I give her a squeeze before letting go. I know she’s going through her own brand of hell at the moment, but I can’t imagine what she means. As long as I don’t have MaCee I don’t see it being all right. Justin walks up and nods toward the front of the bar near the stage.
“Hey, man, they saved us a table. Cam, you coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
We move to take seats and the band comes out. Everyone seems super stoked about this group so I’m assuming they’re really popular in the area. They all keep looking at me and grinning. It’s really starting to freak me out a little. The lead singer steps up to the mic and everyone gets quiet, you can almost feel a wave of anticipation in the air. Damn, what’s going on?
“Tonight, I have an old friend joining me to sing our first song. She made me give her dedication because she said if she did it she wouldn’t make it through the song, so here goes.” He pulls out a piece of paper and starts reading, “Tyler, I screwed up. This song is the way I feel about you and I hope you will forgive me and let me do exactly what it says.”
My head pops up, and I see MaCee walk out onto the stage. What the hell? I don’t take my eyes off her as she takes the mic and the band starts to play “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor.
MaCee starts belting out the lyrics and she’s owning this song. I’m so shocked. I don’t believe I take a breath until the singer from the band starts his part. I didn’t know my baby could sing like that and then it hits me what she’s saying. She loves me! I don’t take my eyes off her, and when the song ends I walk up to the stage and open my arms for her to fly into. My heart starts beating for the first time in a week and I feel like I can finally take a deep breath.
MaCee is shaking in my arms and has her head buried in my shoulder. I feel the wetness of her tears against my skin and it breaks my heart to have her cry. I walk out of the bar carrying her all the way—amidst the cheers of everyone in the place—refusing to let her go.
I set her down next to my truck, thank goodness I insisted on driving myself and wipe the tears off her cheeks. I can’t stop myself from bending down and kissing the corners of her eyes and then her mouth. Then I’m devouring her. God, I missed her so much. I feel her pushing on my chest and lean back.
“Tyler, I need to talk, before I lose my nerve and let this go without saying. I love you, have for quite some time, but I don’t know what happened last week. I just lost it, and I really don’t know why. Please forgive me. I love you so much it scares me, and I don’t want to lose you ever. I think everything just became real and I panicked for a second. I wanted to come back the minute I left.”
I look into her eyes and all I see is love and regret.
“There’s really nothing to forgive. I love you, MaCee, more than I ever thought possible. If you needed breathing room, then it’s my job to give it to you, but now it’s over. I can’t live without you in my life. Please don’t ever leave me again. If you’re scared or worried about something, promise me you’ll talk to me. Just don’t ever walk out on me again.” Tears continue to stream down her cheeks and she nods.
“I promise, I’ll never do that again. It about killed my soul to think we might not be together. You’re my other half and this being apart sucked.”
I laugh and then am almost overcome with joy. I can’t help the yell I let loose as I pick her up to swing her around. She starts laughing, and I know we’re going to be all right. I decide tonight might be too soon for what’s in my glove box. It’ll wait because now I know I have my girl back and she ain’t never leaving my side again.
“So what’s this with you having the voice of an angel?” I look down at her, and she just grins back up at me.
“I thought you knew I could sing. You’ve heard me do karaoke.”
I shake my head. Yeah, I’d heard her do karaoke and it was awful. We laugh, and I want to go back home so I can make love to my woman for the rest of the night, but she has other ideas.
“Come on, we have to go back inside and let everyone know we made up. Besides, I promised Nash that Cam and I would sing a couple songs. It was the deal for letting me start off his show.”
I let her lead me back inside and to the table with all our friends. I reach over and shake Justin’s hand. I don’t know how to thank him for getting me here tonight. He grins and nods up at me.
“You two just keep your shit together. Don’t make me have to do this again,” Justin commands, and we laugh agreeing to never do this again.
I hug Cameryn, and she smiles up at me. We’re going to have to fix her, although I’m not sure how. Her problems may be bit more than we can take care of. I believe for now we’re going to need to support her and love her. I move over to MaCee’s side and hug her to me. When I look down she’s smiling up at me. Forever, that is what I see when I look in her eyes. I feel as though a weight has been lifted off me and my heart feels whole again.
Later into the band’s set, Nash calls MaCee and Cam up to do a couple songs. They kill “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks and end rocking the house with “Something Bad” by Miranda Lambert. I still can’t believe how awesome they can sing. I really have heard MaCee do karaoke, and she definitely didn’t sound like this, although I have to admit she was drunk off her ass, so that may have had something to do with it. Once they finish I grab MaCee and tell everyone goodnight. I’ve waited as long as I can to get my girl alone. I’ve been without her for a week that felt like a lifetime and don’t want to wait a minute longer.
“Do you need to get your car?” I ask, and she shakes her head.
“I rode with Cam. I hoped to be leaving with you and if that didn’t work out, she was my DD.”
I laugh and help her up into my truck.
