Lena grabbed the shopping bags out of the back of her car, shut the door with her foot, and headed up the slightly cracked driveway of the small two-bedroom home she lived in with Rory. This house wasn’t their first, or even their second one they’d lived together in. But the difference was it was theirs. They’d saved, scrapped, and went without so they could have something they owned for the three of them.
It was also only twenty minutes from the university and less than that at the garage Rory worked at full-time. He might have left Colorado only months into the project, losing the chance to have a secured job with that company, but he’d left for her, and she would have done the same for him. And in the end, everything had worked out. Now he made more at the garage as the lead mechanic than what he would have ever made in Colorado. And there was even talk of him taking over the place after the current owner retired.
So yeah… things were working out.
And here they were now, two years later, living together, loving each other even more with each passing day, and raising their little girl Lyric. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She juggled the keys and the two plastic bags of groceries as she tried to unlock the front door. Cursing loud enough she was sure the neighbors, a young couple expecting their first baby, heard, she finally managed to open the door and push it open with her foot.
When she stepped inside, she saw Rory coming out from the hallway holding little Lyric in his arms. He was smiling down at their daughter as he fixed the pink bow in her dark hair.
“The most beautiful girl in the whole world,” he murmured and gave Lyric a kiss on the crown of her head. “Well, you and Mommy are the most beautiful girls in the world.”
Lyric started babbling, some words coherent, others that would never be deciphered. He wore a pair of running shoes and track shorts, the white T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest instantly having her warm with desire. A sigh left her on its own at the power he displayed in that very male body, and the strength that made her feel very feminine.
She thought she’d known everything there was to know about Rory being with him for three years, but since then, with all the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, she’d realized there had been so much that she’d been blind to.
He hated coffee. He preferred water over soda. He liked sour treats, often forgoing chocolate when she brought it home. He also left the toilet seat up constantly, didn’t like to put his clothes in the hamper, and instead usually tossed them right beside it on the floor.
She smiled at the annoying things he did, things she only found out after they started living together, but she’d grown to love those things about him.
And the best part of all that?
He was the most incredible husband and father. The best.
A part of her ached that her gentle giant of a husband didn’t have the kind of parents she did, the ones who supported him no matter what. But he had her and Lyric, and he told her that was all he’d ever needed. All he’d ever need.
They didn’t need his
He set Lyric down and her baby girl ran over to her, gave her a monster hug, but then she saw her toys in the corner of the living room. Lena laughed as her little girl made a beeline to the goods, forgetting about Mom or Dad.
And then she looked at the man she loved. He had his focus already on her. The longer they stared at each other, the more the room grew heated, the chemistry that was always between them moving back and forth, always strong, continuously growing, the more she just wanted to be with Rory.
He walked toward her with this intense look on his face. “I missed you,” he breathed, this devilish smile on his face.
She set the two bags on the floor and smiled, allowing him to pull her into the strength of his big arms and just hold her. “Lena?” He spoke right up against her ear.