Page 32 of Grounds for Love

I sigh and reluctantly admit I can’t respond to that the way I wish my body would allow. Instead I take his hand. “Yes, I do and I will tell you all about it while we make sandwiches.”

We do have those sandwiches which we wash down with water and then we take a walk on the beach, hand in hand. I’ve missed the closeness to another person.

I collect a few top-pocket shells and he laughs at my excitement, but I notice he starts pointing out interesting finds to me. He even offers to put them in his pockets when mine are full.

When we started our walk, there were no houses for at least a mile and then a few larger homes appear, soon mixed in with smaller, much less expensive ones. Even the larger homes are nothing like Rod’s. After seeing his luxury yacht, his home shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. I just can’t make his modern house match up with the man. “So, about your house…”

“I owned the land and when a hurricane came through and destroyed the house Grace and I lived in, I decided to have something built.”

It must have been hard for him to lose their home. I remember how difficult it was to move away from the home Bryan and I shared. “It’s wonderful and big. It could easily be in one of those home magazines.”

“I had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t in a place to even care. I hired an architect and a designer and didn’t care what they built. My brother Blake and his wife Hannah did everything they could to help, but it didn’t matter to me what the house looked like. I just wanted a place where I could be alone.”

I had Joy to keep me from falling down the rabbit hole. I had to get up every day and carry on. It wasn’t just about me. I know Rod is close with his family, but that’s different from having someone in the house that depends on you. “Do you ever regret not having children with Grace?”

His hand tightens on mine and I consider he may not answer. “No. Not really. I mean, we had the same dreams of children when we got married. There was always something in the way that kept us pushing them back. My career in the military. Then starting the business in New York. I worked seventy-hour weeks most of the time. Then Grace got her diagnosis. That’s just the way it worked out. I wouldn’t wish my life after Grace on any child. What about you? Do you wish you had kids?”

“Joy was so young when I got custody of her, I’ve always walked a fine line between sister and parent which was hard to do. Sometimes she needed a parent more than she did a sister so it feels like I had that experience. Bryan and I wanted children. We tried for years, but it wasn’t to be. I made peace with that even before Bryan’s accident.”

“It sounds like we’re both content where we landed.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Our conversation is getting too deep. Before I can change the subject, he must have the same idea.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” he asks as we turn to head back to his house.

“I’d love to use that incredible chef’s kitchen you have and make us dinner. But I should warn you that there’s only a fifty percent chance it would be edible.”

He laughs. “I’m not saying I’m any better, but what if we do it together? I can throw a few steaks on the grill while you make a salad.”

I look up into his face with a grin. “That sounds perfect. I can make baked potatoes safely.”

As we near his house, he stops and pulls me into his arms, kissing me until I’m breathless and needy. “Jenni, stay with me tonight.”

I’d have to text Joy, but I have a feeling she already knows. There’s only one answer. “Okay.”

Dinner is delicious. We eat out on the back deck overlooking the ocean. We do work well together and Rod even makes cleanup fun and sexy.

I want him badly by the time he carries me up the stairs again. We come together with the same powerful desire, but he won’t be swayed to take me the way I want him to.

Ignoring his own needs, he brings me to the edge and over with his mouth no matter how many times I insist I’m fine. After I catch my breath, I push him flat on the bed and take him in my mouth and give him the same pleasure he’d given me.

As we both lay in bed, replete and well satisfied, our breathing slows and I feel his arms tighten around me as we fall asleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I wake to the feeling of Rod’s erection growing between my ass cheeks. He kisses my shoulder and whispers, “I need you, baby. How are you…”

I roll to my back and open my legs to welcome him in answer. He starts to enter me gently, but that’s not what I want. I buck my hips and we both gasp as his cock slams into me in one hard thrust. “Yes!”

There’s no frantic, hurried pace. Instead he makes love to me slowly, gently, like I’m the most precious thing in his life.

By the time we’re both spent, I’m glad for the darkness of the room to mask the tears in my eyes. Tears I can’t really explain. Being with Rod is beautiful. He touches every part of me, inside and out, and I don’t know if I can ever live without him.

A cold shiver runs over my skin and Rod’s arms tighten around me again.

I know how quickly things can go bad. I’ve lived it. But I can’t believe that fate would be that cruel.

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