And again.
And...again.
It’s not that Dylan wasn’t satisfying me. Far from that actually. My orgasms were so intense, so incredible, that once they had calmed all I wanted was to feel it again. Feel him again.
Because that was the real truth behind it all...I couldn’t get enough of him. I’d thought, briefly, that I’d lost him entirely, that I’d never feel this again. It had nearly broken my heart, and I wanted to wash every moment of pain away with pure pleasure.
And Dylan was more than happy to provide.
But the high of the last day and a half had quietly slowed down as I realized that this couldn’t last forever. Sex was amazing, yes, but it wasn’t sustaining. It wasn’t what makes a relationship. And now as I laid next to him in bed, watching him sleeping quietly beside me, it was all I could think about.
What next?
Where do we go from here and does he even want it to go anywhere? His life isn’t here. It’s not with me. He needs to go home at some point to his fancy job and his big house and all the responsibilities that that entails.
“Emma?” Dylan stirred slightly in his sleep, tossing an arm around me as he rolled against my body.
“Hmm?” I responded, unsure if he was waking up or talking in his sleep. He did have the habit of doing that occasionally and it was heartbreakingly adorable.
But his eyes fluttered open and he looked at me with a drowsy smile that made his incredibly chiseled face somehow soft and vulnerable. It was as if I was getting a small peak into what was behind his hard exterior and I knew he rarely showed anyone--but he was showing me.
“Morning, beautiful.” He kissed me on the cheek and pulled me against him, tucking me into his chest as he lay on his side.
I grinned, letting myself by enveloped by him. “Actually, it’s almost dinner time.”
“Really?” He chuckled. “The last few days have really gotten away from us.”
“That’s really an understatement,” I added, then reached my arm around his body to give his ass a quick squeeze.
He made a low growling noise in his throat. “Don’t tease…”
I giggled and stopped what I was doing. A few minutes passed quietly, just cuddling one another and staying wrapped up in each other’s arms. But the thoughts didn’t leave me. I needed to know where this was going. I needed to know if what he wanted was the same as me.
“Dylan?” I finally found the courage to say...something. Though the rest of the sentence alluded me.
“Yeah?”
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “I think we should talk.”
He leaned back enough to look me in the face, one of his brows higher than the other. “Well, that’s never a good thing to hear.”
I shook my head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that to sound as ominous as it probably came out. I just meant...I meant that I think we should discuss what this is, or where this is going. The last few days have been amazing. Incredible, actually. I guess I’m just wondering what comes next?”
He didn’t respond right away and I could see his brain ticking away, trying to figure out what to say. “Honestly,” he began. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Even before I came back here.”
I waited, hoping he’d say more.
“And I think...I think I’m in pretty deep.” His eyes focused in on mine, and the tiniest glimpse of a smile showed at the corners of his lips. “I don’t know what the right answer is of where this goes next or how we make this work when we have so much between us--particularly distance--but I know that I will do anything. I want to be with you, and only you. I want this. I want us.”
My heart swelled in my chest, and I struggled to put words to every emotion that was suddenly surging through me. “Dylan…”
“I know you’ve been through a lot, especially recently,” Dylan continued. “I don’t want to pressure you. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t say no, but...well, I would really love it if you would say that we can give this a shot.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath. “You’re right. Recently, I have been through quite the rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. The last thing I ever expected was to meet you, but now that I have, and now that I know what this feels like--what we feel like together...there’s nothing I want more than to be together.”
The small smile on Dylan’s face split wide and he grinned. “Holy shit. We’re doing this. You’re my...my girlfriend?”
I nodded. “It would seem like it.”
“We still have one problem,” Dylan added.
“What?”
Dylan sighed. “I don’t live here.”
That was true. And it killed me. “Would long-distance be the worst thing in the world? I mean, I work from home so I can come visit you pretty often and you’re welcome here anytime.”
“What about next week after I leave here?” Dylan asked. “Why not work from home at my place?”
A small smile lifted the corners of my lips. “You want to spend all week here, and then all next week together at your place?”
He was grinning now, too. “Is that too much? Am I getting greedy?”
