Taking her mouth once more, I roll her to her back and pull away slightly to look down at her. “Is that a yes?”

  “God, I’m seriously as crazy as you are.” She closes her eyes then opens them back up, wrapping her hand around the side of my neck. “Yes.”

  “Thank fuck.” I kiss her deeply but pull back before things can get out of hand. “Your parents are down the hall,” I remind her quietly when she looks up at me disappointedly, and then her eyes close.

  “Right.” She swallows, lying back on the bed. I curl her into my side, noticing the early morning sun filtering in through the closed blinds. Running my fingers down her side, I smile as she cuddles deeper into my chest. “I have a request,” she says quietly, and my hand pauses on her hip.

  “What is it?”

  “Next time you’re mad at me, can you take time to cool down before we talk? You…” She pauses then moves, getting up on an elbow to look at me. “That’s the second time you’ve gotten mad at me and flipped out without giving me a chance to explain.”

  “I’m sorry, baby,” I reply, hating that she’s right.

  “Me, too.” She shrugs, running her fingers across jaw. “I hate that I didn’t tell you before and you had to find out the way you did.”

  “It’s done. We’re moving on.”

  “Yeah,” she agrees, resting her head back against my pec. “Your mom and mine are going to fight like crazy. You know that, right?” she asks, breaking into the quiet after a few minutes.

  “Why?” I dip my head down to look at her, and she tips hers back to meet my gaze.

  “My mom has been secretly planning my wedding since I was sixteen when she took me prom dress shopping at a bridal shop. Judging by the way your mom acted at dinner, she is the same way, or she’s got ideas of how she wants things to be.”

  “We’ll go to Vegas and make it easy on them.”

  “I already said I’m not going to Vegas.”

  “I’m not giving up on the idea. How long do you think it will take you to plan this wedding anyway?”

  “It will be our wedding,” she mutters, tweaking my nipple, and I clamp my hand over hers, feeling her cheek move as she smiles. “I don’t know how long it will take. Probably a year or so.”

  “Pardon?”

  “A year, maybe a little longer,” she reiterates, looking at me.

  “I’m not waiting a fucking year to marry you.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Rolling to my side, I get up on an elbow and look down at her. “I’m not waiting a year,” I repeat.

  “I want my mom and dad to have this. It’s important to me that they get these times with me. I’m it for them. There are no other kids for them to marry off. I know my dad will want to walk me down the aisle, and my mom will want to help me find a dress and plan the wedding.”

  She’s right; it’s only her. I have five brothers and sisters. If I don’t have a wedding, my parents will be able to get that from one of my siblings. But for Kim’s parents, it’s only her, and as much as I want her to be tied to me, I want her to be happy and her parents to be able to share that with her. They deserve that, and so does she.

  “All right,” I agree reluctantly, and her face softens. “I’ll try to be patient, but I can’t make any promises.”

  “Thank you.” She leans up, brushing her mouth against mine, and then that brush turns into her whimpering into my mouth as her tongue toys with mine and my hand finds her breast.

  “We’re staying in a hotel tonight,” I growl as soon as I pull my mouth from hers.

  “What?” She blinks her eyes open to look at me.

  “I can’t make love to you here, and I really want to make love to you,” I say, pressing my hard-on into her hip, and her mouth forms a soft O. “Exactly. So tonight, we’ll stay in a hotel. That way I can take you whenever and however I want.”

  “Okay,” she concurs, then she yawns and I follow hers with one of my own.

  “But right now, let’s sleep,” I say quietly, moving her back into my arms.

  She tucks her body down my side with her head in the crook of my arm, and I listen to her yawn again right before her quiet snoring fills the room. Smiling at the sound, I kiss the top of her head then lie here until long after she’s fallen asleep, thinking, Fucking finally.

  Chapter 14

  Sage

  SITTING ON THE side of the bed, I rub my hands down my face then turn and let my eyes wander over Kim when she shifts behind me. Carefully sliding a piece of hair off her forehead behind her ear, my heart squeezes in my chest when she moves toward my touch, even in sleep.

