Page 104 of Reluctant Chemistry

“But I haven’t said it back.”

“I can wait.” Luka rose naked from the bed and walked across the room and into his closet. At the sight of him, she smiled, tears forgotten.

That butt…cut to perfection.

48

Giving Gifts

Phone in hand, Luka stood at the window overlooking the lawn and watched the rain pelt the earth. He’d planned to sow the grass from scratch, but with the house behind schedule, he’d run out of time, so had settled for ready-lawn.

He loved it when CeCe stayed over, and on nights like this, when she insisted on spending time alone so she could catch up on her business, he found it difficult to sleep without her.

Luka:Come over. I want to open my present.

CeCe:I told you, not until Xmas day. Are you coming to Mum and Dads for Xmas lunch?

Luka:Yes. If you stay the night with me beforehand.

CeCe:I’ve stayed almost every night for the past two weeks.

Luka:And the sex just keeps getting better and better.

CeCe:*blush blush*.

Luka walked across the room and picked up her gift to him—a box wrapped in navy blue paper and finished with a silver bow—and gave it a shake before setting it back under the tree. Sitting beside it was his gift to her. He’d thought about what to get her for weeks. CeCe was unimpressed by wealth and ostentation, that much he knew. She usually wore earrings made from shells or feathers, and that blue butterfly still graced her neck whenever she rocked up in jeans and a T-shirt at the weekends.

Although that black choker outfit of hers remained a favorite look, he loved her floaty beach dresses and cut off shorts too. No matter which way one looked at her, physically or spiritually, the simplicity of her manner and the depth of her soul made CeCe a beautiful person, inside and out.

How had he got so lucky?

His phone chimed with an incoming text.

CeCe:I’ll stay. That way we can wake up together on Xmas morning. We’ll eat pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup.

Luka:Sounds good. You realize what this means?

CeCe:No, what?

Luka:We’re a proper couple now. Spending Xmas day together. Lunch with your folks, dinner with mine.

CeCe:Damn!Let’s just go surfing instead.

Luka:Not this year.

CeCe:Goodnight Chopper Guy.

Luka:Night.

It amused Luka how so much had changed lately. Frank Dobson had even offered him a whiskey when he and CeCe visited them the week before. They’d talked choppers and horses and organics, and when they bid her parents farewell, Frank’s handshake had been firm and accompanied by a smile.

Last weekend, he’d given CeCe a riding lesson, and it hadn’t gone well. He doubted she’d ever feel comfortable in the saddle. But she’d been a good sport about it, even when Spartan, usually a placid old fella, took off at speed.

Afterward, with his parents and twin brothers away for the night, they’d had hot, messy sex on a chair in his old bedroom; Luka with his jodhpurs around his thighs, and CeCe dressed in nothing but a smile and a blue butterfly.

Luka opened the fridge and peered inside, feeling restless. It wasn’t a beer kind of night, but he grabbed one anyway and flicked off the top. Just as he was about to take a swig, his phone chimed again.

CeCe:What are you doing?

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