Authors Note: Thank you to everyone left comments or sent me feedback about previous chapters of this story. Thank you again to Margaret who proofread for me. ~ellie
Peri fidgeted nervously. Andie had been so good over the holidays at choosing her wardrobe that she had agreed to let her make a quick shopping trip for something sexy for her weekend away with Josh. While Andie claimed it was all the rage, Peri thought the Body Bow was ridiculous and she had to read the instructions several times before being able to put it on properly and it still looked lopsided. She had stared at the pictures she could find of it, on her phone, until she realised it was supposed to look lopsided.
She was considering taking it off but after all the trouble and time wasted putting it on she was reluctant to do that either. She was feeling a little out of sorts about not going home to check on the babies before coming here. She missed them terribly and even though she knew Antonia and the nannies would look after them without any problems, she craved the feel of them in her arms. She had been considering a date night before Joseph had pressed upon her the need to have some time alone with Josh and she had come up with the plan to have a weekend away. It would have been better she lamented if she hadn't organised it following her night away with Dante.
Looking into the mirror, she tried to put her worries about the babies to the back of her mind and get ready for his arrival. She stood arguing with herself about the Body Bow when her phone rang, and she looked at it as she picked it up.
"Josh?" she asked curiously into the phone.
"Hey there, I think I'm going to be late for whatever you had planned for tonight, Papa has detoured our plane to Andreas' winery," he said apologetically.
"Oh? It's still only early. What time do you think you'll be done there?" She asked.
"You know what they're like," he said, and she could tell he was rolling his eyes.
"Maybe you should take a walk up to the chalet? You never know what surprises you may find there," she tried to keep her voice even, but she heard the silence on the other end of the phone stretch out and imagined him looking up to the small building at the top of the hill. "I might have left something nice for you there," she teased further into the silence.
"I might have a look later then. I'm sure Marisol won't let me go without grilling me about the trip. You know how she is," he said nonchalantly, glad that she couldn't see the grin on his face, as he walked up from the airstrip toward the house behind his father and Uncle.
"I think you should go up before you see her then, the surprise might not be as fresh if you take too long," she said trying to think fast.
"Did you leave me bread that will go stale?" he laughed. "I'm sure it's nothing that can't wait an hour or two," his tone was so casual she believed he was serious and wasn't sure what to say as the silence stretched again. "Peri are you still there? If it means that much to you I'll go up now," he said worried at her silence.
"It sort of does," she said, "I'm sure Marisol will understand if you don't mind the extra walk up the hill."
"For you, anything, always and forever," he said with meaning. He ended the call saving her from saying anything else.
Gerrard and Phillipe were at the house. They had followed her here from the marina. The winery was considered a safe zone, due to its location and the security systems already in place, so they didn't have to stay as close as they had out on the bay with Dante. She knew if Josh went to the house first he would realise she was here and wouldn't have long to wait even if he didn't come here first but it would ruin her surprise.
She suddenly became self-conscious, 'What if he doesn't come alone?' Everyone else knew she was here the only one who might come would be Joseph to check on her. She ran into the bathroom to grab a bath sheet just in case Josh wasn't alone.
She heard the door of the chalet open and a single set of footsteps enter. Relaxing, she stepped out of the bathroom and grinned.
"Now that's a gift worth running up the hill for," Josh breathed, as he took in the sight of her wearing the Body Bow. "I should warn you, though, as much as you're the sexiest gift I've ever received, I'm a married man, and my wife is waiting for me at home, so we can get away for a romantic evening."
"I hope she knows how lucky she is having such a devoted husband," Peri swayed her hips and closed the gap between them. "I mean I wouldn't let myself be gifted to just anyone." She teetered on the too high heels, craning her neck up to kiss him softly. "But if you don't want the gift," she went to turn away and felt his hand curl around her waist.
Josh was done joking, he pulled her to him and kissed her deeply holding her close. When the kiss broke, he smiled down into her upturned face. "Hi," he said huskily. "I've missed you."
"Hi," she whispered smiling back at him. "I love you." She pressed against him, tightening her hold on him. The relationship she had with Dante was wonderful and was only growing stronger, but Josh was and continued to be her first real love. She breathed in the smell of him and closed her eyes contentedly. "I need this," she whispered, "I need you."
Josh's heart skipped a beat, and the reprimand he had planned to give her, about telling him her plans regardless of his father's wishes, disappeared at that moment. He heard the truth of her words and it filled him with an unexpected sense of joy that he couldn't explain, even to himself. He had come up the hill eager to see her and tried to bury his anger about the evening before and then being here now without telling him. He hated surprises like this. He hated feeling out of control, and he didn't want to argue with her here. Not in this place that held so many memories for him.
"I need this too," he replied softly, holding her as they remained standing in the middle of the room. He needed her, not this tryst in the chalet, but he closed his eyes and swallowed down his anger and disappointment. "I've been on the road since early this morning why don't you fill the bath, and I will see what we have in the fridge to drink. "Then I'll take my time to open my sexy gift," he tugged on the material bow that sat across her breasts.
