Page 109 of Chasing Forever
She nods and lays her head on my bare chest but tips her head up to me. “They’re safe there. It took me years to even do that. If you haven’t noticed, I have a bit of a fear of not being good enough, and there’re a lot more talented potters than me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, you probably haven’t been into the pottery world. There are.”
“Would you ever think about selling them?”
She laughs. “I never wanted to before, but I will admit after that lady, I have thought about it. I just have to get over my fear. But now that I see what my reward was after putting myself out there a little, I’m debating it.”
“What was your reward?” My forehead wrinkles as I look down at her.
She kisses my chest, inching up. “You, silly.”
She kills me with her confession, and I keep her lips on me, deepening the kiss until I roll us back over and take her again.
I’ll never forget tonight. But I hope that it’s just one of the many memories I’m going to make with Lottie over a lifetime.
Chapter Forty-Two
Lottie
Brooks parks at my house before dinner with my parents. Since we all live on the property, it’s just as easy to meet up here and walk over to their place. Romy went over to my parents’ house earlier to help my mom with dinner, although I’m sure she’s sitting eating the appetizers instead of helping.
Wearing a sundress, I walk out onto the porch with a sweater in hand in case it gets cold on our walk back after dinner.
“Why don’t we turn around, and you can show me your room?” Brooks twirls his finger in the air.
“Hey, is that any way to talk when you’re about to have dinner with my father?”
I slowly step down the porch stairs, and by the time I hit the bottom, Brooks is there waiting for me. He pulls a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
“For me?” I take them from him and inhale their scent.
“They’re actually for your mom,” he says with a straight face. I take him for his word until he laughs. “Kidding. I have another bouquet for her in the truck.”
“I should put them in water.” I turn back around and go into the house, where I pull out a vase and fill it with water. Once the flowers are inside, I place the vase beside the sink and smile.
When I circle back around, Brooks is there. “Will you come home with me tonight? I’m off tomorrow because I have to finish that truck I’ve been working on. I can drive you to work though.”
I draw closer to him, fiddling with the collar of his button-down shirt. “Maybe I can swindle a day off too. Be sweet to my mom tonight.”
We kiss quickly, then he takes my hand and guides me out of the house, over to the path by the lake.
“Will you miss it here?” Brooks asks as we’re passing the guys’ house.
“The ranch?”
“I’m not trying to be presumptuous, but if we stay married, or if you marry someone else?—”
“Wait what?” I stop him, and he looks down at his feet before lifting his gaze to me.
“I don’t want to assume anything.”
“Assume away!” I say, my tone more forceful than I mean it to be.
“Well, we haven’t talked about it.” He tries to slide his hand from mine, but I grab his big palm.
“Have I not been clear?”
