Ignite

by Kelly Elliott

  I gave a quick shrug and said, “Maybe a little boy.”

  Emmit’s smile widened as my heart raced the fastest it ever has. Letting out a nervous giggle, I said, “And a little girl running after Lola as we sit on the porch and watch them play.”

  Emmit slowly shook his head as he cupped my face with his hands. His gray eyes caught mine and held them. “Addie, one of the most amazing dreams I’ve ever had is picturing you with a baby on the way. Our baby.”

  Lola barked and pushed between us as we both started laughing. “I don’t think Lola’s ready for that dream yet.”

  “Pulling in to your house, boss man,” Hank called out. A look of excitement moved across Emmit’s face. Taking my hands in his, he pulled them up and kissed them before he stood and brought me with him.

  Lola started jumping and getting excited. Looking at her, I shook my head and asked, “How does she know she’s home?”

  “She’s the smartest dog in the world.”

  I playfully hit Emmit on the chest as I laughed. It was an off week and I couldn’t wait to just relax with Emmit and catch up for the last three years we were apart.

  Emmit guided me toward the bedroom in the back of the bus where he grabbed my two bags and his duffle bag. “I’ll grab the rest of the stuff later. I want to show you around the house.”

  I nodded and gave him a soft smile as I said, “Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

  Not really knowing what to expect, I turned and headed to the door that led to Emmit’s house. He had been renting a condo in downtown Charlotte when he first hit the NASCAR circuit, so I had no idea what type of home he had bought. Daddy told me it was on Lake Norman and that was it.

  Emmit gave me a wink as he walked past me and opened the door. Lola rushed past both of us and took off. Stepping out of the bus, my mouth dropped open as I froze in place.

  “Holy crap,” I said as I stared at the monster brick house in front of me. Turning to look at Emmit, I attempted to get spit in my mouth so I could talk. “Um, you live in this house . . . alone?”

  Lifting the left corner of his mouth, he shot me a sexy smile along with a wink. “Not anymore I don’t.”

  Emmit grabbed my hand and led me to the front door. Glancing over my shoulder, I sucked in a breath as I took everything in. In the middle of the drive was a beautiful landscaped area with flowers so breathtaking, I swore they sparkled as little fairies flew around it.

  Emmit made his way up the steps as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the massive door. “The alarm is set and it always freaks Lola out.” The beeping started the moment the door opened. Lola barked and rushed into the house.

  A small intake of air was sucked in as my eyes scanned the inside of this beautiful house. “Oh my gosh, Emmit,” I said as I looked up at the high tray ceilings.

  Taking my hand in his, Emmit asked, “Do you want a tour now or later? I know it’s late and you’re probably exhausted.”

  My eyes were looking everywhere. “How big is this place?”

  Emmit shrugged and said, “A little over eight thousand square feet.”

  I stopped and I yelled out, “Eight. Thousand? Did you say eight thousand?”

  “Um, yeah. I said eight thousand.”

  My head was spinning as I thought about how hard it would be to clean a house this big.

  “I’ll um, take the tour now if you feel like it.” I said as Emmit led us into a formal living room. It was painted in a neutral color as a beautiful craftsman’s style fireplace took center stage. Two leather chairs sat to one side and a sofa on the other. “It’s beautiful,” I said softly.

  “Thanks,” Emmit said, as if I just told him the shirt he had was nice.

  We walked through the formal living room and into the formal dining room. It was all hard wood floors as Lola kept running through the house and sliding all over the place. As I looked around the dining room, I shook my head and said, “Wow. The furniture in here is beautiful.”

  Emmit smiled as he nodded in agreement. “I found it at an estate sale I went to one day.”

  My eyes widened in shook as I stared at him. “You went to an estate sale?”

  Emmit chuckled. “Hell yeah. You can find some badass stuff at estate sales. I got it for a great bargain too. The sofa in the living room came from that sale as well as the table in the breakfast area. I scored big time on that one.” Emmit said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

  Laughing, I gave him a small push as he said, “Kitchen’s up next.”