  Last night, we didn’t talk about her illness. Honestly, I’m scared as fuck to find out what it all means. The idea of losing her isn’t something I want to even consider, but I need to know what’s in store for her and for us. Meaning: I’m going to have to get over my shit and talk to her about it. I know she said she has a long life ahead of her, but what will that life entail?

  Pulling in a deep breath, I stand from the bed and grab my duffle from the floor on the way to the bathroom attached to the room. I close the door quietly behind me and open my bag to put on a pair of shorts and a tee then quickly take care of business, brushing my teeth before leaving the bedroom. Stepping out into the hall, I walk slowly toward the kitchen. I didn’t get a good look at the house last night when I came in. Even when I went out to get my bag, I did it quickly, but seeing it now, I can tell both Don and Pattie are proud of their daughter.

  Covering the wall in the hallway are pictures of Kim and her parents, Kim with family and friends, and others with just Kim by herself. I stop to look at one of them more closely and smile. Kim looks like she’s probably ten years old, and she’s smiling so brightly I can actually feel her happiness through the picture. Leaning in to get a better look at the grainy black-and-white image, I notice the older woman in the photo with her isn’t kissing her cheek like I thought she was. She’s whispering in Kim’s ear as Kim stirs something in a mixing bowl.

  “That was my mom.” Turning to look at Donald when he speaks, I find him standing a few feet away with sorrow-filled eyes. “She died not long after that photo was taken. Kim was her baby, and her only grandchild.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Long time ago.” He takes a step closer. “But the pain of losing a parent always cuts deep. It didn’t help that after we lost my mom, we lost my dad. He died two weeks after her from heart failure. Really, I think he couldn’t live in this world without the woman he loved,” he confides, coming toward me then pointing at another picture; this one of an older gentleman, with Kim sitting on his lap holding a newspaper open and smiling up at him as he smiles down at her. “My parents were against Pattie and me adopting,” he says, catching me off guard.

  I look at the man in the photo, trying to see if I missed something, but all I see is happiness in his eyes as he smiles down at a five-year-old Kim.

  “They thought that if Pattie and I were meant to have a child, we would have a child. They grew up in a different time. Things like infertility and adoption weren’t talked about.” He shakes his head then a smile twitches his lips. “That all changed the moment we came home with Kim wrapped tight in a pink blanket with only her chubby little face out. The second they saw her, she became a piece of them. She was their world, and no one could tell them different.”

  “I’m glad she had that and felt that from them, and you guys.”

  “Me, too.” He lets out a breath then looks at the photos once more before meeting my gaze. “We need to talk. How about we get a cup of coffee then head out back by the pool where it’s quiet?” he suggests, and I lift my chin then follow him down the hall, through a sitting room with two well used recliners and a TV, and into a large, updated, eat-in kitchen. On the opposite side, there are sliding glass doors that look out over a small patch of grass and the pool.

  Getting a cup of coffee, I follow him out the back door and around the side of the house to a covered patio, where I take a seat across from him on one of the wicker chairs around a short glass table. Looking around, I can’t imagine growing up here. Houses are lined up one after another, front-to-back, and even with the wrought iron fence that surrounds the yard, there is still no real sense of privacy.

  Pulling my attention from the yard when Donald clears his throat, I notice he’s set a small black box on the table between us. “Are you going to marry my girl?” he asks.

  I sit forward in my chair and set my cup of coffee on the table before I answer. “I am.” My elbows drop to my knees and I lean in, dropping my voice. “I hope we have your blessing. If not, I’m sorry, but I’m still going to marry her,” I state, and he smiles before hiding it by taking a sip of coffee.

  “You have my blessing, but I want a favor,” he inserts, and I hold his stare. “I know it’s a lot to ask a man like you, but I’m going to ask all the same.” Keeping my eyes on his, I wait for him to speak, and then watch as he reaches forward to nudge the black box toward me. “That was my mom’s. I don’t have a son to pass it down to, and honestly, even if I did, what’s in that box has always been Kim’s. Please, open it.”

