Page 97 of The Billionaire's Wife

Faith pushed away slightly. I set her back on the ground. She looked up and met my gaze. “Yeah. That’s what I want.”

I pulled her close again and rested my cheek on the top of her head. I wanted to kiss her more than anything, but this felt so fragile and new, I didn’t want to make her change her mind.

We stood like this, every heartbeat a pulse of joy that I hoped God understood was gratefulness for His work in our lives. I had hoped He would bring us here—but I’d struggled to believe that it wasn’t an unreachable end.

Faith eased back. She searched my gaze before clearing her throat. “See the mountains kiss high heaven. And the waves clasp one another; No sister-flower would be forgiven if it disdained its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth and the moonbeams kiss the sea: What is all this sweet work worth if thou kiss not me?”

I blinked. If she was going to quote poetry, who was I to argue? Throwing caution to the wind, I lowered my lips to hers.

And that was the last conscious thinking either of us did for quite some time.

The next morning, I slipped out of bed, pausing to watch Faith’s slow and steady breathing for a moment before heading into the kitchen to start the coffee. I hummed quietly as I puttered around getting the beans ground, filling the water, and pushing the button to brew. Should I scramble some eggs?

I pulled open the fridge and peered inside. I wasn’t big on eggs for breakfast. Neither, really, was Faith. But I’d love to do something special to start our first day together where we were both—finally—on the same page.

Could a bowl of cereal do that?

I wrinkled my nose and shut the fridge.

Maybe I could convince her to go out for brunch.

That was a winning idea. The more I thought about it, the happier I was. Then, maybe we could spend the day walking the path along the river. The weather looked nice, for all we were nearing the end of November. The real cold didn’t usually come until after Christmas or January. Even then, it didn’t stick around forever.

Or we could rent bikes and ride the path down to Mount Vernon. That might be even more fun.

I grabbed my phone off the charger and opened a browser. I’d suggested it before without having all the details hammered out. We’d ended up flying to Paris instead. Today, Paris wasn’t a reasonable option. So I needed details.

There weren’t a ton of bike rental locations, but there was one within walking distance that would work. I browsed over to the Mount Vernon website to look at the restaurant page. The fancier place—not the food court—had a weekend brunch. I grinned. That sealed it, as far as I was concerned.

If Faith didn’t want to bike, we could drive down. Maybe she’d enjoy getting tickets and touring the house and grounds. The gardens wouldn’t be anything to speak of at this time of year, but at least it wouldn’t also be blisteringly hot and humid like it was in the summer. So much of Mount Vernon was open. No shade. So touring the grounds was a sweat-fest.

My parents still tried to drag me there every time they visited in the summer. At this point, I figured it was purely to see how long it would be before I started to whine. Of course, I could get my revenge with the museum near the entrance. There were so many wonderful movies and short videos to experience, not to mention interactive displays. I could—and did—spend hours there.

Plus? Air conditioning.

The coffee finally finished. I poured two mugs and fixed them to our varying tastes, then carried them down the hall to the bedroom.

Faith slept on.

I set the coffee on the nightstand closest to her side, then leaned down and oh-so-gently pressed my lips to hers.

She sighed and sleepily returned the kiss. Her hand lifted and curved around the back of my neck, drawing me closer.

The coffee had cooled considerably by the time we got to it.

“Good morning.” Faith was sitting back against the headboard, cradling her mug. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome.” I sipped my own and couldn’t regret the temperature. “What do you think you’d like to do today?”

“Hm. It’s Saturday. I don’t have work. You don’t have work?” She glanced at me.

I shook my head.

“Then we should definitely do something together. Did you have something in mind?” Her eyes sparkled as they met mine.

I cleared my throat. I wasn’t going to turn down the invitation she was giving. But also, I kind of liked the brunch plan. “How do you feel about Mount Vernon and brunch?”

“I like brunch.” Faith took another long drink of coffee. “Mount Vernon would be cool, too.”

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