Page 107 of Without Apology
Roots. I’d never had them, but now that I did, I would do anything to keep them growing.
My beautiful wife removed her shoes and took a seat on the bed. She, too, had struck a nice balance in her new role of CFO. Phillip had been more than impressed when she’d implemented a new financial system and increased profitability. Yet for all our accomplishments, we ensured we had dinner together on most evenings and took our weekend time very seriously.
We’d even managed to fulfill her office fantasy, christening her new desk and flinging all of her papers onto the floor. It had taken exactly three minutes afterward before I was kneeling down and cleaning up the mess. What could I say? Old habits died hard. She’d simply laughed and let me do it while tugging her clothes back into place.
Now for Operation Distraction. It started with me buckling her into the bed belt while she giggled every time I copped a feel during the process. “I have something to show you,” I told her.
She flashed a sexy smile. “Is it the same thing you showed me last night? Because I really enjoyed that.”
Her reminder of how I’d carried her over the threshold at the hotel room near the airport before stripping her out of her wedding dress brought back vivid memories and almost made me want to forgo my current plan. “Soon.”
I put my bag on the bed and pulled out the first two items of Operation Distraction. As expected, the first one started doing the trick. Her eyes immediately focused on it.
“You got me a bag of gummy bears?”
“Yes, which for the record are still disgusting.”
She laughed, clearly indifferent to what they were made of.
“Also. I have this.”
Her reaction to the box of chocolate-flavored frosted flakes was a squeal of delight, something which made me laugh.
“The question is chocolate or plain milk with them?” I asked.
She scoffed. “Chocolate, of course.”
I pulled out the carton of chocolate milk to show how much I knew my love. Her face was completely captivated until the engine started, and she tensed.
Time to break out the next phase. I handed her a stack of stapled papers while taking a seat beside her.
“These are houses?” Her expression was confused as she thumbed through them.
“Houses and land. Toward the back are some architectural drawings of possible homes.”
We’d talked about finding a bigger house once we got married. We wanted to have kids in the next couple of years.
“This one is in my sister’s neighborhood.”
I’d put that one on top.
“I thought it might catch your interest. It’s five bedrooms. Needs some updating. But we could remodel it before moving in. Or there are a couple of lots where we can build. Up to you.”
“I like the thought of our kids playing with their cousins down the street.”
I smiled, the vision of her as the mother of my children causing an unexpected lump of emotion in my throat. “Me, too.”
“Tell me your vows again from yesterday.”
We’d written our own for the ceremony. Last night, she’d also wanted me to repeat them. “Peyton. There’s no one else in this world to whom I’d rather say the I love you’s, I’ve missed you’s, and especially the I’m sorry’s. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”
She sighed, melting into me when I kissed her lips. Then the jet moved, and she suddenly tensed again.
Now for the final part of the distraction plan. I undid her jeans and peeled them down her legs.
“What are you doing?” she wanted to know.
“Making you a member of the mile-high club.”