by Jillian Dodd
I shake my hands in a frenzy. “But, Dawson. I. Have. To. See. The. Rest. Of. The. House. Now! Please tell me you’re as excited about this as I am. This is going to be our home!”
“Oh, I’m excited, all right,” he says as he thrusts his hips toward mine. He gives me a delicious kiss. “I can’t help it. Your excitement turns me on.”
“We’ve only seen the first room. Imagine how excited I will be after we see the whole house.”
He nips my lip and then concedes. “You’re right. That might be even better. But I will be making a list. And we will be coming back here.”
“Eeee!!” I say, sounding like a teen swooning over a pop star as I lead him from room to room. Everything looks different. The dark wood has been stripped from the beams, giving them a naturally rustic look as if we’ve restored an old Tuscan villa and given it new life. The wall colors and draperies are softer. The ornate furnishings I thought I wanted gone have been re-upholstered and mixed with new modern pieces making the home look like it’s evolved over time.
“I can’t even believe this is my house,” I mutter.
“I can’t believe she did all this in such a short time,” Dawson says. “It takes me a whole weekend just to paint one bedroom.”
“She did have a whole crew working on it. I’m just—” I’m overcome with emotion. The house’s makeover is similar to my own. It’s the new, softer, in-love version of me. Tears flow as I turn to face the man who is responsible for allowing me to find myself again. “This is all because of you,” I tell him.
“No,” he says, wiping away my tears. “It’s all because of you.”
“But you changed me.”
“No, I didn’t. You were like a wilted flower. I just gave you some water.”
“Now you’re a gardener?”
“Well, I do like to get down and dirty with the hoes.”
I laugh. “Well, it is time to go check out the master bedroom.”
When we get there, I take in the new softer version of my bedroom. It’s gorgeous, almost an extension of my closet. The walls are the same pale pink. The bedding, silk in dusty pastels. The nightstands mirrored. A gorgeous chandelier above the bed. It’s both glamorous and sexy. And if it weren’t for the fact that I’m dying to see the rest of the house, I might slip under the sheets with Dawson and never leave.
“I think you should plant some tulips in here,” Dawson says, still talking about gardening.
“Like a potted plant?” I ask.
“No, like planting two lips,” he points his fingers toward his crotch, “right about here.”
I swat him. “You are silly. Although that sounds fun, I really want to go upstairs and see the girls’ rooms.”
“Dang. I’ve been turned down twice now today. I’m going to get a complex.” He gives me a sexy grin.
“Somehow I doubt that. Come on!”
I grab his hand and drag him up the back stairs.
At the top of these stairs is the playroom, which I knew Peyton wasn’t going to change, but I peek inside anyway and immediately notice a door that wasn’t there before.
“I think she made it so that Harlow’s room now adjoins with the playroom.” I stand in front of the door, feeling nervous. More nervous about it than any other room in the house. I want the girls to be in love with their rooms. To be happy here. “You open it,” I tell Dawson. “I can’t.”
He wraps his arms around my waist. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes, I feel like everything, our life, is all wrapped up in this.”
“If the girls hate their rooms, we’ll change them.”
“Okay,” I say as he swings open the door.
“Ohmigawd. It’s like the room of my childhood dreams. I loved horses, too.” I move across the room, drawn to the cream toile paper with a pink equestrian scene covering one wall. The rest of the walls are painted a soft aqua blue, a wood-carved antique bed fit for a princess is draped with an assortment of pink, white, and teal bedding in bold patterns, and bookcases now fill an entire wall. There is a writing desk with a pink leather tufted ottoman, a round table set for tea, and a cozy reading nook with windows overlooking the stables. Her en-suite bath still features gleaming white marble, but has been made more youthful with a pink-striped wallpaper featuring gold metallic hearts.
“Harlow is going to think she’s an equestrian princess, you know that, right?”
I hug myself. I’m so happy. “I sure hope so,” I reply. “Do you think she will like it?”
“I think like is a severe understatement. She’s going to go nuts. She’ll be running around like a maniac.”
