Bonus Chapter
“Can you help me carry this?” Riley called.
Eli looked at her over the stack of boxes in his arms. “Not right this second,” he answered honestly. “Where’d all this stuff come from anyway?”
“Home offices involve a lot of equipment,” she answered primly. “You said that you didn’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” he answered. “I’m just not sure that it’ll all fit into the room.”
“We’ll work it out,” she said with confidence as she elbowed the door to his spare bedroom open and set down the crate that contained her computer. “Once the furniture is up, you’ll see.”
“Is that a hint?”
“Maybe,” she said, stretching up to brush a kiss across his lips.
Eli grabbed the IKEA box and consigned himself to an afternoon of irritation. Riley set up her computer system and started on one of the complex freelance assignments she’d landed while he was putting together a desk. When he was done there were three screws left over, but he shoved them into his pocket and gestured expansively at the completed product.
“Your work station, my lady.”
Riley sprang up and began unpacking her box of desk essentials. He was pleased to see that a picture of the two of them together on their first vacation rated as an essential. Once her supplies were laid out, she stepped back and looked the arrangement over critically.
“It looks pretty good,” she said after a minute.
“Hang on,” Eli said. “There’s one more thing.”
He ducked out of the room and then reappeared. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
Riley did so immediately. “Oh, I love surprises!”
He grinned, tracing his thumb down her smooth cheek. “I know you do, baby.”
He placed the vase of peach colored roses in her hands and she opened her eyes. “Eli, they’re gorgeous!”
He shrugged. “I figured that this was a special occasion. Moving in and everything.”
“I love them,” she said, burying her face in the center of the bouquet and inhaling deeply before putting them on the desk. “And I don’t want you to worry,” she went on more seriously. “Just because I’m going to be freelancing from here, I promise not to be under your feet all time. I’ll still respect your space.”
Eli put his arm around her. “I know that you will. But, I was thinking that it would easier for you to respect my space if it was our space.”
Riley looked up at him quickly. “What exactly are you asking me?”
Eli took a deep breath. “I’m asking you to move in with me.”
Riley blinked. “Are you serious?”
“Well, I don’t ask people live with me for shits and giggles,” he said. “And if it’s too soon, that’s fine, but I--”
Riley threw her arms around him and pressed her lips to his. “I would love to live with you, Eli. And not just because it eliminates my commute.”
He laughed and returned her kiss.
“You look so relieved,” she said when he pulled back. “Did you really think that I’d say no?”
“I didn’t think I’d ever ask anyone,” Eli said honestly. “I mean, I lived with girls on and off when I was a teenager but it wasn’t...serious.”
“How is living together not serious?” Riley asked with a laugh.
“Well, neither one of us owned the house,” he answered. “It was more of a convenience thing. And I always knew that it wouldn’t last.” He looked down at her. “With you, I know it will,” he said simply.
Her eyes filled with tears. “Eli...”
He cupped her face in his hands. “Want to go pack the rest of your stuff?”
Riley leaned against his chest. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Not tired enough to pass up the opportunity to have you living with me by bedtime tonight.”
“Bedtime?” she asked, feigning innocence. “Do you have something special planned for that?”
Eli wrapped his arm around her shoulders and steered her out the door. But instead of going up the hall they went down it, to his bedroom. Soon to be their bedroom. Just the idea gave her a shiver of pleasure.
“I’ll give you a quick preview before we start packing,” he said. “You know, just for inspiration.”
As the bedroom door closed behind them, and he pulled her into his arms, Eli couldn’t hold back a grin of pure triumph. They’d been through hell getting started and there’d been times when he’d be afraid that he’d lose her, but he hadn’t. He’d won her love and her commitment and he planned to enjoy every last bit of it right now.