Paxton stared out the window as I headed to my place. Every now and then she let out a sigh.
“Pax, stop worrying. I’m sure my parents know we’re sleeping together. And the last time I checked, we were both twenty-eight years old.”
Her head dropped back against the seat. “Ugh. I know, I know. I don’t want your parents to think I’m a whore.”
I parked, then turned off the truck and faced her. “Why in fuck’s sake would they think that?”
She gave me a look that said I should know the answer to that question. “Steed, we had sex out in the open. For the whole world to see.”
With a quick wink, I replied, “And it was hot as hell, admit it.”
Her lower lip pulled in between her teeth. “I will admit it was hot. Very hot.”
I flashed her a dimpled smile, and she practically melted in the seat. Damn, I loved this woman. “Come on, we’re running behind schedule.”
Paxton chuckled. “I didn’t realize we were on a schedule. Was our little stop back there part of today’s plan?”
“No. Our little love fest put us a bit behind, but I think we can make up the time.”
She grinned and hopped out of the truck, not waiting for me to come around and get her door. We met in front of the truck, and I reached for her hand, guiding her into the house.
“So, you’re a pilot?” she asked after we stepped through the front door.
“Yeah. I thought I told you. I took lessons in Oregon. Started out as a way to get my mind off…” My voice trailed off, and I stopped walking.
“Me?” she asked with sadness laced in her voice.
My heart wrenched, and I pulled her to me. “Yes, if I’m being honest. I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”
A weak smile moved across her face. “I think we have established that. It’s just that I hate…”
Lifting my hand, I brushed her hair back. “You hate what?”
Her eyes drifted down. I placed my finger on her chin and lifted them back to mine. “Pax, please tell me.”
“I hate that we missed so much time together. That so many years were filled with sadness and anger.” She shrugged. “The last few months have been so blissfully happy for me, I can’t help but wonder what life would have been like had I not gotten—”
My finger moved to her lips. “Don’t say that. This moment, right now with you, it’s because of what happened ten years ago. We might have taken the long way, but we made it. We’re together and nothing or no one will ever change that.”
Her arms wrapped around my neck. “You’re right!”
The love I felt for Paxton consumed my heart and soul, yet I fell in love with her a little more each day.
Taking her hand in mine, I pulled her towards the kitchen. “Come on. We’re late.”
Paxton grinned and let me guide her. We walked into the kitchen, and I smiled when I pulled the large basket out of the refrigerator.
“What’s this?” she asked while walking over to me.
“Dinner,” I responded. Her eyes lit up as they darted from the basket to me. I held my breath, waiting for her reaction.
“You had a picnic basket made up for dinner? Are we going on a picnic?”
I loved the excitement in her voice. One of Paxton’s favorite things to do when we dated was to go on picnics. I’d talk Waylynn into packing us a lunch, and I’d surprise Paxton with different locations. I was almost positive one of those picnics was when we conceived our child.
“We are,” I replied with a wink.
Paxton’s face lit up like Christmas morning. I swore I could get drunk with happiness simply by watching her smile.
“Did Waylynn come in to make us dinner?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Not this time. Mom did it all. She was over the moon when I told her my plans.”
She lifted a brow. “Dang, had I known your mom was in on this little secret date I would have pumped her for information.”
Taking the large basket, I huffed. “All you would have had to do is bat those pretty eyes at her, and she would have caved. I think my mother is as happy as we are that we’re together.”
I took her hand in mine, and we headed back out to my truck.
“My mother is too. She’s started asking questions again about why we broke up.”
A slow heavy feeling settled into my chest. “Do you think you’ll ever tell your parents?”
Paxton was silent for a few seconds before she answered me. “I think I will, when the time feels right. It hasn’t yet.”
Stopping at the passenger door, I faced her. “You don’t have to tell them if you don’t want.”
Chewing on her lip, she nodded. “I feel guilty keeping it from them, but over the years it’s been hard enough to think about, let alone tell them, and the longer I wait, the harder it is.”
I placed my hand on the side of her face. “Pax,” I breathed before lightly kissing her lips.
She grabbed my T-shirt as if she needed to steady herself. “My broken heart is nearly healed, Steed. But I think there is always going to be a void there. An ache that won’t really ever go away because of our loss.”
My eyes closed as my own ache seemed to throb a tad bit harder. Gazing into her eyes, I nodded. “I know. I feel the same way.”
For a few moments we were lost in each other’s eyes before Paxton smiled. “Let’s go have a picnic. I’m starving.”
I kissed her nose and held the door open for her. After putting the picnic basket into the backseat, I made my way to the driver’s side and hopped in. I was hoping like hell Cord would be gone by the time we got there.
As we neared the picnic site my nerves started to rattle. I had no idea why I was so nervous. It wasn’t like I hadn’t just fucked her against the side of my truck.
No, that was exactly it. I’d been acting like a horny damn teenager for the last few months. I needed to shower her with love and affection. I needed Paxton to know it wasn’t about the sex. Not that the sex wasn’t fucking fantastic, but it was also something so much deeper.
Our love.
Paxton gasped as we drove up to the elaborate setup I had planned and my brothers had executed.
Holy shit. They didn’t do this all on their own, did they?
The large blanket was laid out with a bunch of different sized pillows tossed on it. There was a bucket of ice sitting off to the side that should be holding the expensive-ass champagne in it. In the middle of the blanket was a bouquet of Paxton’s favorite flowers, peonies.
Hung up a few feet in front of the blanket was a white sheet strung up by twine.
“Steed!” Paxton gasped as she threw the door to the truck open and headed to our setup.
I grinned when I saw the old, wooden box I had found in the barn; Paxton would love it. It held the brown bags filled with popcorn for the movie later.
Paxton hands were over her mouth. Her eyes glistened as she took it all in.
Her eyes captured mine. “You did this?”
I took a quick look around. “Well, I planned it all out, spent an entire day drawing it to perfection so Trevor would get it right. Cord and Mitchell helped too.” Laughing, I shook my head. “They got it spot on.”
She threw her body into mine. “It’s perfect! Amazing! Beautiful!”
Wrapping my arms around her, I held her close. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to make you happy, Paxton.”
We stood there for a few minutes, simply holding each other. I was pretty sure Paxton was crying, but I knew they were happy tears. When she finally pulled back, our eyes locked. “You are the most amazing man I’ve ever met. This is so romantic, Steed.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Wait until you see the movie I picked out.”
She let out a chuckle. “Please tell me it’s not porn!”
Laughing, I bent down and picked up the picnic basket I had set down earlier. “No! Well, unless Trevor switched out the movies which I could totally see him doing.”
“So could I!” Paxton added with a shake of her head.
“Let’s eat,” I said as I guided her onto the blanket. I set everything out for dinner, making a mental note to check the DVD as soon as I got a chance to sneak over there.
Damn Trevor.