Lucy
December
Six days of pure peace was good for the soul. The time spent in Colorado had worked wonders on my stress level, but spending nearly a week completely disconnected from the outside world tended to do that to a person.
For the first two days, all we did was make love. Our window overlooked the most amazing view I had ever witnessed firsthand, and it snowed every single day. Making love in front of that view, with Harris taking every second to worship my body in the most delicious of ways, had healed something inside of me I didn’t even realize needed healing.
But there had still been an ache inside me that he couldn’t touch with his kisses and the picturesque view beyond our window.
On the third day, I decided we needed to at least explore some of the surrounding area, and even though skiing wasn’t my forte, we still went to the top of the slopes after buying all the snow gear we needed. Harris talked me into tubing, and we spent hours slipping and sliding in a snow tube with the sound of my giggles and screams echoing off the mountains.
During our time in Colorado, my dad only texted me a few times, and as much as I missed him, I was glad for the reprieve. I didn’t know what all he knew, but I was sure I was going to find out the moment he got home from Paris. His latest text asked us to meet him and Mom for dinner once they were back. The thought of seeing Mom made me want to beg Harris to stay a few extra days, but I had responsibilities at home. Drake was creating a surprise for Lana, and I promised him I would watch the girls for him.
Other than a few phone calls to my sister and brother-in-law to assure them I was okay, the only other person I had spoken to was Kin the night we’d gotten to Mountain Thunder Lodge. She had sounded more upbeat than she had earlier that day, but I got the odd feeling she was pretending. I wasn’t sure if it was for my sake, or if she was just trying to convince herself she was okay, but she’d promised she was fine and told me to enjoy my time away from the real world.
That was exactly what I’d done, and now I felt like I weighed about sixty pounds less after having the stress lifted off my shoulders. And for the first time since the craziness over the wedding had begun, I was looking forward to planning our wedding.
In the airport on the way home, I grabbed a few bridal magazines to flip through on the plane. As we took our seats in first class, I opened one. Harris leaned over after fastening his seat belt. “I kind of like that cake design,” he murmured. “Simple but classic.”
I beamed up at him. “How about if we have something like this with that lemon blueberry you liked so much when we did the taste testing?”
He kissed me hard. “I love it,” he breathed at my ear when he pulled back. “Make the appointment, and we’ll talk to the baker about it.”
“Okay.” I scribbled myself a note in the corner and folded down the edge of the page. “Actually, I was wanting to talk to you about the venue for the reception.”
“Yes, I will marry you on the moon, Lu,” he assured me with a wink. “You should have said that’s what you wanted. I could have already reserved the date for us.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I think the place Mom and Nat picked for the reception is going to be too big for the smaller guest list we want. I was thinking we could just…”
His brows lifted when I trailed off. “Just?”
“Well, we’re getting married on the anniversary of the day I realized I love you. I was sort of thinking we could have the reception where you realized you were in love with me.” I watched his face for a reaction, but when he didn’t immediately say anything, I shrugged. “It’s just a thought. I know you wouldn’t want First Bass turned upside down.”
He kissed me again, deeper and longer this time. As he drew back, his eyes were flashing with amusement. “I’m kind of upset I didn’t think of that myself. I love the idea of marrying you in the same spot where I got gut-punched by the realization I was in love with my best friend. And March 26th is on a Monday, which is one of the club’s slower nights. We can just close the club and have the waitstaff still work. That’s the venue, the waitresses help out the caterer’s staff, and the bartenders are taken care of. It works out perfectly, sweetness.”
Holy crap. That was already a handful of major things taken care of within five minutes, and I hadn’t even broken into a sweat over the decision-making of it all. “Mom would have said having the reception at the club is tacky,” I muttered half to myself.
“Lucy, your mom just wanted you to have the best of the best because she loves you. She went overboard, but don’t think less of her for wanting to make our day special for you.” He linked our fingers together. “And it’s not tacky. We’re sharing with everyone a little bit of how we fell in love, as well as celebrating our marriage. There is nothing tacky about that.”
I snuggled back into my seat, smiling up at him with my heart in my eyes. “I think I just fell a little deeper for you, Harris Cutter.”
Leaning in close, he touched his lips to the shell of my ear. “That’s my goal, sweetness. To make you fall a little more every day.”
“Would you like a glass of wine before we take off?” the flight attendant asked as she stood over Harris’s shoulder and smiled down at us, interrupting our moment.
Smirking, he lifted his head and winked down at me before turning his eyes on her. “We will both have water, no ice, please.”
The woman, a blonde in her late twenties blinked down at him for the longest time, seeming mesmerized by his eyes. A shot of jealousy hit me, but I was used to this kind of thing happening now and swallowed it before it could destroy my happy mood. “Uh… Um, of course,” she said after a moment. “R-right away,” she breathed.
He turned that aquamarine gaze back to me, and I became even more breathless than the flight attendant when I met those hungry eyes. “What’s next?”
“Um… The guest list?
”
“Are you asking me or telling?” he asked with a knowing grin.
I rolled my eyes at him, but I grinned back. “Telling you.”