“Well, I do like the sound of that. I could privately party with you all night,” I muse.
I release her enough to let her turn in my arms. She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me. Not just a kiss, a tease. An embrace. A spark that lights my entire body on fire.
“Mm. You need to stop that, princess. Or we won’t make it to the party,” I muse.
“Fine,” she rolls her eyes in dramatic pretense.
“Here,” she grins, handing me a bright cocktail.
“Pink?” I smirk.
“Real men drink pink,” she raises one eyebrow at me, challenging me.
“I like pink. Especially on you. And especially when I can pull it off you with my teeth while you’re tied to my bed.”
Her cheeks flush pink, and I smile at how I can still make her blush.
“Hey, you told me to stop, and now you’re the one causing trouble,” she complains.
I step back, taking her hand and pulling her with me.
“Let’s drink this out on the deck. The ocean is wild today. It’s a beautiful view.”
“I’m so relieved the summer heat is over,” she says. “I thought we were going to skip all the other seasons and have eternal summer.”
Out on the deck, a gentle wind brushes over us, and she shivers. “It is getting chilly. Remind me to take something warm to dinner,” she says, stepping close to me and leaning against me.
“Says the girl who made adult slushies for us,” I chuckle.
“Oh, shush. Just make sure you remind me, okay?”
“I will. And we both know that if I forget to remind you, you will just steal my hoodie. So, either way, my sweet, beautiful little princess, you will be warm.”
She snuggles even closer to me, and my heart dances in my chest.
Fuck.
It’s crazy how it can still catch me by surprise—the intensity of the love I feel for her.
Every morning, I wake up, and if she isn’t already wrapped in my arms, I reach for her, desperate to make sure she’s still there. Terrified that I dreamed her up, thinking it’s too perfect to be real.
But here she is.
As real as the day I met her, and still making me fall deeper and deeper in love with her with each passing day.
I sit on the deck chair and pull her onto my lap, and we drink our pink cocktails and watch the ocean, looking moody and beautiful.
At seven, we arrive at Marley’s place, and Blair is immediately whisked away by Talia, Nikita, and Stefania to get drinks.
Bardil walks over to me and slaps me on the shoulder. “You are looking happy, man. Like proper fucking happy. It’s really good to see you like this,” he grins.
“Thanks. I am happy. Happier than I actually thought a man could be.”
“Ya, ya, get a room,” he teases, even though I know he is just as happy in his marriage as I am in mine.
“Anyways, Marlen has good news that is going to make your day even better,” he says, cocking his head to the side, gesturing for me to follow him.
On the way past the bar, I grab a beer, glancing over at the girls, all laughing and catching up. I smile when Blair’s gaze catches mine, and her eyes shine.