I've never seen such a beauty, I've never seen such clear skies, I've never seen such high hopes,

I've never seen such tired eyes. ~ Clear Skies by Keane

BPOV

I watched my family from the porch of the lodge… Edward was on the dock, attempting to read something but mostly watching Max and Nora play in the sandbox. The talking, planning and laughing between them filled the yard with noise.

Our weekdays, once summer ended, tended to be mostly ours, even with how busy the lodge was. This week was no different, and no guests meant no obligations. We'd finally gotten busy enough where I was forced to hire help, as much as I didn't want to. I had to be realistic and I couldn't do everything by myself anymore. Both Emily and Leah worked on an as needed basis and if the call I just finished was any indication… I'd be needing them a whole lot more.

Our lives are settled, we are happy and busy… did I want to possibly ruin that now?

I made my way down to Edward. Just looking at the man still made my heart skip a beat. The chill of the fall afternoon had arrived and even in worn jeans and a grey hoodie he was gorgeous. The long line of his legs in denim did unspeakable things to me and our years together had done nothing to diminish my body's reaction to him.

"No throwing sand, Nora."

His stern but gentle voice interrupted my perusal, as I quickened the pace to join my family.

"Hey, Baby."

His lips on my cheek as I joined him had me melting and turning my face, eager for more. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me against him as my fingers traced the line of his jaw. Soft and sweet. I sighed as I lost myself in the feel of his mouth against mine.

Pulling away from the kiss, I leaned against him and we watched our monsters pushing cars, building castles and laughing.

"So…," I hesitated.

Silence filled the air around us before his chuckle finally wrapped around me, and his fingers tickled my neck. "So… what? Baby, we've been married for 6 years, you can't possibly be trying to fill, what are supposed to be our content moments, with chit chat."

I laughed, because in all our time together we never had to fill silences … we've never had an uncomfortable moment together that I could recall.

"So… do you remember Mr. Jennings who was here last month?" I tilted my head to look up at him. His eyes squinting and those sexy wrinkles showing meant he was thinking. "He was here with his wife… they stayed in the Hideaway for the week they were here. Complimented me on the food all the time asked all the questions about the lodge and my mom?"

"Ah… yes. The Food Channel guy, I do remember him. I thought he was trying to steal you away."

"Well… he is trying to steal me away. Sort of."

His lips that teased along the side of my temple paused and then lifted away. Turning to look at him, I smiled.

"Sort of?"

His eyebrow lifted in that way he had when he was suspicious about something and using my thumb I stroked over to tease.

"Well, he just actually called. Apparently he's a bigger deal at the Food Channel than we thought. He said he hasn't been able to quit thinking about the show potential the lodge has. He also said he couldn't forget the Spiced Apple Syrup I make either, which is when he pitched the idea to his boss and they said yes… now they just need to get us on board."

I spit it out as quickly as possible and focused on tugging and twisting the strings of his hoodie before his finger slid under my chin, lifting my eyes to his.

"On board for what exactly."

"They want to do a cooking show, featuring the lodge… and me."

His slight look of concern disappeared leaving behind his breathtaking smile. "Seriously? Baby, that's incredible!"

"Edward… how feasible do you think it would be to do that with the kids and your writing and I'm sure I'd have to travel for meetings and Oh my god… I'm not pretty enough or interesting enough to be on a TV show."

"You're kidding right? You're gorgeous, this place is gorgeous, and can you just imagine what it would do for the bookings? This would be the place to visit when coming to Washington."

"What about the kids though?"

"What about them? They would love it and you know it. Is it something you want to do?"

"I don't even really know," his thumb slid over my cheek. "I never even thought of something like this being a possibility… I mean in joking, of course with you, but … I'm not a chef, I just like to cook."

"You're an incredible cook, and now that the opportunity is here, what do you want to do?"

My eyes slid from his face to take in the lake behind, then on to Nora and Max sitting in the sand, and I couldn't keep the smile from my face. "I don't know." I was being completely honest with him… I didn't know. I wasn't sure how this would affect the way we currently lived our lives.

He pulled me in tighter to his warmth and I felt his lips at my temple. "Then you think about it, and if it's something you really want to try, we'll make it work. This is an exciting opportunity for you, Baby."

"I know. I promise, as soon as I figure it out in my head, I'll let you know." I couldn't keep the smile from my face as we watched Max crush Nora's castle as only a big brother would. The tears started immediately and as we rose to collect the kids, Edward tangled his fingers with mine.

~\~TWSL~/~

"I've decided."

I finished rubbing lotion into my hands from the edge of the bed, the smell of figs filling the room, as Edward closed the drapes in our room.

"About the cooking show?"

"Yeah," I took a deep breath and then fell back against the down pillows dramatically dropping my arm across my eyes. "I mean… I think I've decided."

I peeked out beneath my arm as I felt the dip of Edward joining me on the bed.

"You think you've decided? Wanna talk it out?" His hand slid softly up my bare leg, finally settling on teasing the skin at my thigh.

"I'd be a fool to turn it down without getting more information right? This is a once in a lifetime thing right?" I sighed heavily and dropped my arm over my eyes again.

I yelped as he leaned back and pinched my thigh. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking I don't want you anywhere near my thighs!"

"You lie," soft lips pressed to the tender spot. "I think you happen to like me near your thighs... very much."

His fingers teased higher pushing the hem of his shirt I was wearing up.

"I'm worried that if I say yes, how this could affect us. We're happy, we have everything we want and need right now. What if this ruins things? I mean… it would probably be time away from here and you and the kids…"

He moved to hover over and between my parted legs. "Baby, you do know I'm a writer… I can do that anywhere so if you wanted me to be there with you I can. And both Max and Nora would love this experience. What else is bothering you?"

Nipping and kissing down my neck and collarbone he waited me out as I organized my worries. I gently scratched the skin of his nape as he teased me, tipping my head to the side giving him more room.

"What about the lodge and the guests, who's going to be in charge when I'm busy?"

"Hmmmmm, both Leah and Emily would love more responsibility around here, you know that. And both would love the extra hours. You trust them so why not?"

His tongue teased my nipple through the cotton of the shirt as my nails dug into his bare shoulders and I arched into his mouth. His hand pushed my shirt to my waist before he settled against me. His hard length resting between us.

"What about taping here? How would we even manage it with guests around?"

He slid down my body, his hands at my ribs pushed my shirt up to reveal my breasts and then his lips sucked and his tongue laved. I buried my hands into his hair, tugging as he tormented me with his mouth.

"We can figure that out when the time comes… we do have slow periods where they might be able to tape in advance."

I moaned as I struggled to use my feet to push his blue, worn, cotton pants down.

He lifted from my body to settle on his knees, pulling me up in front of him. I pulled my shirt up and over, tossing it near the edge of the bed. His pants quickly joining it.

"What about taping… being on TV… my nerves would be shot I don't know if I can do that kind of stuff."

He tugged my panties as I fell back again, pulling them down my legs and tossing them to the floor. "Well, you already have the monthly cooking class here, so I think the teaching part of things is fine." His hands teased up my thighs, his thumbs finding me warm and wet he traced slow circles around my clit as I groaned, tipping my head back into the pillows.

His soft laugh filled the room then, "If you're really nervous about being taped, I could record us right now… I mean, if you want to start getting comfortable in front of a camera."

"Shut up, you perv." I laughed as his body finally pressed to mine. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips and pulled back a serious look on his face.

"Listen, Baby. If it's something you truly want to try, say yes. We'll figure out all the extra stuff after we get more information. It can't hurt anything to at least meet and hear what they offer."

"How and when did you get so wise?"

"I've always been wise and you know it… I hitched myself to you didn't I?"

I leaned up to him, our lips meeting and parting. Our tongues tangled and rubbed as he pushed his hips forward and slid inside me. I rocked up to meet him as he set a slow rhythm, shallow teasing thrusts as he worked my body and then deeper.

He dropped his forehead to my shoulder as I wrapped my legs around his waist pushing my hips up with his next thrust, he was buried completely.

"God, you feel incredible wrapped all around me."

I heard my whimper as he moved, pulling out and then thrusting slowly back in. His tongue slid over the skin of my shoulder as his cock dragged over my clit with every press and pull of his body.

"Fuck, Edward," I moaned. "I'm going to come soon."

"I know, Baby. I can feel you."

His tongue slid into my mouth and my belly tightened. His fingers tugged my nipple and a wave of sensation wracked my body as I tipped with a gasp. His movements grew erratic above me and then he came with a muffled moan against my neck.

His body pressed mine into the bed as I wrapped my arms around him, my legs still holding him close. I placed soft kisses at his temple as his fingers made light patterns on my skin.

He rolled to lie next to me, his hand on my belly, lips at my shoulder. We enjoyed a few moments of silence and soft touches. "So, you're saying yes, right?"

A moment's pause, I turned and pressed my lips to his chest. "Yes… I think I am."

"Good," his hands wrapped around me and teased up my bare spine, "because the world needs to know how to make your harvest pumpkin spice French toast."

AN

Thank you to phoebespromise & obsmama for the help and inspiration for this.

Love to Katalina... without your request this wouldn't exist.

and special thanks to ange_de_laube for the gorgeous banner for this - all can be found on my blog jaimearkin dot blogspot dot com

xox