I shook my head. “Never. I’d love to spend next week with you. I’ll talk to my boss, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”
Dylan pulled me tighter against him and buried his face in my hair. “I can’t wait to spend more time with you, Emma.”
I didn’t say anything, but just smiled and curled into his chest. I couldn’t wait to spend more time with him either...and maybe, forever.
Epilogue
Emma
“Emma?” Elise called out to me from across the bridal suite. “Did you find the veil?”
“I think it’s still in the car,” I assured her. “I’ll grab it!”
“Wait, what’s wrong?” Sandy said from the bathroom.
“Nothing!” Elise and I replied in unison, not wanting to worry the young bride.
If anyone had told me a year ago that I would be a bridesmaid--again--but this time, in my cousin’s wedding to my ex-boyfriend...well, I would have told you that you were in-fucking-sane.
Yes, I said my cousin, Sandy, is getting married to my ex-boyfriend, Blake, today.
And I’m fully aware that this is a complete shit show and I’m getting a front row seat.
Did that sound mean?
I’m not trying to be. Honestly, I’m happy for Sandy that she’s found...the One. I don’t care that it’s Blake. That chapter of my life was over long ago. I feel absolutely nothing for him, and he can be with whoever he wants for all I care.
But that’s kind of the point.
He’s literally been with...whoever he wanted. Which would be fine if he were single, but for the last year, he’s been steadily dating my cousin. She’s fully aware of his affairs and straying, and people have warned her a hundred times over that he’s a piece of shit, but that doesn’t seem to matter to her. She’s repeated several times that she’s certain he’ll stop once they are married.
Fat chance.
Honestly, I just feel pity for her at this point. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that you can’t convince people to be who you want them to be or to do what you think they should do. People are going to make their own choices and there’s nothing I can do about that.
So, I decided to do the right thing and support my cousin when she asked me to be her bridesmaid.
Pulling the car keys out of my pocket, I clicked the unlock button and the car opened. Sure enough, the missing veil was in the backseat of the car. Luckily, we still had a few hours before the ceremony was going to start so we weren’t in a rush.
As I was walking back toward the venue, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and clicked the answer button for the incoming call.
“Hey,” I said into the phone.
“Hey, beautiful.”
A grin spread across my face. “Hi, Dylan. Are you o
n your way?”
“Just taking the dog out one more time, but then I’ll head in your direction.”
“How’s Max?” I asked, referring to the dog we’d adopted together a few months into our relationship after I’d moved across the country and into Dylan’s house.
“He’s fine. Clearly misses you. He isn’t the only one.”
My heart swelled at the thought of my two guys back home. Life had changed more over the last year than I’d ever expected, but I couldn’t be happier with every moment of it. Being with Dylan made me feel filled. I felt whole and protected and cared for. He made me feel loved and wanted and like there was nothing I could do to change that.
“Well, you’ll be here soon enough,” I reminded him. “And I can’t wait to see you, too.”
“Hey, Emma?”
“Yeah?”
Dylan cleared his throat. “Tomorrow night, let’s go out somewhere just us. A fancy dinner for two.”
“Sure, we can do that.” Once the wedding festivities would be over, I definitely would have a lot more free time. A nice dinner out to reconnect and spend time together sounded perfect.
“Oh, and one more thing…” Dylan added. “Make sure to get your nails done beforehand.”
“My nails?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “A manicure.”
“Uh, okay…” That was definitely an odd request, but I had already gotten my nails done this morning for the wedding. They would still look nice tomorrow, so I could check that task off my to-do list. “Consider it done.”
“Great. See you soon, babe. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I replied, then we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone. It had been a long time since we’d first started saying I-love-you to one another, and once we’d started, we never looked back. It felt right. It felt like us.
The truth was that I loved him with all my heart and I couldn’t believe it had only taken a swipe on Tinder to find the man I was always meant to be with.
Life was crazy--crazy happy--and Dylan’s recent request was just as odd as it all.
Returning to the bridal suite, I found myself frowning as I walked in.
