“I love you,” Brooke mouths when she gets to me. She’s crying again, a few silent tears as she faces me.
“I love you,” I mouth back. I can’t stop smiling, can’t stop the happiness that keeps rising in me.
A few hours later, after the ceremony and at our reception, I still haven’t stopped smiling. Every moment of this day has been perfect, even better than I had hoped. Autumn has given a long speech about how she thinks Brooke and I are soulmates. She called us both brave and wonderful and said we deserved every moment of happiness she knew we were going to have. David gave a speech too, telling everyone what a good storyteller Brooke is and about how much she makes his dad smile.
After the speeches and the first dance, and several dances after that, my mom cuts in just for a minute. She looks like she’s been crying all day, and she beams at me as we dance.
“I always had a feeling you would marry Brooke,” my mom says.
“Always?” I ask. My mom nods.
“Since you were both skinny high school freshmen, I knew it,” she replies. I smile, picturing Brooke and me as those awkward kids, already so close.
“You were right,” I say and my mom laughs.
“I always am,” she tells me. “I’m so happy for you, for both of you.”
“Thank you for everything,” I say. I mean it for how much she always supported me, for how much she supported Brooke, for how much she loves David, and for how much she’s helping with my final surprise of the day.
“You know I’ll always watch David, anytime. That’s a wonderful kid you have there,” she says, smiling softly.
She dances me back over to Brooke and hugs her tightly for a minute before letting us dance again.
“Hi,” Brooke says, folding back into my arms and spinning with me. I kiss her, sliding my hand on her cheek as I do.
“Married life treating you well so far?” I ask, teasing when we pull back a little. Brooke laughs.
“It’s perfect,” she says. I’ve never seen her eyes so bright, I’ve never seen her look so happy.
“Yeah,” I say, “it really is.”
“We haven’t danced like this since prom night,” Brooke says. I laugh.
“That’s fitting since that was the night we got engaged,” I say, kissing Brooke again.
I dance with Brooke for the rest of the night, until the guests start clearing out until our feet hurt until all I want is to get her home and celebrate our wedding privately. I have one more surprise before we make it home, one last thing I’ve been planning.
“Before we go home,” I say, pulling Brooke in close and leading her to a room in the hotel I’ve blocked off just for this.
“More surprises?” Brooke asks, eyes wide and bright.
“Just one,” I say. I open the closet in the room and pull out a large wrapped box. Brooke sits down and takes it from me, eyes looking watery again.
“You’ve already given me so much today,” she says.
“Open it,” I say, sitting beside her. She pulls the paper off slowly and opens the box lid. She gasps when she sees the leather album inside.
“This is beautiful,” she says, running her fingers over the butter-soft fabric.
“Open that, too,” I say. I can’t take my eyes off her face, want to see the exact moment when she figures out what this really is. She opens the album and her eyes widen again at what I’ve already tucked into the sleeves, hotel room bookings and tickets for attractions all over the country.
“This is our road trip,” she says, turning the pages, eyes running over everything I’ve laid out.
“It’s our honeymoon,” I say, and she turns her head to me, crying in earnest now.
“Our honeymoon?” she asks. I kiss her, pulling her gently from the back of her neck.
“We leave tomorrow. My mom is going to watch David while we’re gone,” I say. She gasps again and leans in for another kiss.
“When did you do this?” she asks.
“I’ve been thinking about it for months, but once you got promoted and you can work remotely now, I had to. Nothing is stopping us, and we’ve been talking about this for a really long time,” I say.
“Even longer than getting married,” Brooke says. She puts her forehead against mine, breathing hard.
“It seemed right to combine them,” I say, smiling. She nods, eyes back on the album, looking beautiful and happy. I think it’s fitting, a road trip to start a marriage, a physical journey to start an emotional one. I’m looking forward to every mile, every inch, of those journeys with Brooke. I’m certain every one of them will make me fall even more in love with her.
After Michelle had died, I had thought I could fill the emptiness in me with equally empty things. I thought the only person I needed to love was David. Now I know that I always needed someone, needed Brooke. Coming home has changed my life in more ways than I possibly could have predicted, and almost all of them are tied to Brooke and the way she makes me feel. I came home to chase real happiness, and I’ve found it, here with Brooke.
Epilogue - Brooke
I can’t believe I’ve been married for three weeks. I still can’t get over how Anthony had surprised me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be over it. I can’t believe a day as perfect as our wedding day was mine. I can’t believe a man as wonderful as Anthony is mine. I can’t believe we’re each other’s, forever. I’m so thrilled every day that Anthony kept our wedding date, that we didn’t wait for another second to get married. He’s only been back in town a short amount of time, but I already can’t imagine spending a moment of my life without him.
