Lucky in Love (Southern Bride 4)

“Yeah, my bedchamber, please,” Ryan said as he headed down the winding staircase.

“I can’t believe he built this,” I said again.

Wrapping her arm around my shoulder, my mother said, “He is one very talented young man. His attention to detail is unbelievable, and I’m not sure how he pulled this off. It’s like a small house!”

“It’s like you said, he did it for her,” I whispered. I faced my mother and our eyes locked. “I love him, Mom.”

She gave me a soft smile. “Fate is a funny thing, sweetheart.”

I saw Truitt pop up and I gasped. “You cannot be climbing these stairs with your knee, Truitt!”

He laughed. “It’s fine. I wanted to see what you thought about her room.”

My eyes filled with tears of happiness. “It’s perfect.”

You’re perfect, in every single possible way.

“Truitt, everything is amazing. It’s beyond amazing. It’s beautiful. Y’all must have killed yourselves getting this done.”

He simply shrugged and then gave me one of his famous winks that nearly left me panting with want. I was going to have to find a way to sneak off with him sometime today.

“I’ll head back down, meet y’all there,” Truitt said.

As my mother followed Truitt back down, I took another look around. Happiness engulfed me, and I placed my fingers on my lips to keep from crying.

With each step down the winding staircase I couldn’t shake the feeling that life couldn’t possibly be this amazing.

Truitt

CHRISTMAS, MY BIRTHDAY, and the new year came and went in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, it was the end of January. Things with Saryn were going strong and steady. I had pretty much moved in with her and Liliana, or it felt like I had. Rus and I spent more time at Saryn’s place than we did at my own. Saryn and I had decided I would stop setting my alarm early in the morning and sneaking into the guest room. Most mornings I was up before the girls anyway and going for a run.

Saryn had agreed to come work for Imaginations Unlimited, much to Lee’s delight. She was now able to take more time off, and Saryn proved to be a natural at decorating the interior of the playhouses. Yesterday she had come to the office and handed me a drawing she had done of a playhouse we had been asked to design. I stared at it for the longest time before she had asked me if it was terrible.

“The opposite, sweetheart. This looks like our architect drew it.”

She simply shrugged. “I love doing it.”

I rounded my desk and pulled her into my arms. “And I love having you do it.”

Her eyes met mine, and as I moved down to kiss her, she whispered, “I love you, Truitt.”

With a smile, I replied, “I love you, too.”

When our mouths parted, I looked deep into her eyes and prayed what I was about to say wouldn’t spook her. “I’d like to have Liliana pick out a room at my house. Y’all can decorate however you would like.”

Her eyes lit up. “Truitt, she would love that!”

“I know we haven’t talked about it yet, but I’d love to move you and Liliana into my place sometime in the future. It’s a bit more…private.”

Saryn laughed. “I think that is a great idea.”

“I think we should seal it with a kiss.”

And seal it we did.

I pushed open the door to the Rusty Nail and walked in. It had been a long while since I had met up with the guys for a night out. I moved through the crowd and caught my brother walking toward a corner table with a handful of beers.

In the booth sat Ryan. Next to him was Pete, who had called off his wedding to Wendy when he came home early from work one night and found her in bed with another guy. Saryn had also dumped Wendy after they had met for lunch one day, and she began to fill Saryn in on the supposed love affairs I had going on all over town.

Jack sat on the other side of Pete. Since Paul had gotten married last year, he had declined almost every one of our guys’ night out invitations. I was pretty sure Roger had stopped inviting him at this point.

“Finally! I didn’t think you were going to show up!” Ryan said as Roger handed him a bottle of Bud Light, then passed one to me.

“I told you I’d be here,” I said, flipping a chair around and sitting on it.

The four of them looked at me as if waiting for me to say something. I took a drink from my beer, set it down on the table, and then laughed.

“Why in the hell are y’all staring at me?” I asked.

Roger lifted a brow. “Is there something you want to tell us?”