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Heather and I had cried a lot over the last six months but ultimately there was no blame from either of us. She was as much a victim in some ways as I was but neither of us were victims in the way my mother had been. She doted on Eric and I loved her for it. I knew when the time came for us that she’d be a wonderful grandmother to our children. Linc wanted to get started straight away but I wanted more time with my husband before we had kids of our own, and I knew it would happen.
I rise on tiptoes and kiss my man. “I love you.”
“I love you too and don’t think I’ve forgotten about the blow job.”
He winks and I swat his ass before running off, looking over my shoulder. “Play your cards right and you might get one in each room later.”
I can hear his laughter like a balm ringing through the house and feel excited about our next chapter.
The rest of the day is perfect as we work side by side with friends and family to make this home the fresh start we all need. By eight that night, we’d almost put everything away thanks to our friends help. Even Hudson had stopped by with pizza for us all and, while he and Linc may never be best friends, they have a truce and a mutual respect that eases my soul. Eric is staying with Clark and Gaspard, who’d moved back to the States after everything went down with Charles, and I know how much it means to Linc to have his brother back in his life on a more permanent basis.
The house is quiet except for the sounds of the water lapping the banks of the shore. I hadn’t had chance to get out onto the deck today and wanted to enjoy the view with the lights behind it. Linc had shown everyone out and sent me for a long bath, in our deep claw foot tub, which I appreciated after such a long day. I don’t bother getting dressed, just slip a short pink silk robe over my naked body. Linc will take it off before the night is out anyway.
“Linc, I’m going to head to the deck.”
Silence greets me but I know he’s here somewhere; I can always sense when he’s close. I know how silly that sounds but it’s the truth. We’re connected in a way that I know is unusual, a once-in-a-lifetime love made for romance books, and that makes me the luckiest woman in the world.
The pain and doubt of the painful past we share is behind us and only the future matters to me. He made mistakes and he paid for them and learned from us being apart and neither of us ever want to repeat it. I’d had no idea of the burden he carried with his father and hid behind my pain like it was a shield, when I should have pushed it into the light and faced it. I never knew I could be as happy as I am with Linc beside me. He is my best friend, my lover and the man I know will treasure me as much as I do him for the rest of my life. It seems crazy but the man who hurt me is my safe place in this world, because he sees me, he always has and one day when we have children, I know he will be the best father they could ask for because he has lived the alternative.
Moving to the back window, I pull open the bi-fold doors and flick on the lights, wondering where my man has got too. A gasp leaves me. The entire pool is awash with pink rose petals and floating candles. My hand flutters to my mouth and tears prick my eyes. I step outside and see a table set for two with a white tablecloth and flickering candles in the middle.
A movement to my right makes me glance that way to see Linc walking toward me wearing a black tux. My heart skids in my throat as he gives me the sexy smirk that makes me weak. He looks so dashing, so powerful, but it’s the way he’s looking at me that makes my heart explode with joy. “Linc?”
The words barely leave my mouth before he’s dropping to one knee, and I cover my mouth with my hands as my lip wobbles.
His clear blue eyes find mine and I can see the nerves on his face.
“Lottie, since the day we met you’ve been the one constant in my life. Even when we were apart, your light and the memories of us kept me going. I’ve loved you since before I knew what the emotion was, and I know I’ll love you until the world stops turning. You make me a better man, a better son, a better brother, and a better friend. I want you to continue to make me the best husband, and one day, if we’re lucky enough, the best father I can be. We’ve been through some difficult times, but I believe that they’ve made us stronger. There is nobody in this world I want to do this with but you. So, I’m doing this how I should have done it the first time.”
He takes something out of his pocket, and I step closer to see a stunning sapphire and diamond ring.
“Will you do me the honor of staying my wife?”
I nod as tears run down my cheeks and I sink to my knees in front of him. “Yes.”
“I love you, Lottie.”
His kiss is demanding, yet sweet and full of the love I know he feels for me. I feel his thumb skim over the pulse in my throat a growl breaking from his throat. My Linc is sweet but he’s still him, dominant and possessive and I wouldn’t have him any other way.
He releases me long enough to slide the ring over my knuckle and I marvel at how beautiful it is and how perfect. I haven’t worn the rings he’d given me on our wedding day and he’d understood my hesitance and said he’d replace them one day, but neither of us had felt the need to rush it.
We were together, building a beautiful life and that was enough but now seeing the ring nestled on my finger, I know that I’d needed this and so had he.
“Now, do you want to eat first or do you want me to fuck you in a pool full of roses?”
“Roses, Linc, always the roses.” I step back and let my robe fall from my shoulders as his hungry gaze wanders over my skin. “But first, I promised you a blow job if you played your cards right and this, Linc,” I gestured to the scene behind me, “is the perfect hand.”
* * *
