Page 101 of The Geography of Happiness

Grandchildren?Moving in together?I blinked.Holy shit.The idea was crazy but Spencer didn’t look crazy. He looked... deadly serious. And it was so damn tempting.Hewas so tempting. It was a future I’d never dreamed possible. But I still didn’t get how we could make it happen.

I leaned in and hissed, “I have six words for you, smarty pants.”

He snorted. “Just six?”

I narrowed my gaze and pulled him down so I could whisper in his ear. “One blow job. One hand job. That’s all we’ve done together. I’ve barely seen you with your clothes off, for fuck’s sake, and we’ve never slept in the same bed.” I pulled back and arched a brow. “Do you snore?”

Spencer waggled his brows. “First, that’s way more than six words. And second, yes, I snore but so do you.”

I opened my mouth to argue but he shushed me.

“And third—” He leaned down to whisper inmyear. “—after what happened in my study that night, I have zero concerns about sex with you other than I’m gonna need to install a fire extinguisher by our bed.” He snagged my lips in a kiss. “And believe me, I’m as keen to remedy that whole more-of-the-nakedbit as you are.” He pulled the neck of my shirt out and pretended to peer down inside. “Mmm, can’t wait.”

“Shut up.” I slapped his hand away and glanced over my shoulder, but Hannah hadn’t moved.

Spencer huffed. “More significantly, I think we’ve pretty much nailed a lot of the important getting to know each other bits, don’t you?” He arched both brows that time. “And can I just point out that I’m the one who’s chasing here? Me. Spencer Thompson. Confirmed bachelor and king of the one-night stands. You do realise my reputation is shot to hell.”

My cheeks flamed even though his confidence in our sexual compatibility secretly pleased me, along with the wordour. In our bed. “You’re impossible.”

Spencer’s smile slipped. “You know, I’d understand ifyoumight have concerns... about... well, the sex part. I get you’ve had questions in your life about that before, and trust me when I say there is nothing we can’t work through if we talk about it. I wantyou, Terry. And that includes whatever you’re willing and wanting to give, nothing more.”

I thought about what he was asking. Thought about how amazing it was that he was open to the conversation. I thought about all those years I hadn’t missed a body in my bed. Hadn’t wanted... much... in that regard at all. And then I remembered Spencer’s study, thought about our kiss just minutes ago, and finally I shook my head. “No concerns... as such... not with you. I guess I’m still discovering that part of me and I can’t answer what I don’t know.”

His arms slid around my waist. “Then we take it slow and see where it leads. Besides, finding a resolution to our geographicalchallenges is going to allow plenty of time to fill in some of the blanks we don’t know about each other, right?”

“Says you,” I murmured. “But okay, I admit it’s tempting, although I’m not sure how long I could handle the long-distancething. And neither of us have a lot of spare time to meet up and?—”

He silenced me with a long slow kiss that made my toes curl. “Can we step out for a moment?”

I glanced at Hannah and nodded. “Not too far.”

He led me into the corridor and across the hall into the cramped linen supply room. “This okay?”

“Really?” I chuckled. “You’re putting me back in the closet?”

He pinched my waist. “Are you fully out of it yet?”

That sobered me. “No. But it’s happening soon.” I cradled his face to emphasise my point. “I want to be honest in my life.”

He searched my eyes and then kissed me. “Okay. Well, in that case, I had time to think on the flight over, and I have a few ideas how to solve some of our problems, starting with me staying here with you while Hannah is in hospital. I already have the week off, and when I talked with Matt, he agreed to get a locum for the clinic so I could come back up here over Christmas and New Year.”

“Christmas?” I winced, imagining the commotion that little surprise was gonna cause in the small settlement of Painted Bay.

“WhichI will spend with my brother Derek.” Spencer allayed my fears. “It’s his first Christmas morning on his own since he was a teenager. The kids are coming in the afternoon and I want to be there for them as well. It’s gonna feel really strange for everyone. But once Boxing Day is done, I thought that maybe I could rent a car and drive up to Painted Bay for New Year, but only if that’s okay with you. I could stay a week or two while Hannah is rehabilitating, you could show me around, and I could meet your family and friends. And I can sort out my own accommodation, you don’t need to?—”

“Like hell.” I fisted his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. “You’ll stay with us.”

Spencer grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. And I figured we could see how things looked by the end of that time, how Hannah’s recovery was going and what the decision about Nolan was and so on, and plan from there.”

I frowned. “But what about the clinic long-term? We’re not going to have things between us sorted out in just a couple of months. What do you think Matt will say about it?”

Spencer shrugged. “When I explain things, I think he’ll be ecstatic just knowing he won’t be losing me altogether. I figure he’ll be more than happy to plug my absences with a locum where it’s needed while you and I work things out. And now that Connor’s fully qualified, he can take over some of the domestic pet work.”

I stared at him, stunned. “You’ve really put some thought into this. But none of it solves the fact that I still have a business to sort out, and I’m either going to be living in Painted Bay if Hannah’s recovery has any glitches or in Wellington if she goes to Nolan.”Or shecould board like she so desperately wants toa small voice reminded me.

“I didn’t say I had all the answers.” Spencer stroked my cheek and I realised how negative I’d been sounding. “Only that I’m willing to work with whatever creative solutions we can find. Maybe I’ll still take that year off and put a locum in Oakwood. Maybe I can find my own locum work close to Painted Bay or in Wellington. We have options.”

I gaped. “You’d really do that?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

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