It was the last weekend of the summer and Grey had invited me to stay at the lake house. We had the place to ourselves for the first time all summer. The other weekends had been a mixture of coming down here with Grey's family and inviting our friends down to party.
It was Friday night, Grey and I were snuggled together in front of the open fire in the inglenook fireplace. Grey moved a stray lock of my hair from my face and kissed me tenderly.
"I'm going to marry you someday, Carly Summers," he said.
"Mrs. Carly Sterling, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" I replied.
"It sure does, baby, and one day in the not too distant future, I'm going to make it a reality." He smiled down at me with that beautiful smile he reserved only for me and moments of pure happiness.
We didn't know that in three short days' time, that future would be torn from us.
Grey and I spent the weekend making love and cozying up on the dock or by the fire. It was as though we were two halves of one whole.
Grey had brought his camera with him and he took some beautiful photos of the lake house, the sky at night, all manner of things. He took photos of me and some of the two of us, memories that would last us a lifetime.
Someone clearing their throat brought me out of my reverie. I opened my eyes and saw Grey. He was a mere foot away from me, so close I could reach out and touch him.
"You made it," he said with a smile.
"I sure did," I replied with a small smile of my own. This was the moment I'd been waiting for. We were both here, I finally knew what was going on with Maggie, and now it was time to stake my claim on the man that owned my heart. Trouble was, I was frozen to the spot.
Grey came closer and stood so that there was barely room for breath between us. He reached out his hand to move a lock of my hair that had been blown by a wind I hadn't felt. He brought his hand down to my cheek and left it there. It seemed like he too wasn't sure what to do in this moment. Someone had to do something, but I felt paralyzed with fear, what if I was making a mistake?
"I'm really glad you came, Carls," Grey whispered as he stroked my face gently. I leaned into his touch and a small sigh escaped my lips. The next thing I knew, Grey's lips were on mine. The kiss was gentle at first, like he was asking my permission. I opened my mouth and sought out his tongue with mine. What had started as an innocent kiss soon became something hot, sexy, and breath-taking.
I broke the kiss to get some air back into my lungs.
"I've messed things up, Grey," I admitted softly.
"How?"
"I saw you and Maggie that day in the coffee shop, your first day back in town. I saw the ring on her finger and assumed the two of you were engaged."
He laughed at that and I smacked him lightly on the arm.
"Don't make fun of me, Grey, I feel bad as it is. I now know the truth, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Maggie came into the restaurant, she was with Ben-she introduced me to him, her fiancé. So yes, I know I was wrong."
"None of that matters, Carls baby. All that matters is that you're here right now and we can make up for lost time," he said as he drew me closer to him.
"I'm sorry, Grey. I should have spoken to you over the last few weeks, you would've had a chance to explain. But instead, I chose to ignore you and ignore how I felt about you in the hope that it would just all go away … " Grey kissed me, cutting off what I had been about to say.
This kiss was soft and sweet, tender and loving. When he pulled back to draw breath, I saw it in his eyes-he loved me. That was all I needed to know now. After everything that had transpired, Greyston Sterling still loved me. I was one lucky girl.
Grey took my hand and walked down to the dock. There was a blanket there already, plus a bottle of wine and two glasses.
"Tim and Naomi said we can stay over. It's up to you if you want to, of course, but I hoped that you might agree," Grey said as he wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and started to pour the wine.
"Okay, but I have no clean clothes for the morning," I said as I took the glass he offered.
"I'm sure Naomi will have something you can borrow, you're about the same size."
"Okay," I said as I settled onto the dock. I took my shoes and socks off and lowered my feet into the cool water of the lake.
"I've missed you so much, Carls," Grey said as he took a seat beside me. I took some of the blanket from around me and offered to let him snuggle like we had done so many times before.
"I've missed you too, Grey. I've been a fool. Can you forgive me?" I hoped I didn't sound like I was pleading, when in reality, I guess I was. I had been so foolish. If I'd let him back into my life, I would've known who Maggie was sooner and Grey and I would have been back together before now. There was nothing I could do but make up for lost time.
"There's nothing to forgive. I can understand why you thought what you did. I didn't exactly explain from the beginning, did I?" he asked as he snuggled closer to me and wrapped his free arm around my waist.
"Can we just forget about it for now, enjoy tonight, and then we can talk some more tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.
"Sure. We don't really have to talk about it, though-we can just let it drop and start afresh, if you'd rather?"
"I'd like that a lot," I said as I looked up at him.
His eyes were hooded and his grin was one of the most beautiful things to behold. He leaned down and placed his lips over mine.
We sat on the dock for a couple of hours, then I saw what time it was and suggested we'd better head in.
"I wish we could sit out here all night," he said in a wistful tone.
"Like we did so many summers ago," I said.
"Yes, just like then, only older and wiser versions of our teenage selves."
We stayed down on the dock a little longer before I realized I had forgotten something back in the car. I hopped up and told Grey to stay where he was. I went to the car and retrieved the teddy bear-then I ran back down to the dock and presented it to him.
"You kept him, then?" he asked, looking a little shocked.
"Of course I did. I wouldn't throw away something that holds so many memories. Do you remember how I used to insist he came down here to the lake house? He came on so many journeys to so many places and all because I wanted to fill him with as many memories as I could," I said, thinking about all the places we'd been, things we'd done.
"I took him away with me when I left, you know!"
I didn't know what to say to that, so I leaned over and kissed him. The kiss started slow and tender, then his hands were in my hair and my arms were wrapped around him-Grey kissed me with unbridled passion-I kissed him back fervently, and before I knew it, his hands were roaming to my buttons. I felt the top two buttons of my blouse come undone before I had chance to say anything.
"Grey … this is … a little public," I whispered.
"Why? There's no one around," he replied and went back to kissing my neck.
"Tim or Naomi could see us," I said, pulling away from him for a moment.
"It's not like they won't have done the same thing," he said as he began kissing my ear. I felt his hot breath against my ear and couldn't help the involuntary shudder that rocked my body.
"I just think we should take this inside," I panted as he made his way, trailing light kisses along my jaw and then to my lips.
"I don't think we should," he said as he resumed unbuttoning my blouse.
I could no longer think or form coherent sentences as his fingers made a blazing trail from my buttons to the bare skin he had exposed. That was when he pulled his lips from mine and began kissing a feather-light trail from my ear, to my neck-when he paused for a moment, I thought I was going to be able to convince him to take this inside, but then he kissed my shoulder and made his way towards my bra.
He expertly undid my bra with one hand round the back-kissing a trail down my arm as the straps fell away-then he pulled back to look at me. The look in his eyes was one of lust, need, and love. I'm sure my own gaze reflected his.
Grey wrapped the blanket around us as he nuzzled underneath it so as not to expose my skin to the cold. Though how it could be cold with his touch lighting me on fire, I didn't know.
His lips found my already erect nipple. He teased it with his tongue, his lips, and his teeth-making an involuntary gasp escape my lips. His free hand was teasing my other nipple, my blouse had somehow already been pushed to one side of the dock without my knowledge-I was so warm and so wrapped up in Grey's touch that it really didn't matter.
His mouth trailed across my chest as his lips searched for my other nipple. He teased it and bit me gently. I was on the edge of ecstasy. His hands were busy working the button and zip of my jeans undone and the thought that I had been bothered about being caught only fueled the passion as Grey came up for air and met my lips with a soft kiss. I wanted him so much, but this time we could explore each other more than the first time we'd had sex that night after the club. That had been about pure lust-this, well this was about something entirely different.