“Please tell me.”
I chewed my lip, pulse thrumming.
“Valerie, I love you, you can tell me,” he urged.
I love you. He said it so freely and easily now that we’d admitted our feelings. Every day, multiple times a day. My heart swelled. We’d only been together, romantically, for under two weeks, but with all the time we’d spent together both before the fundraiser and this week, it felt like much longer than that. My mind told me it was too soon to bring something like this up, but my heart disagreed, so I took a breath and asked, “Do you want to have more kids? More than Luna, I mean?”
He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed before spinning me to face him. I sat cross-legged in front of him, his eyes locked on mine from under the brim of his ball cap.
“Do you?” He scanned my face, trying to read me.
“But I asked you first.”
“Fair enough.” He ran his hand over his face, and a tinge of anxiety hummed under my skin. “Yes. I always thought I’d want a family with multiple kids someday. And then Luna being born, and then me becoming her guardian, confirmed it.”
I squeezed his forearm.
“I wouldn’t do it alone, though…” he added, leading me.
“I want them, too,” I was quick to confirm. “I think Luna would be a great big sister.”
An uninhibited smile broke across his handsome face, white teeth on full display in the early evening light.
I beamed back at him, and relief that bordered on elation filled my heart.
“So, how soon we talking? Should we ditch the condom tonight?” He raised his thick, dark brows.
“Luke!” I shoved him playfully.
“What?” he asked, brown eyes dancing with mischief, mock indignation in his tone. “I’m not…not serious.”
My eyes flew wide, but my smile stretched even bigger on my face. Even though I was starting to feel really good about my decisions—to quit the law firm grind and write, to stay on the island with Luke and Luna—it would be a lot to add another child to the mix right away.
From his grin and his tone, I could tell he was teasing me, at least partially. Saying something crazier than what I said presumably so I stopped feeling self-conscious for asking. I had no idea if he did it on purpose or if it was just natural for him—his uncanny ability to say what I needed him to say. Every time.
I stood, removed my cover-up, and dragged him into the crashing waves with me, reminding him August was the only time the water was passably warm in New England. He picked me up once we were out past our waists, but a swell crashed over our heads, toppling us. We came up sputtering and laughing.
“I forgot how strong the waves are here!” he called over the surf, whipping his dark hair out of his eyes. I treaded a few feet away and watched him, water droplets glistening on his tanned, toned shoulders, before dropping my head back to look at the deep blue sky. Floating on my back, the Atlantic waves lulled me. I turned and saw Luke doing the same, not two feet away.I don’t think it gets any better than this.
It almost felt too good to be true.
37
Guilt gnawed at me for leaving Mimi on her own all week. So when she asked me if I wanted to join her and her friend Cathy and her husband for dinner at the yacht club on Thursday, I said yes.
“It’s okay, Val. Go have fun with Mimi,” Luke said when I told him about the dinner this afternoon like I was breaking bad news.
“I could come over after?” I asked. That still felt like ditching her, but I didn’t want to miss a private night with Luke.
We’d discussed that I could stay over after Luna comes home and we tell her about us, but it wouldn’t be every night starting out. We both wanted to let her adjust gradually. And we’d have to be a little bit…quieter, once we no longer had the whole house to ourselves.
“It’s okay, hang with her after dinner, too. I genuinely need to get some stuff done before Luna gets back, and I won’t do it if you’re here distracting me.” His flirtatious tone told me he didn’t mind my distractions.
I sighed.
His voice dropped lower. “We’ll make up for it tomorrow, I promise.”
My thighs clenched.
