Between the flight and the drive in the rental car, the journey to the redwood forest took a little over four hours. To settle my nerves when flying, I had a little too much wine, and kept fondling Will in my tipsy state. But the man was constantly touching me too, as if he couldn’t be near me and not touch me, so I thought we were even. 

“Wow,” I exclaimed when the cabin came into view. I’d imagined a small wooden house. This was a villa. The exterior had elegant fake stone paneling, and the windows were immense. 

“This is beautiful, Will.” 

“Jace and I bought it together about eight years ago to flip it. After I did all the work on it, I liked it too much, so we both decided to keep it. We rent it when neither of us needs it, which is most of the time.”

I fell in love with the place the second I stepped inside. The walls alternated between crisp white and faux stone, and there was even a fireplace. I walked to one of the large windows, smiling at the sight of the redwood trees in the distance.

“This view is just stunning.”

I felt Will come up behind me and hook an arm around my waist. “I’m glad you like it. We can come here anytime we want.”

I loved the way he used the word we, as if it was the most natural thing.

“Why don’t I give you a tour, and then I’ll make us some dinner and we can watch the sunset in the sunroom?”

“Sounds great.” 

The house boasted three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one of which resembled a spa, complete with a huge tub with bubble function. Oh yeah, I planned to do sexy things to my sexy man in there.

I ended up taking a quick shower while Will went to the kitchen, then put on a long-sleeved wool dress that reached to my knees. I chose to forgo panties, but did put on stockings and garters. I was feeling feisty tonight. This place was inspiring me.

A delicious smell greeted me when I descended the steps to the lower level, and I followed it to the kitchen. He was dicing chicken, and there was an assortment of vegetables for salad spread out on the counter. We’d shopped for groceries on the way here. I was happy. God, I was. From the tips of my toes to the ends of my hair. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so happy.

While he cooked the chicken, I made the salad. While I was dicing the herbs as tiny as possible, I heard Will snap a pic. 

“What are you doing?”

“You look cute.” He turned the phone so I could see. I was fresh-faced and my hair was up in a ponytail.

“You can see my freckles.”

“I love your freckles. You shouldn’t cover them up.” He kissed under one eye, then the other.

“I won’t wear any makeup while we’re here,” I promised.

“That’s my girl.” He kissed me deeply, tangling our tongues, luring a moan out of me. I was so lost in his kiss that I barely noticed he was pushing the dress up my thighs until he let out a groan that sounded so primal, I instantly became wet.

“What’s this?”

“Garters.”

His breath came out in a hot rush. His pupils dilated.

“You were wearing these on the plane?”

“Nope. Put them on after my shower. You want to know what I’m not wearing? Panties.”

His gaze dropped to my pelvis, then snapped back up. I tilted my head playfully. “Do you think you’ll have problems concentrating on your dinner?” 

Will skimmed one big hand from my shoulder to my breast, flicking my nipples through my bra. A bolt of heat shot straight between my legs.

“Nah, I have excellent self-control, Paige.”

Game on, Detective.

––––––––

Once the food was ready, we carried everything into the sunroom. It was decorated in natural shades of brown. 

“It was smart to keep this. It’s truly beautiful,” I told him over dinner.

“I know. Plus, we get tourists all year round.”

“So you flipped all the properties you rent?”

“Yes. A lot are in the LA area.”

“I can’t believe you worked in construction when you were in high-school. Most teens I know wouldn’t bother.”

“It was good money, and after my parents died we needed it. And keeping busy helped me cope. Then before my senior year, Landon bought a house, wanted to flip it. I offered to work on it, and did it all on my own. When he sold it, he wanted me to keep the profit. It was enough to buy two other small properties. From then on, it snowballed. I continued doing it during college. After keeping this one, I decided that vacation rentals were a smart investment, so I picked up places to flip that were in areas with year-round tourism.”

“Wow.” I crunched some numbers in my mind from the days my grandma was running the inn. “So you could just live off the rent.”

He smiled. “Technically, yes. The decision to join the force wasn’t motivated by money.”

“And you have someone handling the daily operations in each location?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s very smart.”

“Thanks.”

I nodded, indulging in those last few bites of chicken. Will was watching me with happy eyes.

“You know what day today is?” he asked once we’d moved to the couch in the living room, in front of the fireplace

“Ummm... Saturday?”

He chuckled. “It’s three months since we started seeing each other.”

It had been three months already? That’s right, Lori’s wedding had been at the end of July, and now we had the end of October.

“I have a present for you.”

“Will...,” I murmured.

He rose from the couch, searched his jacket, which was on the armrest, and got out a small jewelry box. He opened it, revealing a gorgeous bracelet: a platinum band with jade stones embedded in it.

“This is so beautiful,” I whispered as he clasped it around my wrist.

“It’s a family heirloom.”

He was watching me with an adoring gaze. I glanced at the bracelet again, seeing it in a whole new light. 

“I think I’m in love,” I said happily. 

“Just with the bracelet, or with me too?” His voice was full of emotion.

I snapped my head up, looking him directly in the eyes. “Both. You’ve made me fall for you, Will Connor.”

He leaned in, giving me a deep, sensual kiss.

“I’m not good with words,” he whispered when he skimmed his mouth to my cheek. “It’s been years since I said those words out loud. My parents were still with us.”

“Oh, Will. You’re showing me. That’s all I need.”

I’d learned enough about him to know that Will had always been about expressing his feelings through actions.

We lay on the couch, entwined, and Will kissed me slowly, his arms wrapped around me tightly, as if he didn’t plan to let go.

“Can we light a fire?” I asked a while later, pointing to the fireplace.

“Sure. I’ll take care of it.”

“Oooh, can I come with you outside while you cut the wood?”

He smirked. “The logs are already cut, Paige.”

I jutted out my lower lip. “Can we pretend they aren’t? So I can watch you sweat and make all sorts of manly sounds?”

Will dragged his gaze up and down my body before settling on my lips. He stepped closer, until I had to tilt my head back to look up at him. He stroked my chin, then drew his knuckles down my throat. 

“You’ll hear me plenty when I’m buried deep inside you.”