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Now he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Other than raising his daughter and making sure Genevieve was happy—with him.
By midnight, the tone in the bar was still energetic and loud, yet not as chaotic. Dom told him and Ricky to go take a break and hang out with everyone else, and he didn’t argue with him. Ricky didn’t either. He knew Dom would continue getting great tips from behind the bar and he deserved every single penny he earned.
Oliver and Brock were still at the table with Genevieve, along with Jezebelle sitting with Mia and Jaxson, and Dane and Gabby right next to them. Ricky took a seat next to Jezebelle, and he pulled up a chair, scooting as close as he could to Genevieve.
“I’d say this re-opening was a success.” Oliver held up his bottle, and Corey cheered to that with his bottle.
“Better than I had hoped.”
Corey glanced at the new music area in the corner. A cover band that did pop and rock was playing a lively tune with several people on the dance floor. The area in front of the small stage wasn’t huge by any means. Nor was the stage itself large. But it was a decent amount of space to have a small band or solo artist play while a few people danced the night away.
It had been Corey’s idea to add the music aspect to the bar. To hopefully draw more people in. Since they had to reconstruct the front of the building from the accident, they threw in some other remodeling plans as well. The back area of the bar had enough room that it made it possible.
“After physical therapy tomorrow, I want to stop at Mia’s studio. She said she has a dress for me for her wedding. I can’t believe it’s in a week. I haven’t even thought of what to wear to it.”
Corey made eye contact with Mia and smiled graciously. Not only had Genevieve’s family welcomed him with open arms since her accident, but all of his friends and family had also welcomed her the same.
He planned to wear the same black suit he wore to Gabby and Dane’s wedding. With all the chaos the last few weeks, it hadn’t occurred to him that Genevieve might need a dress for this wedding. Women weren’t like men. They didn’t want to wear the same outfit they wore to a previous event. It hadn’t been on Genevieve’s mind either.
But Mia to the rescue. No doubt she had jitters and stress and everything else that came with preparing for a wedding, and yet she was thinking of others. How to make the day special for them as well. Whatever design she came up with, he knew Genevieve would look gorgeous.
“Sounds good. We’ll swing by and grab it. I can’t wait to see what she came up with.” Then he swiped a kiss because he could. Because he wanted to.
The desire that lit up her eyes said she wanted it and so much more.
They hadn’t had sex since before the accident. Since too long before the accident.
He needed to change that tonight.
Everyone stayed until the bar closed. For a Sunday night, the bar had been hopping up until the last minute. Ricky had worried reopening on a Sunday would be disastrous. Not many people would show. Corey had been a bit apprehensive as well, but once the work was completed, why wait? Life was too short to wait for a better day. Jump in and hope for the best had been his retort. It had turned out to be better than the best. He didn’t regret a thing.
Because Genevieve’s parents anticipated them both staying until the bar closed, they had taken Amelie home to spend the night there. So when they got home to the apartment, it was empty. Just them.
Free to do whatever they wanted.
Corey locked the door, waited for Genevieve to put her purse down, and then gently scooped her into his arms. It was the first time he had ever done so. Before the accident, after it. By the tender, expressive look in her eyes, he decided he needed to do it a lot more.
“What are you doing?”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m going to carry you to the bedroom and make sweet, slow love to you. Because it’s been way too long and I don’t want to wait anymore.” He didn’t quite frown, but he didn’t smile. “Unless you think it’ll hurt. I don’t want to do anything that would hurt you. I can wait.”
“I can do slow.” The succulently sweet smile that spread across her lips had his cock jumping to attention.
Not that it would’ve taken much for that to happen.
He took his time walking to their bedroom, not wanting to jostle her too much. She would never say it—because she never did even when he could see the pain breaking her apart—if the walk to the bedroom put an ache anywhere in her body. Her feet hit the floor softly when he set her down. Although he wanted to yank her clothes off, he let her get undressed. He did the same. They watched each other, taking their time with each article of clothing. It was erotic in a way. Eyes on each other, watching every movement. The slide of a finger, the touch of a hand. The falling of the clothes to the floor.
Genevieve got in bed first. He joined her, pumping his cock with patience, itching to dive right in, yet knowing he had to take every single second of this slowly.
“That’s freaking hot. I wish I could reach down and do it myself, but I know I’ll feel the ache in my back.”
“Should we wait?” His hand stalled, yet still gripping himself hard. The thought of her touching him had him close to the edge. But the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
“No way in hell. I need this as much as you.” A solemn expression hit her face. “I’ve missed you. How did we grow so far apart when we were so close to each other?”
He let himself go, framing her face, kissing her gently. “It’ll never happen again. Life is never going to be easy. That’s something I learned the hard way. So instead of letting that control how I act, I’m going to embrace it. Everything about life. I’m going to do my damndest to make sure you’re never unhappy. Ever again.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job so far.”
