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forty-five | nova
The winter sundoesn’t show its face in Alaska until after 10:00 a.m., which is rather convenient because not one inch of my body is ready to leave this bed before then on Saturday morning. Even still, the only reason I climb out of bed is that Devin ravishes me until my need for a shower outweighs my need for sleep.
By the time I step out of the bathroom dressed and ready for the day, the cabin smells of bacon, eggs, and coffee, and my shirtless baseball player is dancing around the small kitchen and lip-syncing into a spatula.
I pause in the doorway. My heart can’t take much more when it comes to Devin Hawthorne. I swear it’s likely to explode in a sea of glitter and confetti. “I wonder if Kitchen-Aid would be interested in an endorsement deal.”
He never stops shimmying as he peeks over his shoulder and shoots me a saucy wink.Yup, glitter explosion all over this cabin.
“Damn.” I rub the heel of my palm over the muscle in my chest. “My boyfriend could sell a whole lot of spatulas.”
“You think?” Devin slides the spatula into the waistband of his low-riding joggers like he’s holstering a gun. My mouth goes dry. I’ve spent a good part of the last twelve hours getting to know every plane of this man’s body intimately, yet he still makes me tongue-tied.
“Like what you see, Spitfire?”
So, so much.I allow my eyes the freedom to study the cut of his muscles disappearing beneath the gray cotton as he stalks toward me. Pure sex appeal. “Stance, Under Armour, Hanes. They’re all good options, too.” I lick my lips, craving him over the breakfast he’s cooked.
“If you don’t remove that hungry look from your eyes, breakfast is going to get cold.”
Removing the spatula from his pants, I tease the end of the handle across his ribs. “Breakfast is overrated.”
An hour later, Devin drags me outside to traipse through the dense snow and explore the spruce forest around our cabin.
“Tell me more about your cousins. Judging by your social media, there are a lot of them.”
“Are you admitting to stalking me?”
“On and off, yeah.” He ducks around a branch. “There were times I had to stop, like when I realized you were with Anders.”
Tugging my hat over my ears, I follow his footsteps. “He was in Montana for Christmas, and I’d just seen you with Palmer the month before. I needed a friend, and he played the role to perfection. Then Gramps died and… I made it very easy for him to convince me we would make a great match.”
We reach the pebbled beachfront along Redemption Bay overlooking Mount Alice and we pause, our conversation forgotten as we stare. No words would bring the pearly landscape justice. It’s breathtaking.
Devin takes my hand, tugging me forward once more. “I thinkImade it easy for him. I should have called after I saw you at The Whiskey Room. I broke up with Palmer the moment we got back to California. I should have made a point to see you and make things right. We lived two hours apart in the same state. I don’t know why I never grew the balls.”
“Let’s not keep doing this.” I snuggle into his side, tucking my arm through his. “We’re here. No permanent damage was done by the years we missed out on. Let’s be grateful instead of sad.”
His inhale is deep. “Okay, so your cousins?”
Laughing, I tell him all about all my favorite people.
“Eleven kids from three sets of parents.” He whistles. “Willa and I really only knew two cousins, and we weren’t all that close.”
“Well, when your Dad is a twin, I guess it automatically brings a special level of closeness, but with them losing their parents…”
Devin pulls from my embrace and toes the rocks and pebbles lining the shore. “And your Uncle Cole is their half-brother?” He bends over to inspect something he found.
“Yes. His son Joseph is the oldest at twenty-eight. And Crew is the family baby by fourteen years. The greatest surprise ever.”
“And how many kids do you want?”
My boot catches on nothing, tripping me, and Devin catches my arm. Straightening, he watches me without an ounce of humor on his face.
“You’re serious?”
“You made the comment back when we were at the Mall of America that you couldn’t wait to have kids and take them to all the best roller coasters in the country. I assume that hasn’t changed.”
“No, it hasn’t. I still want kids.” I just didn’t expect him to be asking me about them so soon. “Sam and Cole only had two because they were busy. With him being a doctor and her owning a fitness franchise, they’re quite the power couple. Amber and Olle probably would have had ten if she hadn’t miscarried her last daughter and almost died.”