  The moment we stepped into the kitchen my knees went weak and I grabbed onto the granite counter. “Holy hell,” I said as Emmit grinned from ear to ear.

  “I take it you like it?”

  I smiled as I instantly began planning meals. “Like it? Emmit, this is my dream kitchen. It’s like . . . it’s like I designed it myself.” The cream cabinets were beautiful as I ran my hand along the cold granite. My eyes landed on the six-burner commercial stovetop. Lifting my hands to my mouth, I excitedly said, “There’s a hot water faucet at the stove!”

  Emmit chuckled from behind me as I spun around. The commercial-size refrigerator blended in with the cabinets. The middle island was just like the one I dreamed of. It looked exactly like the one I had on my Pinterest page. Exactly like it.

  I placed my hand over my chest as I turned to look at Emmit. He was smiling as he watched me have a mini orgasm over a stupid kitchen. “Do you like it, Addie?”

  Slowly shaking my head, I said, “Like it? Emmit, I swear to God this is the kitchen I’ve always dreamed of.”

  “That’s because I designed it for you.”

  My hands dropped to my sides as I stared at Emmit with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

  Emmit pushed off the counter and held his hands out as he spoke. “This . . . this kitchen is for you. I showed the designer that page you were always on. I told her I wanted the kitchen just like what you dreamed of.”

  Tears filled my eyes as I stared at Emmit in disbelief. “Emmit . . . I don’t . . . I don’t know what to say.”

  Emmit wrapped his arms around me as he kissed the tip of my nose. “Tell me you love it and then tell me what the first thing you’re going to cook in it is.”

  Laughing, I buried my face into his chest and let the tears fall. Emmit never gave up on us. The realization of that overwhelmed me as I grabbed onto his T-shirt and cried. Maybe I was just tired since it was the middle of the night, or maybe I was overcome with emotion. Whatever it was, I knew I couldn’t love Emmit any more than I did in this moment.

  Emmit pulled back some as he placed his finger on my chin and brought my eyes to his. “Baby, are those happy tears?”

  I nodded and sniffed like a five year-old child. “Very happy tears.”

  Emmit gave me the sexiest grin as he ran the back of his hand over my cheek. “How about I show you the master bedroom next? We’ll get some sleep and pick the tour up tomorrow.”

  I nodded my head as I barely spoke. “M-kay.”

  Emmit reached down and picked me up as I snuggled into his chest. “Lola, bedtime,” Emmit said as Lola flew past us and down another hall. “The master bedroom is on this floor. Four more bedrooms are upstairs, along with four bathrooms.”

  “Wow,” was all I could manage to say. My mind was still thinking about the kitchen. You could fit three of my apartment kitchens into this kitchen.

  Pushing the door open to the bedroom, Emmit reached for the light. Again, my heart dropped as I took in the beautiful room. The walls were a beautiful light green. The king-size bed was exactly like the one I had on my Pinterest page and I let out another sob.

  “The bed,” I sobbed as Emmit put me down. “The colors.” Spinning around, I looked at Emmit. “Is that the wall color we picked out for the condo bedroom?”

  Emmit grinned. “Yep, sea salt.”

  “You made this room just like the one I said I wanted when we bought a house someday.”

  Emmit glanced down and pretended to kick at some
thing on the floor. “I told you I dreamed of you coming back to me, Addie.” Emmit’s eyes captured mine. “I wanted everything to be perfect when you did come back.”

  I slammed my body into Emmit’s as our mouths pressed together in a passionate kiss. Pulling his T-shirt over his head, I needed to have my body up against his now.

  Emmit’s hand slid into my hair as it grabbed a fistful of hair and gave a tug, exposing my neck to his soft lips. “Addie, I want to take you on every surface of this house.”

  Euphoria exploded within my body as I let Emmit’s words run through my head. “That’s a lot of love making,” I murmured as Emmit moved his hand slowly over my body.

  “Yes, it is.”

  I crinkled my nose and giggled. “Where do we start? This house is huge!”

