Page 49 of The True-Blue Romance

“Well, let’s all do a quick tour. Just for us.” Beau sweeps his hand toward what’s going to be the front doors in the future. “You first, Chef.”

I reach out and tangle my fingers with Lee’s, needing the comfort of his touch to handle the otherworldly vastness of the moment. The scent of the plywood gets stronger as we step into my future restaurant. The front room is large and all one room. In the back is the kitchen, two offices, and stairs that lead to the rooftop lounge that’ll be a bar for people to enjoy the sunsets at the farm. It’s just how I imagined. Everything in my life is effortlessly falling into place even better than I ever could’ve imagined. Lee squeezes my hand tighter, and when I glance over at him, he’s smiling like I’ve never seen before. It looks a lot like pride.

“So?” Beau asks from behind us.

When I turn around it’s to find him and Benji standing beside each other. Benji’s eyes are full of awe as he glances around, again reminding me of our age gap despite all the years he’s lived.

“It’s perfect. Is there an ETA yet?”

“Well, it’s a large construction firm and we’re paying them butt loads of money, so probably by August, as we thought. It helps that Hector’s cousin own’s the company.” Beau smiles, his lips parting his bushy beard. “Buys us a bit of favor.”

“I want to be open before the fall season. It’s important so we can capitalize.”

“I know, Joey,” Beau says with another happy smile. He claps Benji on the back, moving him a little with the force of it. “Let’s get out of here before we step on a rusty nail. Nolan would skin me alive.”

“Both of us, actually,” Benji murmurs, but he’s grinning.

Beau side-eyes him. “Would you learn from that though?”

Benji laughs. “Definitely not.”

The two of them disappear out the future front door to leave me and Lee alone. Wordlessly, I tug Lee closer and kiss him. He tastes like cherry ChapStick and oranges because he probably grabbed one off a tree while in the fields. When I pull away, I stay close just to feel Lee’s breath fan across my lips. Lee’s eyes slowly open, and I’m so far gone it’s not even funny. I think I’d spin the world the other way if Lee asked me. But he’d never even think of asking, which is why I’m so willing to give him whatever he needs, wants, or considers.

“You taste like oranges,” I say, the moment too big for anything else.

Lee grins, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I grabbed one off a tree. The Valencias are about to be out of season, and we’ve picked most of them. But you know how Beau leaves Field A for the workers.”

“I do know.” I lift Lee’s hand to my mouth to kiss his knuckles, then tug him out of the restaurant. The sun is lower in the sky but still bright and warm. The heat bugs sing loudly, and I walk Lee over to his truck. “I wanna take you on a date this weekend. Let me?”

Lee opens his door, leaning against it. He looks so hot that it takes everything in me to not press him into the cab of the truck and kiss him silly.

“No mini golf.”

I snort a laugh. “Sore loser.”

“You cheat! You and Beau both.”

“Bowling, then?”

Lee narrows his eyes. “You cheat at that too.”

“How do I cheat at bowling?”

“I don’t know, but you do. Just ’cause I can’t prove it don’t mean you don’t do it.”

“All right, no mini golf and no bowling. Happy?”

“I guess,” Lee says with a smile, his cheeks warm from the teasing.

“I want to tell Savannah soon. Okay?”

“Whatever you want.”

I take his hip in my palm, rubbing my thumb under his shirt just to feel the warmth of his skin. I can’t resist kissing him once more, so I do, but this time I curl my other hand around the back of his neck and hold him close as I taste every crevice of his addictive mouth. Lee’s eyes are dazed when I pull away. I drop my hands and slowly back up with what I hope is a devilish, teasing sort of grin. I must accomplish it because Lee ducks his head, that blush I’m starting to really love blooming across his cheeks, just over his wiry beard.

Saturday ends up being the perfect day for the first date I’d planned. The afternoon started with rain, but it disappears by early evening, leaving the air cooler but slightly damp. The trees that line Lee’s long driveway glisten with the rain, swinging in the breeze, the sun slashing through the leafy branches. I put the windows down so the damp, just-rained air wraps around me, and the shadows from the trees slash over the driveway.

The front door to the house swings open the moment I put the car into park in the driveway. Suddenly, Lee is running toward me, and within seconds of stepping out of my car, I have my arms full of Lee. I’m worried for a brief second before I realize Lee is laughing. A grin splits my own face as I bury my hand in his hair at the back of his neck, pulling away just enough to kiss his sweet mouth. I hope we always greet each other like this, like we can’t get enough, like every kiss is simultaneously the first and the last. Lee’s grin tastes so sweet that I almost fall to my knees in bliss.