23

ROME

“So, this is your idea of a first romantic date?”

“We both know we passed that first, second, third, and so on dates.” I let her fall to the mattress. She wasn’t even settled yet. I followed her and tumbled on top of her. I anchored my elbows on either side of her head. “I took you here. I thought you hadn’t gone fishing.”

“You’re right. It was fun.”

I took Carly to our lake house. The Langston had it for decades, and it was one of my father’s favorite places.

Something lit in her eyes earlier that I knew I’d done something right in my life. She was totally happy, besides the tree I saved and seeing the flowers I planted myself. She was easy to please.

Carly was different from any woman I’d ever met. Luxury didn’t seem to impress her. Just simple things made her smile. Because maybe she was used to luxury, and she only wanted a simple life.

She met my kiss halfway. She’d been teasing me earlier in the dock, touching me somewhere that we should only be doing that in private. It