Our honeymoon had been perfect. We’d seen every single sight we’d ever talked about as teenagers. Anthony had brought the album of postcards I’d gotten him for high school graduation, and we’d be sure to take our own pictures of every landmark and attraction on them. We’d sent actual postcards to David every few days. We’d seen roadside oddities and beautiful natural wonders and we’d explored ghost towns and thriving busy little cities. Anthony had convinced me to try all sort of food I’d never had before, seafood and foreign cuisines and other things we’d didn’t really have in town but that I loved the flavors of.
I never really thought I’d be able to take a trip like that, really get away, but Anthony had made it possible. We’d spent days exploring the countryside, and the nights in seedy motels and high-end hotels alike exploring each other, sometimes hardly sleeping, unable to stop touching each other.
We’ve been back for two days and we’re having lunch with Autumn. Our wedding pictures came in the mail yesterday, and Autumn had wanted to see them all and to hear more details of our honeymoon road trip, in person. She’s so much more lively these days, so much more like herself. Even her apartment is cleaner and brighter than it used to be. I wouldn’t have thought months ago it was possible for both of us to be in such a good place. I’m so glad I was wrong.
Anthony’s photographer friend did an amazing job with the pictures. Every single one of them looks ready to be framed. Anthony and I look so in love in them, so in love and so happy.
“This one of you both dancing with David is so adorable,” Autumn says, smiling softly as she looks over the picture in front of her.
“David is an especially photogenic kid,” Anthony says, grinning and grabbing my hand under the table, squeezing.
A knock on the door surprises us all, and Autumn shrugs as she stands up. I tense a little, old fears rising up. Anthony runs his thumb over my wrist, at my pulse, a silent reminder to breathe, that it’s okay. We stand up and follow Autumn, and see Sheriff Marken, the chief of police, at the door.
“Good afternoon, Sheriff,” Autumn says, sounding a little nervous herself.
“I wanted to come here and tell you the good news in person,” Sheriff Marken says. He’s a kind older man with a slow and almost sleepy sounding voice. He’s been with the police department as long as I can remember.
“The good news?” Autumn asks. Anthony squeezes
my hand again.
“After review, we’re not going to be moving forward with your case in any way. No trial, and no more questioning. Your case has been classified as self-defense, and closed permanently,” Sheriff Marken says.
“That’s it?” Autumn asks, her eyes wide. She sounds out of breath and in shock.
“He had a list of crime a mile long, and obviously every intention to commit more. He was a bad man, the kind we don’t want in our town. You should have come forward right away, but we know you didn’t mean any to hurt anyone. You’re a good girl, Autumn. Everyone around here knows you’d never do anything wrong if you thought you had a choice. We know you were just scared. I do have to advise you to please, in the future, come to us right away with anything.” Sheriff Marken says, smiling fondly at Autumn. His own daughter is an only year or two older than I am. He’s seen Autumn and I grow up in this town.
“So it’s really over?” Autumn asks. She’s rocking on her heels the way she does when she’s excited about something. It reminds me of when we were children and she used to spend all Christmas Eve bouncing through our house.
“It’s really over,” Sheriff Marken says.
Autumn and I cheer and hug at his words. We hold onto each for a long time, both not quite believing it’s actually over, one hundred percent over, for real. I feel like the last little bit of shadow has been removed, the last bit of heaviness lifted.
That night at home, after an amazing meal we cook together, and after David is tucked into bed, Anthony and I can’t stop touching each other. I can’t stop kissing him, this wonderful man, my best friend, my husband.
“I love you so much,” Anthony says, sliding his hands up my back. As always, I feel like I’m melting under his touches, and I arch up under them, moving even closer to him in bed.
“I love you,” I say, kissing him over and over. I wonder if it will always feel this magical, feel so much like everything got so much better for me because Anthony came home. I run my hand up his chest, under his shirt, feeling his muscles, and feel sure that it always will.
I slide my hand lower, toward his pants, and Anthony groans. I need him tonight, need him right now. I pull even closer to him, gasping as he moves his hands lower too, over my ass, cupping and squeezing. He rolls over us a little, so he’s on top of me, leaning over me, kissing me firmly and making me bite back a moan.
Our clothes are completely discarded a minute later, and he’s inside me, making me cry out with every movement of his hips. I’ll never get tired of how it feels to be with Anthony like this, to have him fuck me like this, to feel filled with him, to come with his hands and strokes, to make him come, to feel him come inside me. It’s a high I think I could chase for the rest of my life. The best sensations I’ve ever known.
Everything about Anthony is the best I’ve ever known. Every moment we spend together is the best I’ve ever had. I don’t know what would have happened if we’d stayed in touch when we were kids, or if we’d admitted our crushes on each other when we were teenagers. Maybe it would have been this perfect, or maybe we weren’t ready then. I don’t know, but I’m glad it happened the way it did. It gave us David. It gave us a story of how we got together that I’ll want to tell over and over.
