Page 106 of When Morning Comes Around

“And by the way? Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

She lifted her head and finally looked up at him. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks were sleep flushed and her eyes were a little puffy – and she looked beautiful.

She rested her elbows on his chest and smiled as she looked into his eyes. “You said that when morning came around you were going to ask if I want this – I’m saying, yes, I do.”

He kissed her. “For the rest of your life?”

She nodded, but he could see there was some hesitation in her eyes.

“But?”

She shrugged. “I do, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I don’t …” She pursed her lips and then hurried on. “Does the rest of our lives mean getting married? Because I don’t think … I mean, I know you haven’t asked or anything, but that’s what the rest of our lives sounds like, and I love you, but I don’t want to … and besides, I’m not even divorced and …”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “Relax.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m glad you feel that way. I was concerned that maybe youwouldwant to get married.”

“Andyoudon’t?”

Even though she’d already explained how she felt, her question made him nervous. He’d been worried how she’d feel when he told her his position. There was nothing for it, he had to be honest.

“I don’t. I love you. I want to be with you – live with you. Go to bed with you every night and find you in my arms when morning comes around, but no. I don’t want to get married. I did that once in my life. Whatever we build, I want it to be something different – something that’s uniquely ours.”

He cringed, dreading the worst, and a wave of relief washed over him when she grinned. “Thank god for that!”

He chuckled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I feel the same way – if not for the same reasons. You associate marriage with what you shared with Polly – and I love that for you. I want whatever we have to be something different – it’s like you said, for there to be no comparison, because everything is just different. And for myself, I associate marriage with Dale – and I don’t want to taint anything that we share with that kind of crap.”

He kissed her forehead. “So, we’re good then?”

“Not just good, we’re great.”

His breath caught in his chest when her hand slid down over his stomach. She smiled as she curled her fingers around his hard length.

“You’re awake, then?”

He nodded. “Wide awake and raring to go.”

She ducked her head under the covers. “I’ll just go and say hi.”

He caught his fingers in her hair as she brushed her lips over his head. He opened his mouth to speak but lost the ability to form words when she took him in her mouth. Instead, he closed his eyes, and laid his head back, as the woman he loved showed him just how much she loved him right back.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The following Saturday afternoon, Dom smiled to himself when he arrived back at the house and the gates swung open before him. He’d already grown used to the way they did that, Sadie still commented on it every time. She loved it. And since it made her so happy, he’d decided that they’d need gates just like them when they built their own place.

As he pulled forward, he was hoping that she’d be home. He’d been over to town this morning; he and Damon hadn’t worked out together all week, so they’d decided to make up for it this morning since Sadie and Jo were hanging out together. They’d gone shopping at the plaza.

It was hard to believe that it had already been a week since he first brought her to the house. They’d spent most of their time together since then. Of course, she still worked a few hours every day for Jake, and she went over to check in with her dad most days.

Harvey had been Dom’s biggest concern. He wanted Sadie here with him, but he didn’t want her or Harvey to feel like they were missing out. From what he could tell, they were both happy with the way things were working. Harvey was back on his feet, and he still had Savannah staying with him, so he wasn’t all by himself. Dom frowned. Tilly and Parker were at the garden center all day, every day, too. He still hadn’t quite figured out how he felt about those two. Harvey wouldn’t hear a word against them, but Dom had his reservations.

He was disappointed when the garage door opened to see that Sadie’s minivan wasn’t back yet. At the same time, he was pleased that she and Jo enjoyed each other’s company so much.

---