Nick

“This place is so beautiful.”

My eyes fluttered open, and I followed the direction of my wife’s gaze as she looked out over the Gulf of Mexico.

My wife.

Those words still took some getting used to, even though we’d been married for about six months now. It had taken us this long to get around to our honeymoon, though, because both of us were so crazy busy at our respective and successful jobs.

But now, here we were on a tiny island off the coast of south Florida, laying on a white-sand beach as the sun sank lower in the pink and orange sky.

“It really is gorgeous,” I agreed with Inge, sitting up in our double lounge chair. “But let me tell you, baby, even that perfect sunset doesn’t hold a candle to my view right now.” I leaned closer, cupping her cheek in one hand as our lips met in a lazy kiss.

“I’m so glad we finally did this,” Inge remarked with a sigh, snuggling up to me. “I know it took a long time to work out our schedules.”

“Yeah, true, but it was worth the wait.” I thought about the last couple of nights in our huge king-sized bed, heat rising in me as I remembered Inge’s voice moaning my name. “You know what? We should take a honeymoon every year.”

“Funny you should say that.” She shifted a little to look up at me. “I was thinking just now . . . wouldn’t it be amazing to have this view all the time? To look out over the Gulf every night while we’re eating dinner together?”

I frowned a little. “Well, sure, that would be great. But unless you won the lottery and didn’t tell me, I don’t see how that’s in the cards for us, sweetheart.”

Inge scrunched up her nose. “I didn’t win the lottery, honey, but there is something I wanted to tell you. I was waiting for the right time.”

I sat up straighter. “Now you’re worrying me, baby. What’s going on?”

She shook her head. “It’s nothing to worry about. I think it’s good news, and I hope you do, too.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Are you about to tell me you’re pregnant?”

Inge burst out laughing. “Now that would be big news, and it would be a miracle, too. No, sweetie, I’m long past those years.”

“Hey, with all the super hot sex we’ve been having here, I’m ready to believe it could be possible.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, baby. Whatever you say. But no, we’re not about to become parents.” She paused. “I got a call from one of the biggest names in event planning in the southeast just before we left to come down here. They’re interested in buying my business—and they made me a very attractive offer.”

I was silent for a moment, digesting that. “Huh. So what are you thinking?”

Inge pushed to sit up, turning to face me as she crossed her legs. “I’m thinking that maybe I’d like to sell the business. What would you think if we partially retired and looked at moving . . . somewhere fun?”

“Ahh . . .” My head was spinning. “I hadn’t thought about retiring, you know. Not for a long time. Neither of us are really that old, babe. We still have lots of years together—plenty of time to talk about slowing down later.”

“I know it feels that way.” Inge brushed sand off her leg. “But I keep thinking about Corey losing her husband so suddenly. Nothing is guaranteed to us, Nick, and I—” She broke off. “I didn’t find you until later in my life. I don’t want us to waste a single second of the time we have together.”

“Baby, I agree.” I gathered her close to me. “I guess this is just something I’ll need to think about for a little while. I love my job, you know. I’m afraid I’d be bored if I didn’t have anything to do all day.”

Inge’s eyes sparkling as she gazed up at me. “Oh, I wouldn’t let either of us get bored,” she promised, her voice husky. “Aside from the obvious, um, activity we could indulge in on the regular, I was thinking maybe we could start a whole new type of business, together. Something we both would enjoy, that would let us spend more time with each other.”

Now that I thought about it, her idea wasn’t a bad one. I nodded slowly. “That has potential. What did you have in mind?”

She flipped over one hand. “Oh, I have lots of options. Maybe we can go upstairs . . . and I can tell you about them all. In bed.”

I twined our fingers together. “That sounds excellent. But you know, babe, I’m a stubborn guy. I might need lots of convincing before I come around to your way of thinking.”

Her answering smile was hot and full of promise.

“Oh, sweetheart, I can be very persuasive.”

And she was.

Keep the Small Town Love Sizzling!

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