Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

She giggles as I set her on the bed. She watches me shed my clothes and then she pats the empty space next to her. “You’re going to be cold. Where are your pajamas?”

“Came straight here. You can keep me warm.” Once I’m under the covers, I pull her against me. She throws her leg over my hip and an arm over my waist and comes even closer. “Let’s get some sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow. Lots of things to do.”

“What do you have to do?”

“Start moving my things over here.”

She’s frozen for all of a second before she sits up and slaps my shoulder. “You looked? You snoop! You weren’t supposed to look! I wanted to see your face!”

“Sorry. Want me to reenact my reaction for you?” I don’t wait for a response. I sit up, pretend to glance into the living room, and lift the imaginary lid. I gasp loudly, cover my mouth, and grab Elizabeth, rolling us around until she’s on her back. She’s already laughing, and I haven’t even gotten to the good part. “YES! YES! The answer is yes! Not only does she love me, but she loves me soooooooooooo much that she can’t bear not to have me invading her space for a moment longer.” I pause. “Wait a second. What’s wrong with my house?”

“I own this house, and it is fully decorated. Less work this way.”

“Oh, and she’s smart! Oh, boy, did I get lucky! What ever would I do without you?” She laughs, and I decide to get serious. “I have one condition, come to think of it.”

“What?”

“You start making plans for your cake shop, or whatever your dream is. You start doing that and I’ll move in.”

“I don’t know anything about business.”

“You can learn,” I quickly interject. “And if you love it, it’ll be fun and worth it. You deserve this, Elizabeth.”

She squeezes her eyes closed. “Okay,” she says as they open. “I’ll do that.”

“Good.” I lean down to kiss her slowly, savoring the moment because today is such a good day. “I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you too.”

I roll us to our sides and close my eyes. The tiredness is starting to settle in. Sleep sounds pretty damn good.

“Do you know what I just realized?”

“What?” I ask without opening my eyes.

“I don’t know anything about your past relationships.”

“They all sucked.”

“Marc.” She laughs.

“What?” I open my eyes. “Compared to you, they most definitely sucked. There were a handful of dates and a couple of girlfriends. Sure, they were good women, but they weren’t it for me. You are. What more is there to know?”

She rolls her eyes. “What’s wrong with being curious? You know about Roger.”

“I do believe that on our first date, you said I had to know about him. I don’t believe I’ve ever asked without him already being part of the conversation.”

Elizabeth seems to digest this. She must not be able to think of an instance when I brought it up because she curses under her breath and I laugh, closing my eyes again. “Fine. Keep your girlfriends a secret. I didn’t really want to know about them anyway.”

“Elizabeth?”

“What?”

“Who am I in bed with? Who have I told that I love them today? Who did I come see as soon as I landed? Who am I moving in with? Who have I spent all my time with since she started letting me? Who have I been thinking about since the Halloween party? Who is in my arms right now? Who makes me happier than anyone else ever has, including when I annoy Rams? Because it’s you, Elizabeth. The answer is you. Stop thinking about ex-girlfriends because I can promise I don’t even remember the last time I thought about any of them.”

When nothing is said, I peek an eye open. She’s grinning. “I was only curious, but that’s a really good answer.”

“Good. Go to sleep and reward me in the morning before you go to work.”