Page 81 of The Trouble with Runaway Brides

He chuckles. “Deal.” He’s silent for a moment, but there’s something within that silence he’s not saying and I’m worried he’s fearful to tell me. “I can’t give you Lake Starlight right now.”

“What do you mean?”

His hand runs down my arm and he grabs my hand, playing with my finger, my left ring one in particular. “I know you want to live here, and I do too, but it can’t be permanent. If you want to move here and I come and go as often as I can, we could do that, but I’m going to be honest, I don’t really want to be away from you for weeks at a time.”

The corners of my lips creep up. “Oh, Lance, seriously, did you think I would want that?”

“I know how much you love this place and I do too, but—”

“My life is where you are. Period. If we go back and forth from New York to Lake Starlight, we do it together. I can record anywhere as long as Blake is cool with it. We can batch record while I’m in the city, too.” I slide closer to him, feeling the warmth of his body. “But we’re not going to live apart. We’ve done way too much of that already.”

“You sure?” His eyebrows rise.

“Definitely. I would never want to be away from you for weeks either.”

“Someday, I promise you we’ll live here. Raise our kids here.”

I nod. “I understand.”

He pulls me into his lap and kisses my neck. “Let me figure some things out and see if I can make your dream come true.”

“I don’t—”

“It’s my dream too, Kenz. I didn’t think I’d have you. I thought it’d be years before I’d ever really move on and be ready to settle down, so I wasn’t prepared, but I have some business things in the works.”

My head tilts. “Like what?”

He tells me all about Nico’s restaurant and how his grandfather wouldn’t invest, but how he really wants to help Nico out because he sees the possibility there. Apparently, he’s bored with hotels and feels ready for a new challenge and wants to branch out on his own, away from his grandfather’s influence. But he doesn’t know how successful he can be here in Alaska. There’s a finite number of customers compared to New York, obviously.

“It’s no rush. As long as I have you, that’s all I need,” I say.

He rolls me over to my back, his thighs spreading my legs open. Lance is never afraid to communicate his worries and emotions, but I love when he shows them instead. And right now, he’s about to show me how much he loves me and the fact we’re on the same page.

“Again?” I ask.

“Are you too sore?” he whispers as his mouth casts kisses along my neck.

“A little, but not enough to say no.”

The tip of his cock pushes past my opening and my legs widen for him, my arms wrapping around him tight.

“God, I love you so much,” he murmurs and slowly slides the length of him inside of me.

“I love you, too.” My fingernails grip his shoulder blades and I lose myself in him once more.

Three days later

* * *

I stretch and my right side contracts. “I think I’m using muscles I haven’t in a while.”

Lance rolls over and on top of me, then kisses my collarbone. “That’s what happens when you’re a nympho.”

“I’m the nympho? I’m not christening every surface of this place on my own.”

It’s been amazing. We’ve done it everywhere and even some places twice. We’ve been naked for three days straight unless you count blankets. Somehow, food has arrived every day for us—the doorbell rings and when we answer it, it’s there waiting for us.

But as wonderful as our bubble has been, I need to face the music. I have to talk to Will.

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