Page 50 of The Game Changer

“How’s Julia coming along with wedding prep?” Beau asks.

“They’ve locked in the venue and date. I think she wanted to really start planning things, going to look at dresses and such, in the next month. Now that they have the date and venue all set, I need to figure out just how much time I need to take off from work and get that on the schedule so that we have lots of time to plan for it. I want to have a few days before the wedding to adjust to the time difference and to help with last minute things, and then a few days after to have time to explore and enjoy Sweden.”

“Might as well take as much time as you can afford to take,” Beau says. “I think your mom and I are going to go for two weeks. Probably travel Europe after the wedding, hitting up places we’ve always wanted to go.”

“I’m sure that Julia will love knowing that the two of you plan to attend. I think she was a little worried that not many people would be able to afford to travel for the wedding, but she fell in love with Beckett’s hometown and really wants to get married there.”

“Nothing is wrong with a small wedding. They can always have a reception back here in the States at some point, if they feel like that many people didn’t get to make it.”

“I think that is one of the things she’s got on her list to plan,” Jill tells us.

The door slides open again, Diane coming out to join us. “I’ve got dessert ready if anyone is up for it,” she tells all of us.

“Yes, please,” Beau answers his wife. He heads for her and the door. I watch as he pulls her into his arms, kissing her. It really hits me what role models Jill had growing up that I never had. She knows what it’s like to be in a loving family, with parents who’d do anything for one another. I can only hope and pray that I can be that for her. Now that I know what it’s like to love and be loved by this woman, I don’t ever want to let her go.

* * *

“Hey, babe,” I call out to Jill as I sit at the table in her condo. I’ve got her laptop open as I look at flights for late next week.

“Yeah?” she calls out from the bedroom.

“Come here for a minute, please?” I ask.

“Just a minute,” she calls back. I open a second screen, pulling up the homepage for one of the hotels that I usually stay at when I go home for a visit.

Mom doesn’t have a very big place, she refused to let me buy her something that was big when I signed my first contract, so I bought her a one-bedroom condo. I didn’t want her to have to worry about outside maintenance, so the condo made the most sense. Cindi and Stephanie live in a pretty suburban middle-class four-bedroom family home with a nice little yard, and on a quiet street that is perfect for kids to be outside playing on. While they’ve always said I was welcome to stay at their place, I’ve always just opted for a hotel so that I can get away and have some time to myself. Coming home is never the easiest thing to do. While I love the city and will always consider it home, there are a lot of negative memories that took place there that I’ve never really overcome.

“What’s up?” Jill asks as she comes up next to me. She slides a hand along my shoulders, rubbing the knots at the base of my neck.

“I found a good flight option, but wanted to run it by you before I book it.”

“Oh, good!” she says excitedly. “What is it?”

“Fly out Thursday evening at six thirty. The flight is only about an hour, so pretty quick. We’ll get in at seven thirty. Then come home Monday afternoon, leave at two, home at three.”

“That sounds perfect. I can totally swing two and a half days off from work.”

“I figured that would give us a good amount of time to visit with everyone, time for me to show you around, lots of hotel sex,” I say, nuzzling my face against the side of her boob that is in the perfect spot for that with the way she’s standing next to me.

“Of course you’d toss that in,” she says, laughing as I tickle her side.

“Hotel sex is right up there with make-up sex.”

“Is that so?” she asks, quirking a brow at me. “According to who?”

“Everyone,” I state, like it’s a known fact.

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it. I’ll also expect you to rock my world, big guy,” she says as I pull her down into my lap. My lips crash against hers as I push my erection into her ass.

“I can show you just how big I am right now,” I whisper into her ear.

“No, you can’t, you’ve got a trip to book us and I need to go back to folding clothes,” she tells me as she pushes off of me. I reach out and smack her ass as she walks away from me. I do as she says, pulling out my wallet for my credit card. Within ten minutes, I’ve got our tickets booked, along with a car and our hotel for the long weekend.

“Everything is booked,” I call out as I push back from the table. I head for her room, standing at the doorway as I watch her folding a basket full of scrubs. Walter jumps down from the bed to come and walk his way between my legs, making sure to rub his body against my legs as he does so. I bend down, petting him, which causes him to start purring.

“He’s such a brat,” Jill says, pointing at Walter.

“Don’t be hating on him just because he loves me more,” I tease her.

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