“For me?” She gulped, a hint of fear entering her tone. But still, she leaned into my hold, resting her back against my chest more fully.
I inhaled her wildflower mixed with country scent, allowing it to coat my soul with her essence.
“For my wife.” I changed gears, knowing she was nowhere near ready to hear how very much I’d pined for her all these years. Hoped it would be her I stood next to as I entered my forever home.
With a flourish, I scooped her up and into my arms.
She cried out and kicked her legs. “What in the world! Put me down, you brute!”
“Time to carry you over the threshold!” I grinned and stomped up the few steps it took to get to the olive-green painted door.
I pushed it open and carried her in.
“Honey, we’re home!” I hollered through the empty house, then looked down into her eyes and did what I’d wanted to do my entire life.
I kissed my wife in the home I’d built for us.
Episode 29
Twenty Questions
ERIK
Savannah was quiet on the drive to the airport and through the process of checking in, security, and entering the jet. I wanted to give her the space she needed to come to terms with her sister’s marriage, and the fact that she and her sister were separating for an undetermined length of time.
I gestured to one of the big reclining leather seats and she moved past me to sit down and buckle in. I sat in the seat directly opposite her so I could have an unhindered view of her gorgeous face.
“This…” She looked around the cabin. “It’s pretty spectacular. You own it?”
I nodded. “My business does, and I own the business. So, yeah.”
“That’s pretty awesome. What is it that you do?” She clasped her hands in her lap, her attention now on me.
Having this woman’s attention felt like the sun had just come out on a dark and dank day. It filled me with light, and most of all, it gave me a sense of purpose.
“I own Johansen Brewing Company. We sell… ”
“Beer. Holy moly! You own one of the biggest beer empires worldwide. I learned all about it in my statistics class back in college. One of the college football players did a paper on you for his mid-term and shared it with the class. It was incredible. You started small, with one brewhouse that grew a profit, which you sold to buy a bigger company that earned you quadruple profits before you took that money to create your own brand. Then it sold like hotcakes because your products are hailed as top-quality brews.” She smiled wide. “I can’t believe you own something so colossal.”
I couldn’t help but smile and laugh under her praise. “You know more about me than I do about you. We can’t have that. It isn’t fair,” I teased, though I was incredibly pleased she’d not only heard of me, but knew my business’s history and found it impressive.
Her cheeks pinked. “What do you want to know? I’m not really that interesting. I wouldn’t even know what to share outside of the norm. I’m a college student. I was a year ahead, so I only have one more year of college to secure my bachelor’s degree. Then I planned to study under a vet near my home in Sandee to earn practical hours. Of course, that’s now changed. But I’ll get back to it, in… well, in three years.”
Three years.
Savannah had not only given up her life to enter The Marriage Auction, but she also fully intended to go back to it after the three-year timeframe, while I planned to keep her indefinitely.
Looks like you’ve got three years to prove yourself a worthy husband, Erik.
“There really isn’t much more to know about me. You know I need the money from the auction to help my family farm, which I’m so grateful to you for, and I’ve spent most of my life focused on school.” She frowned and then looked away as though she was hiding something.
The lone flight attendant entered the cabin and approached us.
“Hello, Mr. Johansen. Good to see you again, sir,” she stated politely.
I smiled briefly at Ingrid. The young woman had worked for me for the past few years, and aside from one slipup where she made a pass at me, which I turned down, she’d been the epitome of professionalism.
“May I get you and your guest a drink?”
“Ingrid, this is my fiancée, Savannah. Savannah, Ingrid. She’s been my flight attendant for the past few years.”
Savannah smiled brightly at the woman and stretched her hand out to shake Ingrid’s.
“Good to meet you,” Savannah replied.
“Fiancée?” Ingrid gawked for a scant second before the professional demeanor slipped right back into place. “That’s cause for celebration. Would you like me to open a bottle of champagne?” She directed her question at me.
I nodded. “You’re right. It is a time for celebration. Please, Ingrid. Champagne and strawberries if we have them aboard.”
“We absolutely do,” Ingrid chirped happily. “I will also prepare a few nibbles. It’s approximately six hours to New York, where we’ll stop to refuel before heading to Oslo. I’ll make sure you have a light lunch when we’re at cruising altitude. This is excellent news and such a surprise. Congratulations, Mr. Johansen and soon-to-be Mrs. Johansen.”
While I was exceptionally pleased hearing Savannah referred to as Mrs. Johansen, she did not have the same response. Her lips flattened and compressed into a thin line as she shifted her gaze to stare out the window, a wave of melancholy flooding her features.
I gave her a few minutes to ponder our situation. For me, from the second I’d laid eyes on the woman, I knew she was it. Call it what you wished. Soul mates. Love at first sight. The one. I didn’t care what title was placed on our connection, just that it had existed instantly for me. And I knew something had clicked for her. It wasn’t possible for me to be the only one who felt such an extreme visceral attachment. Every time we touched, there was this overwhelming feeling of relevance, of importance. As if every path of my life had ultimately led me straight to her.
To Savannah.
I couldn’t nor wouldn’t ignore the bond that was thrumming underneath the surface each time we touched.
Except something was preventing her from giving in to our connection, to whatever this magical thing was between us. And I wanted to break through that obstacle with a mighty sledgehammer. Obliterate it into a million tiny shards making it useless. Destroy whatever it was so that it could no longer prevent this incredible woman from being mine.
Once Ingrid filled two champagne glasses and set a beautiful tray with an array of fruits, cheeses, chocolates, crackers, and bread before us, she took her leave. I held up my glass.
“To new beginnings in lands far, far away?”
Finally, Savannah’s eyes lit with a sparkle of excitement and she lifted her glass. “Cheers,” she said.