by Kelli Walker
I haven’t been working much since Aria came along, and honestly, that suits me just fine. I want to spend all the time in the world that I can with her while she’s still young. Every moment that passes between the two of us feels right. I am blessed to be able to enjoy it all first-hand and to have a husband who is so dedicated to making sure that he is there for us, too.
A husband. Sometimes, it takes me a moment to remember that he is really the man that I married. It seems too good to be true that he really got down on one knee for me in the beautiful, soft light of my mother’s garden and told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.
The actual wedding was glorious. A small event, for sure, but that was just how I always wanted it. It wasn’t about spending thousands of dollars on something we could show off to the whole town; it was about committing ourselves to one another and making sure that the entire world knew it. Our love is what drove that day, the two of us standing in the back yard together. Mom and I had spent the afternoon draping flowers and lights everywhere so that it looked like it did the day that he proposed to me. It had just been us, a few friends from his work, and the rest of the family there, and that was all that I needed it to be. When I looked into his eyes, I didn’t feel a second of doubt, I didn’t second-guess myself for a moment. I just knew that this was what I wanted and that everything in my life had been leading to this moment.
Aria had been born a couple of weeks later, and, from that moment on, life had been so much of a whirlwind that I knew that our marriage needed more maintenance than we gave it. This is what tonight is about: Gavin has come over to take care of Aria for the evening, and Lux and I are going out together for our very first date since the day she was born.
And, as I come down the stairs to join him, I feel a little flutter in my chest. It’s strange that someone I have slept next to for so long can still make me light up on the inside the way he can, but I hope it never changes. He is waiting there for me at the door, and he smiles as soon as he sees me.
“You look incredible,” he murmurs, and he offers me a hand so that I can make the last step with ease. I smile and do a little twirl for him.
“You like?” I ask. It’s an old dress of mine with blue fringing at the skirt, one that I haven’t worn since Aria came along, and I am surprised it still fits. But then, I spend so much time charging around after her that it’s hard for me to keep much weight on.
“I love,” he murmurs, and he looks me up and down appreciatively. I can still remember the way he looked at me when I was working at the bar with him. He has told me since then that he had a hard time keeping his lust for me under wraps. He didn’t want to be any more distracted than he already was, but maybe some part of me missed that slightly possessive nature of his. At least, it is fun to enjoy that once in a while, right?
“Thank you,” I reply. “Not looking so bad yourself, huh?”
“I sure think so,” he agrees, and he strikes a playful pose that makes me laugh. He is wearing a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and something about the sight of his muscular forearms and rough hands is enough to make the soles of my feet tingle.
“Do I get to know where we’re going tonight, or is that still a secret?” I wonder. He taps the side of his nose and opens the front door for me to step out; I make my way down the steps, holding on to the ivy-wrapped handrail that leads down to the ground.
“I think it’s more fun if it’s a secret,” he replies, and he opens the car door for me and helps me step inside. I smile; he's such a gentleman. I wonder if he was always like this or if it’s just something that I’ve seen since I’ve fallen in love with him. I’m not sure that he was quite this sweet when he was in high school, but all that matters to me now is that I seem to have gotten the very best side of him that I possibly could. He is smart, he is beautiful, he is kind to me, and I know that he will set the standards high for Aria when she eventually goes out into the world to start dating. Not that I think he’s going to be too big a fan of that.
“I’m so glad we’ve got this time to ourselves,” I murmur to him, as he joins me in the car. It's his old truck, the very one that we conceived Aria in, actually. Not that I’m in any rush to tell her that. She’s going to be old enough to understand us making those joking comments about it soon, though, and I want to make sure that she doesn’t have to deal with that level of cringe from her parents.
“Me too,” he agrees, and he leans over to plant a kiss on my lips before he pulls out of the driveway and onto the road.
Sometimes, I feel a little lost getting out into the real world once more. I spend so much time wrapped up in my little bubble with Aria and Lux and my family that I honestly sometimes forget there is more out there. But hey, if this was all to fall away just like that, and they were the only things that I had left, I think that I would survive. They are all I need.
“I can’t believe this is the first time that we’ve gotten out since she was born,” I muse, and he laughs and nods.
“Yeah, we’re going to have to make the most of tonight, given that we’re not going to get another for two more years,” he jokes. I groan.
“Oh, don’t say that!” I protest. “It’s meant to get easier as she gets older, isn’t it?”
“So, I hear,” he agrees, and he reaches over and takes my hand. He brings it up to his lips and plants a kiss on the back of it. Even now, after all this time, that small gesture is enough to send a sharp stab of desire for him through my whole system. I know that this is meant to be about romance, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be about some other stuff, too, right...?
“I love you so much, baby,” he tells me, and he smiles over at me. I smile right back, the cool touch of his wedding band against my skin, reminding me that I belong to him. That we belong to one another.
“I love you too,” I tell him, and I lean back in the seat and watch the street whip by in front of me. Because I know, at that moment, that there is nothing else that I would rather be doing. It doesn’t matter where he’s taking me, it just matters that he is the one doing it. Everything else comes after him, after us, after our family. We always come first.
Her Enemy Hero (Book 2)
I know for a fact I shouldn’t have kissed him,
And I can tell you it was a huge mistake when I fell into his bed…a few times.
Somehow my life choices have suddenly become Gavin’s problem,
But he’s about to learn that I’m not a damsel in distress.
*All BOOKS CAN BE READ AS STAND-ALONE READS WITHIN THIS SERIES*
Read The Rest Of Alpha Ever After Series Here
Claiming Her Innocence (Book 1)
Her Enemy Hero (Book 2)
Her Damaged Protector (Book 3)
(Pre-order from 5. October 2020)
*All BOOKS CAN BE READ AS STAND-ALONE READS WITHIN THIS SERIES*