The sunlight shining into the room had woken me, and when I rolled over to look at the angelic woman sleeping peacefully next to me I didn’t mind one bit. Judging by the sun, it had to be before six. The sun was just starting to rise and it was still a little hazy out.
As much as I wanted to watch her sleep, I had something that I had to show her. The sunrise would only make it that much more memorable for her. All I wanted to do was fill her head with amazing memories and I had a feeling this one was going to be huge. Or at least I hoped it was going to be.
It was something I’d been thinking about for a while… something I should have done a long time ago. I started kissing the side of her neck until she began to stir.
“Mmmm...” She turned on her side to face me. “Good morning,” she purred.
“Good morning, gorgeous.” I kissed the tip of her nose and quickly jumped out of bed.
“Where are you going?” She sighed. “It’s barely light out.”
“I know.” I tossed her one of my t-shirts and a pair of sweats that I knew she would have to roll to keep on her waist. “Get dressed. I have something to show you.” I pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and, begrudgingly, she followed me.
“We better be going to get breakfast,” she told me as I took her hand and led her downstairs and out the back door of the cabin.
“We can,” I pulled her hand to my lips, “but first I need you to come somewhere with me.”
“Fine,” she said dramatically, flashing a grin that said she was game for my little expedition. We walked down the back edge of the property, passed the track and to the top of one of the few hills. Her hand in mine and a thousand questions rolling off her tongue. The mystery was eating her from the inside out, which only made me smile that much more as I kept quiet. From the top, we could see out over the pond and if you squinted, we could see the construction of my parents’ house in the distance.
“All right,” I said, moving to stand in front of her. “Close your eyes.”
“Just tell me what we’re doing, Reid.”
“Just do it.” I laughed at her early morning crankiness. “I promise it will be worth it.”
Skeptically, I closed one eye waiting for him to just get on with it. What could he possibly have to show me that required an early morning hike?
“Both of them,” he insisted, placing his hands on my shoulders. When I did, I felt his full lips against mine. If he was looking to take our love making outside, there was a pretty good chance I’d comply if he kept kissing me the way he was. When he stopped, I knew the new fantasy in my head would have to wait. “Okay,” he said, tugging my shoulders a little so I would follow his direction. “A little more. Two more steps. Okay, stop.” I heard him sigh and I couldn’t tell if he was nervous or excited or a little bit of both.
“What are you doing?” I said, when I didn’t hear him say anything for what seemed like forever.
“I’m thinking, woman,” he said with a chuckle. “Give a guy a second to get his thoughts right.”
I was confused and excited, and a tiny part of me wondered if I was going to open my eyes and find him on one knee. If he’d planned on proposing first thing in the morning and I hadn’t even put on makeup I was going to seriously question his sanity. Not that I would even consider saying no. If he was crazy, I was crazy.
“Nora,” he said, his tone a bit more serious. I started to open my eyes. “Not yet. Just little bit longer.” He cleared his throat and the nervous anticipation I felt building in my chest had traveled to my throat. I tried to swallow it down as he continued. I trusted him and whatever harebrained scheme he was trying to pull off. “Nora. You know I love you?”
“Yes.”
“You know that I don’t ever want to be away from you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I wanted to run something by you.”
“Okay...”
“I wanted to know what you would think about the two of us building a life together.”
“You know I want that.”
“I do, but what I mean is seriously taking a step that would make Halstead our home.”