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I laugh and then sigh a little when Chase lifts Lily into his arms to take her up to bed. I follow behind them, turning off the lights and locking the garage behind us, and then we’re inside, walking up the stairs to the bedroom.
Lily, with a big yawn, curls up in her bed and goes right back to sleep, and Chase snuggles up behind me in the bed.
“Were you out there worried about telling me you love me all night?” I ask him and wiggle around in his arms so I can see his face.
“No.” He kisses my hand and finally offers me a small smile. “No, I really was thinking about Rem and the wedding and all of that stuff. I guess big life events will do that to a person. Telling you I love you isn’t something I struggle with because, like I said, I’ve had strong feelings for you for a while. A long while.”
I grin and kiss his chin.
“I might have had a bad moment or two, wondering if you felt the same.” He sighs with the admission, and I can see the vulnerability in his eyes, and it makes me love him even more.
“I’m catching up. And I’m going to be frank here for a minute.”
“We’re in the dark, in the middle of the night. There’s no better time to be perfectly honest.”
That makes me smile. “You’re right. I’m actually glad that we came together when we did, and not several years ago when you first approached me because I wasn’t ready for you yet, Chase. I was still bruised and determined and just not in the right place for this relationship. It never would have worked out between us if we’d dated back then.”
“Well, then I’m glad that you turned me down, even if it was a blow to my ego.”
With a chuckle, I move in to rest my cheek against his chest and snuggle in. “Your ego’s just fine.”
Chase: Hey, beautiful. Lunch should be delivered in about ten. I couldn’t get away.
I grin at his words and bite my lip as I type out a reply.
Me: I hope everything is okay. I missed waking up to you this morning!
By the time I woke up today, Chase had already gone to work. With wedding season wrapping up, I’ve had the luxury of coming into the shop a little later each morning, and it’s been glorious. In the two weeks since the Wild wedding, things have slowed down considerably. And while my stress levels appreciate that, I know that in a couple of months, I’ll be wishing for the additional income.
But, I’ve learned to make the busy months make up for the slow ones.
I’m just placing the last sunflower into a bouquet when my phone pings with a reply.
Chase: I got to see your gorgeous face this morning and kiss your lips before I left. Whose amazing life is this, anyway?
I laugh and shake my head. He’s just so damn sweet.
“Oh, Lord, she’s sexting again,” Sharla says and makes a gagging noise from across the room.
“I am not.”
“I can totally tell,” she insists. “You get this goofy grin on your face while you tap away at your phone. It used to be really sweet, but now it’s just…ew.”
I laugh and set the phone aside, returning to the task at hand. “We do not sext. We just flirt a bit, that’s all.”
“I think it’s great,” Ida says, winking at me. “And you seem happier than ever.”
“We are.”
And it’s true. The past few weeks have been…bliss. There haven’t been any more scary issues at my place, but I still sleep at Chase’s every night. In fact, things have been quiet and fun and very sexy.
I’m in love, truly in love, for the first time in my life, and I’m having a damn good time with it.
The bell over the door rings, and in comes Heather, the owner of Old Town Pizza, carrying two large boxes and one smaller box on top.
“Delivery,” she announces with a happy grin. “Chase sent me in with two large pies and an order of bread sticks.”
“I love that man,” Ida says, “but my hips do not.”
