Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
She giggles wildly. “It is. No offense.”
“Then get to it. There will be much more to apply later if you’re really having second thoughts about cleaning it off.”
She slides off the bed and heads to the bathroom, her legs looking like jelly as she goes.
I enjoy the fine ache of the moment, savoring everything that’s happening around me. This all seems too good to be true.
I’m expecting something to go wrong.
But until something does, I’m just going to keep enjoying the ride.
I slip on my boxers again and add a t-shirt before heading out to the kitchen and getting to work. I’m not doing anything fancy, just some sausage and eggs with a side of buttered toast. Something hearty because we went through a whole lot of physical exertion last night.
And I don’t think we’re going to get through the rest of the day without another round.
She comes out of the bathroom, her hair dripping wet, brushing it as she walks. “Smells good.”
“I figured you were as famished as I was and I cooked accordingly.”
“You figured right.”
I slide her a plate full of food, and soon join her with my own. We both scarf it down, and when we’ve slowed down at last, we start to talk.
“So... this is your place? You live here all the time?” she asks.
I laugh. “You think I have a mansion somewhere?”
“I don’t know. Don’t filthy rich guys like you have a penthouse, a summer home, a winter home, a vacation home, a little place in southern Italy, and some place in Fiji that you only go to on the third week of October?”
I wave my hand. “I’m not that pretentious, I assure you. This is my only residence. It’s all I need, really.”
“Close to downtown and all the nightlife. I get it.”
“Ophelia wanted me to buy a huge house for her. I don’t know why. She recoiled at the thought of children.”
Piper shrugs. “Gotta have more than the other guy or you’re not being rich right, I guess.”
“I’m just wondering what she would do with all that space if she wasn’t going to use it to house a family.”
“Lots of entertaining rooms. Copious amount of space for guests?”
“Please. She’s the type of crass that would tell visiting family to go stay at the Hilton because she doesn’t want to risk them ruining her beauty sleep.”
She giggles as she seductively nibbles on a sausage. Or eats it normally, I suppose. Everything Piper does is seductive to me, even just existing. “What do you want, Luke? This is a pretty sweet bachelor pad, but I don’t see a lot of grandpas living in places like this.”
I stroke my chin. “I guess I do want a house of my own. Someplace for a family. It doesn’t have to be a massive, labyrinthine mansion. Some of those places have hundreds of rooms, and even if we wanted to give every child one of their own...”
“My womb shudders at the idea of a hundred children. But you know me well enough by now, Luke. I’m really into the whole family thing.”
“So maybe someplace more modest. Someplace we can make a home. Enough space to grow, but not enough to get lost in.”
“That sounds perfect to me. I’m sure we can find a place just like that.”
“What about you, Piper? Let’s say everything keeps going perfectly. Do you see yourself being a full-time wife and mother?”
She takes a long drink of water to give herself time to think. “I mean, I have to. If you try to be a part-time mother, you’re doing it wrong.”
“You’d give up being a florist just like that?”
She shakes her head. “I’m still a person, Luke. I have my passions. I’ll have to figure out how to balance my professional life and my drive to be a mother. The latter will come first, but I’m going to try to make the former work for me too.”
I throw my hand over her shoulder and pull her in to kiss her on the forehead. “I’ll be right behind you to support you in every way I can, Piper. Like you, I’m going to put being a father and husband over everything else.”
She looks at me passionately, a huge smile on her face. God, I’m falling more and more for her by the second.
We clean up breakfast, and I head to take my turn in the shower. As tempting as it is to invite her in, proper hygiene is important. If Piper is in there with me, there’s no chance in hell that I’ll get any actual showering done.
After that’s done, I comb my hair as I walk through the apartment and catch Piper standing on the balcony, peering over the side. The sun shines over her, and if I were a more poetic individual I’d think of some wonderful sonnet about how she’s the sunshine of my life and this is a brand-new dawn.