We don’t say much on the way back home. The moment I get her inside the house I start pulling my clothes off and walking toward her. She backs toward my bedroom and starts taking off her clothes then turns and with a yelp, takes off running, throwing her shirt behind her. I give chase and end up with a bra in my face. I catch her just as she gets to my bedroom, toss her to the middle of my bed and follow her down to cover her wiggling body. The moment I look down at her she stops moving. She places her hands on the side of my face and pulls me to her for a kiss. I love kissing this girl and plan on her being the last girl I ever kiss.
I kiss my way down her body and remove the rest of our clothing until we’re skin to skin. She feels so good against me. She moves her hands up my back and holds me to her.
“I missed you so much, let’s not fight ever again,” she whispers in my ear, and I shiver then kiss her deeply to let her know how much I missed her too.
I reach down and feel her center. She is wet for me and I can’t stop myself from entering her. I need to feel her around me. Once I’m buried inside her, I begin to slowly make love to her. We hold each other tightly as we begin to move together. Her breathing increases as she tightens around me and I begin to move faster as the wave of pleasure moves through her. She arches her neck and moans my name as pleasure moves up my spine. I kiss her deeply as I empty myself into her. I start to roll off her, but she holds me to her.
“Not yet. I’m not ready to let you go yet.” I nuzzle her neck as I support myself on my elbows.
“Oh, don’t worry, baby, I ain’t going nowhere and neither are you.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Tyler
I wake up and smile when I feel the warm woman at my side. The last week feels like a distant memory, and I want it to stay that way. I lean down and kiss the top of her head and she doesn’t move. I smile because I know I completely exhausted her last night. I don’t even know how many times I made love to her. I couldn’t get enough. The thought of losing her and never having her by my side again put a certain desperation in me that I’m afraid may have affected my lovemaking.
As I said before, last week was horrible, and I’m determined to never have that happen again. I decide it’s time to move our relationship to the next level.
I get up without waking her and leave the room to prepare for what I have planned for the morning. I’ve just finished placing breakfast on the table when MaCee emerges from the bedroom. She looks adorable in my Lone Star shirt and boxers, with her hair standing on end. I hand her a cup of coffee which she takes without looking up. My girl isn’t much of a morning person. She sits down with a thump and begins drinking her coffee. After the third sip, she looks at the spread I’ve prepared on the table.
“Wow, someone’s been busy.” She smiles up at me, and I join her at the table.
“I worked up quite the appetite last night, and I would imagine you’re hungry too.”
I start loading her plate up and pour her some juice. I’m so nervous. The last time I told her how I felt she ran panicked from my house. I almost back down and decide to wait longer, but instead, I hold firm, knowing I need to permanently make her mine.
“I am hungry. We did have quite the night.” She’s digging into her breakfast, and I keep waiting for her to notice the box I have sitting in front of her. I hope she isn’t just ignoring it. That wouldn’t be a good sign.
I finally can’t handle waiting any longer, my nerves won’t take it. I reach out and grab the box in front of her which causes her eyes to widen. She hadn’t seen it, thank goodness. I bend down on one knee in front of her and take her hand. She’s looking at me with a stunned expression.
“MaCee, I don’t want to scare you, but this last week has been hell without you and I don’t ever want to go through that again. I bought this ring some time back and have been waiting for the right time to give it to you. You may think it’s too soon, but I know how I feel. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
She covers her mouth with her hand and nods her head. Tears start streaming down her cheeks as I take her left hand and place the ring on her finger. She reaches for me and I go willingly into her arms.
“Tyler, I thought I had lost you and it was the worst feeling I’ve ever had. Yes, I’ll marry you. Yes, yes, yes!”
I jump up and swing her around. I want to shout, and I also want to tell everyone she said yes. I lean down and kiss her, pouring all my happiness into the kiss. After a few moments, I pull back to look down into her eyes. I don’t see fear or panic, just love shining back at me.
“Let’s fly out to Vegas and get married today,” I say impulsively. Now I see the hesitation I’ve been afraid of and begin to worry.
“Tyler Alan Dixon, you’ve known me for at least nine months and you know who my mother is. I refuse to live the rest of my life with that shadow of guilt hanging over my head. Mama would never forgive either of us if we denied her the chance to throw the biggest wedding this town has ever seen. I’m her only daughter and in case you doubt it, let me assure you she would make our life a living hell until we gave her a reason to forgive us—and that would probably be our firstborn child.”
My relief is instant when I realize she isn’t rejecting me but the idea of running off to get married. I do see her point. Her mother would have our heads and neither of us want that.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way and have a big-ass wedding. I definitely don’t want to piss off Mama Evie before I’m even in the family. I just hate I’m going to have to wait to make you legally mine.” My insecurities are rearing their ugly head, but I can’t help it. I thought I had lost her.
“Darlin’, legal or not, I’m yours and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it if I have too. I know I hurt you, hell, I hurt myself, but I have no doubts now. I know I love you more than I ever thought possible.”
I lean down to kiss her only to have her push me back.
