Page 92 of Eight Years Gone

“I want normal, Grace. With you.”

She smiled. “That sounds good, too.”

He let his hands slide up and down the sides of her waist—one of her favorite things he’d always done. “I had a couple of thoughts about ‘normal’ on the flight home.”

She stroked his skin, always fascinated by Jagger’s brain. “Do tell.”

“Well, I was thinking about how you mentioned possibly taking a couple of days off in November. We should do something.”

Her fingers stilled against his skin. “I was planning to head to Montana.”

He nodded. “I remember.”

Her smile was back. “You want to go with me?”

“Hell yeah, I want to go with you. Let’s make it a real vacation.”

She winced because she wanted nothing more. Nothing sounded better than a real vacation with Jagger. “But I have to do some work for the magazine.”

“So do your work, but let me get us a room at one of the resorts—maybe a fancy dude ranch like you were talking about. We can do massages, and you can get a facial or whatever else they do when you’re not taking your pictures. We can order room service and eat naked in bed. We can sit under the stars in a private hot tub.”

She grinned as she made a sound in her throat. “That sounds amazing.”

He nodded. “I never got the chance to do anything special for you.”

She frowned as she remembered a sweet eighteenth birthday dinner at her favorite restaurant and a tattoo. Random bouquets of flowers, surprise picnics, and fun notes left around the house. “Yes, you did. All the time.”

He shook his head. “Not the way I wanted to. Not the way you deserved. But I can take you away now. I can give you everything I couldn’t.”

She could see how important this was to him—all the extra stuff she’d never been overly concerned with. “I think we should do it.”

He smiled. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Eating naked in bed. Sharing a hot tub under the stars. Those sound like the best parts.”

“Then we’ll pick out a place and make it happen—book a reservation.”

She moved to get up. “I’ll grab my laptop—”

In a lightning move, he nudged her arm so she collapsed against his chest. Then he rolled her under him. “But we should do this first.”

She grinned as she felt his erection against her thigh. “I like this idea.”

“Occasionally, I have a good one.”

Her smile vanished as she gasped when he eased himself inside.

He stared into her eyes. “I want to make you come. It’s so damn sexy when you come, Grace.”

Eager to get started, she pulled his mouth down to hers.

Twenty-One

Grace stood in the processing room, adding pretty peach roses to one of the vases she’d set out, getting a head start on the first few orders that had come in for tomorrow’s a.m. deliveries.

The shop had been quiet for hours—once the cold rain and blustery winds had rolled in shortly after lunchtime. After she sent Jen home early, she’d taken advantage of a rare opportunity to cross several to-dos off her endless list.

Paperwork had been scanned for the accountant at Asa’s firm, signatures were scrolled on their designated lines, and dozens of supply orders were completed.

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