The bride and groom stayed at the reception for another two hours. They danced, they mingled, they cut their cake, and they ate great food. But as the sun was starting to set on the best day of his life, Kyle wanted his wife all to himself, and he whisked her away in his truck-which the guys had decorated with a JUST MARRIED sign on the bumper, along with half a dozen beer cans on the back that dragged behind them as they drove away from the venue with everyone watching them go.
"Where to now, husband?" Ella said as she ran her hand up his thigh and glanced at him with a sexy smile that made his dick twitch in his slacks.
He grinned right back at her as he turned onto the highway. "Anxious to get started on the honeymoon, Sunshine?"
"Maybe," she teased as her fingers danced over the bulge in his pants. Then she frowned as she realized the direction he was driving. "But this isn't the way to the bed-and-breakfast we were going to stay at tonight."
Tomorrow, they were flying to Aruba for a week for the real honeymoon and vacation and time alone that the two of them desperately needed. "No, it's not. I want to take you to see one of the most spectacular views you'll ever see."
"I'm looking at him right now," she said with a sassy wink.
Another twenty minutes outside of Woodmont and off a back road, Kyle pulled up to a huge expanse of land. In the distance, the sun was almost gone, and the two of them got out of the vehicle to watch, hand in hand, as rich hues of pink, purple, and blues stretched across the horizon.
"A beautiful way to end a perfect day," Ella said appreciatively.
"This is how I want to end every day with you," he said, giving her soft hand a squeeze in his.
She tipped her head curiously at him. "Watching a sunset?"
He nodded. "Yes. Specifically, this one. Right here. Like this."
She laughed, and he couldn't blame her for the odd look she was giving him. "It's kind of far to drive to every night, don't you think?"
Kyle turned toward her and took both of her hands in his, wanting to make sure she understood what he was about to say. "It won't be far to drive to it at all, because this is where we're going to live."
Her breath caught, and her eyes grew round. "What?"
Confusion. Disbelief. Hope. It all flitted across her expression and told him he'd made the right decision to buy this plot of land. "This right here is your wedding gift, Sunshine," he said, smiling at her. "Over ten acres of land. I'm going to build you a house here. And it's going to be big so we can fill it with love and laughter and at least three kids and a dog and a cat. Hell, we've got so much land you can have a farm if you want," he added teasingly. "The best part is, it's only twenty minutes away from your store, and twenty minutes closer to the city for my work."
"Nice compromise, City Boy," she said in a voice that reflected the tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Right?" He laughed for a moment, then grew serious as he reached out and skimmed his fingers along her pretty face. A face he was going to be lucky enough to look at for the rest of his days. "But it honestly doesn't matter where we live. You are my home, Ella. Where you are, that will always be home to me."
She closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against the palm of his hand. "I'm not sure I deserve you."
"Yes, you do. We deserve each other." He tipped her chin up and kissed her, slow and sensual and packed with emotion. "I love you, Mrs. Coleman," he murmured against her lips.
"And I love you, Mr. Coleman," she whispered, then grinned against his mouth. "Now let's go consummate this marriage."
It was an order Kyle wasn't about to refuse.