Page 17 of Thunder Thighs
I thought back to last night's activities. I'd tied Ella up, binding her hands and wrapping rope around her body in intricate knots, drawing out her orgasm, teasing her until she screamed through her release.
The Japanese called it Shibari, I called it spank bank material.
"Bring earplugs," I told him, not even caring when he groaned complaints down the line.
"Fine. I'll see your ugly mug Friday," he hung up.
I tucked the phone into my back pocket, turning slowly back to Ella. She'd pulled a big floppy hat from her bag, shading her delicate skin from the sun.
"All good?" She asked.
"Yeah, babe." I parked my ass in the chair across from her, enjoying the view. "My brother, Erik, he's gonna come down this weekend. You cool with that?"
Her body tensed, but she kept her voice casual. "Oh. Is he coming to help you with the boat?"
I hesitated. "The yacht's fixed," I finally admitted.
Erik hadn't been wrong. The part had come in last week and it had taken me less than a day to fix it. I'd picked this cruiser up from its owner and had been sailing it back to our shop so we could do a complete gut job on it. We designed boats, but we also restored, renovated, and repaired for a price. The owner's request had coincided with my vacation and I'd figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by sailing her back. I just hadn't expected to meet Ella.
"Oh." She played with the skirt of her dress. "does that mean you're heading home?"
Baby, I am home.
"Not yet," I reached across, linking our fingers together. It was time I laid it all out there. "We've got a great thing going here. I want to stick around and see where we can take this."
Her cheeks colored. "I… I do too."
I grinned, "good. My brother's gonna come down and stay the weekend. I'll need to head back next week to close off my work and back up my house. Not sure how long that will take," I tipped my head, giving her an easy grin. "Way I see it we got three options. Option one, I move into your cottage – but, fair warning – I got a ton of shit that'll need storage."
Her free hand reached up, shakily removing her sunglasses to stare at me.
"Option two, I rent a place. Not real fond of that as it implies I'll be sleeping elsewhere when we both know I'll be by your side every single night. But I'll do it if you need me to."
She blinked slowly, looking stunned.
"Option three is my preferred. We move into your cottage temporarily but we look at buying a house down here. I already went looking and made a shortlist of the ones I think'll be perfect for us. I give you the list, you pick out the one you love and we'll move in there."
I leaned in, pegging her with a look. "Ella, you gotta know. This isn't temporary for me. I'm planning on moving here. Living here. I want to marry you."
She sucked in a breath, looking overwhelmed. "But, Gunnar…" she trailed off, blinking frantically. "What about your business?"
I grinned, "so you know how I've been hanging out with the locals the last week?"
She nodded slowly.
"Turns out a few guys agree with me that y'all aren't capitalizing on the tourist market." I gestured at the marina. "Spoke to Rick, he wants to sell the marina. Want's to move up to Rhode Island where his grandkids live. I've put in an offer."
Ella's beautiful big eyes widened. "You what?"
I grinned, "it's a smart investment. You got regulars and tourists. Give this place an overhaul, a few upgrades, introduce a boat builder which," I placed a hand on my chest. "I happen to know."
"You'd move your business?"
"No."
Her face dropped at my statement.
I rushed to reassure her, "Erik and I have been talking about expanding. Maybe franchising out, adding a shop."
