I jump a mile in the air as I spin around toward him. His voice is deep and sleepy. It takes a good amount of effort to keep the smile off my face as I take in his appearance. Baggy sweats, tight tank-top undershirt, no socks, and his hair all sexy and disheveled.
“You’re up early,” I say walking toward him. “Hungry?”
He rubs his face and then glances from me to the covered food trays. “Did you get up and cook this morning?”
I laugh openly. “Hell no. Teresa was up when I came downstairs. That’s all her handy work.”
He closes the distance between us and wraps his arms around my waist, causing my heart to thump like it’s on cocaine. “I’m starving. But you still didn’t answer my question. What is all this?”
Trailing my fingers lightly up and down his arms, he shivers under my touch. “I wanted a day with you. Just one day with no work, no team, no nothing. Just me and you, that couch, and a shitton of movies.”
His smile could blind someone. It’s genuine, reaching all the way to his eyes. He kisses me hard and pulls me against him. “Mmmmm, I love you.”
“I love you, too. Let’s eat, I’m hungry for once.”
He lets go of me and takes my hand as he turns toward the table. “You need to eat. You’ve lost too much weight in the last year.”
“Well, it’s a good thing Teresa made waffles then. I can put on a few pounds.”
We both laugh as we sit down next to each other and dig into the food.
†††
Blake wipes his mouth and sets his napkin atop his empty plate. I finished five minutes ago but watched him contently until he was done. He’s even sexy when he eats. How can anyone be sexy when they eat? I don’t know, but he is.
He leans over and kisses me, grabbing my hand at the same time. Too soon, he stands and drags me over to the couch, picking up the remote to start the movie. The familiar sunset and African music blare through the screen, and I’m more than happy to press myself into his side as he wraps his arm around me.
We’re silent for a while with Blake planting a kiss on the back of my head every few minutes as I lightly rub circles on his hand with my thumb. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been in forever.
“Baby,” he says startling me. “Can I ask you something?”
“Blake, just ask. You don’t need permission to ask me questions.” I push away from him enough to turn and look him in the face. He stares at our hands, fingers entwined together. “Blake?”
“I want more kids, Lily.”
Wait . . . what? The air is caught in my throat, and my mouth is hanging open. More kids?
“Say something,” he says, his voice so quiet.
I shake my head and scoot a little closer to him. He still hasn’t looked up at me. After another moment, I put my fingers under his chin and gently coax his head up unti
l his eyes meet mine. Locked in this moment, I run my fingers through his beard again. “Blake, you know I can’t have more kids. You knew when we took in Sorina, she’d be it for us.”
He doesn’t even blink. “We could adopt, Lily. Or foster.” The set of his face changes from scared to confident.
Blake has given this a lot of thought.
“Okay,” I say surprising myself.
His eyes get as big as saucers, his eyebrows shooting toward the ceiling. “I’m sorry, what?”
A slow smile creeps onto my face. “I said, okay. We can adopt or foster.”
His eyes search my face, for what I don’t know, but after a moment, I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re serious?”
I twist and snuggle next to him again. “I’d give you anything to make you happy, Blake. You know that.”