For the first time in a long time, I had a real home to go to where a man I loved more than the world always greeted me with a kiss and genuine joy that I was home.
There was nothing better than that.
Peter finished hammering in his last nail and pushed himself to his feet. He was wearing a sweat-stained, torn-up, white T-shirt and faded blue jeans. He looked hot as hell, literally and figuratively, and his eyes lit up when I held out the iced sweet tea.
“You look like you could use a drink,” I said.
He took it and drained half the glass in three massive mouthfuls. “Damn, that’s good. Thanks.”
I looked around at the porch. He was making serious headway. “You got a lot done today.”
He nodded and surveyed his work before looking up through the trees. The sun was dipping low in the sky, and soon, the entire yard would be in shade and shadow. “I think it’s time to call it quits for the night,” he said. “Otherwise, I’ll be out here hammering in the dark.”
“We both know that’s a bad idea for someone with your—” I paused and tried to think of the right word. “Problems with general coordination and affinity for clumsiness.”
He arched an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say?”
“You’re a bull in a china shop and we both know it, so you shouldn’t work in the dark.”
He laughed. “Fair.”
“Coming inside?”
Peter nodded and left his tools outside. Nobody would come and take them. This island was a safe place during the night and the day. The screen door slapped closed against the frame behind him and Peter moved into the kitchen to brace himself against the counter. “I’m going to hop in the shower, and then we can start dinner. Care to join me?”
“I’d have to be crazy to say no to that,” I said.
Peter grinned and took my hand and we giggled like school kids as we made our way down the hall to the bathroom. He tore open the shower curtain and we both stripped out of our clothes. The water was still chilly when we stepped into the tub. I squealed as he pulled the showerhead from its hook and sprayed me down with cold water. My nipples went hard and I caught him staring. To warm myself up, I crushed myself up against him and sucked up some of his heat. He lowered his head to mine for sweet kisses that tasted like sweat, lemons, and sweet tea.
When our kiss broke, I stared up into his eyes. “Isn’t it wild how much has changed in just one month? All because you happened to end up on this island? What are the chances?”
Peter shrugged one shoulder as he put the showerhead back up. He stood under the water. It slicked his hair back and he looked up at the ceiling so it could strike his face. Water ran in rivulets down his throat and chest and farther still, going down his stomach and past his hips to his cock.
I eyed him greedily.
Peter wiped water from his face. “I guess that’s just this crazy thing called love. When it wants you, it gets you.”
“I guess it is,” I said with a sigh.
My future—or rather, our future—held so much promise. Where there used to be so much unknown, I now had a clear picture of what the rest of my life was going to look like. I was going to marry this man, and as time went on, we would add to this little homestead of ours. The one bedroom would become two, then three, and perhaps four. It all depended on how things went. Either way, I would realize my dream of becoming a mother. I knew it in my bones. I also knew the adoption process would be trying, but with Peter by my side, we could do anything.
There was a child out there in the world, or the idea of that child, and one day, I would hold them in my arms and call them mine.
I watched Peter massage shampoo into his scalp. He rinsed his hair and washed his body, and when he was done, he pulled me under the water with him.
“So what’s next?” Peter asked.
“Next?”
“Yeah, we’ve moved through the steps pretty quickly. We met, we dated, we made it official, we moved in together, we took on home renovations and still like each other. Seems to me like if we can do