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“I have no plans to settle down. A family is a lot of responsibility.”
“So is a house.” She kept her smile but was surprised by his extreme reaction. She’d always envisioned herself married with children. One child, at least. Though she’d certainly accept two if the twin gene came through.
“In case you haven’t noticed...” He rolled over and faced her, propping his own head in his hand. “I’m a stuck-in-his-ways bachelor. Kids are great. Families are great. For someone else.”
“That’s fair,” she said, meaning it. If she thought about it for longer than five seconds, she could admit she was a stuck-in-her-ways bachelorette. She liked her life the way it was, more now that she’d been shedding her more serious side in favor of cutting loose. She was enjoying the fun side Gavin had helped her uncover.
“But I surprised you.”
“A little, but only because you’re from a large family. Your brothers have settled into relationships one by one. I assume babies are forthcoming.”
“Now who’s assuming I’m like my brothers? You, of all people, should know better,” he teasingly scolded.
“Oh, no. I did do that.” She rolled onto her back and covered her face with both hands. When she peeked through her fingers, he was hovering over her, his handsome face taking up most of her vision. Which was fine with her, since he was lovely to look at. He tugged her hands from her face.
“I like what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Do you?”
“I do. I really do.” She heard the unspoken but, and he must have, too. He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to continue. “Are you sure Saturday night’s party isn’t going to change who we are?” Their overly involved families would draw their own conclusions. Or worse, have unrealistic expectations.
“People can say or think whatever they want, but it doesn’t have to change what we do. Didn’t we learn that when we were making out on the boardwalk?”
“Touché.”
He leaned down and kissed her. As his mouth moved along hers, she wondered if he was right. Maybe their future didn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Maybe her own desire to expect more from him was a habit, rather than what she actually wanted.
He couldn’t have laid out what he wanted any clearer, but what he wanted included her. And wasn’t having him in her bed enough for the foreseeable future? She’d embraced her new spontaneous side to great success. Why ruin it by trying to exert expectations and control on a situation working out well for both of them?
It didn’t matter what their siblings said, or what the town said. What anybody said, really. What Hallie and Gavin were doing worked for them, and that’s what mattered.
His mouth moved from her neck to her breasts and continued a lazy path down her body. He had a way of making her forget about anything but the present, and as far as she was concerned, the present didn’t get any better than this.
