I woke up in a room I didn’t recognize, and for a second, I thought that I was still dreaming. I lifted my head from the pillow and blinked a couple of times, trying to place the bedroom surrounding me. Then I heard the woman next to me lightly snoring in her sleep. When I turned to look at her and remembered where I was, a smile appeared on my face. I was with Autumn. So today was going to be a good day.

I’d wondered how I would feel the morning after—if I would feel like I had made a mistake, if now that our chemistry was consummated, I would wonder what I was doing here in the first place. But once I was there, waking up next to her, I knew I’d made the right decision by not going on my date last night. The details of the night before drifted through my mind, and I could hardly keep the smile off my face. It had been good. Really fucking good.

I leaned over to stroke her hair, and she stirred and opened her eyes, offering me a sleepy smile as she came back to consciousness.

“Morning,” I murmured to her, leaning over to nuzzle into her neck. She grinned and wrapped her arms around me, letting out a little purr of satisfaction.

“Morning,” she murmured back, and she kissed me on the mouth. It was the briefest moment, but it was enough to send my head spinning with excitement, with desire and need for her. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe that up until the night before, I had been trying to talk myself into going out on a date with someone else. Hopefully, the woman I’d stood up wouldn’t be too pissed off, but honestly, lying there in bed with Autumn like this, it was hard to worry too deeply about what she might be thinking of me.

“Man, I’m starving.” Autumn stretched and pushed herself up in bed. She was still deliciously, utterly naked, and it took everything I had in me not to pounce on her right there and then.

“Shall I go make some breakfast?” she suggested.

“If it means putting clothes on,” I ran my hand over her thigh, exposed where she had kicked the covers off the night before, “I’m against it.”

She laughed, slapped my hand away, and then rolled herself out of bed. In the light of the morning sun, streaming through her window and picking her out to perfection, she looked nearly ethereal.

“Well, I’m hungry, and I’m not getting hot oil all over me just for your viewing pleasure,” she shot back playfully. “What do you want? I’m thinking eggs and bacon and hot coffee on the side.”

“Sounds perfect,” I agreed. I would have said yes to anything she asked for. I reached into my pocket to grab my phone and checked the time. I still had a little bit before I had to go off and pick up Hunter. I was excited to see him, even if I knew Raymond would be gloating about me proving him right by going after Autumn in the end after all.

Autumn pulled on a robe and headed through to the kitchen, and I went to the bathroom to wash up, looking at myself in the mirror. I looked different, or at least felt like I did—lighter, happier, maybe even a little younger. It wasn’t only about the sex. It was knowing there was a new romance in the cards, the first romance in forever that felt like it was going somewhere. Who’d have thought the teacher I’d argued with all those weeks ago would wind up to be the woman putting a smile on my face this morning?

When I was done, I went through to join her in the kitchen, inhaling the deliciously savory smell of the food she was cooking. She glanced over her shoulder and grinned at me.

“Feeling a little more human?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Well, you were all animal last night,” she teased, and she flushed a little red as she spoke.

“Hey, I can’t be a gentleman all the time,” I replied, and she giggled and flipped over a slice of bacon, which sizzled satisfyingly as it hit the pan. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this relaxed, this stress-free. I knew it couldn’t last forever, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy the hell out of it while I still could.

“So, when are you going to be a proper gentleman and take me out on a date?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, so you’re already looking for dates now, are you?” I shook my head. “And here I was, thinking this was a one-night thing.”

“As soon as you agreed to breakfast, you forfeited that right,” she replied, flicking on her coffee maker.

“Fair play.” I held my hands up. “How about Saturday? A proper date, just me and you.”

“Sounds fun.” She flicked her gaze over to me again, as though she was having trouble keeping her head focused on making breakfast.

“Well, it won’t be the yacht,” I promised her. “But I’ll see if I can outdo it.”

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something,” she replied. “No private planes either, okay? In fact, let’s rule out any luxury vehicles at all right here. Probably for the best.”

“Probably,” I agreed as she served up breakfast, putting a plate down in front of me and pouring both of us coffee.

We spent the rest of our leisurely breakfast together talking—about how she’d ended up in this neighborhood, how long she’d been here, how long she planned to stay. Before I knew it, an hour had gone by, and I had to head off to pick up Hunter.

“Hey, I have to get going,” I told her, glancing at my phone reluctantly. “I’ll call you, though, okay? We can figure something out.”

“Ooh, an actual phone call.” She clasped her hands together in playful excitement. “You’re old-fashioned, aren’t you?”

“You don’t seem to be complaining,” I pointed out, and I pulled her into a kiss before I left. She smiled against my mouth and wound her arms around me, as though reluctant to let me get out the door.

“Mm, I’m looking forward to that date,” she murmured as I pulled back.

