“I saw the records in the pool house, that’s quite the collection.” She nods her head in agreement. “And I guess you can add surfing to your list now, too.” I smile wide, thinking back to a few weeks ago when I taught her how to surf.
“That I can.” She looks around the kitchen as if she’s searching for something. “Where is my surfboard? I hope you’re looking after her,” she teases.
I push out of my seat and hold my hand out toward her, a grin on my face. “I can take you to see her if you’d like?”
Placing her hand in mine, she stands. “I would like.”
I lead her into the main room of my house and head toward the hallway. She looks around at the closed doors, seemingly fascinated until we come to the third door on the right.
Opening the door for her, I let her step through the small entryway housing a door in front of us and one to the left. I open the one in front of us and wave my arm for her to go into the garage first.
As soon as she steps in, her gaze flicks around the room to the cars I have in here and I watch in fascination, trying to see how she sees it for the first time.
“Whoa, I didn’t realize you were such a car buff,” she mumbles, walking over to the bumblebee yellow, 1967 Shelby GT Mustang. “This is beautiful.” She trails her hand along the hood. “Do you drive it?”
“What would be the point in having them if they just sat here?” Every single one of these cars is well-used, I don’t have them for decoration.
“Well yeah, but this is a classic.”
“All the more reason to drive it,” I reply, opening up a door to our left and motioning for her to walk inside.
She gasps when I flip the switch to turn
on the lights and I watch her eyes take in all my sports equipment. They land on the shelves to our left lined with basketballs, baseballs, and footballs before moving onto the buckets full of golf balls, the bats and clubs for the corresponding sports lying underneath in the racks.
I lean against the doorframe as she takes a step toward my fishing gear and absentmindedly touches one of the rods before moving onto the wetsuits.
She finds hers and smiles, moving toward the surfboards she seeks out next.
“As you can see, your board is perfectly fine,” I say, breaking the silence.
“I can’t wait to get back out on the water with you,” she comments.
I watch her in deep thought, her hand skimming over the surface of her board and I can’t help myself. My footsteps echo around us as I walk toward her and I feel the heat of her back against my chest before I move her hair to the side, leaning down and placing a soft kiss where her shoulder meets her neck.
“We’ll go soon,” I whisper into her ear, causing her whole body to shiver as she lets out a sigh.
Grasping onto her waist, I place gentle kisses along the sensitive skin of her neck and it takes everything in me to rein in the heat I’ve started to unleash.
I place one last kiss on her shoulder before backing away and saying, “Come on, let’s go and sit by the firepit.”
She nods and I take ahold of her hand, walking her back through the house. I grab a bottle of wine on our way through the kitchen but I stop as we step out onto the patio, Amelia’s breath hitching as she gazes up at the sky. The colors of the sunset are streaming together and creating a picture-perfect scene.
“It’s a gorgeous view, isn’t it?”
I could sit out here every night for the rest of my life and never get bored, but it’s starting to look even better with Amelia standing beside me.
“It is,” she answers me, her voice merely a whisper.
“It’s partly what drew me into this place. The view is even more incredible at the lake, so I bought the land around it to build a house on.” I sigh happily. “I’ve always loved the outdoors.”
“I can see the appeal.” I tilt my head slightly, catching sight of her out of the corner of my eye. Her face is awash with peace, her chocolate-brown eyes shining with contentment.
“It really is beautiful,” I comment, not sure whether I’m talking about the view anymore.
She’s the kind of person I can see myself sharing everything with, and even though that thought should scare me this soon into the relationship, it doesn’t.
After getting a roaring fire going in the pit and settling down in the L-shaped wicker sofa with Amelia, I stare up at the sky, watching the sun go down. The stars starting to glimmer take me back to our first date at the planetarium. They shine bright, flickering and shimmering in the darkened sky—only this time it isn’t a show: it’s the real thing.