“Are you sure about that? Because it could be a lot of fun for both of us.”
I snorted. “Let’s get going. What’s this surprise?”
9
Devil
I glanced over at Joe as I pulled out onto the road. Was now really the time to tell him we were headed to Vermont for a week? Probably not. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you before we got there.”
Joe pulled open the glove box and started rifling through it. Did he know I kept a gun in there? Would he hold it on me? Would we wrestle while the car spun out of control? My cock pressed against my jeans. I was so hard it hurt. He knew I got off on danger, and it had been so long since we’d pushed each other like we had tonight. “What are you doing?”
“You always keep snacks in here. Where are they?”
“You’re hungry?” So much for more role-play.
“Fuck yes. I’ve been sitting in the car for hours, and all I had were some chips.”
“Look in the console. There’s probably something in there, but I can stop for food.” There was no way a cranky, hungry Joe was going to make it all the way to Vermont without food.
When he pulled a nearly flattened granola bar from the console, I snatched it from his hand. “Don’t eat that. I’ll get you something. What do you want?”
“If you were planning to take me to dinner, you should’ve told me that. I thought you just wanted to use me, then toss me back out.”
I chuckled. “My days of doing that are over, baby. I’ll give you everything now—food, a gorgeous home, access to my body day and night.”
“Let’s get back to the food.”
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll find it for you.”
“You’ll take me anywhere in town just to get food?”
“I have all the time in the world for you.”
He snorted. “You know that’s not true. I’m sure Lucien’s got a list a mile long of shit for you to do.”
I was sure he did, but he’d agreed to let me take this time, and I was going to use every minute of it to be with Joe.
“Just a burger is fine.”
I found the nearest location of our favorite burger place and ordered us both double bacon cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas.
Joe smiled as I handed the food to him. “You really are feeding me well.”
“I want to be sure you keep up your strength.”
“Seriously, Devil, what is the surprise, and how long are we going to be—”
“Eat. You’ll be less cranky after.”
I kept driving as we ate. Neither of us said much. When we were both done, Joe collected all the trash, stuffed it into the bag, and put it down by his feet. I took his hand, and we continued in companionable silence. After I’d been driving for about thirty minutes, getting farther and farther outside town, Joe spoke up. I’d known my time was limited. Sooner or later, he was going to protest the long drive.
“Where are we going? What kind of surprise is all the way out here?”
“Well, you see… I’m taking you to Vermont.” He made a strangled sound, and I was glad I hadn’t told him while he was eating.
“Vermont? You can’t just—”
“I can do anything I want to.”
“Why do we need to go to Vermont?”
“For our honeymoon.”
“What the fuck, Devil?”
“I found a cabin that will remind you of the one your foster family owned. There’s snow on the ground now, and I’ll play in it with you. I made sure there was a sled at the cabin, and I’m already planning how to design my fort for a snowball fight. The cabin has a gorgeous fireplace, so after we’ve been out in the cold, we can curl up in front of it.”
I glanced over and saw him staring at me in disbelief.
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“You told me you missed being out in the country in the snow, so I—”
Joe sighed loudly and dropped his head back against the seat.
I had known better than to think he was going to take this well, but once we were there, I would make sure he had the best week of his life.
I wanted to tell him all the reasons why it was going to be perfect. I wanted to convince him he needed this—we needed this—but I forced myself to keep my mouth closed. One thing I’d learned about Joe was that he needed time to process things. He wasn’t ready to hear all my arguments yet. I, on the other hand, preferred to say everything at once. There’d been a few times when I’d just held him down and made him listen, but I couldn’t do that now. I had to drive.
“You wanted to go someplace tropical for our honeymoon. You told me that when you asked if I wanted to get married someday.”