Page 56 of Third Time's the Charm

“I love you, Berlin.” He kissed me deep.

My heart pounded and I began to shake. “I love you, too.” And I really meant it. A wave crashed around us, sending us back toward the beach. His hand caressed my breast. “You’re incorrigible.”

He grinned. “What’s the point of skinny dipping if you don’t touch the forbidden?”

“Can we go back and do the hot stuff now?”

He kissed me again. “I like the way you worded that.”

It was actually warmer out of the water, and even warmer in the new robe, so I wasn’t shivering too badly when we got back to the house. We went straight to the shower and stayed there until we were both warm and clean.

“Let’s sleep on the porch,” he whispered in my ear, holding up a bottle of bourbon.

Transit watched us with one eye. Rattlesnake ignored us completely. “Yeah. Let’s do it.” Why not? I had no idea what had taken over Jack, but it was fun. I didn’t even care he was the one coming up with the ideas.

“I thought we could graduate from rum since we were older and wiser,” he explained.

When we got to the sleeping porch I realized Jack had been hard at work while I slept. Besides the new robes and towels, the porch was decked out with ice, tumblers, snacks, and twinkle lights.

“Is that a new blanket?” It was white and fluffy looking.

“It is.”

I turned to face him, examining his kind eyes and sincere smile. “What’s going on? Did you take a coaching job on the other side of the country? Canada?”

He laughed, setting the bottle of bourbon down. “No. I’m contracted to the Pythons for at least three more years, and I’m pretty sure they’re not letting me go even then.”

“Then what’s all this?”

“New life. I’m a hundred percent on board with living in this house. I like the history. I even like how much of our history is tied to this place. But I need some new, too.”

“New robes and blankets?” That seemed basic enough.

“Amongst other things. Are you open to a living room redecoration?”

The living room was perfectly fine. But...maybe I needed to give a little. Let Jack make a new mark on the place. “As long as I’m consulted...yes.”

“And are you okay with the addition of lights and new bedding in here?”

Honestly the porch was incredibly neglected and probably needed a lot more. “As a beginning? Yes.”

His eyes danced. “And is bourbon an acceptable substitute for the rum we used to drink in here?”

“Absolutely. I had wine in here just a little while ago.”

His eyes darkened to damn near anger.

Oops. “With the herd of wild animals I call my clan.”

The anger dissolved. “Speaking of wild animals, how many are you going to adopt? There was only a cat and a dog when I left.”

“Yeah well, I had a hole in my heart to fill.”

He reached for the ice and tumblers and got to making our drinks finally. “You replaced me with a feral cat named Skeeter and another one named Transit?”

“It fits the bill don’t you think? Claws and teeth and problems all around.”

He splashed a little extra bourbon into his glass while acting wounded. “That hurts, but the question remains. Are we going to continue being a home for wayward animals?”

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