“I’m not going to do that. I know the real deal when I see it. You’re it for me, baby girl. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you believe it too.”
She smiled at me, but I could see she still doubted me. Going up on her toes, she pressed a quick peck on my lips, and I quickly took it into a deeper kiss. She swayed unsteadily on her feet, and I juggled the wineglasses to try to stabilize her.
Laughing, I shook my head. “Maybe we should move this party to somewhere more horizontal.”
This time, Saylor’s smile was more authentic. Or maybe it was the eye roll. “It always comes to sex with you.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you. It doesn’t have to be the bed. We haven’t played around on that sofa over there yet.” I pointed with a wine glass hand toward the uncomfortable looking rattan based sofa.
Saylor winced. “Yeah, no. Not when you went to all that trouble of creating this lovely setting. Plus that couch looks like it’ll poke us in the back.”
“Whatever m’lady wants.” I pressed a peck against her temple.
She took a glass out of my hand. “M’lady is imagining this is alcohol.” Saylor tossed back the liquid like it was water. A second later, she was bent over hacking and coughing. “What the hell?”
“Shit, baby. Sorry. One was wine.”
“I thought you were an alcoholic. What the hell are you doing opening wine bottles? Isn’t that—”Cough, cough, cough. “Isn’t that bad for your sobriety?”
“Wine isn’t a trigger for me. I mean, I can’t drink it, obviously, but being around wine drinkers isn’t exactly the same as backstage before or after a show. Although you did toss back that glass like it was tequila.”
“I haven’t ordered wine this entire time because I wanted to respect your sobriety. I mean, I’m not a big drinker, but it would’ve been nice—especially when I first got off the plane.”
I winced. “Sorry.”
She shook her head, and I could tell it was one more hash mark in the ‘marrying is a mistake’ column.
We were literally minutes into this engagement, and I was fucking things up.
I cupped her face in my hands and gently rubbed her tears away with my thumbs. “It’s okay that we’re still figuring each other out. We’ll get there, and it’ll be okay as long as we continue to look out for each other. That you would forgo alcohol for my sobriety means the fucking world to me. It’s just one of the many things I love about you.”
She pursed her lips like she was fighting a smile then gave into the laugh burbling up inside her. “Is now a bad time to tell you that I don’t remember what your last name is?”
I laughed with her. “Okay, it’s a little crazy, but the best kinda crazy. And for the record it’s Holt.”
“Holt,” she repeated. “Saylor Holt. I kinda like the sound of that.”
“Fuck yeah. I do too.”
Her eyes got misty, and I couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her. So I did.
She groaned against my lips and wrapped her arms around my shoulders and held on.
We kept eye contact the entire time. Hers still full of questions but also wonder. Mine determined to prove my worth to her.
And when I came inside her, all I could think was ‘what if.’
What if we made a tiny version of Saylor, with wispy white-blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes? I wanted it more than anything, but it was too soon to say aloud.
Soon.
Chapter 13
Saylor
Mal moved quick.
The next two days were all about preparations and so much sex I barely had time to think, let alone doubt our plans.
