Page 117 of Begin Again
Nina sighs and stares down at her feet. “You promise you won’t be mad?”
“You didn’t resign. Did you?”
Nina shakes her head and looks back up. There’s a small amount of fear in her eyes and I hate that my past actions are the reason for it.
“Good,” I say, cupping the side of her face. “I want you to do this, Dee. I want you to take this opportunity and run with it for as long as you can…as long as you want to. We have been given a second chance at life. A chance to right the wrongs we made the first time and one of those wrongs was me trying to make you choose between me and your job.” Her eyes shine with tears beneath my grasp. I press a light kiss to her lips. “I want this. I want you. I want us. None of this matters if it’s not with you.”
She fingers the placket of my navy blue polo.
“I didn’t realize it was a problem until now. I assumed you knew I would be by your side no matter what. It wasn’t until you told me you were thinking about stepping down that I understood you were doing it because of me…because of what I said before.” I bring her gaze back to mine. “Nina, I don’t care where we are. I don’t care if you’re working here or if we’re taking time off in Haven. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care. Because my life will always be with you. Wherever you go, I go. That’s how this works, Princess. And it’s time for us to begin again.”
“What would you say if I told you I had an idea?” There’s a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“I’d say okay, as long as it’s not another wedding.”
Nina’s laugh is like music to my ears, bringing a smile to my lips, and I kiss her. “It’s not another wedding.”
“You promise?” I stick my left hand out between us, pinky finger hanging in the air.
My wife rolls her eyes but wraps her finger around mine anyway.“Prometto.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later
NINA
“Good morning, Princess.” His breath is warm against the shell of my ear before his lips find my temple. I groan in protest and turn to bury my face in his chest. The action prompts a rumble in his chest as he wraps his arms securely around my waist, and I half expect him to continue to try and draw me from bed, but he doesn’t. He buries his face into my hair and inhales, settling further into bed. We lay there a few heartbeats longer before he sighs, kissing the top of my head. “You have to get over to the office before graduation.”
I groan at that.
Today is the day the board will vote on a handful of different things, including where we will open the new Villa Incorporated corporate office. When I proposed moving the main corporate office to Colorado two years ago, the answer had been a resounding no. However, they’ve finally come around to discussing it further. And while I’m happy they’re open to change, I’m not sure the board will be too happy when I suggest a different location: Winchester. Or, should I say, I plan to suggest a movebackto Winchester, instead. Recently I’ve begun to wonder if a permanent move to Colorado is a good idea aftereverything that has happened…Ultimately, it’s a decision Nick and I have to make together.
I have to get up and moving if I’m going to make the meeting and be back in time for Elena’s kindergarten graduation.
“Is there coffee?”
“Made it after getting Elena ready,” he says, planting another kiss in my hair.
“You’re a saint.” I glide my hands underneath his T-shirt, across the planes of his chest, and kiss my way up his neck. His dick comes to attention through the fabric of his sweatpants.
“Dee,” he warns, and I hum against his warm skin. “You cannot be late.”
“I won’t be if you stop talking.”
Nick rolls us so he’s on top of me and kisses me. He pushes my underwear to the side, slipping his fingers inside me, and I moan against his mouth. I rake my fingers through the hair at the base of his skull. He finally grew it out last year and I begged him never to shave it again. I missed running my fingers through the tapered dark brown curls too much.
He pumps his fingers in and out of me, using his thumb to circle my clit, and it’s pure bliss, this feeling of waking up next to him after going to sleep each night in his arms, knowing when I open my eyes he will be there…It’s everything. Sometimes I forget there’s an entire year he was missing from our lives, but then I notice little things about him or me or us, and it reminds me. Reminds me we aren’t—
My thoughts are interrupted when Nick brings my nipple to his mouth, biting down gently through the fabric of his gray T-shirt I wore to bed. I start to grind myself against his hand, but as soon as I feel that pressure building in my abdomen, he pulls his fingers from me.
He pulls my underwear down my legs and shoves down his sweatpants. Nick positions himself at my entrance, stroking hiscock two times before thrusting inside me. And if there’s one thing I’m sure of, I will never get tired of this.
Nick makes breakfast while I take the fastest shower I’ve ever taken in my life. Just before I walk out of the bathroom, I notice two marks he left on my neck, and if looks could kill…Well, you get the idea.
When I walk into the kitchen, I’m ready to give him a verbal lashing but my words falter. Nick crouches in front of Tobias—our six-month-old son—who squeals with delight from his highchair. He just tossed a fistful of mashed avocado onto the floor, much to my husband’s dismay. I giggle and kiss the top of our son’s head.
“You’re going to be late,” Nick says, standing up from the floor. Passing me an egg and avocado sandwich and coffee to go, he plants a hard kiss on my lips and smacks my ass, urging me toward the door.
