Love, Chocolate, and Beer (Cactus Creek #1)(80)

“Mmm hmm,” she hummed, losing track of the conversation.

“We could put both on a farm together.”

She went still.

“Don’t hyperventilate.” He helped slide off her shirt, distracting her from over-thinking his words. “Just do a little dreaming out loud with me. It’ll be like playing pretend. C’mon, it’ll be fun.” His expression was jovial, completely innocent as he nipped at her shoulder.

She shivered at his ministrations. “Fine, but you better darn well put out later, mister.”

He chuckled against her sternum as he paused in indecision whether to travel right or left.

“Well,” she began breathlessly, awaiting his decision as well. “If we had a farm, yeah, I’d want a space to have small brew systems setup so our restaurant could serve our own beer.”

“And?” He chose left.

Her breath broke on a moan when she felt the hot suction of his mouth. He paused, silently telling her he wouldn’t continue unless she did. She let out a frustrated breath and kept talking. “The restaurant would be open from brunch to late lunch, but the crop farm just in the mornings except for seasonal picking in the evenings.”

Damn, even half-drunk with arousal, the woman could put together the foundation for a pretty good plan. For business. “What about kids?” he asked quietly.

A little more coherent now, her voice dropped off a little. “Maybe.”

That ‘maybe’ twisted his insides, spiked his dreams with doubt. “I think you’d be a great mom,” he proceeded carefully. “You basically mother everyone and you’re a natural with kids.”

“But I’ll never be voted head of the PTA. Like mother, like daughter, right?”

He frowned at the bitter twinge of hurt in her voice. “Screw the PTA. Your kids will absolutely adore you, trust me. Their friends will too for that matter. The sports-nut beer mom who cooks—you kidding? You’ll be the cool mom well past the college years.”

Laugher rippled out of her. “I never thought of it like that.” She slid her hands around his waist. “At least I’ll be able to keep up with you then. You’ll be a wonderful dad.”

His heart thumped. Keep it light. “Hey, can we have a few dogs in this dream too?”

She laughed. “Of course. Oh, and you definitely need to keep making chocolates. Wow, can you imagine a little restaurant that served lunch with farm-picked produce, beer brewed fresh, and chocolates made on site by a master chocolatier?” Her eyes took on a far-off look.

He could. Never had a dream seemed so close to reality. “So, folks would come in for crop picking in the mornings and stay for lunch, which would be served with our famous beer and chocolates.” His mouth teased over her collarbone. “Our kids would be angels who did all their chores before family time every evening. Then you and I would stay up late every night having crazy sex.” He nuzzled her neck. “That’s a great dream, babe.”

A suffered sigh, tinted with adoration whooshed out of her. “You are—”

“I know, I know. A hopeless romantic. Lately though, you make it sound less like a complaint and more like a compliment.” He looked into her eyes as he slid his hands down her body, tantalizingly close but still too far from any of the good parts. “Want me to stop?”

“No,” she whispered. “Never stop.”

He laid a long, possessive kiss on her lips and beat the world record for getting on a condom, for sure. Though the sex was always white-hot, tonight it was different. Synced on a whole new level. Every kiss felt deeper, every touch more sensitive, and every sound sweeter.

He only just barely held himself back until she came. And when she did, his own release hurtled him into a sea of emotions that tumbled him until he didn’t know which way was up.

Then she cuddled into him and all at once, he felt grounded again.

God, this was what he wanted. This right here and so much more.

He wanted the dream.

As he lay holding her as she slept, loving her beyond belief, he felt the panic begin to set in. But for good reason. Even when he’d asked her to dream of a future together with him, he’d felt her holding back, unwilling to commit the words to become an actual dream, which was still miles away from a plan, and an eternity away from a true future.

Then she’d done the scariest thing of all. She’d uttered the word that has been his own urban legend for years now with every confirmed case in his past relationships—hear the word ‘maybe’ five times uttered by the woman he loved and the boogey man would snatch her away.

He knew without a doubt that Dani was the one he was truly meant to spend his life with, have that forever love with. And amazingly, she wanted the dream too.

Maybe.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


DANI’S HAND collided with a foreign object on Luke’s side of the bed. Prying her sleepy eyes open, she saw he’d left something for her on the center of his pillow. A gift.

Recklessly happy, she rolled over and slid the Valentine card out from under the square gift box, tearing it open immediately. Though Valentine’s Day was long over and no one carried the greeting cards anymore, somehow Luke found a way to have a new and unique one for each of his gifts and gestures. The hopeless romantic. Goofy smile already launched, she read the card: