Wasn't Expecting You

Bonus Chapter 1

3 and a half years later

"Babe, is the blindfold really necessary?" I ask Joey, hating the fact that I have absolutely no idea where we are going.

This morning he told me to get dressed in an outfit that he picked out, my favourite boots, jeans, burnt orange satin singlet and black leather jacket, then proceeded to not give me any more details at all. He insisted I be blind folded once in the car. It wasn't quite my birthday yet, so I was pretty sure this isn't a birthday surprise.

"Yes, it is a hundred percent necessary that you are blindfolded for this. Don't you trust me? You have no issues with the blindfold in the bedroom," he responded with the arrogance I adored about him.

If he could see my eyes, he would know I was rolling them.

"Of course I trust you but this is a bit different to our bed!" I retorted. "Can you give me a hint?"

"Hmmmm," he replies as though he is thinking about it. "Nah, I don't think so. It's not much farther, have some patience."

"When have you ever known me to be patient?" I huffed.

"We're here Morgan," Joey said less than two minutes later, clearly amused.

I felt the car draw to a stop and waited for Joey to get out so he could come and lead the way.

As I hit the ground, I felt the gravel crunch under my boots as Joey led me forward, giving no indication as to where we were at all. It was a little windy and I could tell we were in the open.

We stopped walking, Joey stood behind me, so close I could feel all of his body on mine, butterflies erupting just because of how close he was, a feeling that had never dulled once in the years we have been together.

"Do you remember our first ever project together, back when you were a freshman?" He asked, voice low and husky in my ear.

"Of course. You know I've always held on to that business plan and even had the perfect location picked out," I replied. "Wait!" I screamed excitedly, figuring out where we might be.

He took off my blindfold to reveal that we were standing in front of a homestead style building, with great big windows in the front, a patio area off the side that I could see from here with Mexican ball lights set up and in the distance, a small dam that would be the perfect location for event photos and wedding ceremonies. I knew the inside was rustic and homely with open rafters and a commercial kitchen, the perfect event space.

I had found this place during my final year college and fell in love with it when I had actually started to imagine the real possibility of running my own business after graduation. It wasn't up for sale then, but I still dreamt about it. As far as I knew it hadn't been up for sale now. Even though I knew that I wanted my own events business one day, I refused to consider any other property, so I took an accounting position with Cameron property management and development in the meantime while waiting for my dream venue.

"What are we doing here?" I asked hesitantly, but inside I was ready to burst.

"It's yours baby, well ours," Joey said softly.

I gasped. "No? How?"

"How? Well it was released for sale and I exchanged money with the previous owners and sighed some contracts that say that we are now the proud owners of this venue," Joey stated sarcastically as if I didn't know how a real estate sale worked.