Ignite

I walked over to her and lifted her hand as I kissed the back of it softly. “Let’s take a quick tour and then we are off for breakfast.”

Adaline gave a quick nod of her head as I led her through the rest of the house. Some day I hoped to hear little feet running all over this place. For now though, I was happy with it being the two of us.

After showing Adaline the inside of the house, I led her outside. Sucking in a breath, Adaline came to a stop. “Oh. My. Word. Emmit. It looks like a picture.” My smile spread wide across my face as I studied Adaline’s reaction. Taking her hand in mine, we walked down the cobblestone path to the deck.

“I could totally see myself sitting here reading a book,” Adaline said as we passed by the outdoor sectional sofa.

We made our way down to the dock and stopped at the boat as I motioned for Adaline to get in. She glanced over her shoulder at me with a surprised expression. “You have a boat?”

“Yep.”

After getting everything ready to go, I jumped into the boat and started it up as I pulled away from the dock.

“I thought we were eating breakfast?” Addie asked as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the wind kiss her face.

“We are. We’re going to one of my favorite places to eat.”

A few minutes later, I was pulling up to a dock and helping Adaline out of the boat.

“Chucks Dive?” Adaline asked with a giggle. “Sounds . . . yummy.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. “The best steak and eggs I’ve ever had.”

Adaline looked ahead and said, “Okay, I’m trusting your judgment on this one.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Addie. It looks like a dive, but it’s amazing. Plus, it’s not filled with rich snobs bitching that their eggs benedict isn’t the way they like it.”

With a laugh, Adaline hit me in the stomach lightly. “I’m glad to see you’re still in touch with your humble roots and that you still hate eggs benedict.”

The door opened and a rather tall looking man let out a yell. “Holy fucking shit on a stick. It’s Emmit fucking Lewis. How the fuck have you been, you little fucker!”

Adaline let out a laugh as she looked at me and spoke softly. “Does he like the word fuck?”

“Just a little. He’s the nicest guy in the world, though.”

I turned back to Chuck and dropped my arm from Adaline’s waist as I shook his hand. “How have you been?”

Chuck’s eyes moved between Adaline and me. “Good. Good.” Motioning with this thumb over to Adaline, Chuck busted out with, “Is this Adaline?”

Adaline froze next to me as she quickly looked at me with a stunned expression. “Don’t look so surprised, sweetheart. Your boy here talks a lot when he gets drunk and we have spent many a night together drunk out of our minds.”

A smile spread across Adaline’s face as she gave me a stern look before turning back to Chuck. “Well, Chuck, I’m afraid most of Emmit’s nights will be spent with me from now on.”

Chuck lost it laughing as he pointed to me and said, “I fucking love her already.” Turning, he called over his shoulder, “Come on, let me feed you both.”

Adaline took my hand and I could see it in her eyes. She tried to hide it, but every now and then it showed through. Stopping, I pulled her to me and ran my hands through her hair. Softly tugging, I pressed my lips to hers. Barely pulling away, I said, “I wouldn’t change a thing, Addie. We were meant to t

ravel the road that led us here. You’re here now, baby, and that’s all that matters.”

Closing her eyes, I knew she was fighting back tears. “I never meant to hurt you, Emmit. Never.”

Lifting my hand and pushing a strand of hair from her eyes, I softly spoke, “I know baby. I know.” I rubbed my nose against hers and said, “Let’s eat. We have a busy day today.”

“You don’t think you’re moving too fast?” my brother Chris asked.

My hand pushed through my hair as I rolled my eyes. “No, Chris, I don’t. I’ve loved her practically my whole life. I don’t want to wait another minute.”

I peaked around the corner toward the master bedroom. Adaline was changing into a new dress she bought this morning after I told her my mother wanted to have us over for lunch. Adaline hadn’t seen my mom in three years, and I could tell she was nervous.