Page 183 of Wildest Dreams

“The rules of what?” she says, smiling despite her little eye roll.

“The rules of being a guy who is head-over-heels in love.”

Her breathing catches in her throat and I lock my fingers through hers, squeezing tight.

“You’re my dream girl, Ash,” I tell her, “and I want to treat you right. Please let me.”

She releases a shaky exhale. After a quiet moment she whispers, “Okay.”

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth and, seeing as the road is pretty much empty, I glance down to meet her eyes.

“I love you so much,” I tell her, chuckling quietly as she reaches up to press a cute kiss to the smile crease in my cheek. “Now I need you to close your eyes so that you can have the full impact of seeing this house for the first time. Hands over your eyes, baby – no peeking.”

I can tell that she’s still feeling a little sad but she nods her head as she places her hands over her eyes.

I glance down at her a few times to check that she really isn’t peeking, and then I do a U-turn on the road, heading back from the climb we were just making on the mountain.

I’m not sure if she feels it but, if she does, she doesn’t say anything. She just breathes gently in and out, like she’s calming herself down from her inner turmoil.

It takes barely ten minutes until we’re where we need to be, and then the G-wagon is crunching slowly over the gravel, undulating gently side to side.

She swallows quietly beside me, a tinkle of nervous laughter rising up her throat.

“You’re not taking me back to the UTV place are you?” she says teasingly. “Like, I enjoyed mudding – sure – but I don’t want to live in the Polaris.”

I breathe out a laugh, rounding the gentle curve and then pulling to a stop.

“Open your eyes, baby,” I tell her.

With slightly shaking fingers she moves her hands to her lap.

It takes all but one second for her to burst into tears.

Needles prick at the back of my eyes as I take in the depth of her emotion, her shoulders shaking violently as she tries to swipe her cascading tears from her cheeks, and I immediately yank the seatbelt from over my lap so that I can move closer to her, tucking her under my arm.

She buries her face in my neck and I stroke my palms down her hair, pressing hard kisses against her forehead as her body shakes with the intensity of her tears.

She pulls back after a moment, her eyes sparkling as she looks up into mine.

“You bought the lake house?” she whispers, her voice cracking and full of hope.

I brush my thumb over her cheruby cheek, stroking away her tears as I hold her against me.

“Yeah, baby,” I tell her. “If you’re okay with it, I’m buying the lake house.”

She drops her forehead against my chest, sobbing uncontrollably as I try to console her. I laugh gently as she shakes her head, mumbling embarrassed apologies over her crying.

I just hold her tighter, letting her get it all out.

We listen to the lake lapping against the shore, soft and peaceful, as her tears subside.

Then she’s wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me, and a smile tugs at my mouth as I bring her over the centre console, settling her down over my lap.

“You’re the buyer who matched the asking price?” she whispers, her chest pumping quickly against my own.

I glance down at her body, held flush against mine, and I shove a hand through my hair as my cock grows heavier under her lap.

“Yeah,” I rumble. “I matched the asking price.”

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