“Alecia.”

“Yeah?”

He slides me over in front of him and pins me here, his hands on the granite at my hips, and kisses my nose lightly. “Stop worrying.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.” He kisses my forehead, then hands me his shaving cream. “Lather me up.”

“This could be fun.” I grin and shoot the white foam into my hands, then rub them together and begin rubbing it on his handsome face. I’m all smiles, delighted with him, as he clenches his lips closed so I can get the area between his nose and lips, then laugh when I get it up his nose. “Sorry. I don’t put shaving cream on a face often.”

He laughs with me as I concentrate on my task, making a complete mess of him.

“Spread it down on my neck.”

I follow his directions, then lean back and take in my handiwork.

“I suck at this.”

“It’ll get the job done,” he replies, and hands me his razor.

“I get to put a sharp instrument against your neck?” I ask incredulously.

“Don’t make me regret this.”

Before I can begin, he leans in and plants a kiss right on my cheek, leaving a dollop of cream on my skin, making me giggle. “You’re making a mess!”

“We’re even on that score.”

He watches my face calmly, and holds perfectly still, as I glide the razor down his cheek, doing my best to get all of the whiskers.

When I get to his neck, I give up.

“You finish. This part makes me nervous.” He grins and takes the razor, slides me aside, and leans in to the mirror to finish up.

“You did a good job, amore.”

“I was worried that I’d cut you, my love.”

He stills at my words. He always does when I call him my love.

He wipes his face off with a towel, and I lean in and kiss him on the cheek, resting against him for just a moment.

He tosses the towel aside, and slides me back in front of him.

“You can’t wear this,” he says and slips his shirt off of me, then to my surprise, simply wraps his arms around me and hugs me close. “Your back is so slender,” he murmurs. “My hands look so big on it.”

“I love the way your hands feel on my back,” I reply softly, and breathe him in. “You smell good.”

“Alecia, you take my breath away.” He buries his face in my neck and, still holding on tightly, takes a deep breath. “You are everything good in my life.”

“Are you okay?” I ask, a bit concerned. He’s holding onto me almost desperately.

“I need you to know,” he begins and kisses my cheek, then pulls back only far enough to look into my eyes. “I don’t want to just spend my life with you. I want to spend my only life with you. Every day.”

He swallows hard and drags his fingertips down my back, then up again, caressing me sweetly. “I know that forever is a long time, but if you tell me that I get to wake up to your sweet smile every day, it will never be long enough.” He sweeps my hair back behind my ear. “A smart woman once told me that love is a daily reminder. It’s saying, I choose you. Today and every day. Spend forever with me, Alecia.”

My heart stills, then stumbles into double time.

“Did you just ask me to marry you?” I whisper.

“I need you to marry me, be my partner, my friend, my love. You’re everything, amore. I love you more than you will ever understand.”

“I love you too,” I reply and kiss his lips softly.

“Is that a yes?”

“Hell yes.”

Epilogue

Ten Years Later

~Steven Montgomery~

The day is just waking up as I pad down the stairs in my son, Dominic’s, home toward the kitchen. My bride of fifty years today is still sleeping like an angel upstairs, and rather than make love to her, which was my first thought, as it is every morning, I decided to let the poor woman sleep.

It’s going to be a busy day.

I’m surprised to hear quiet voices in the kitchen, assuming that I’m the first up.

“Good morning, Dad,” Natalie says with a grin. She and Luke are sitting at the breakfast bar, sipping coffee. It never gets old hearing this sweet girl call me Dad. I’m not the man that she comes from, but she’s been mine for more than twenty years now, and I couldn’t love her more. She gives me a big hug, and when I point to my cheek, she plants a kiss there as well.

“You two are up early.” I pour myself a cup of coffee and lean against the counter.

“Josie and Maddie got in late, so we stayed up with Brynna and Caleb waiting for them,” Luke says. “And then Haley woke up this morning with bad dreams, so we decided to just stay up. I’m still not used to the twins driving.”

“Neither is Caleb,” I reply. “No parent is ever ready for their kids to grow up.”

“Olivia has decided that she’s in love,” Natalie says with a grimace, and laughs when Luke simply glares at her. “It’s just hormones.”

“I’ll lock her in her room.”

“No, you won’t.”

“She’s twelve,” Luke says adamantly.

“It’s all downhill from here, son,” I inform him good-naturedly. “Before you know it, it’ll be your fiftieth wedding anniversary and you’ll have seventeen grandchildren.”

Luke pales and I laugh, enjoying his panic.