Page 139 of Whispers of You
He chuckled and then took my mouth in a slow kiss, one that poured all that tenderness into my soul. I swore I could feel his love for me in that touch of lips and tongues.
I came away breathless. “I take that back. You can say it all without a word.”
Holt framed my face with his hands, the rough pads of his fingers soothing everything in me. “I thought we could build a home here. One that’s ours.”
My eyes widened. “This property isn’t even for sale.”
He shrugged. “I had a word with the owner. Made an offer they couldn’t ignore. It would mean we owned the land from here to the lake. We could keep the cabin for guests or as a sort of boathouse for days on the lake. But I want a life with you. Children with you. All the things we dreamed of. And I want us to build it from the ground up. Together.”
Tears spilled from my eyes. “Holt.”
His mouth curved. “Is that a yes? You’re with me?”
I threw my arms around him. “I’m with you.”
EPILOGUE
WREN
TWO MONTHS LATER
Holt spreada blanket out over what I’d come to think of asour spot. We’d had a lot of them over the years. Hideouts on his parents’ property. The massive, overstuffed chair in the house I’d grown up in. The dock we’d spent hours on the moment the weather allowed.
But this one was my favorite. Maybe because of the moments and places that had come before it. Maybe because this was the spot where we would build our lives.
Holt grabbed the picnic basket and gestured for me to sit.
Shadow raced across the blanket and bounded into the field below. Grinning, I lowered myself as a bubble of anticipation floated through me—and perhaps a healthy dose of nerves.
Holt grinned. “You know we can change anything we don’t like.”
“I know. But we’ve talked this through with the architects, over and over. I’m hoping it’s a slam dunk right out of the gate.” The more tweaks we made, the longer it would take for us to be in our home.
He leaned over and brushed his lips across mine. “Me, too. But better that it’s right than us rushing it.”
“Why do you always have to make such good points when it comes to house-related things?” I grumbled.
Holt chuckled. The sound had changed in the last two months. It was lighter. Freer somehow. “You don’t have to sound so annoyed about it.”
“I can’t help it. It annoys me when you’re right and I’m wrong.”
He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “This is about Newsprint Gray, isn’t it?”
“It looks so freaking good with the photos we hung!”
Holt did laugh then, pulling me onto his lap and kissing me soundly. “I promise to be wrong about at least five things while we’re building this house.”
I grinned against his mouth. “That would be the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“And you know I’m a gentleman.”
The husky edge to his voice made heat pool low in my belly. “Please, for the love of all that’s holy, do not use that tone right now.”
“What tone?” Holt asked innocently, but his eyes had a devilish gleam.
I pinched his side. “You know it makes me want to jump your bones, and if we get arrested for indecent exposure, it really is going to be a long time before we look at these plans.”
Holt sighed. “Fine. House plans now, sex later.”