  Emmit scooped me up into his arms as he gave me a seductive look. “The shower of course.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck as Emmit walked me into the bathroom. The color continued into the bathroom and I felt like I had just stepped into a high-priced spa. My eyes landed on the deep tub that was surrounded by windows. I couldn’t wait to see what kind of a view was on the other side of those windows.

  Emmit lowered my body slowly down as I felt his hard on pressed into my stomach. His hand ever so slowly lifted my T-shirt over my head. “Addie, do you have any idea how much I want you?”

  My teeth sunk into my lower lip as I smiled and slowly nodded my head. “Show me, Emmit.”

  It wasn’t long before I was whispering Emmit’s name as he slowly made love to me in the shower. My heart felt light as a feather as I basked in his sweet passionate lovemaking.

  After drying me off ever so gently, Emmit carried me out to the bed. He placed me gently down as he crawled over me and sucked my lower lip into his mouth. “I’m going to hold you all night so when I wake up in the morning, I’ll know this hasn’t all been a dream.”

  Warmth radiated throughout my body as my eyes searched Emmit’s face. A smile spread across my face and I was sure no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to wipe it from my face.

  Emmit lifted the covers as we both slipped under them. Turning on my side, Emmit pulled me into his body as we both sighed.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking right at this moment, Addie.”

  I didn’t even need time to think of my response. The words flowed out of my mouth as a single tear rolled down my cheek.

  “I’m finally home.”

  THE SOUNDS OF THE BIRDS chirping outside the window woke me as I adjusted my eyes to the light. Turning to my left, I smiled as I watched the love of my life sleeping peacefully. I couldn’t wait to show her more of the house and take her out on the boat. Last night had been amazing, and I knew if she loved what she saw so far, the rest was going to be easy.

  My hand slowly trailed down her arm as Adaline let out a contented sigh and rolled over to face me. Her eyes opened as she gave me one hell of a smile. “Morning,” she said.

  A piece of her light brown hair hung over her eye as she looked at me with nothing but love in her eyes. Pushing it behind her ear, I barely spoke above a whisper as I tried to control my emotions, “Morning, pumpkin.”

  Instantly her lip was between her teeth as her eyes fell to my lips. “I’m hungry.”

  I pulled her closer to me as I smiled. “For me or food?”

  Her finger traced along my jaw line as she caught my eyes with hers. “Both. But I’m pretty sure I need fuel first.”

  I kissed her on the forehead and said, “I’ve got the perfect place to go for breakfast. Dress casual.”

  Adaline’s eyes lit up as she popped up and out of bed like she’d been up for hours. “Okay!”

  Bouncing off to the bathroom, I let out a growl from the back of my throat as I watched her perfect ass sway as she walked.

  “I heard that, Mr. Lewis.”

  How in the hell did I luck out with this woman?

  My heart felt light in my chest as I swung my legs out and got out of bed. I quickly threw on some shorts and a T-shirt as I called out to Adaline, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, Addie. I have a couple calls to make.”

  “Kay! I won’t be long.” Adaline called out from the bathroom.

  After getting her bags and leaving them on the bed, I made my way to the kitchen and made two phones calls. By the time I was finished, Adaline was standing in the kitchen with a smile on her face.

  “Emmit, this house is amazing. It’s even more beautiful during the day.”

  I walked over to her and lifted her hand as I kissed the back of it softly. “Let’s take a quick tour and then we are off for breakfast.”

  Adaline gave a quick nod of her head as I led her through the rest of the house. Some day I hoped to hear little feet running all over this place. For now though, I was happy with it being the two of us.

  After showing Adaline the inside of the house, I led her outside. Sucking in a breath, Adaline came to a stop. “Oh. My. Word. Emmit. It looks like a picture.” My smile spread wide across my face as I studied Adaline’s reaction. Taking her hand in mine, we walked down the cobblestone path to the deck.

  “I could totally see myself sitting here reading a book,” Adaline said as we passed by the outdoor sectional sofa.

  We made our way down to the dock and stopped at the boat as I motioned for Adaline to get in. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a surprised expression. “You have a boat?”

  “Yep.”

  After getting everything ready to go, I jumped into the boat and started it up as I pulled away from the dock.

