Letters Home by Rebecca Brooke Read Free Book Online

the top of my head. “Come on, Dani, we need to get up and get ready, or we’ll be late. Your hair takes longer to dry than mine does.”
    When his gentle coaxing didn’t work he turned to the more drastic method of pinching my ass. That had me leaping from the bed and running for the shower in seconds. Nate came strolling in a few minutes later, at the same time as I was brushing my teeth and rubbing my abused backside. “You could’ve given me another minute.” I pouted.
    “No,” he chuckled. “Your extra minute is closer to ten. Plus, I did try nicely first.”
    After all that, he jumped in the shower ahead of me, finishing in less than ten minutes. I could have gotten in with him but then we really would have been late. So I waited my turn and took a pretty quick shower, but even so, I still didn’t have enough time to dry my hair. Instead of making us late, I decided to let it air dry, which meant it had a slight curl to it.
    Thankfully we made it on time. There were so many wonderful selections, I was having a hard time choosing, so I narrowed it down to three and let Nate make the final decision. He decided to go with the red velvet with the chocolate Bavarian crème, and a whipped buttercream icing. The colors for the dresses had already been picked and I’d brought along a fabric sample so that they could match up the icing colors. Finally, after more than two hours, including selecting the menu, we were free.
    I knew that Nate had planned a picnic, but that’s all he would tell me. We got into the car and, with Nate driving, made our way around the city. He didn’t appear to be heading in a particular direction—probably trying to keep me from guessing where we were going—and after another half an hour of random driving that sent me into fits of laughter when he pretended to be lost, he pulled onto the turn off for Russ Park. It was beautiful picnic area with a quaint little gazebo on the edge of the pond, and was one of my favorite places to picnic.
    “Is this an okay spot?” he asked.
    “I think it’ll do,” I said with a smirk. He reached out to swat my behind but this time I was quicker and managed to dodge him. Grabbing the blanket from his hand I ran toward the water, laying it out away from the other picnickers while he got the picnic basket out of the back of the car. With the heat of summer I was glad that he’d decided to pack the basket inside a cooler, especially given how long we’d taken—between the caterer and Nate’s tour of the city. I kicked my sandals off and stretched out in the sun, glad that I chosen to wear a simple pink sundress. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, appreciating the relaxing atmosphere that had been missing from life lately. All we’d done for the last month or so, was run around. Whether we were working, or planning the wedding, there hadn’t been a whole lot of time to step back and just take pleasure in the simple things in life.
    A shadow crossed over and settled down next to me and I felt the cold, wet ice cube as it ran over my lips, down my chin and neck, until it reached the valley of my breasts. Cracking one eye open, I looked at Nate smiling down at me. “Well, hello there, gorgeous. What brings you to the park on this fine day?”
    “The most wonderful man in the world knowing exactly what I need and when I need it.”
    “I try. Do you want to eat before you get to comfortable and fall asleep?”
    “I would say that I wasn’t falling asleep, but you know me too well for my own good.” I reached out a hand to him. “Help me up?”
    Taking my hand he helped me into a sitting position. I was pretty hungry and I couldn’t wait to see what he’d packed for lunch. Reaching into the basket he pulled out bottled water, some sliced up fruit, and a couple of sandwiches. Opening the wrapper, the smell of Nate’s chicken salad hit my nose and my stomach growled, begging me to eat it. Sinking my teeth in, it was better than I remembered