Married To The Jeon

30

"Wimp?" he utters in disbelief. He slaps my behind, making me yelp. "Hurry up with my food, wench. And later I'll show you how wimpy I can be." He slaps me playfully once more and goes to the fridge.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" he asks.

"Please."

Jungkook spreads Gia's plans out over the breakfast bar. She really has some spectacular ideas.

"I love her proposal to make the entire downstairs back wall glass, but . . ."

"But?" Jungkook prompts.

I sigh. "I don't want to take all the character out of the house."

"Character?"

"Yes. What Gia is proposing is quite radical, but . . . well . . . I fell in love with the house as it is . . . warts and all."

Jungkook's brow furrows as if this is anathema to him.

"I kind of like it the way it is," I whisper. Is this going to make him mad?

He regards me steadily. "I want this house to be the way you want. Whatever you want. It's yours."

"I want you to like it, too. To be happy in it, too."

"I'll be happy wherever you are. It's that simple, Lisa." His gaze holds mine. He is utterly, utterly sincere. I blink at him as my heart expands. Holy cow, he really does love me.

"Well" - I swallow, fighting the small knot of emotion that catches in my throat - "I like the glass wall. Maybe we could ask her to incorporate it into the house a little more sympathetically."

Jungkook grins. "Sure. Whatever you want. What about the plans for upstairs and the basement?"

"I'm cool with those."

"Good."

Okay . . . I steel myself to ask the million-dollar question. "Do you want to put in a playroom?" I feel the oh-so-familiar flush creep up my face as I ask. Jungkook's eyebrows shoot up.

"Do you?" he replies, surprised and amused at once.

I shrug. "Um . . . if you want."

He regards me for a moment. "Let's leave our options open for the moment. After all, this will be a family home."

I'm surprised by the stab of disappointment I feel. I guess he's right . . . although when are we going to have a family? It could be years.

"Besides, we can improvise." He smirks.

"I like improvising," I whisper.

He grins. "There's something I want to discuss." Jungkook points to the master bedroom, and we start a detailed discussion on bathrooms and separate walk-in closets.

When we finish, it's nine thirty in the evening.

"Are you going back to work?" I ask as Jungkook rolls up the plans.

"Not if you don't want me to." He smiles. "What would you like to do?"

"We could watch TV." I don't want to read, and I don't want to go to bed . . . yet.

"Okay," Jungkook agrees willingly, and I follow him into the TV room.

We have sat here three, maybe four times total, and Jungkook usually reads a book. He's not interested in television at all. I curl up beside him on the couch, tucking my legs beneath me and resting my head against his shoulder. He switches on the flat screen with the remote and flicks mindlessly through the channels.