I follow after her, watching as she opens the two spare bedrooms. One is completely empty and another just has a few boxes.
I never really had a place to call my own, and there was no reason to collect furniture or household goods. But now that she’s here, I’m realizing for the first time in my life I’m going to have a home. The thought sends an odd bolt of warmth through my chest.
She finishes her inspection of the house. “What’s your favorite room?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” I tell her and lead her outside to the front porch. I pat the railing. “Just finished sanding and priming it a few days ago.”
She spies the cans of white paint in the corner. “Do you happen to have an extra paintbrush?”
My heart swells. “You want to help paint the place?”
She shrugs, and for a moment, she looks uncertain. “Unless you’re worried I’ll make a mess.”
I give her a slow grin. “I’m looking forward to spending my life with your messes.”
She rolls her eyes, grabs a paintbrush, and gets started on work. I watch her for a moment, appreciating her beautiful curves in motion. The way she reaches up high, the way she bends over to refill her roller, careful to keep her balance in that boot.
“Are you going to watch me forever, or are you going to help?” she finally asks.
I chuckle, take a paintbrush of my own, and begin working on the opposite side of the porch with her right here with me. I can see our future together so clearly, but it’s not enough to just build a life I love. It also has to be a life she loves too.
“What have you always imagined your life looking like?” I ask her.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Well, like marriage, kids, where you’re going to live, that sort of thing.”
“I want a big family with a lot of kids,” she says. “I want to marry a good man and live a simple life somewhere quiet, out in the country. Maybe like a little cabin in the mountains.” She pauses there when she realizes I’m staring at her and drops her gaze. “I didn’t mean in your cabin necessarily. I mean, this is all so new and?—”
Before she can finish the sentence, I stalk across the porch, grab her hips, and pull her close to me. “Oh, pixie, I want you to picture your whole life here. Right here with me.”
Then I press a kiss to her lips. A claiming kiss to show her exactly who she belongs to and where she belongs. She’s meant to be mine, and I need her to know it with this kiss. I don’t stop kissing her until she’s gasping for oxygen and lightheaded.
Her voice is filled with wonder. “Wow. I think we should stop painting and go back into the bedroom.”
I chuckle. I want that more than anything, but if I take her to the bedroom I’m going to get her naked. I want to hear more about her hopes and dreams, how she wants to raise a family. So, I pat her on the ass. “Get back to work. We’ll play later.”
“Only if you promise,” she sings.
I grin down at her, pick up my paintbrush, and start work again. Max and Rex are in the front yard, roughhousing together. “How many kids are you thinking?”
“As many as I can have,” she says. “I want my kids to have lots of siblings. I read a study once that said your siblings are the only people that walk with you through every season of life, and I thought that sounded kind of nice. I want my kids to have friends for life. People that walk with them and love them, that cheer them on and celebrate them. Friends that are their biggest defenders and also tease them just a little bit. I think that would be special. What about you?”
“I’ll give you a million babies,” I say right as I reach the middle of the porch where she is. We’ve both been painting from opposite ends, and now, we’re meeting in the middle. I see she’s missed some of the high spots on the posts. I lean up to get them, and that’s when I feel it. The dab of paint on my arm.
I whirl around. She dances just out of my reach, her movements slowed slightly.
“You’re going to pay for that,” I say with mock sternness, carefully keeping the amusement from my features. I must fail at it because she gives me a big grin.
“Make me,” she says. Then she takes off down the porch, in a hobble run that steals my heart. I give her a ten-second lead, listening to the soft breeze carry her gentle laughter as the sun shines through the trees. This is a perfect spring day.
When I’ve given her plenty of time, I jog down the steps and follow after her. She tries to zig and zag, laughing the whole time.
She doesn’t get very far in that boot before it nearly trips her. But I was close. I stayed just far enough away that she never realized I was within arm’s reach.
When I see her trip, I grab her. The momentum’s already working, gravity pulling us both down.
I twist so I take the brunt of the fall, landing on my back. But it doesn’t hurt because her soft curves are on top of me, and she’s giggling still.