  Picking up the small velvet box, I flip the lid and study the ring inside. It’s beautiful and unusual, not something you would find at a jewelry store today. The band is made of thick white gold filigree work, and it has one large deep blue sapphire stone set into the middle of the ring, with much smaller diamond chips around the outside.

  “What’s this?” I pull my eyes from the ring, wondering what to say to him.

  “Kim loved that ring. When she was growing up, my mom used to tell her stories about the women in our family who once wore that ring, and through each of those stories, she fell a little more in love with it. She made me promise her that one day, when she got married, that ring would be hers. I know it goes against tradition, but—”

  “I’ll give her the ring,” I rumble, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. “It means something to you, and it means something to her. I’ll give it to her.”

  “Pattie and I got lucky,” he says, and my head jerks back. But he leans forward, getting close and wrapping his hand around the back of my neck the way my dad does when he wants me to hear what he’s saying—really hear what he’s saying to me. “All any parent wants for their child is happiness. You’re a good man, the kind of man who will take care of her, the kind who will find a way to make her happy and keep her that way. She found that in you, which means we can live the rest of our days not worrying about the type of man she will end up with. Because we already know he’s exactly the kind of man we would have chosen for her. That’s rare, which means we’re lucky.”

  Holding his eyes, feeling those words wash over me, I nod then lean in and touch my forehead to his. Him telling me that I’m good enough for his daughter, good enough for his family, means everything to me, and I will work hard every day for the rest of my life to make sure I never let him or Pattie down.

  “Thank you,” I murmur, and his hand squeezes before he lets me go. I sit back, closing the lid on the box and putting it in my pocket.

  “I was looking for you two. Did you guys want breakfast?” Pattie asks, coming around the corner, and I pick up my coffee and stand when Donald does.

  “Are you making eggs benedict?” Donald asks, kissing the side of her head.

  “Is that a request for me to make eggs benedict?” She raises a brow.

  “It’s Kim’s favorite.” Donald smiles down at her, shrugging.

  “It’s your favorite.” She smacks his chest. “Don’t you think I’ve caught onto that trick by now?” She shakes her head at him then looks at me. “Is Kim up?”

  “She wasn’t, but I’m heading that way now.”

  “Tell her I need her help making breakfast.”

  “Will do,” I agree before I head inside, dropping my empty cup in the sink. I move toward the bedroom and open the door, finding Kim up and sitting on the side of the bed. She’s looking at her phone, with her fingers moving quickly over the screen.

  “Morning.” She lifts her head and smiles at me as I shut the door, and then her phone dings and her eyes drop back down to it. Shaking her head at whatever she’s reading, she starts typing once more.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  “Chris is mad at me.” Taking a seat next to her, I rest my lips to her bare shoulder, watching her type and having no clue what the hell the two of them are talking about, because none of it makes sense to me. Something about a horse and carriage and an ugly, pink, poufy dress. “Have you been up a while?” she asks when she stops typing once more and her eyes come to me over her shoulder.

  “Not long, but your mom said she needs your help making breakfast.”

  “Is she making eggs benedict?”

  “She is. Your dad said it’s your favorite.”

  “It’s his favorite, but because it’s so bad for him, my mom only makes it when I’m home.” She smiles, but then her phone dings again and she sighs, ignoring it. “I told Chris that everything worked out, but he’s still pissed I didn’t listen to him when he told me not to leave town.”

  “You shouldn’t have left town,” I agree, and she pouts her bottom lip. Dropping my eyes to her mouth, I lean forward, kiss the pout away, and then pick her up, moving her to straddle my lap.

  “Sage,” she whimpers, pressing her tits into my chest as I smooth my hands up the warm skin of her back under her tank. As my tongue slips into her mouth, I slide one hand around her waist to cup her breast. “Oh,” she breathes as I skim my thumb over her erect nipple. Her hips grind hard into mine, and I fight back a curse. “Ignore it,” she pants against my mouth as her phone starts to ding in rapid succession.