“No, Ty, I want you to know I’m so sorry for what I did. I went stupid for a moment and regretted it almost immediately. I don’t want you to ever feel insecure about us again. I’ve worked out some unresolved issues with my mother and I believe that may have played a part in my crazy reaction. You’re the most important person in the world to me and I don’t want you to ever doubt it.”
My heart feels as if it’s going to burst and I feel the last of my doubts begin to fall away. I can see the sincerity in her eyes and I know we are forever.
“Baby, I’m not going to lie to you. I was devastated. You cut me deep, but now we’re going to go forward. I’m so happy you and your mother worked out your issues, and I feel we’ve grown even closer through all of this. I know I won’t ever let you go. I love you more than life itself.”
She has tears running down her cheeks and I hated to have to tell her how bad off I was, but I don’t want anything between us.
“Never again. Mama told me I was screwing up and she also helped me figure out what to do to get you back. She said you don’t get a love like ours every day, and I better cherish it with everything in me.”
“Well, it seems Mama really does know best.” I lean down a pick her up to take her into my bedroom. “I really hope you don’t have any plans on leaving my bed for the rest of the weekend because if you do they’re going to have to change.”
“No, I’m not going anywhere. I made sure to clear my weekend for us.” That suits me just fine, as a matter of fact, I’m going to see what I can do about having her here permanently.
“Why don’t you move in?” She looks at me with stunned eyes then hugs me to her.
“I would love to. Mama is probably not going to like us living in sin, but I’ll just have to pray for forgiveness. Besides, if this is going to be my house I may want some say in the remodeling.”
I laugh with joy because she just called my house hers. I feel my soul quieting and know everything really is going to be all right.
When I put her down in the bedroom she reaches for my hand and leads me toward the bathroom.
“Come on, lover. We never did get to break in that tub.”
I eagerly follow her and decide I can wait a bit longer to get her back in my bed.
Chapter Twenty-five
MaCee
“Damn, woman, I want you,” Tyler whispers in my ear as he slams me against the door of the condo we have rented for the weekend. We’ve just left Rachel and Conrad’s wedding reception and I don’t know if it’s the ocean air or just being at a wedding that has us so horny, but we could hardly make it back to the room before we were all over each other. We weren’t alone in the elevator and thank goodness because we may have embarrassed ourselves if we had been.
I’m pulling at his pants trying to get them undone and having a hard time with the zipper. Finally, his cock springs free. I run my hand down his hardness and squeeze him at the base, causing him to moan in my ear. I grab his shoulders as he holds onto my ass and lifts me up so I can wrap my legs around his waist. I rub my center against his length causing us both to moan. He pulls my thong to the side and thrusts completely into me, filling me completely as only he can.
I grab his hair and pull his mouth to mine and he kisses me as if he’s desperate for me. This is one of the things I love about Tyler, he always acts as if he can’t get enough of me and I know I can’t get enough of him. He’s my person, my other half, and I never want to be without him, without this.
“Harder, baby, harder,” I moan, needing him with an intensity I can’t explain.
For some reason tonight I can’t seem to get close enough to him. He thrusts into me harder, and I’m pounding against the door. Briefly, I hope no one can hear us, but the thought leaves almost as soon as it enters my head as I can feel my orgasm coming.
“Almost there … Ty, I’m almost there!”
He reaches down and rubs my clit as he continues to thrust into me and pushes me over the edge. I arch my back as wave after wave of pleasure rol
ls through me. He stills inside me and with a groan, I feel his warm release fill me. I kiss him with all my love and desire bursting forth. He begins walking us to the bedroom, and I feel him beginning to harden again inside me.
He unzips my dress and I pull it over my head as he lowers me to the bed. I grab his shirt and pull it off him so I can feel his skin against mine. He kicks off his pants and leaves me long enough to take my panties off. He’s once again inside me only moving at a much slower pace. I hug him closer and can feel his warmth with every part of my body. It feels as though he’s enveloped me completely with his body as he moves inside me. We kiss long and deep and I lift my knees to bring him deeper into me. I need him to move faster now. I can feel another release coming, and it hits me stronger and deeper somehow. It’s soul-satisfying, and I feel as if I won’t be able to move until morning. Tyler falls to the side of me after he reaches his own peak, and we just lie there trying to calm our breathing.
I roll over to his side and snuggle into him. He wraps his arms around me and I know I have a smile of total contentment on my face as I fall asleep with my man at my side.
I wake up to feel Tyler’s warm body next to me and I hear him snoring lightly in my ear. I extract myself from his arms, and he rolls over to continue sleeping. I decide to run down to the dining room and get us something to eat before we pack and get ready for the drive home. I dress and leave without him so much as rolling over. Man, I wore his ass out.
I’m on my way back to the room when I see a very disheveled Hannah coming down the deserted hallway, and if this isn’t a walk of shame, I don’t know what one is. Her eyes widen when she sees me.
“Don’t say a word and promise you won’t tell anyone you saw me.”
I laugh and run my fingers across my lips as if to zip them. She waves me off as she continues onto the elevator I just exited. I watch in amusement as it closes to take Hannah back to her room. I wonder who she spent the night with.
Mama Knows Best Page 17