“At least there is nothing for her to knock over anymore,” I say, and that’s when it hits me. “When Harlow broke that vase, that’s what did it. What changed me. It’s not just you. It’s your girls, too. It’s the life the three of you bring to this house when you’re in it. It’s brought the life back in me. You have no idea how much it means to me that you are allowing me to be a part of your girls’ lives. I know how important they are to you. I know the three of you moving in with me is a huge step. A serious commitment. Please know that I don’t take that responsibility lightly. I will do everything in my power to protect them. I know no one will ever replace their mother, but I promise to be a good role model, to love them. And you.”
“For the record, life’s going to get a little chaotic when they get here. You sure you’re ready for it?”
“I’m positive! I can’t wait. Come on, let’s check out Ava’s room.”
I drag him across the hall and throw open the door. This room is not what I expected. It’s opposite the playroom and instead of finding a soon-to-be-teen’s bedroom, we’re standing in the coolest slumber party space I’ve ever seen. There are four sets of weathered wood bunk-beds tucked into a corner of the room covered in Ikat-patterned bedding in cream, taupe, and grey. An eclectic mix of chandeliers hang from the ceiling decorated with an assortment of fringe, feathers, crystals, and shells. A massive oriental rug in silver and cream, which I recognize from the lower-level billiards room, fills the floor and is topped with sleeping bags made from faux fur. There are wicker chairs hanging from the ceiling, filled with thick cable-knit throws. One wall features a snack bar with mini fridge and shelves filled with board games. Above it is a gallery with a combination of vintage fashion artwork I’ve collected since I was young, interspersed with gold metallic lips and light-up letters that spell out dream.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Dawson says. “It’s almost too much to take in.”
“Oh, Dawson, look at this,” I say, after popping open the door that now joins this room to Ava’s bedroom. He saunters in, a big grin on his face when he sees that the room has been reconfigured. We’re now standing in a massive closet, complete with chandelier and rows of empty clothing racks. The walls are painted the same color as my closet, a soft peachy pink that flatters your skin. There are openings on all four sides of the closet. One leading back into the bunk room, another into a cozy study zone with a built-in desk and bookshelves, and a third into a room with a TV and beanbags. The forth opens into her bedroom, which is very grown-up looking in a color palette of soft pink, glittering gold, and a muted grey.
Dawson doesn’t say anything, and I worry that he thinks it’s too mature. Or too much. Or just all wrong.
“Thank you,” he says in a voice that is so raw and sincere, tears immediately fill my eyes. He rubs his hands down his face, wiping his eyes. “For doing this for us. Part of me is a little worried that this is too much luxury, but the other part of me feels like you’re their fairy godmother. And after all they went through maybe spoiling them a little isn’t such a bad thing.”
“I think Peyton deserves the fairy godmother crown.” I wipe my tears. “I’m sorry I keep crying. I’m just so emotional about all this.”
“What do you say we hit up that wine cellar and celebrate?”
I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “I think from now on
, we’re going to celebrate every single day.”
He whispers in my ear. “Which I’m pretty sure involves getting started on my list.”
Get Book #12
ALSO BY JILLIAN DODD
The USA TODAY bestselling series, The Keatyn Chronicles®
Young adult contemporary romance set in an East coast boarding school.
Stalk Me
Kiss Me
Date Me
Love Me
Adore Me
Hate Me
Get Me
Keatyn Unscripted
Aiden
That Boy Series
Small town contemporary romance series about falling in love with the boy next door.
That Boy
That Wedding
That Baby
That Divorce
The Love Series
Contemporary, standalone romances following the very sexy Crawford family.
Vegas Love
Broken Love
Fake Love
Spy Girl Series
Young adult romance series about a young spy who just might save the world.
The Prince
The Eagle
The Society
The Valiant
Jillian Dodd and Kenzie Harp
Young adult travel romance.
Girl off the Grid
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jillian is a USA TODAY bestselling author who writes fun romances with characters her readers fall in love with, from the boy next door in the That Boy trilogy to the daughter of a famous actress in The Keatyn Chronicles to a kick-ass young assassin in the Spy Girl series.
She lives in a small Florida beach town, is married to her college sweetheart, has two grown children, and two Labrador Retrievers named Cali and Camber. When she's not working, she likes to travel, paint, shop for shoes, watch football, and go to the beach.
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