by J. S. Scott
For what? So I can see my empty, tiny apartment’s white walls without a single picture or decoration to make the place less depressing?
No doubt everything in his refrigerator would be growing mold, which wasn’t anything new. He never ate at the apartment unless he brought home fast food, and leftovers eventually became rotten. Usually, he waited for the smell to get so bad that he threw the stuff out. Most times, he came back to his apartment so damn tired that the only thing that really got used there was the bed.
I need to get back to work.
Granted, Dante had liked his job, had lived for it. Now that Patrick wasn’t going to be his partner anymore, he wasn’t quite sure how to feel. The passion for police work was still there, but he couldn’t seem to muster the same enthusiasm that he used to have, and he no longer looked forward to filling every lonely day and night with work.
I have Sarah now.
Frowning, Dante leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, trying to picture a life with Sarah in Los Angeles. But all he could see was her smiling face in Amesport.
She doesn’t belong in Los Angeles. She agreed to move because she wants to be with me.
Dante’s chest ached as the reality of her sacrifice really sank in.
She’s not a city woman. She didn’t like her life in Chicago. Amesport is the first place she feels like she really fits in.
Honestly, Dante had been happy here, too. If he left, no more sounds of the ocean lulling him to sleep, no more endless bike trails waiting to be explored, no more friendly small-town folks, and—dammit—no more lobster rolls.
Joe Landon had just offered him a job again yesterday when they’d bumped into each other in town. Dante had blown him off automatically, never stopping to think of the possibilities. Admittedly, he wouldn’t be handling a ton of homicides, but it would still be part of his job, and he’d be able to work on a variety of felony cases, adding some diversity and probably less intensity to his job sometimes. But it wouldn’t be any less important than what he did in Los Angeles. Hell, he might even enjoy it.
And Sarah could stay here where she belongs. With me.
Really, Dante was pretty sure Amesport was where he belonged, too. Some young, eager detective would happily step into his place in Los Angeles, and Dante could stay here with Sarah. He’d have family again: Sarah, Emily, and Grady. No doubt Jared would eventually leave, but Dante missed his family more than he’d even wanted to admit. Patrick had once taken the edge off that pain, but his best friend was gone.
Dante’s eyes flew open as the jet lurched, ready to taxi down the runway.
He was ready to get out of his seat when his cell phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket distractedly, his attention immediately diverted to the phone when he saw it was a message from Sarah:
I miss you already. I hope you’ll get this message as soon as you land in Los Angeles. I need you to know that I love you. I know you didn’t ask for that, and I’m not even sure you want it. Maybe it’s too soon, but I need you to know. I love you, Dante.
The message nailed him right in the heart, and the organ was pounding out of his chest as he finished reading the message, tracing the words with his index finger.
She loves me.
Right at that moment there was nothing more urgent than hearing those words coming from her gorgeous lips in person. Jesus. There was nothing more critical than actually hearing her say that.
“She loves me,” he rasped, trying to wrap his head around that information. Hell, he loved her, too. Probably had for a long time, although he’d never put it into words. “I should have told her.”
Dante felt the plane start to turn so it could execute takeoff, and he punched the button for the cockpit. “Turn the plane around, Captain. I need to get the hell off now,” he growled.
A reply came back through the intercom. “Did you forget something, Mr. Sinclair?”
I forgot a lot of damn things. I forgot to tell the woman I love how much I love her. I forgot that I like it here in Amesport. I forgot how much I miss my siblings. But aloud, he simply answered, “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”
He breathed a sigh of relief as the plane started to taxi back to the airport, and he traced Sarah’s words on his phone as he waited impatiently. Part of him wanted to text her back, tell him how much he loved her, too, but he needed to tell her in person, hear her say it aloud. They would be the sweetest words he’d ever heard.
Dante sprinted down the steps of the aircraft as soon as it stopped.
“What time can I expect you back, Mr. Sinclair?” the captain called after Dante.
“Never,” he hollered back with an exhilaration he’d never experienced before, his heart lighter than it had ever been. “I’m already home,” he said to himself as he jogged into the airport, looking around in vain for Sarah. He knew she’d already left because his flight had been delayed, but desperation made him hope.
“Need a ride?” an amused male voice asked from behind him.
Dante turned to see his brother Jared lounging casually against the wall. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I figured you wouldn’t make it into the air before you realized you wanted to stay.” Jared pushed off the wall and walked the few feet that were separating them.
“How did you know?” Hell, Dante hadn’t even known that himself. If he had, he would have stayed home in bed with Sarah. Why had he been such an asshole? Why hadn’t he reasoned all of this out before he’d gotten on the plane?
Jared shrugged. “You love her, don’t you?”
“More than anything,” Dante answered honestly. “I didn’t tell her.”
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home,” Jared told his brother blandly, but his lips were twitching, partially turned up in a small smile.
Dante fell into step with Jared, who was making his way to the outside entrance, still perplexed as to why his brother was here but grateful that he was. Right now all Dante wanted to do was go home to the woman he loved, and Jared would get him there as quickly as possible.
