I turned my head up so I could see if he was sincere.
His eyes were on the gate that was blocking our access to the rest of the land.
Then he tugged me forward and we were walking.
Up a long winding red clay driveway that likely would be a bitch if it rained. Through it was lined with trees that were high and beautiful beyond belief. Then that long driveway turned into a sprawling meadow, and I knew that this was where the house would go.
"Right here," I told him.
He stopped, and we looked at the land before us.
"I want to put a house there, on the top of the hill."
He echoed my thoughts exactly.
"I want to leave as many of the trees as we can and to disrupt the look of the land as little as possible," he explained. "I want a shop where I can work on my bikes and cars. I want a … "
"Pond would look good right here," I pointed to a really low lying spot where the land dipped sharply into what looked like a creek at the very bottom.
"There's a year-round creek right there," he informed me, confirming my suspicions. "And I've thought about damming it up right there and doing the same."
I grinned and pulled away from him, walking down the steep hill to the creek beyond.
Chapter 16
You're allowed to like other people. You just have to like me more.
-Text from Sean to Naomi
Sean
I watched as Naomi walked down the deep ravine that led to the creek below, her hand down at her side to catch herself if she started to lose her footing, and wondered how I got this lucky.
Naomi was my saving grace. The one woman who'd changed my life and made it into everything I'd ever wanted.
I'd been putting off bringing her here.
I didn't want to know if she hated it. Didn't want to see the same look on her face that I'd seen on Ellen's.
But today, after all that bullshit with the burning flags, I realized that I needed to stop being a little bitch and make my move.
I needed to either bring her into my world, or get rid of her, because I was falling fast. I was falling hard. And I didn't care. I liked where I was about to land.
My eyes strained down to her ass, which filled out those yoga pants spectacularly.
Looking at that view everyday wouldn't hurt, either.
"Are you coming or what?"
My eyes traveled from her ass to her face, and I grinned.
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I started down the steep hill, catching up to her easily with my long strides.
She huffed at me as I caught up to her and then passed her, and I turned around to laugh at her only to catch her jumping at me.
I caught her, easily, and glared at her.
"You shouldn't be doing that," I chastised her.
"Yes, Dad," she drawled sarcastically.
I moved my hands around to come to a rest under her butt, and squeezed it lightly.
"Ouch," she snapped her hips forward. "That hurt."
I turned my face, waited, and was rewarded when she placed her lips to mine.
I took a step down onto a rock that led to the creek, and came to a stop, waiting for her to get down.
She didn't.
"You getting down?"
She shook her head, shrugged, and wrapped her legs tighter around me. Her arms followed suit, choking off my airway, and her chin came to a rest on my shoulder, her face pressed against mine.
"You have food in your beard," she pointed out after a while.
I shook my head.
"I can either reach up, letting you go in the process, and remove it. Or you can do it for me, and stay where you are," I muttered darkly.
She snickered.
"Not funny," I said. "You ate breakfast with me. How could you not see that I had food in my beard?"
Her giggling was making it really hard to hold onto my scowl.
"I didn't see it until I was right here," she admitted, reaching forward and plucking something out of my beard.
She held it out to me to see, and I shook my head.
"Hot sauce," I said. "Throw it down."
She pressed her mouth into my neck, and started to snicker once again. "I thought you were saving it for later."
I pinched her ass, causing her to squirm in my hold.
"If you look over there, that's the neighboring property," I jerked my chin in the direction I wanted her to look.
She did, and frowned. "That's kind of close. What if they build a house or something right there? Then they'll be able to see into your oasis."
Hearing her obvious pleasure as she discussed the land made my heart happy.
"I didn't want you to think that you were a substitute," I told her bluntly. "That's why it took me so long to show you. Plus, I wanted to make sure that what we have between us is real."
She squeezed my neck tighter, cutting off circulation to my head.
"Can't breathe," I squeaked out.