The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue #2) - Jessica Hawkins Page 0,151

a breeze from the balcony. We’re not married yet—it’s on our to-do list—but the hotel doesn’t need to know that. This way, we score all the perks . . . like the free champagne we guzzled on night one.

Andrew lifts up onto his arms to hover over me. “I can’t believe it’s already our last night in paradise. Are you bummed about going home?”

“Do you have to ask?”

“No. I know you’re not.” He drops a quick kiss on my lips. “Neither am I.”

“St. Maarten has been dreamy,” I say. “But next time, let’s bring the kid.”

He grins. “Yeah?”

“She would’ve loved snorkeling, Andrew. She’s going to flip when she sees the underwater photos.”

“Speaking of flipping, I’m going to need you to get on your stomach.”

I arch an eyebrow at him. “Should I even ask why?”

“So I can spank you. How many times have I asked you not to bring up Bell when I’m naked and about to have you? I lost my hard-on.”

I shake my head, laughing. I know from experience that one spanking will instantly put him back in the mood. “That’s so inappropriate.”

“Yeah, well, that’s life with an eight-year-old. Messy as fuck.”

“Almost nine,” I point out. “Can you believe it’s been two years since we met?”

“Um, yeah, I can.” He rolls his eyes. “I thank my lucky stars all the time that you thought I was a plumber and ripped me a new one.”

His tone is sarcastic, so even though I know how grateful he is for me, I smack him on the ass. And then I wince.

“Hurt your hand?” he guesses, reaching around to grab my wrist. He kisses my palm.

I nod. “All that yoga you’ve been doing.”

“Now you’re really asking for it,” he says. I’ve been explicitly warned against mentioning yoga—according to Andrew and his friends, it’s for chicks only. Except that he started joining me for private classes a year ago. There’ve been a few arguments during which I was tempted to run to the shop and announce Andrew’s new hobby to Pico and Randy. But I don’t want him to stop. Yoga has made his body even firmer and leaner, and I enjoy those benefits as often as I can.

I pat his shoulder. “Well, since you’re done for the night, I think I’ll go to sleep.”

He grins wolfishly. With my wrist still in his grip, he lifts my arm over my head and pins it to the mattress. “You know very well I’m not finished. I plan to do this for a lifetime and still not be done.”

Andrew lugs our things up the sidewalk to the house, but I lag behind, eyeing my rose bushes. Without even a glance back at me, he calls, “You can inspect them with a magnifying glass later.”

He knows me so well. I planted them when I moved in, and I’ve cared for them meticulously since. I want to make sure the gardeners were good to them during my absence. Bell’s almost as diligent as I am about tending to them, but she’s still a child. My orange-pink Brothers Grimm roses, which Bell chose just for the name, are my pride and joy. For the first time in my life, I own a piece of the world, something tangible.

To my surprise, the front door hasn’t flown open yet. I can imagine Bell must be bursting at the seams to see us. We’ve spoken on the phone twice a day every day. As eager as she’s been for us to return, Andrew and I have made strides getting her to understand we’ll always come home. We’re not going anywhere. She still gets upset when we leave, but it’s not nearly as bad as when Andrew and I started dating.

When Andrew reaches the door, I jog up the walkway to block him from going inside. “I should warn you,” I say. “There’s a surprise for you in there.”

“Yeah?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows. “How’d you manage that?”

“It wasn’t easy,” I admit. Considering our history with exes, Andrew and I are completely transparent with each other at all times. This surprise took a lot of secret phone calls and money transfers, but I know without a doubt it’ll be worth all the sneaking around. “Come on. You’ll see.”

As he reaches for the handle, the door swings open. “What’d you bring me?” Bell screams.

So much for her separation anxiety.

“Nothing!” Andrew screams back at her.

Her face falls a mile. “What? Not even a little shell?”

I drop my shoulder bag and open my arms. “I brought