  “Perfect.” I cup both her breasts and she rocks against me, moaning into my mouth. But then she whimpers when I pull back as her phone starts ringing. Seeing it’s Chris calling, I pick it up and put it to my ear. “You’re gonna have to fight with Kim when she gets back to town,” I growl in frustration.

  “Right,” he mutters, and then continues, “but let her know that next time, she’s out of the running for my best woman.”

  “I’ll let her know,” I agree before hanging up and pulling Kim’s mouth back down toward mine. Then I stand with her wrapped around me as I hold onto her ass.

  “What did he say?” she asks, kissing and licking my neck as I toss her phone to the bed behind me.

  “He said next time, you’re out of the running to be his best woman.”

  “I’m so sure,” she hisses, lifting her mouth from my skin. “No one else would be able to deal with him.”

  “You two can sort that out when you get back.” I nip her bottom lip then set her on the vanity in the bathroom.

  “You’re right.” Her eyes darken and her hands push my shirt up my chest then over my head. “When are we going back?”

  “I leave tomorrow.”

  “You have to leave tomorrow?” She frowns, looking up at me, and I rest my hand around the side of her neck and lower my face toward hers.

  “I have to get back to work, so I need to catch a flight tomorrow evening. I know it’s not a long visit, but this trip wasn’t planned, baby.”

  “Right.” She nods, tightening her legs around my hips. “I’ll change my fight and go back with you.” Studying her for a long moment, I wonder how selfish I should be. Part of me wants to take her back with me, but I know her parents miss her and they don’t get to see her often enough.

  “You should stay and finish your visit.”

  “I’m ready to go home.” Her hands on the back of my neck pull my face down toward hers.

  “Home,” I murmur. Liking the sound of that, I brush my lips over hers, seeing her face soften. “When we get back, I’ll talk to the guys and we’ll get you moved out of your place and into the lake house.”

  “But—”

  “No buts, baby.” I give her neck a squeeze and use my other hand to pull her hips tighter against mine. “We’re starting our life together. I don’t want to hear you think it’s too soon for you to move in with me.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that,” she grumbles, dropping her head back.

  I smile. “Yeah? Then what were you going to say?”

  “I don’t know,” she lies, and my smile turns into a grin.

  Running my thumb under her chin, I touch my mouth to hers then pull back, keeping our eyes locked. “I’m willing to wait for you to take my last name. But I won’t wait on this. I want you with me, in my bed, under my roof, and in my life in every way possible.”

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  “Okay,” I state, and I kiss her forehead then take her mouth before I force her to release me so she can get ready.

  Kim

  “CHRIST,” SAGE RUMBLES as I pull my dress off over my head and drop it to the sand at my feet, leaving me in nothing but my bikini.

  Moving my eyes over his shirtless torso, I feel my mouth go dry. He’s always beautiful, but with the warm Florida sun shining down on him and the ocean behind him, making his eyes stand out even more, he’s gorgeous.

  He told me when we were having breakfast with my parents that he had never been to the beach, so I made a decision to rectify that. I told my parents I was sorry for cutting my trip short but that Sage and I were going to head to Miami to spend the day at the beach before catching our flight back to Tennessee tomorrow afternoon. My mom was bummed, but she promised she would talk Dad into coming to Tennessee in a few weeks, and my dad was surprisingly okay with the new change of plans.

  “Do you really expect me to keep my hands off you?” Sage asks, breaking into my thoughts, and I realize then that he’s no longer a few feet away. He’s in front of me, with his fingers curved possessively around my hip and his eyes burning into every inch of my exposed skin.

  “There are a lot of people here,” I point out, and his fingers dig in as his eyes move to look around us before coming back to mine. “So you don’t have to keep your hands off me. You just have to keep things PG.” His eyes narrow like he’s not happy about that idea. Knowing that if I’m not careful, things will get out of hand between us, I take his hand. “Come on.” I lead him down to the water and smile as the ocean skims across my feet, only to shriek a moment later when he scoops me up in his arms and carries me out into the waves until he’s waist-deep. “Sage!”