“This house has five bedrooms, six-and-a-half baths, a large kitchen with full pantry, three living areas, a TV room, a four-car garage, and outside?—”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to surprise him with that too.”
“Oh, of course. Let me take you through the kitchen first, then I’ll let you two explore on your own.”
“Thank you,” Brian says, eyes drifting up to the wood beams lining the ceiling.
The whole place gives English hunting lodge vibes, but brighter and warmer.
The kitchen is even bigger than the pictures showed, with sleek gold and gray-flecked white granite countertops. Adjacent to it is a dining area where we could comfortably seat the whole Baker Girls clan with room for all the kids that are sure to be added to the mix over the coming years.
“Well, I’ll be here, sipping on my coffee. Take your time, explore every nook and cranny, and wander around outside. I’d start with the living room and bedrooms, down that way,” she says as she points off to the right of where we came in.
“Thanks,” I tell her, leading Brian in that direction. “What do you think so far?”
“It’s stunning,” he whispers. “And fifty-five acres?”
“You could have the garden of your dreams.”
He stops, taking my other hand too as he looks into my eyes. “Did you bring me here because you thought I’d like it? Or is this for us?”
I take half a step closer. “You can assume anything I do now is for us. And I know this is the dream you saw for your future. A big house that you can fill with plants and share with someone you love. Gardens full of flowers, vegetables, trees…” I trail off as he squints at me. “What?”
“How did you know all that? I…” He pauses and takes me in. “I said all that right before one of our away games, but when I looked, you were asleep.”
I bite my lip and take a breath. “I was pretending.”
“What?”
“That night in the hotel room. I was pretending to be asleep. Some part of me desperately wanted you to curl up against me and hold me while I slept. I was gone for you before I fully understood what that meant.”
He bites back a laugh, slowly shaking his head. “If I’d known… I would have held you all night.”
“We have a lifetime ahead of us for that.”
“And you’d want this?” He swallows so hard his Adam’s apple bobs. “You’d want this quiet, slow lifestyle?”
“I could build any life with you, and it would be the perfect one because it would be ours. When I look around here, I see a life. A future. With the man I love.”
“Goddamnit,” he groans.
I tug on his shirt and brush my lips over his. “Just imagine all the places we could fuck each other here.”
He sucks in a breath and steps back. “Let’s see the whole thing before we get ahead of ourselves.”
“Whatever you say.” I already know he’s going to love it, especially since he hasn’t seen the best parts yet.
We meander through the house, checking out each room, and though Brian maintains his usual calm exterior, his eyes dance at all the natural light in the master bedroom.
The realtor made a good recommendation to see the bedrooms first because it means I’m showing him the most beautiful part of the house last.
As I lead him down the hallway, my stomach twists with excitement.
Right before we get there, I look up at him. “Did I mention this house has a conservatory?”
We stop in the oversized doorway to a room with windows on two-and-a-half walls.
“We can fit a lot of plants in here, right?”