Everything leads us to this moment, right now, naked and sweating and both building up higher and higher in a beautiful bed, in a beautiful house, in our beautiful life together.
I clutch him as I come, shouting his name and shaking, grateful for everything we have together.
Falling asleep wrapped in him a little while later, all I think is that this is where I belong, that right here in Anthony’s arms is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
*****
THE END
About Charlize Starr
Hi there, I'm Charlize - a totally shy and quiet gal by day, but a naughty writer by night ;)
I love writing steamy and hot romance short stories. I especially enjoy writing about taboo themes so if that's your thing too, then come and explore my spicy, forbidden world filled with guilty pleasures like lots of steam, hot guys and the occasional and very necessary bag of chocolate chip cookies...
Please check my Amazon author page or check my Facebook page for the latest news and releases.
Selected Other Books by Charlize Starr
Hot CEO
Let’s not forget who the big shot around here is.
It’s me.
I’m the hottest CEO around, and my fitness business gets bigger every year.
The last thing I ever expected to throw me off course is a tiny local business.
And the beautiful, smart and infuriating chick who runs it.
I’ve always been in total control of my life.
Women are throwing themselves at my feet.
So why am I letting this one woman get under my skin?
Why am I thinking about getting into her yoga pants the entire day?
I can’t shake it, no matter how hard I try.
She’s a business rival, and I need to keep thinking of her that way.
Not as the hot, sassy and delicious thing that I want on my desk.
I could shut down her business today if I wanted to.
But for the first time in my life, a woman leaves me speechless.
What am I going to do?
Shut her down, or ask her out?
Hungry Mountain Man
She crashed into me on a corner, spilling coffee all over me.
But all I could see was her gorgeous smile.
I want to take her up to my mountain.
But it’s too dangerous.
Someone’s after me and my billions.
I suspect it’s my brother.
I know I should hate him, but I can’t hurt him.
So I retreat to my cabin.
And me and Mia talk dirty on the phone.
But it’s not just dirty talk.
This woman is becoming the only good thing in my life.
The one thing I’m living for.
What will happen when we finally meet again?
Daddy's Wild Friend
He’s always been trouble, with his wild ways and string of girlfriends.
But he’s dad’s best friend and I can’t avoid him.
And do I really want to?
He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.
I can see that he wants me. That he wants to show me how it’s done.
And I’ve grown up.
I want to kiss him under the Mistletoe.
I want to be his date to the Navy Ball.
I want to…
Stop! What am I thinking?
He’s way too hot. And waaay too close to daddy.
There’s no way I’m ending up in his bed.
Except I already have…
And I want more…
Daddy's Bossy Friend
Daddy says I’m in danger.
So he’s shipped me off to Alaska.
With his best friend. My bodyguard. My protector.
But what daddy doesn’t know is that his best friend and I have a past.
I saved myself for him.
And now I want him to take what belongs to him.
He’s bossy, he’s demanding and he’ll teach me.
We’re all alone in the woods.
No one can find out we’re here.
It’ll be our secret.
Or we’ll end up dead.
But what happens in the woods doesn’t stay in the woods.
Single Dad SEAL
He was my secret high school crush. He gave me my first kiss. Now he’s a Navy SEAL and the most infuriating pr*ck in the world. But I’m stuck in his attic. And he just caught me naked in the shower. It’s all daddy’s fault.
Luke
They all want me to steal their V-card, and I happily oblige.
I’m a player and it’s my game.
I have no time for love. I’ve seen too much in the war zone. Plus I have a small son to take care
of.
But there she is. My new housemate.
Little Emma’s all grown up.
She’s beyond off limits. She’s the Commander’s daughter.
But those curves beg to be touched.
So when I catch her red-handed watching me with one of my ladies, I know exactly how she’s gonna pay me back.
She doesn’t stand a chance.
I’m gonna take her virginity.
I’m gonna command her what to do.
And she’ll beg me for more.
Until I’m the one begging. Where the hell is she? Where’s our baby?
Daddy's Big Friend
Men suck.
My fiancé cheated on me with my best friend. So I left the loser at the altar.
I really don’t want to deal with the entire town right now, so I talk my dad’s best friend into driving me up to his cabin.
What I didn’t plan for is a snowstorm that traps us there for a week. Alone.
He’s a resident playboy. I’m a virgin. No one has ever touched my body.
He’d be perfect for a fling. He has a talent for pleasing the ladies, according to gossip.
He’s also way too old, way too experienced and waaayyy too sexy for me.
My Bossy Protector Page 76
