AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jumping out of Nick’s old truck, I meet him around the front, and he takes my hand before leading me to the front door. There are four small steps that lead up to the beautiful wrap-around porch, and the second my feet land on the hardwood, butterflies begin soaring through my stomach.
Nick reaches for the door handle, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that it’s been left unlocked, but I suppose when you live all the way out here on the outskirts of a crime-free small town with a big-ass gate keeping people out, locking up isn’t quite as necessary as it would be elsewhere.
He welcomes me into his home, and my jaw instantly drops. It’s absolutely stunning—a definite bachelor pad that could probably use a woman’s touch, but the home he’s built is incredible. It’s an open plan, and from the front door I see the massive kitchen, dining, and living areas. As I take it all in, my gaze stops on the one thing that has no place in such a beautiful home.
“What kind of pathetic Christmas tree is that?” I ask, taking in what looks to be some kind of bushy stick with a single line of tinsel tossed over it.
Nick scoffs. “It’s better than your burned one.”
“That twig doesn’t even come close to my masterpiece.”
Nick rolls his eyes and empties his pockets out onto the small entryway table before stepping into me and crowding my space. “You’ve got no fucking idea how long I’ve wanted to have you inside my home,” he murmurs as his hands come to the front of my coat and slowly open it before letting the heavy material fall down my arms. Without moving even an inch away from me, he reaches out and hangs my coat on the rack by the front door before leaning in and closing the gap between us. His fingers caress the side of my face before his lips are on mine.
It’s a swift, passionate kiss, and all too soon, he pulls away, his hand falling into mine. “Let me show you around.”
Nick pulls me along, showing me every last feature of the house and telling me everything about how he came to design each part, what inspired him, and anything worth noting along the way. By the time we’ve been around the whole house and we’re back in the impressive kitchen, I’m absolutely blown away.
“It kept me busy,” he says as I lean against the counter. “Kept my mind occupied so I wasn’t always thinking about boarding a flight to New York and bringing your stubborn ass home.”
A smile lingers on my lips as I push away from the counter and move into his arms. “I absolutely love it,” I tell him, suddenly able to fill in all the blanks from the past six years and picture the life he’s had without me.
Nick adjusts himself so that he faces me, his arm locking around my back as his blue gaze settles onto mine. “I built it for us, Blair,” he says. “It was supposed to be your graduation present after college. I was waiting for the sale to go through when you told me you were leaving.”
Shock bursts through my chest, and within seconds, I’m filled with a heavy guilt that rests on my shoulders, and I drop my forehead against his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he tells me, his hand roaming over my back. “It is what it is, and what matters is that you’re here now. Despite the fact that you’ve never been here before, this has always been your home. I built it for us, for the life we always talked about, knowing that one day, you’d come back to me. Every inch of this place was designed with you in mind. The bedroom with the massive walk-in closet. You know damn well I don’t have enough clothes to fill that, and the bathtub. I don’t take baths, but I know you always loved them.”
My gaze lifts, meeting his. “You built this for us?” I whisper, a lump forming in my throat.
“I did,” he confirms. “When I asked you to come home to me, I wasn’t just asking you to move back to Blushing. I want you here with me. I want us to finally start our lives together. I love you, Blair, and that’s never going to change. Seeing your face for the first time after so long last week was like finally seeing the sun after living in pure darkness. You breathed life back into me, and I’m not about to let you go again.”
My heart swells as my eyes fill with tears, and I realize just how wrong I was to doubt his intentions this morning. Nick reaches up, brushing the tears off my cheeks as my gaze lingers on his. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“I am.”
“I thought you just wanted to pick up where we left off,” I muse. “But moving in? That’s . . . that’s not just picking up where we left off, it’s taking leaps and bounds.”
“And yet you know it feels right,” he tells me. “So, what do you say? You can take over the home office to build your new business by day and we can work on the renovations on your nana’s place by night, but at the end of the day, I want you crawling into that big fucking lonely bed down the hall.”
“Are you really sure?” I ask, my heart thundering a million miles an hour. “You know I’m not the best to live with. I’m a slob, and I leave half-eaten cartons of ice cream out on the counter to melt, and even then, I still eat it.”
Nick laughs, taking my waist and lifting me onto the counter before stepping between my legs, his lips brushing over mine. “I know all of this about you, and despite your disgusting habits, I still want you. Every fucking part of you.”
A smile pulls at my lips, and just as I go to tell him that nothing could ever make me happier, the front door flies open with all the familiar faces of Nick’s family. His dad, his brother, Oxley and his new fiance, and even the family dog Beau.
“Blair!” Nick’s brother, Nate, storms through first, shoving Nick out of the way and grabbing me off the counter. He spins around, and I squeal, certain I’m about to die. “‘Bout time you came to your senses.”
“Get your hands off my fucking girl,” Nick grunts at his brother as the dog races up to me and sniffs at my legs, desperate for attention, and judging by the way he jumps up on me, he remembers exactly who I am.
Nate puts me down, and I instantly bury my fingers into Beau’s thick fur, scratching his head simply for existing in my world. “You owe me fifty bucks,” Nate says to his father, earning an eye roll out of Nick before turning that familiar gaze back on me. “That was quite the show you put on at the Christmas fair.”
“They were looking at him like he was a piece of meat.”
“Let me guess,” Oxley teases, striding through to the kitchen. “You’re the only one who’s allowed to do that?”
“Damn right,” Nick murmurs, stepping back into me and burying his face into the curve of my neck, his lips softly brushing my skin with the sweetest kiss.
“Alright, alright,” Nick’s father mutters. “It’s great to see you Blair, but put some distance between the two of you. Nobody is making babies on my watch. We have a Christmas lunch to make. Now, you know the Stone family rules, Blair. If I can see you, I’m putting you to work.”