Sarah halfheartedly packed a few things into a suitcase in Dante’s guest room with a sigh. He’d wanted her to stay here in his home, but she didn’t really want to be here when he wasn’t. It didn’t feel right. She decided to put some clothes together and head back to her own cottage. Maybe she wouldn’t miss him as much if she wasn’t staying in his house. There were just too many memories here.
I have to quit moping. I’ll see him in a few months. Missing him already isn’t even logical.
Smiling sadly, she dropped a pair of shoes into the suitcase and wandered down the hall to Dante’s room, knowing the old, analytical Sarah was gone. Loving Dante hadn’t affected her IQ, but it had changed her priorities. Love wasn’t at all reasonable. It was a complicated, messy emotion that robbed her of all sensible thought. The problem was, she didn’t care, and she didn’t even try not to feel it. She’d much rather feel alive and burn in Dante’s arms than to go back to being the woman she was before: a woman of reason who felt . . . almost nothing.
She curled up on Dante’s bed and pulled his pillow to her face, taking a long, deep, intoxicating breath of his scent until his essence made the sensitive flesh between her thighs start to pulsate with need.
Startling as Coco launched herself onto the bed, Sarah laughed when she saw the little canine and pulled the dog against her chest. “You miss him, too, don’t you?” She scratched the top of Coco’s head the way that Dante usually did and hugged her warm body, grateful that she wasn’t the only one already pining for Dante.
The door slammed downstairs, and Sarah sat up, alarmed. She hadn’t locked the door or set the alarm system. She’d only planned on being here for a short time, and the imminent danger was over. Dropping Coco gently to the floor, she rolled out of the bed and cautiously walked into the hall, taking the steps slowly. Maybe it was Jared or Grady. It could also be the lady who cleaned his house once a week, although she usually cleaned on Mon
days.
Don’t panic. It could be someone Dante knows. It most likely is.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and looked around.
Nobody.
The sliding glass door was ajar, and she wondered if someone had gone out the back. Moving closer to it, she nearly had heart failure as a large body emerged from the kitchen.
“You didn’t lock the door,” the large form said in an angry, guttural tone.
Dante!
Sarah’s heart stuttered for just a second before it kicked in and started beating again. “Dante. Oh my God. You scared me,” she told him breathlessly.
“You were here alone and you didn’t lock the damn door,” he grumbled.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still stunned.
“I got your message,” he said huskily, his intense, hazel eyes like liquid flames as he scanned her face.
He hadn’t left yet? “You weren’t already gone?”
“Almost. We were delayed, but I was already planning on coming back.”
“Why?” Sarah asked, her eyes roaming covetously over the handsome, beloved face that she hadn’t expected to see again for quite some time. “Did you forget something?”
“Yeah,” he answered gruffly. “You.”
Sarah’s heart fell. “Dante, I can’t leave right now—”
“I don’t want you to leave. I want you to stay here with me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I mean I’m not leaving, Sarah. You belong here, and I belong with you. I want us to stay here. I want you to marry me.” Dante continued to watch her expression anxiously.
Sarah tried to clamp down on the elation she felt coursing through her veins. Dante couldn’t stay here. She could practice anywhere, but he had a career to worry about in Los Angeles. “Your job—”
“I can take a job here. God knows Joe Landon reminds me about the detective vacancy he has every time I see him. My job won’t be the same anymore without Patrick. I think it’s a good time to move on with everything, including us. I need you, Sarah. We’re happy here. If you’d marry me, I’d be even happier,” Dante rumbled, his expression pensive.
“We’ve never talked about marriage,” she replied, dazed and overwhelmed. There was nothing she wanted more than to be with Dante forever, but he’d never mentioned marriage. He hadn’t even told her what he’d thought about her declaration of love.
“I don’t want you to resent me later, once the thrill of a new relationship wears off and you realize that you gave up a career you worked very hard for.” Would he hate her later if he gave up his job in Los Angeles?
“I’m not going to resent you. In fact, you saved me. I don’t want to go back,” he told her roughly. “Jesus, you’re stubborn. Aren’t you listening to what I’m saying?”
She was definitely hearing him, but part of her was afraid this was all just a very good dream. He wanted to stay here, marry her, and build a life together? “I am listening. I’m just afraid that this is all too good to be true,” she told him quietly. “I never planned on you, Dante.”
“I never planned on you, either, sweetheart, but you’re the best damn gift I’ve ever gotten,” Dante rasped, holding his arms out to her.
Sarah didn’t think, she just leaped, catapulting herself into Dante’s strong, capable arms with a squeak of elation. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she closed her eyes, breathing in his masculine, musky smell that always made her feel like she was home, no matter where she was. She felt his arms tighten around her, holding her like he’d never let go.
“Thank fuck,” Dante said in a harsh whisper against her ear. “Now tell me,” Dante demanded, his voice vibrating against her temple. “I want to hear it in person.”
Sarah didn’t hesitate. “I love you,” she said obligingly. “I don’t know why it happened or when. I just do. I can’t help it.”
