I peered past her, finding the house completely empty—besides a picnic blanket spread out on the wood floor, candles at the center, the scent of good food on the air.
“Who’s askin’?” I asked.
She held up her hand, a jingling silver key dangling from her fingers.
“The homeowner,” she replied.
I stared at the key for a second, like it might disappear if I blinked too hard.
The key…the proof that she really did plan on sticking around.
“You bought a house,” I said.
She grinned, proud and a little shy, like she wasn’t sure how I’d take it. “I did.”
I stepped inside without directing my body to do so—like the house had pulled me into a hug I was more than happy to accept. The wood floor creaked under my boots as I stepped in, and I paused to kick them off by the door.
The walls were bare, the rooms empty, but June’s energy…? It was already here.
It felt like home.
“Guess this means you intend on stayin’,” I said, voice rough. I hadn’t realized I was emotional until I spoke, my throat tight.
“I already stayed,” she said. “This just makes it official.”
June took my hand, palm up, and dropped the key into it before closing my fingers over it. When I looked back at her, she was smiling wide.
“This mine?” I asked.
She bit her lip. “Well, you’re not expecting me to sleep here alone, are you?”
I laughed—just one soft exhale, because I didn’t know what else to do with the weight of that answer.
“You serious?”
June shrugged like she’d just offered me a second helping at dinner rather than inviting me to live with her. “My toothbrush has been at the parsonage for weeks now,” she said. “I figured it was time we got a new ‘our place.’”
I stared at her—at the freckles on her collarbone, the curve of her mouth, the way she wasn’t trying to look smug about it. Just…steady.
Like she already knew I was going to say yes.
“I don’t have much,” I said. “You know that, right?”
“I don’t need much,” she said. “I’ve got a floor, a roof, and the man I love. The rest is just seasoning.”
The key in my hand felt warm.
I couldn’t speak…not yet. So instead, I bent my head and kissed her slow, reverent, the kind of kiss you offer when you’re trying to find the words and all you can do is give her love instead.
She hummed into it, then pulled back just enough to grin.
“Dinner’s getting cold,” she said. “Unless you’d rather christen the bedroom first.”
I glanced toward the back hallway. “There’s a bed?”
“Delilah was kind enough to give me the ancient frame and mattress from her guest room,” June said. “It’s small, but…there’s room enough for the two of us.”
“You know I’m more than happy to go wherever you want me,” I said, though I was already pulling her into my arms, hands wandering to her ass and tugging up the hem of her dress.
