The combination of the accent and the sweetheart will always be my greatest undoing. Something about the words, the tone, justeverythinggoes straight to my dopamine factory. Probably everything about Beau has that effect on me. A pure shot of sunshine to my heart.
My grin is borderline painful as I run straight to the edge, jumping in with a sharp inhale. The water is just as cold as itwas last summer, but the warmth of Beau makes the crystalline waves less sharp. He wraps his strong arms around me so tight that I’m forced to wrap my legs around him to keep from being squished to death. But I don’t mind, not one bit. Being squished by Beau would be an amazing way to die.
“This has always been my safe place,” Beau murmurs into my neck. His voice is so muffled that I can just barely make out his words. “All of us farm kids came here in the summers. We’d get up to no good, stay here until we were pruned or one of our parents came here to send us all right back home.”
I place a kiss just under his ear, where he smells the sweetest. “It sounds perfect.”
His hands readjust on my back, to cup my ass, pulling me flush against him. A smile fights to break free when he makes a low, soft sound of want. The sun beams bright through the branches, forcing me to blink rapidly as I look up at the small pieces of blue sky visible through the trees.
“Do you want kids?” Beau asks hesitantly.
“Not a deal breaker for me either way.”
Beau sighs in relief. “I think I want them.”
“They sound like a fun adventure,” I admit honestly.
Beau nods against my neck, then lifts his head to meet my gaze. “Marriage?”
God, we really are doing everything backwards. Fake dating, falling in love, separation, just to find one another again and date for real. What a bunch of fools. But we’re fools for each other, so maybe it’s safe this time. That’s a lie. No “maybe” about it. I’m safe with Beau and he’s safe with me. Safe harbors in a raging storm.
I delicately rub his wiry beard with my fingers. “I’m not too interested in marriage.”
“Why?” Beau kisses the tip of my thumb.
“I like the idea of marriage without the legal ramifications. All the devotion of marriage, shared bills, promises of forever… just no piece of paper.”
“Sounds a lot like marriage to me,” Beau points out.
He’s not wrong. I sweetly kiss his nose. “Well, if that’s marriage to you, then it’s something I definitely want one day.”
“Do you prefer to do the dishes or put them away?”
The question makes me laugh which must’ve been Beau’s intention because his eyes crinkle with happiness at the corners. Love radiates from him. The idea makes me nervous but overjoyed at the same time.
“Put them away for sure.”
Beau kisses me then as he cups my ass, tugging me closer against him until my hard cock rubs against his stomach. My moan slips from my mouth and right into his, making him tug me tighter against him. He licks into my mouth, tasting me, savoring me. I let him until I can’t do anything but melt against him in a puddle of want.
“We’re a perfect match,” Beau whispers against my mouth.
“Because I like to put the dishes away?”
Beau nods, his forehead sliding against mine. “Best indicator of if a relationship is gonna work. Preferences for dishes.”
I tighten my legs around his waist and bite my lip. “Good. Tell me more about your childhood growing up here? Tell me about your friends. About your parents. I want to know it all.”
One of his big, strong hands runs up my back to cup my neck, then slowly brings me down to kiss me again, but softer this time. Just a tender press of his mouth to mine. But somehow that kiss is even better than the first. Even sweeter than sweet tea.
“I wanna know more about you too. It’s a two-way street, sweetheart,” Beau says once he pulls away from my mouth. AndI know he’s right. I have to give, to get. If I’m safe with anyone, it’s Beau.
“Alright,” I whisper.
“That’s another great thing about this place,” Beau reassures me, fingers distractedly twisting in my wet hair. “Anything we tell each other here, stays here, between us. No one else will ever know. Pretty cool, right?”
My breath hitches painfully in my chest. Annoyingly even tears form in my eyes. I don’t know what I did to deserve Beau Callahan. I must’ve been a saint in another life. I hug him tightly, breathing in the scent of him mixed with the smell of the spring. Kind of perfect really.
“I could’ve been an asshole. All that money as a kid. The private schools, the nannies, the total absence of my parents, so they just threw money and expensive things at me. My first car was a Lamborghini, I mean totally obnoxious. That got taken by the feds too, by the way. All of it got taken. I had nowhere to go, nothing, even my school kicked me out. One of my former nannies took pity on me, let me stay with her, but she had a house full of kids, and that didn’t last long. Just long enough for me to figure out how to get my GED. Then I worked shitty job after shitty job, couch surfed, until Claire pitched me the ideaThe Boyfriend Experience. That’s my life story as an elevator pitch. Not much else to say.”