“I don’t want you to help it,” Dante replied in a low roar, moving her forward until her back was against the wall. “I love you, too. I love you so much that I can’t think straight. Maybe if I would have actually had a brain cell left in my head, I would have realized that I really didn’t want to go anywhere.”
Sarah smiled against his shoulder, her heart thundering like a jackhammer. He loved her back.
He pushed slightly away from her and lifted his forest-green shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. Then he pulled her T-shirt over her head and released the front clasp on her bra, pulling it down her arms until it dropped into the growing pile of clothing at their feet.
“What are you doing?” she asked, bemused.
He unsnapped her jeans and then his own, jerking the denim down her legs and taking her scanty panties with it. “I need to hear you say it while I’m inside you,” he said, his breath coming heavily between his lips.
“What if I don’t want to say it right at that moment?” she asked him teasingly.
“You will,” he grunted, pinning her against the wall with her hands over her head. “Tell me,” he demanded arrogantly.
Sarah’s body flooded with heat and her channel clenched hard. Looking into Dante’s fierce gaze, she knew she wouldn’t last long. She would say it. More than likely, she’d be screaming it. “Tell me first,” she requested.
“I love you,” he said readily, his head lowering so that his warm breath wafted over her temple. “Now say you’re going to marry me.”
She was. Oh yes, she was. She wanted this delirious pleasure for the rest of her life, and she wanted this demanding but sweet man to be the father of her children someday. But mostly, she wanted him to be hers.
Shivering as his fingers moved down to stroke the wet, sensitive flesh between her thighs, she squeaked, “I want to marry you.”
“And you love me,” he declared hoarsely. “Tell me.” His fingers found and caressed her clit.
Sarah’s head fell back against the wall, giving Dante better access to her neck, and his tongue stroked over her skin, leaving a path down her neck that had her squirming. “I love you,” she moaned, pulling his head down by his hair to kiss him.
He stopped teasing her and lifted her by the ass until she could feel his stiff cock probing between her legs. Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he released her wrists, positioning himself and plunging into her channel at the same time his tongue was invading her mouth. He wasn’t gentle as he matched his pummeling thrusts to the thrusts of his tongue, but the last thing she wanted right now was tenderness. Sarah wanted affirmation, proof that this was happening, that he’d really come back because he loved her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she speared her fingers through his hair, her body clamoring for everything he had to give.
He pulled his mouth from hers, his chest heaving. “Say it,” he urged forcefully, pounding his cock into her tight sheath again.
Sarah was on the precipice, ready to tip. “I love you, Dante. I love you so much,” she choked out as her channel starting to clench around him. Wrapping her arms around him, she held on tight as her body started to tremble with the force of her climax.
“There’ll never be another woman for me but you,” Dante groaned, burying himself deep inside her, his hot release flowing out of his body and into hers.
Sarah panted as she went limp in Dante’s arms. He walked with her to the couch in the living room and collapsed with a masculine sigh, bringing her down with him. Sarah rolled to his side, her body trapped between his unyielding, muscular body and the back of the couch.
Luxuriating in her warm haven and the feel of Dante against her, she traced the muscles on his sculpted chest, her face glowing with exertion and joy. “I just want you to be happy,” she said solemnly, still worried that Dante was giving up a job he loved. “You love your job.”
He wrapped a muscular arm around her and rolled to face her. “I am happy. Happier than I ever thought I’d be. And I did like what I did in Los Angeles, but I wasn’t happy. I think I wa
s obsessed with it because it was all I had. Patrick used to tell me if I didn’t slow down, I was going to burn out by the age of thirty. I’d spend some nights in the office when I didn’t need to, going over evidence that I’d already been over a hundred times before. Now I wonder if it wasn’t because I had nothing at home to look forward to. I had friends, but I was only ever really close to Patrick.”
Sarah’s heart ached for this man who had been in a big city, surrounded by close to four million people, and had still felt alone. She could empathize very well. She’d probably been the loneliest woman in Chicago. “I felt empty, too. I guess I was just waiting for you.”
“You found me. Now what are you going to do with me?” he asked.
“Love you,” she sighed happily.
“Show me?” he requested in a rare, vulnerable voice.
Sarah pulled his mouth to hers and proceeded to do exactly that for the rest of the day.
EPILOGUE
“She’s coming to the wedding,” Sarah said as she hung up the phone, astonished.
She and Dante had finally come up for air on Sunday, and Sarah had listened to her messages, knowing she had to return her mother’s call. Elaine Baxter had called five times. Sarah had finally picked up the phone to call her back, dreading the conversation.
She couldn’t say that her mother had actually been ecstatic about the fact that Sarah wasn’t marrying a Mensa candidate, but she’d actually agreed to attend her wedding to Dante.
After Sarah had firmly told her mother that she loved Dante, and that she was marrying him, Elaine Baxter had broken down and told Sarah how much she had loved her husband, Sarah’s father, and how badly it had hurt to lose him so young. The conversation had still been stilted, but it was the first time her mother had really told Sarah that she’d loved her father.
“Is her coming to the wedding a good or bad thing?” Dante asked carefully, seated on the couch with Coco on his lap.
