Unclipping my belt, I replied, “I thought we should stay in the Presidential Suite one time before the redesign happens. For old time’s sake.”
He grinned and lifted my hand to his lips. “I love the way you think.”
“My parents agreed to watch the kids overnight, so it's just the two of us. Happy early Christmas.”
His smile made the corners of his eyes crinkle more deeply, and then he reached out, pulling me in close for a kiss.
“I love you,” he said, and I felt every single word deep in my chest.
“I love you too,” I replied.
We got out of the car, and I showed Gage the duffel bag that I had stowed in the hidden compartment of the van's trunk. It was rare for me to pull a surprise over on him, and I was more than a little pleased with myself.
“It was very hard to get the Presidential Suite,” I admitted to him. “It's been booked out for months.”
“A testament to the great design,” he said with a wink.
I thanked him, but deep down, I knew the success of The Retreat was so much bigger than me. Gage had purchased it in an up and coming part of Dallas, and the community had grown around it over time. The travel networks listed it as one of the best places to stay in town, and it attracted everyone from celebrities to the wealthy.
We went inside, and the person at the front desk didn't even recognize us. I wondered what that must be like for Gage, who had been in the spotlight for so long as Texas's first self-made billionaire. But he simply smiled and said, “Reservation for the Griffens.”
My heart warmed. Something about all the big and little ways he claimed me as his was still so special to me.
“I've got it right here,” the clerk said.
We filled out the necessary paperwork, and soon Gage and I were on the elevator up.
I remembered us in our thirties riding this very elevator, feeling so worn down by our attraction to each other but afraid to give in, afraid to commit, afraid of what would happen if it didn't work out. But today?
Now, I wished I could go back in time and tell myself how far I’d come since a devastating divorce, how far Gage and I had come together.
But I couldn't time travel, so I settled on reveling in the moment as we rode the elevator up to the seventh floor.
But when we tapped the key card to the door and went inside, it was like walking into a time machine after all.
3
GAGE
I stared at the suite,the prints hanging on the walls, remembering the day we had done the photo shoot together. That had been a real turning point for us, taking our relationship from an agreement to meet our needs to something more.
But I also remembered the day when I first approved the room, when I walked in to see Farrah in the bathtub pleasing herself, my name on her lips.
I was instantly aroused, just thinking of it.
I set the bag down on the bed, and Farrah intertwined her fingers with mine. “I think we should take a bath,” she said.
I grinned. “You’re full of good ideas today, Mrs. Griffen.”
She bit her bottom lip and kicked out of her Ugg boots. Then she began shimmying out of her leggings.
I watched, rapt. This woman had carried children I loved. She’d held me on my darkest days and celebrated me on my best. She pleasured me in ways I never knew I could be and was a true partner in my life like I’d never experienced.
And damn, did I adore every version of her throughout the years.
I stared as she lifted her sweater over her head and then reached behind herself to unclip her bra, watching me all the while.
My mouth was so dry, I swiped my tongue over my lips. “Fuck me.”
