you ski?”
“We actually toured chocolate factories. My honeymoon was a tax write-off. I’m still trying to decide how offended I should be about that.”
Her mother laughed. “At least he won’t be off spending your money on silly things if he’s using his honeymoon for a tax write-off.” There was a moment of silence. “Your dad says to tell you he’s glad you’re not dead.”
“He should write greeting cards!” Erin jumped, startled at a knock at the front door. “I’ll call you back. Someone’s at the door.” She opened it wide to find a man, not much older than her, standing at the door with a big yellow lab.
“See? I told Al I could keep him alive while you were living it up in Switzerland.” The man walked into the house as if he owned the place.
“I’m Erin.” She stared at the man, hoping he’d introduce himself before she felt the need to call 911.
“Oh, man. I forgot we hadn’t met yet. I’m Dale, the manager of Frank’s Fudge. I’ve seen pics of you and emailed back and forth with Al about you so much in the past week, it felt like we’d met.”
“Oh, he’s mentioned you. It’s good to meet you.” She’d noticed Al spent more time on his phone than she would have liked while they were gone, but
she had no idea he was messaging with his manager. “Who’s your friend?” she asked, doing all she could to resist petting the beautiful dog.
“This is Beau. He’s Al’s dog. Al didn’t mention him?”
As soon as Erin realized the beautiful animal was hers by way of marriage, she was on her knees. She buried her face in his neck, tears coming to her eyes. Her mother had been allergic to dogs, so she’d never had one growing up. As an adult, she’d always lived in apartments that didn’t allow animals. “You’re the prettiest baby ever to live! Yes, you are.”
Dale laughed down at her. “I can see you two are going to get along just fine. Where’s Al?”
“Office,” Erin answered, wondering if the man knew where it was. With the way he’d walked into the house like he owned it, she assumed he knew.
“I’m going to talk to him for a minute. Enjoy Beau.”
As he walked off, Erin stayed on the floor, getting licked within an inch of her life. He trotted off after a moment and brought her a squirrel dog toy, missing his squeaker and one eye. It was obviously a much-loved object. She threw it, watching as it flew through the air, and Beau bought it back to her. “It was almost worth marrying Al just to get you. Yes, it was!” She knew she was talking baby talk, and she wasn’t sure why, but it felt right.
She took Beau to the back yard, and the two of them played. She suddenly had all the energy she’d been lacking since they arrived home.
It was almost an hour later when Al spotted them through the sliding glass door at the back of his house. He stepped outside to join them, smiling at his wife and dog. “I see you met Beau.”
“I’m totally in love with him. I’ve always wanted a dog!”
Al stared at her like she was an alien creature. “You’ve never had a dog?”
“Never. And I’ve always loved them.” She watched as Beau hurried over to greet Al, subjecting him to the same uncontrolled licking she’d endured just an hour before. “Are you finished with your calls?”
Wooing In Wyoming (At The Altar #11) Page 5