  “I thought we were eating breakfast?” Addie asked as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the wind kiss her face.

  “We are. We’re going to one of my favorite places to eat.”

  A few minutes later, I was pulling up to a dock and helping Adaline out of the boat.

  “Chucks Dive?” Adaline asked with a giggle. “Sounds . . . yummy.”

  I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. “The best steak and eggs I’ve ever had.”

  Adaline looked ahead and said, “Okay, I’m trusting your judgment on this one.”

  “Don’t judge a book by its cover, Addie. It looks like a dive, but it’s amazing. Plus, it’s not filled with rich snobs bitching that their eggs benedict isn’t the way they like it.”

  With a laugh, Adaline hit me in the stomach lightly. “I’m glad to see you’re still in touch with your humble roots and that you still hate eggs benedict.”

  The door opened and a rather tall looking man let out a yell. “Holy fucking shit on a stick. It’s Emmit fucking Lewis. How the fuck have you been, you little fucker!”

  Adaline let out a laugh as she looked at me and spoke softly. “Does he like the word fuck?”

  “Just a little. He’s the nicest guy in the world, though.”

  I turned back to Chuck and dropped my arm from Adaline’s waist as I shook his hand. “How have you been?”

  Chuck’s eyes moved between Adaline and me. “Good. Good.” Motioning with this thumb over to Adaline, Chuck busted out with, “Is this Adaline?”

  Adaline froze next to me as she quickly looked at me with a stunned expression. “Don’t look so surprised, sweetheart. Your boy here talks a lot when he gets drunk and we have spent many a night together drunk out of our minds.”

  A smile spread across Adaline’s face as she gave me a stern look before turning back to Chuck. “Well, Chuck, I’m afraid most of Emmit’s nights will be spent with me from now on.”

  Chuck lost it laughing as he pointed to me and said, “I fucking love her already.” Turning, he called over his shoulder, “Come on, let me feed you both.”

  Adaline took my hand and I could see it in her eyes. She tried to hide it, but every now and then it showed through. Stopping, I pulled her to me and ran my hands through her hair. Softly tugging, I pressed my lips to hers. Barely pulling away, I said, “I wouldn’t change a thing, Addie. We were meant to t
ravel the road that led us here. You’re here now, baby, and that’s all that matters.”

  Closing her eyes, I knew she was fighting back tears. “I never meant to hurt you, Emmit. Never.”

  Lifting my hand and pushing a strand of hair from her eyes, I softly spoke, “I know baby. I know.” I rubbed my nose against hers and said, “Let’s eat. We have a busy day today.”

  “You don’t think you’re moving too fast?” my brother Chris asked.

  My hand pushed through my hair as I rolled my eyes. “No, Chris, I don’t. I’ve loved her practically my whole life. I don’t want to wait another minute.”

  I peaked around the corner toward the master bedroom. Adaline was changing into a new dress she bought this morning after I told her my mother wanted to have us over for lunch. Adaline hadn’t seen my mom in three years, and I could tell she was nervous.

  “Listen, Emmit, all I’m saying is the two of you just got back together. Give yourself time to adjust to things. I mean, are you sure she’s even going to enjoy that kind of life?”

  Adaline came walking into the kitchen and gave me a sexy smile as she ran her hand along the granite.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Listen, Chris, I’ve got to run.”

  Adaline perked up. “Your brother, Chris?” she asked.

  With a quick nod of my head, she dropped her mouth open and said, “Tell him hi and I can’t wait to see him again.”

  “Addie said hi and she can’t wait to see you again.” I said as I took her arm and gently pulled her to me.

  Chris let out a dramatic sigh. “Tell her I can’t wait to see her too, and Emmit, do me a favor.”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Slow down.”

  I shook my head as I grinned from ear to ear. “Dude, you know me better than that. I don’t know the meaning of the word slow.”

  “Right. Tell mom I love her and I’ll see her at Thanksgiving.”

  Adaline tilted her head, exposing her neck to me. Taking the invitation, I softly moved my lips across her skin. “Yep, will do. Later, Chris.”