Page 10 of Swooned By the Lumberjack
So I slip out of my window for old time sake and sit in the garden. Everything is perfect. The flowers fill the air with their scent and the full moon lights everything. I close my eyes to embrace it when a shadow falls across me.
Opening my eyes, I almost jump, but Wade flicks on a lantern to calm my nerves. I put a hand to my chest. “You scared me!”
“I was going to help you escape from your room this time,” he informs.
I pat the ground next to me, but Wade offers me his hand instead. I take it and he tugs me up and against him. He wraps his arm around me and presses his face to my hair. He exhales. “I know I’ve been confusing you.”
“A lot. It’s annoying. I prefer you doing other things,” I grumble.
“Like?”
“Kissing me, laughing with me, holding me, teasing me, touching me,” I whisper. “I know this is complicated. I get that, but ... I like you more than I dislike the complications, Wade.”
“You know I’m eighteen years older than you. That your father is my best friend,” he says, searching my eyes.
“I knew that from the start and it doesn’t change anything. I’m sure of what I feel, I ...” I swallow. “I’m not sure of a lot. I know what job I want and that’s it. I never thought beyond that. Then I see you again and something clicks into place. But if it’s not the same for you ... just tell me.”
His arm tightens around me. I feel every breath he takes until my breathing syncs with his. He studies my face, then kisses me softly. His lips mold to mine like they’re meant to. I inhale his cologne, savor the feel of him wrapped around me, strong and sure.
“I love you, Eleanor. Even with the complications, our differences, everything, I’ve fallen in love with you,” he admits. “It nearly fell out of my mouth so many times on the night we spent together.”
My mouth opens, then closes.
“I want to keep saying it. I want a whole lot more nights together so you can hear it again and again, so I get to learn more reasons to love you. Until I know you better than anyone and cancall you mine with your father and friends around us,” he says slowly. He doesn’t look away, he doesn’t rush.
My knees weaken. I take a breath that doesn’t reach my lungs. “I love you too. You’re ... I still don’t have the words.”
“We’ll find them. We’ll read the dictionary if we have to,” he promises, kissing me again. It’s slow and decadent. It’s everything I need. The confusion over the last few days evaporates.
What’s a few days to knowing he loves me?
He rests his forehead against mine. “Are you willing to try a relationship with me, despite all our complications?”
“Iwantto commit to a relationship with you. It could be messy, probably will be, but I want complicated as long as it’s with you,” I promise.
He groans and kisses me again. He holds me closer, then leads me to his cabin. “From now on, when you sneak out, it’s to see me.”
“I can’t think of a better reason,” I giggle.
“And we don’t need to sneak around. Your father knows,” he informs with a chuckle. “Which means I’m dancing with you at the wedding before anyone else can get any ideas.”
I laugh, but squeeze his hand, pulling myself closer. Messy and complicated with Wade is better than easy and simple with anyone else. Anytime he touches me, I feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Anytime we kiss, I’m sure life can’t get better. But it will. Because I know Wade and he will never settle for ‘fine’ when we can work together and make something perfect.
That’s the future I’m signing up for with him.
Epilogue - Wade
Five Years Later
“Where do you think you’re going?” I demand.
“Inside,” Ellie points at the door.
I scoop her up in my arms, carrying her honeymoon style. She laughs and pulls the key from the front pocket of my flannel. It doesn’t matter that it’s our four-year wedding anniversary. She’s not crossing the threshold tonight if she’s not in my arms.
Ellie kisses my neck and cheek, peppering me with her affection until I remind her she needs to put the key in the door. She manages to steal a real kiss first, kissing me like it’s our first time, our only time – the same way she doeseverytime.
She lets us into the familiar cabin and sighs as she leans back in my arms, trusting me to hold her. I bounce her slightly and shut the door with my foot. I don’t set her down until we’re on the couch and she just wiggles closer to me.
