Page 73 of A Storybook Wedding

I feel his lips curve into a smile against the side of my face. “Like a wild animal?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, I’ve got bad news for you then.”

“Go on. I can take it.”

He takes a long cleansing breath. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”

I can’t help but laugh. “But I’m your wife.”

“You’re also my muse.”

“Maybe I can be all three.”

He wraps his arms and legs around me, and I grin under the weight of them. “Yes,” he sighs. “Yes to all of it.”

CHAPTER 14

Nate

The next morning, we wake up with our limbs intertwined. We are naked but covered by the comforter plus the extra quilt. The fireplace is still on, though I turned it down last night because something about the idea of sleeping with a fire raging just steps away from the bed seemed dangerous.

I check my phone, which I left plugged in just in case the power came back on. It’s at twelve percent battery.

I take a moment to regard the angel asleep beside me. She’s got her face smushed into the pillow and her mouth open. She’s definitely drooling into her hair. Still, she’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I’m overcome with gratitude, arousal, and joy at the fact that I get to wake up next to her, even if our relationship status could technically be labeled as complicated.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” I whisper into her ear.

She flips onto her side, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand, smacking her lips together in an attempt to cure an obvious case of dry mouth. “Mmm,” she groans.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but it looks like we still have no power, and I want you to check and see if your letters went out before my phone dies.”

Yup, that does it. CJ stretches her arms up over her head and takes in the scene that is our shared bedroom. Her panties are on the floor, our socks are laid out by the fireplace, her bra is hanging off one of the posts at the foot of the bed, and my pants are crumpled up by the bathroom door. CJ’s laptop is over at the desk by the window with my boxers just sitting beside it, as if I would ever leave my underwear on someone’s computer equipment. She reaches for her glasses on the nightstand and sets them on her face. She looks so cute I could just eat her up.

“Hey,” I say, reaching for her. “Really quick, before the letters. Happy birthday.” I fold her into my arms and give her a hug. “And happy new year. This is going to be your year, CJ.”

She gives me a squeeze, and when she pulls back, I push the hair out of her face and kiss her lightly on the mouth. “Thank you,” she says and kisses me again, more greedily this time.

“Don’t get me all worked up,” I say. “Go check your email, please. I’m not going to fight you on engaging in round three or four or whatever number we’re up to, but please, just check your email before my hotspot dies.” I laugh at how ludicrous I sound, but I know she’ll be miserable if she doesn’t have the peace of mind of knowing her queries went out.

CJ climbs out of bed and pulls on a pair of sweatpants from her bag. She grabs my undershirt from yesterday off the floor and pulls that on to cover her top. The thin fabric of the T-shirt leaves nothing to the imagination, especially without a bra. I find myself more turned on with that little bit of clothing on her than I was waking up next to her naked.

Eh, maybe not.

She opens the laptop and wakes it up by dragging her finger along the touchpad. Straight to the email she navigates. “Holy crap!” she screeches. “I already have a response!”

“Really? That’s great! That means it worked. What does it say?”

“It’s from Vision Board Creative Group. It’s an auto-reply, saying they’re closed until tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. Good.” I nod. “You’re officially a querying author. That’s a big deal! We should celebrate.”

She shrieks and claps her hands. “I’m freaking out! I’m sorry. I just have a lot of adrenaline for first thing in the morning. And then add to it all of this”—she waves at the airspace between us—“and I’m pretty much a complete and utter train wreck.”

I laugh. “No need to explain. I completely understand. I’m so excited for you. In fact, wait a sec. I have something. Pass me my drawers?”

CJ tosses my boxers over to me. I swing my legs out from under the covers and put on my underwear. Then I turn the heat on the fireplace up higher (because holy hell is it cold in here) and open the dresser drawer where all my sweaters are neatly folded. I reach all the way to the back, feeling around for my surprise.

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