What a fool he’d been to think he’d ever f**k Hope out of his system. Instead of getting easier, it was actually harder to keep his hands off her as they grew closer and closer.
He still had more business to finish up in New York, but later in the year, they hoped to move permanently to Amesport. They might hit Aspen occasionally to ski, and he’d still have to be in New York sometimes, but they’d have a permanent home, and Hope would be somewhere she enjoyed. Not once did she complain about New York. She was the type of woman who found good in everything, and she spent time exploring the sights and took as many pictures as possible. But he suspected that she’d be a hell of a lot happier in Amesport, and if he was honest, so would he. It would be nice to have Grady and Emily right down the street.
“Think Grady has cooled down enough for me to show my face in Maine by now?” he asked casually.
“He’s over how we started completely. You’ve talked to him. He’s anxious to have us live there.” She swiped her windblown hair back from her face.
Much to Jason’s relief, her brothers had gotten over what he’d done. Probably because they spoke to Hope often, and they knew she was happy.
“I’m glad,” he admitted. “Grady and I have been friends for a long time.”
“You’re still friends,” she told him adamantly as she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his head down for a steamy kiss.
Jason groaned. He needed to show her the cabins soon. As their mouths separated, he said persuasively, “Come below.”
“But it’s beautiful up here,” she protested mildly and threw him a wicked smile.
“Something will be beautiful down below, too.”
“Won’t the crew think it’s odd that we’ve already disappeared below deck?”
“They work for me,” he replied cockily.
“I guess I could use a nap. Somebody kept me up late last night,” she admonished him playfully.
He picked her up, and headed toward the stairs. “Sweetheart, I think you’ll still be tired.”
“Then maybe we shouldn’t,” she pondered teasingly. Her arms wrapped around his neck.
“We should,” he insisted as he took her down the stairs. She was so damn beautiful, there was no way he was letting her nap until later. Much later.
“I love you,” she murmured into his ear.
Holy shit. He moved faster, letting Hope open the door as they arrived at the cabin. “I love you, baby.”
“So what do you think?” he asked nervously.
“Beautiful,” Hope answered reverently. “I can’t believe you’ve never screwed a woman on this yacht. You’ve had it for a few years.”
“I couldn’t. This was my hope—or my Hope, actually. It wasn’t going to happen.”
“A real virgin yacht, huh?”
“Pure as the driven snow, if you don’t count the times I got off to fantasies about you being with me.” He’d had many of those.
“Let’s make your dreams come true,” she told him quietly, seriously.
“Baby, they already have.”
He kissed her, and she proceeded to bring his every fantasy to life, and she succeeded, making reality far better than fantasy.
He’d waited a lifetime for Hope, and every moment with her was better than the last.
Jason had decided that sometimes, miraculous things really were worth the wait.
~ The End ~