AllFreeNovel
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It’s been twenty-seven days since Will told me he’d bought the house in Lily Valley. And for the last twenty-five, we’ve been living back at the condo while carpenters did their carpentry thing to turn a nice five-year-old monster house into a home fit for a billionaire.
I’ve been back to our soon-to-be new home twice with measuring tapes and color swatches and an interior designer at my side.
I cannot express how much joy I got choosing furniture with Will. Our couch, our bed, the patio swing and fire table. The rugs and artwork and paint colors for the walls. And it was like a fantasy come true having Derek-the-chef work with me to design the renovated kitchen and then shop for all the appliances he’d buy for his own dream cook space.
I feel like I was told to create a vision board of my perfect home and then a fairy godmother waved her magic wand over it to bring it to life. Only my fairy godmother came in the form of a grumpy, workaholic, fatalist billionaire.
But the twist is that I have a magic wand, too. And now the forehead crease between Will’s eyes is less obvious because the laugh crinkles beside his eyes are getting deeper by the day. It makes me love him more and more.
We pull into our driveway—just the thought that this house has my name on the property tax bill makes me giddy—and even the cold December rain isn’t dampening the tingle that’s running through all my nerves.
“Are you as excited as I am?” I bounce in my seat.
Will turns off the ignition and looks from me to the house and back again. “You know, I am.”
I lean over the middle console and kiss him.
“Welcome home,” he says. “Now, let’s go christen every room so your energy is all we can feel from now on.”
Everything has already been moved in—our clothes, food, everything—so we step out of our new Tesla (since becoming commuters was a good excuse to buy a new car, Will said) and Will nudges me to punch in the code to open the front door.
“No key!” I squeal like a crazy fool.
Will laughs and kisses my head.
“What? I’m allowed to appreciate the small things!”
“Hold your squeals for the big surprise.”
I rub my hand down the front of his pants, just below his belt.
“That’s not the surprise I was thinking about, but you could persuade me to show you that one first.”
We step into the newly renovated entry. The floors have been sanded and are now a honey color of hardwood with a polish that shines. I pull my palm from Will’s promise and cover my face as I look around the living room. The walls are a warm, sea foam green that brings the spirit of the forest into the house.
“Do you love it? I love it so much. It’s … I can’t believe how great it looks. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m in a house that fits me.”
Will wraps his arms around my body and pulls me against him. Against his …
“Oh. Oh my.” I press my bum against the growing bulge. “Shall we try out the new couch, see if—”
Before I finish my sentence, Will grabs the hem of my hoodie and in one fluid motion, pulls it over my head, only to find a T-shirt. And then a tank top.
He growls.
“What? I was cold.” I laugh.
I push my hands under his T-shirt, over his chest and feel the heat radiating off his body. My man pushes himself away and holds me at arm’s length. His eyes bore into mine with an intensity that makes me shiver. “Cold?”
I shake my head. “I’m onlyhalf-naked.”
“That won’t do.” Will pulls me toward him and scoops me into a cradle hold. I assume he’s going to carry me upstairs to the bedroom, but he walks past the stairs toward the back of the house.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To your surprise.”
We pass the kitchen, which I can only glance at. We pass the guest bedroom and the laundry room and he carries me down the hall to the door that opens to the private backyard. I squirm and try to get out of his grip.
