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Chapter 41 - Dirty
Ruby
Vander was beyond excited for Jace and me to move in. We planned to move Yiayia into Gus and Amber’s house on Sunday, then Jace and I would move in with Vander over the course of the following week. It thrilled me how excited he was, but at the same time, it reminded me of how alone he’d been all these years, and that hurt my heart.
After the family dinner, where Yiayia, in true form decided where everybody would live, Vander readily agreed to look for a new house in the same neighbourhood as Gus and Amber so Jace could stay in the same school as Alex. It would be a fresh start for all of us.
Could it really be this easy? Only a few weeks ago, my future goals comprised of franchising Spuds. Now, I wasn’t even sure I wanted that anymore. I’m not sure I ever did.
I wanted something more than what I had, and franchising seemed like the only ‘more’ I could safely reach for. The world seemed so much bigger with Vander in it. Possibilities that didn’t exist before, presented themselves to me on all sides.
Travel, something I ruled out as an impossibility, seemed possible, even probable, with Vander. Knowing he and I both needed to get to the same home, eased the fear that, on my own, I wouldn’t be able to get back.
I dreamed of taking Jace to Greece, and even more, taking Yiayia back to Greece! It had been fifteen years since she’d been back. I started to investigate honeymoon destinations although we didn’t yet have a wedding date.
I suppose we would have to talk about that at some point. The church recognized a second marriage, but not in the same way it regarded the first. Our ceremony would begin with prayers of repentance for his failed marriage, and I wasn’t sure if Vander knew that.
I told myself it didn’t matter, and in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t. But I’d be lying to myself if I pretended it didn’t dull the shine off our big day for me.
Vander took up a lot of my free time, time I happily gave to him. He said he planned to scale back at his work to prioritize me and our family. Did I really want to get into a situation where I was the one shackled to work?
Time for things like reading, and bookstagram, would necessarily take a backseat if I started with this new venture.
I had to think it over, but that was for another day.
Not that reading mattered at the moment. I left my book in Blue Mountain. Someone would be treated to a very informative read, I snickered to myself. I downloaded the kindle version and ordered the paperback so Amber and Minty wouldn’t know I lost it.
Vander was on his way to pick me up. I didn’t know where we were going, but I knew where we’d end up and I looked forward to having the house to ourselves where I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone hearing us.
He must have had the same idea because he picked up food and headed straight to his house. We laughed and ate at the table. I pulled the box of pictures down from his closet to look for the ones I wanted to frame. We were going to make our place a home, and a home needed pictures.
Later, lying on our bed, he undressed me slowly, uncovering me bit by bit, kissing each inch of skin as he exposed me.
“So,” he murmured, his voice low in my ear.
He covered my naked body with his, his thighs resting on the outside of mine, keeping me from opening under him. He kissed me behind my ear, ran his teeth along the juncture of my neck and my shoulder, and brushed his lips across mine.
Propping himself up on his elbows, he arched a brow, his eyes heated.
“So, what?” I prodded him softly.
“I found your book.”
“What?” I cocked my head in question. “What book?”
“The one you had with you at Blue Mountain.”
“Oh! You have it? That’s good. I thought I’d lost it.”
“Mm-hmm. ‘Oh’.”
I froze and stared at him. “You didn’t read it, did you?”
His lips curled up wickedly at the corner. “You want to be tied down, koukla mou?”
“Uhh…”
He dropped a hard kiss on my mouth. “You want to be blindfolded?”
