Page 45 of My Three Rivals

“You wanna see?” I asked, sneaking a peek at the curve of her cheeks as she leaned over the sink to grab a glass.

Unable to resist, I leaned over and squeezed, and she tittered, playfully swatting me away.

“If you guys keep this up, I won’t be able to walk,” she warned.

“We can carry you,” I promised.

She grinned and turned on the tap, filling her glass before joining me at the counter. My hand snaked around her waist, and I pulled her against my side.

“Oh… those are the blueprints for the house!” she exclaimed, craning her slender neck forward. “I was wondering about those…”

She trailed off, her mouth forming an “O” of surprise. “What’s going on up here?”

Her long fingers gestured toward the top level, and I swallowed a grin, glad she had picked up on it so quickly.

“This?” I asked innocently. “It’s just an idea we were bouncing around for the top floor.”

Her lovely, verdant eyes turned on me, a veil falling over them as she eyed me. “Can you explain it to me?” she asked slowly.

“There’s not much to explain,” I replied, pulling her against my chest with a grin and placing a kiss on her lips. “We knock down all the walls and make it a giant…”

“Bedroom,” she breathed, blinking in surprise. Her chin swiveled toward me. “But… I mean…”

She hesitated to say what she was thinking aloud, but my smile encouraged her. “Don’t we… I… we need extra bedrooms up there?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “For what?” I challenged lightly, daring her to say it aloud.

A pink tinge graced her cheeks, and I was overwhelmed with a rush of affection for her like never before. The more time I spent with her, the more I felt my walls crumbling around me. Gone were the nights of trolling for nameless, unmemorable warm bodies in random bars all over Sacramento. I found myself longing to rush back to the vineyard where Tegan almost always waited, her dedication to getting the place inspiring. She made me want to be a better person.

I studied her face, prompting the reply from her lips. “Well?” I urged. “What’s the problem with tearing out all of those walls?”

I wanted to hear her say it herself.

“I don’t know,” she hemmed. “I mean… have we established what we’re going to do with the house?”

“I don’t know,” I teased. “Have we?”

My eyes bored into hers, my body pressed so close to hers that her face was now crimson. She pushed her head back and returned my look evenly.

“Is this your way of saying that you guys are staying here once the house is finished?” she asked point blank.

The back door opened, and Wyatt ambled in, his face shiny from the summer sunshine. His eyebrows raised with interest when he caught our embrace, but I didn’t release Tegan, nor did she try to untangle herself from my arms.

“Hello, kids,” Wyatt drawled, ambling toward us. “What’s going on here?”

His gaze fell on the blueprints, but he made no comment as he reached into the fridge, Tegan following his stride.

“We’re just talking about the future,” I informed him.

“Oh?” he replied, pulling out the water pitcher and reaching for a glass over our heads. “And what have we decided?”

He caught Tegan’s cheek with his lips, a small giggle falling from her lips at the unexpected gesture before he turned away and set the glass down next to the blueprint.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Tegan replied evenly. “What have we decided?”

Wyatt glanced over at me, his mouth twisted into a noncommittal smile, but he turned away before Tegan could see it.

“I think that the future looks bright,” he replied enigmatically. “Don’t you?”

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