Page 82 of The Promises We Broke
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. "No regrets?"
She lifted her head to look at me, and the smile on her face was radiant, transforming her entire expression. "Not a single one. You?"
"Only that we waited this long," I said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
I tightened my arms around her, still hardly believing this was real. "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and find out this was all a dream."
"Not a dream," she said, pressing a kiss to my chest. "Very real. And I've been dreaming about our future, Gage. Actually dreaming about it."
"Tell me," I said, my voice rough with emotion.
"Lazy Sunday mornings in bed. Coffee on the porch of that house you're fixing up. Maybe a dog. A big, slobbery one who thinks he's a lapdog." She paused, her voice growing softer. "Eventually, maybe babies. Someday, when we're ready."
The mention of children made my chest go tight with emotion. The idea of Billie carrying my child, of building a family together, was almost too wonderful to contemplate.
"You want that? Kids, I mean?"
"With you? Yes." She looked up at me, her eyes serious. "But not yet. Not until we've had time to just be us for a while."
"How long?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.
"Ask me again next summer," she said softly. "When we've had time to prove to ourselves that this is real, that it's lasting."
Next summer felt like both forever and no time at all. But I understood what she was asking for. Proof that this time was different, that I was different, that we could build something solid and lasting together.
"Next summer," I agreed, already planning how I was going to spend every day between now and then showing her that she could trust me with her heart. "But Billie?"
"Yeah?"
"I already know what my answer's going to be."
She smiled and kissed my chest, right over my heart. "We'll see."
Chapter 29
Billie
Iwoke up alone in my bed at Aunt Helen's house, something that had become unusual over the past week since Gage and I had finally crossed that line from careful dating to being together. We hadn't officially moved in together. We'd agreed that was still too big a step, but I'd been staying over at his cottage most nights, and I'd grown used to the luxury of falling asleep in his arms.
Last night, though, I'd come home to my aunt's because he had to be up before dawn to help Booker with some new horses that had been traveling for longer than they should have to reach the ranch. He'd wanted me to stay anyway, but I knew I'd never get back to sleep after he left at four in the morning, and I had patients scheduled early today. He'd kissed me goodnight at his cottage door, promising to call me later, and I'd driven home through the quiet November darkness. Now, fully awake in the golden sunlight streaming through my childhood bedroom windows, I felt his absence like a physical ache.
My phone buzzed with a text:Missing you. Coffee in an hour? - G
I smiled, that familiar flutter of happiness warming my chest.My place or yours?
Yours. I'm bringing supplies for pancakes.
You don't have to cook for me every morning.
I want to. Let me take care of you.
The simple sweetness of the message made my heart skip. This was still new, this feeling of being cherished and cared for. After years of careful independence, having someone who wanted to make me breakfast and bring me coffee and generally fuss over my wellbeing was both wonderful and slightly terrifying.
Okay. But I'm making the coffee.
Deal. See you soon, beautiful.
I padded to the kitchen to start the coffee, trying to process the strange mix of contentment and vulnerability that had become my new normal. Being with Gage, really being with him, not just dating but building something real, was everything I'd dreamed of and nothing like I'd expected.
