His Cactus Flower (The May Flowers Series )
Page 4
“Maybe you’re just being nice?”
I reached behind her and grabbed two handfuls of her ass. “Hardly. I’m not that nice.”
And then we might have finally fucked on the eighteenth hole.
At last, Dixie is with me, holding my hand as I talk to the reporters about the final round of the tournament and about my chances of winning. The reporter’s eyes keep flicking back to Dixie, waiting to draw her into the conversation. My hand slides around her waist and I tug her closer, protecting her because at any moment, this guy is going to address her.
“Dixie, is this your first tournament?” The reporter dares to ask.
God love her, she is oblivious, and he has to repeat his question. “Yes, it is,” she finally responds.
“What do you think?”
“I think Gardener is going to win today,” she says with a proud smile that makes my heart start to thunder inside my chest.
She kisses my cheek and then whispers, “Let’s go,” in my ear.
With a hearty clap to the reporter’s back, I thank him for his time and then rush to the first tee with Dixie.
“This is seriously going to take a few hours, so just go back to the villa,” I tell her. “I’ll have someone call you when the tournament is almost over.”
Her brown eyes are glittering in the morning sunlight and her hair is loose and wavy as it blows in the slight breeze. I reach up to cradle her face in my hands and kiss her softly at first before deepening it.
“I meant what I said,” she whispers when we break apart. “You’re going to win.”
* * *
The air is crackling with electric anticipation. Everyone is holding their breaths, waiting and watching. The last few moments of my final stroke happen in slow motion too.
My hands clench the shaft of my putter as I bring it back inch by inch before letting it swing forward. There’s a soft thud as the face of the putter connects with the ball, sending it rolling toward the hole. I crouch down and track its progress. The ball literally travels a few feet, but it feels like a few hundred miles.
When the ball hits the edge of the hole and wobbles, I suck in a sharp breath and close my eyes. I say one prayer: Please God before I open them just in time to see the ball drop into the hole.
The roar of the crowd is deafening. One hand clenches into a fist and I thrust it triumphantly into the air. HELL YES!
I toss my putter to the side just as Robbie, my caddy, rushes me. He wraps me up in a bear hug, lifting me off my feet as we both continue to cry out in celebration. He sets me down and I spin in a circle, looking for her.
Dixie scrambles underneath the rope and runs toward me, her arms spread wide, her mouth open in a scream. We collide and I wrap her up in my arms, twirling her as she murmurs words of congratulations in my ear.
My lips find her cheek, kissing it over and over until they eventually meet her lips and then there’s no holding back. This is the kiss to end all kisses. There are so many emotions running through me and each one is poured into that kiss. Triumph at winning after so much adversity. Gratitude for being given a second chance. Elation. But most of all, love.
I set Dixie back down on her feet. We break apart but I rest my forehead against hers. “I’m in love with you,” I confess.
A smile spreads across her lips that makes my heart stutter. It’s sweet, shy and sincere. Her hands travel up my chest and curl around my neck. “I’m in love with you too,” she whispers before lifting her face slightly to kiss me.
This is a moment just for us and it lasts forever; there are no crowds cheering or reporters jockeying to score the first interview. There’s only us and this kiss that seals our promises of love.
Gardener and Dixie: Still Whistling a Love Song
Nearly a year after meeting, the romance between celeb power couple Gardener Campos and Dixie Bell is still going strong. Campos and Bell met at the famed Desert Rose Resort in Scottsdale, AZ during Campos’s triumphant return to the PGA tour. Now a year later, the two look back on their instalove story and describe it in one word: whirlwind.
“I certainly wasn’t expecting to fall in love again after such a tumultuous year,” Bell says of meeting Campos.
“She was quite prickly at first,” Campos says affectionately. “But damn was she gorgeous.”
Their affair made tabloid headlines when ex-PGA tour player Monty Crawford paid a photographer for lurid pictures of the couple and leaked them to the press. The images were quickly taken down but video of Bell wreaking havoc in the resort’s bar did plenty of damage to the actress’s already fragile reputation.
“Even though everything between Gardener and I was perfect, there was chaos swirling around us,” Bell admits. “But I had an ally this time. Someone who wasn’t going to let me down or run when the going got tough.”
The happy couple are taking things a lot slower these days. For starters, Bell traded the Hollywood Hills for the Sonoran Desert. She and Campos share a sprawling single-story Mid-Century modern home where she spends her days reading scripts and tending to her large collection of succulents. As for Campos, retirement seems to suit him just fine. His days are busy running an organization, Primero Golf, whose mission is to help kids in the inner-city discover their passion for the sport.
“I was given the gift of golf,” Campos explains. “And it changed my life. Now I want to keep on giving other kids similar opportunities. Even if they hate golf, they have to know that there are options.”
Once known for their notorious reputations, they’ve both found redemption in their romance. Bell credits Campos with helping to restore her reputation.
“Having a bad girl reputation is not something that I’m proud of because it’s not who I am,” she says. “Gardener was a kindred spirit. He knew exactly what I was going through and gave me the space to be my own person. He made it so easy to fall in love.”
As for the future, the couple are optimistic.
“We’re definitely playing a long game,” Campos says. “But we’re not in a rush to get married and have kids.”
While the couple might not have any plans to walk down the aisle any time soon, their commitment to one another is evident. From the house they purchased together to the quiet way they communicate with each other; this romance is definitely a hole-in-one.
Roses are red, Violets are Blue, There are more sexy stories waiting for you!
His Azalea by Kelli Callahan
His Baby’s Breath by Olivia Hawthorne
His Bird of Paradise by Angel Devlin
His Buttercup by Laney Powell
His Cherry Blossom by Tracy Lorraine
His Dahlia by Alexx Andria
His Magnolia by Dori Lavelle
His Sun Drop by Dee Ellis
His Sweet Pea by Vivian Ward
His Violet by Fiona Starr
His Voodoo Lily by Alexis Adaire
Presidential Bargain
Capitol Promises
Just Like This
Just Like Love
Resolution: Wanderlust
Dear Mr. Temporary
Forever True
Mr. Cream
When I was little, I used to watch golf with my grandpa. I never understood how he could watch a tournament all day because it was so boring. Maybe that’s why he often fell asleep on the couch while he was watching… but because of those moments, I came to appreciate golf. There were even a few times when my grandpa took me out to this rinky-dink driving range in an attempt to teach me how to play. So I guess this story about a pro-golfer is because of him and it allowed me to relive some of those moments.
This story couldn’t have been written without the support of some amazing people:
My beta reader, Amelia, who provides me with amazing feedback.
My friend and editor, Ruthie, who helped to polish my words.
And the amazing Tracy Lorraine who designed another fantastic cover!
Rebecca Gallo is an emerging author of young
adult fantasy. This is Rebecca’s first book.