“Me too,” I replied. “More than you know. And I promise I’m not going to get you to set me up with someone else before I get the nerve to come around here myself this time.”

“You better not,” she warned, playfully squeezing me close for a moment. “You go pick up Hunter. I’ll talk to you soon, all right?”

I planted one last kiss on her cheek and headed for the door, a grin on my face that felt almost foreign, it was so big. Climbing into my car, I started down the road to Raymond’s place. I didn’t know if Hunter would be up yet, or if he even had a clue as to what I’d been doing last night, but I was looking forward to seeing him either way.

I arrived about twenty minutes later and pulled the car to a halt outside the house. For some reason, even though I wanted to catch up with Hunter again, I wasn’t quite ready to get out and see him. It would have been admitting that the night was over, that everything I had done with Autumn was firmly behind me. And that wasn’t the case. She had already agreed to a date the next weekend, but still, talking about it with other people would make it seem somewhat real. I wasn’t sure I was ready for the rest of the world to know about it yet.

But Raymond had to have noticed my car sitting in the driveway, and he would probably come out and get me himself if I hung around any longer, so I dragged myself out of the front seat, stretched, and headed for the door. Raymond opened it before I got there, raising his eyebrows at me expectantly.

“So?” he asked, stepping aside as I brushed past him.

“So, what?” I shot back, even though I knew what he was asking.

“How much coffee are you going to need to get through today?” he asked, dancing around the question. “You have a late one last night or….?”

“I could use a little.” I nodded, and he grinned widely and headed to the kitchen to make us a mug. I followed him.

“Olivia’s out with the baby, and Hunter’s not up yet,” he explained. “So you better fill me in on what happened last night. You stay over?”

“Uh, actually, yeah, I did.” I nodded. “But not with the girl Autumn set me up with. With Autumn.”

“Holy shit.” Raymond slapped my shoulder. “You have to be kidding me. The two of you…?”

“Yeah, I was driving around town, and I couldn’t shake the feeling I was meant to be with Autumn and not whoever it was she had set me up with,” I admitted. “So I went to her house and told her, and we ended up…”

I raised my eyebrows at him pointedly, not wanting to go into the details. Raymond poured my coffee and handed it to me. It would be my second cup of the day, and I wasn’t sure if it was the caffeine that had got me jittery or what had happened with Autumn the night before.

“So you guys are together?” Raymond pressed, and I shrugged.

“We’re seeing each other again on Saturday,” I replied. “Which reminds me, would you be able to—”

“I’ll take care of Hunter, no problem,” Raymond lifted his hand up at once.

“Thanks.” I nodded. “I know it’s short notice, but I don’t want to lose momentum on this thing, you know?”

“I knew the two of you were going to get together.” Raymond leaned back triumphantly. “Ever since that first date. Can’t believe how long it took the two of you to figure it out.”

“Hey, let’s save the intense gloating until we have a real date, all right?” I suggested, cocking an eyebrow. “I mean, I barely know this woman like that. We just had sex last night, that’s all.”

“Damn, you don’t wait around,” Raymond teased. “Well, once you’ve had the mandatory six-week holding period for somebody, of course.”

“Trust me, I know how stupid I was,” I sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. I was so sure that going for something with her would end badly, you know? What with our first date being such a mess.”

“Well, now you get to start over,” Raymond reminded me. “Take it from the top. And maybe leave the yacht out of it this time, huh?”

“Don’t worry. She’s already made her feelings on the yacht very clear,” I assured him. “I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”

“So Saturday, right?” Raymond confirmed, and I nodded.

“Saturday.”

“And what do you think you’re going to do with her then?”

“You know, I haven’t given it a lot of thought.” I shook my head. And then my mind began to drift back in the direction of a conversation we’d had when we’d taken the day trip out on the yacht, and a smile curled up my face. Okay, so I might have something.

Before I could get stuck on that train of thought any longer, Hunter emerged at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, Dad,” he greeted me, and I walked over to him to give him a hug. To think, if it hadn’t been for him, I might not have stuck things out with Autumn as long as I had.

“How you doing, buddy?” I asked him, and he shrugged and yawned.

“Could I get something to eat?” he asked.

“How about we get breakfast on the way home?” I suggested. “I feel like something big.”

“That sounds good.” His face lit up, and he turned to head back up the stairs to get ready. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Need to replenish your energy stores, huh?” Raymond teased, and I rolled my eyes at him.

“Yeah, yeah, very funny.” I shook my head and finished my coffee. “I’ll call you about Saturday, right? We can figure things out from there.”

“Look forward to hearing from you.” Raymond saluted me casually and then went to clean up our cups. I waited for Hunter to come back downstairs and wondered if this smile on my face was going to stick around all day.