Second Dive (Kings of the Water #3) - Jasmin Miller Page 0,98

stairs two at a time, walking past several closed bedroom doors until I’m at our master bedroom. Chloe did most of the interior decorating and everything looks amazing. The rooms are kept neutral with a few color accents.

And there she is. On the bed. In some skimpy lingerie—her almost-naked ass begging for my hands—completely distracted by her pencil and drawing pad.

Fuck, she’s sexy. A pure vision of a goddess.

My goddess.

When I cross the threshold, her head snaps up. “Ah, dang it. I didn’t hear you come home. I’m so sorry.”

I chuckle, my gaze roaming over her body as she puts her supplies on the nightstand. “Why? Did you have something special planned?”

Her hand does a quick sweep alongside her body, and I lick my lips. “I thought I was going to strike a special pose for you in all of this glory?”

“I like it.” And how could I not? It’s a few scraps of black fabric that beautifully wrap up some of her gorgeous assets.

“Thanks.” She pushes her newly dyed purple hair out of her face and points her finger toward my hand. “Are those for me?”

I nod and hand her the blue iris bouquet. When I went to her mom last year to tell her about my plan to ask Chloe to marry me, she told me to get some blue iris. Chloe was over the moon, smiling and crying until she finally put me out of my misery and said yes. Then she told me the flowers mean hope, something we both have plenty of for our future.

Chloe smells the bouquet, inhaling deeply with her eyes closed. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“You’re beautiful. Happy anniversary, babe.”

She gives me one of her breathtaking smiles. “Happy anniversary.”

I sit down on the edge of the bed next to her and lean her way to capture her lips in one hell of a kiss. It’s deep and slow until one of her hands grabs a fistful of my shirt to pull me closer. A chuckle escapes my mouth as I pull back to look at her.

“I’ve got something else.” I wiggle the envelope between us, watching her excited expression turn wary.

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you open it to find out?”

Chloe doesn’t need to be asked twice. She takes the envelope from me and lifts the flap so she can pull out the stack of papers. I watch her as her eyes move over the words, page by page, as she goes through a myriad of expressions, her face an open book on how much the content affects her.

When she gets to the last page, she sniffles, and looks at me with shiny eyes. “Is this for real?”

I nod, swallowing past the thickness in my throat at seeing her so emotional and also feeling the full impact of what those papers mean to us.

“Oh my gosh.” She tosses the papers on the nightstand before throwing herself at me. “I can’t believe we’re officially foster parents.”

“I know.”

She’s only a couple of inches away from my face, and I’m fascinated by the spark in her eyes. “Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.”

We’ve been talking about children for a while now, not about having any ourselves, because I respect Chloe’s decision in that aspect and understand her reasoning.

But once we decided we’re interested in fostering, we saw a psychologist, which was incredibly helpful for us individually and as a couple. We grieved together that we’d never have our own biological child, because that shit hurts. For both of us.

I especially had to see that the choice was our choice and not just Chloe’s. In grieving, we learned to love each other more, and our marriage has become even stronger.

We grew up . . . together.

Ready for the next step in our life.

We also decided to foster teenagers instead of younger children, because Chloe’s fear of not being around to see them grow up was too much for either of us to handle or disregard.

They’re also close to our hearts due to the charity work we both have done at the hospital, and also at the pool now. It won’t always be easy, but what good thing ever is?

We stare at each other in silence, knowing what a big change this will be for us. But we both want to try and see where this road leads us.

“I’m so excited.” Her words are barely a whisper, her warm breath fanning over my mouth.

“Me too.” My hands move down the smooth material on her back until I have both ass cheeks in my