“What’s wrong?” Elise asked me from where she was sitting and fluffing up flowers in a bridal bouquet.
“Nothing really,” I replied, taking a seat on the couch. “I just had a weird conversation with Dylan.”
Elise was the own frowning now. “You guys are so good together. What’s wrong?”
“It wasn’t anything wrong,” I clarified. “But he asked me to go to dinner together tomorrow.”
“That’s great,” my sister replied. “You guys could use some time together. We’ve been so busy the last two weeks with this wedding prep.”
“Yeah, but he asked me to get my nails done beforehand.”
Elise’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God! He did?”
I furrowed my brow. “Yeah--what? Did he suddenly develop a hand fetish or something?”
Laughing, my sister shook her head. “Dude, you are so dense. He’s going to propose!”
Now my eyes were widening. “Holy shit...you think he will?”
She shrugged. “Well, you’ve been together for a while. You all have a house together, and a dog. It’s about time he made things official.”
I couldn’t help the excitement growing inside of me at the prospect. It did make sense, and it was perfect timing. Truthfully, there was only one thing in my mind.
If he proposed, I was going to say yes.
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Keep reading for a short excerpt from another novel!
A Sneak Peek of Wylde Fire
A Contemporary Southern Romance
Now Live!
booksbysarahrobinson.net/wylde-fire/
Prologue
Flames flickered high in the rickyard, the strong scent of sugar maple and whiskey tickling Sam Wylde's nose as he watched the blaze grow higher. There was nothing he loved more than preparing for the first season of his brand-new company launch in Wyldefire Whiskey.
He'd spent the last five years building toward the launch of this business. Blood, sweat, tears. Name it, he'd done it. But it wasn't without sacrifice. As Sam watched the flames grow higher, he thought of everything he'd lost in the last year and everything he'd sacrificed in order to make Wyldefire the leading new brand of whiskey in the country.
There was one question he had to keep asking himself…
Was it worth it?
Chapter One
"You cannot do this to me, Cassie," Sam Wylde argued over the speakerphone attached to his truck's dashboard. He cringed as his Southern drawl came out a little thicker than usual. Frustration did that to him, and right now it was taking everything in him to not start cussing.
With a deft twist of his wrist, he steered his truck into the parking lot next to Town Hall, cutting off another car with a halfhearted wave of acknowledgement. He needed to pick up several permits before the city offices closed, leaving no room for pleasantries.
Damn, for a Saturday, the lot sure is packed.
He sighed and forced his attention back to the phone call. "We've got a few months until the launch of the entire brand. Everything I've done the last two years is riding on this."
"I'm really sorry," Cassie, his event planner, said from the other end of the phone. Or former event planner, apparently. "But I can't be in two places at once, and neither can my influencers and vendors. We're booked for that day now."
Teetering on the brink of exploding, Sam breathed in slowly. "But. You. Signed. With. Us. First." He ground the words out slow and steady.
"Technically, I haven't signed an actual contract. I was helping you out as a favor to Noah," Cassie informed him. "And where I go…so do my connections."
Sam needed no reminders that his cousin was a major pain in his ass. There was no doubt in his mind Cassie quitting on the launch was directly related to Noah Wylde breaking things off romantically between the two of them yesterday. Yes, yesterday. Sam was pretty out of touch with the small-town gossip vine, but even he'd heard about the messy, public break up last night. Bringing his cousin into the business had been at the not-so-subtle suggestion of his father and uncle, and Sam had never regretted acquiescing to their demands more.
Despite his frustrations with his cousin, Wyldefire Whiskey was still Sam's pride and joy. He and his cousin, along with a silent partner, Caleb Daughtry, had built their own distillery from the ground up and begun crafting their own brand of Tennessee whiskey. The first batch was being bottled now, and, in a few months, they'd be on liquor store shelves nationwide. He'd hired Cassie to plan their giant grand opening launch party at a swanky hotel in Nashville, only a short distance from the distillery—and Sam's hometown—in River Ridge, Tennessee. It was the last step in a massive public relations campaign for the entire brand.
"There's no one else in town who does events this large, Cassie. Especially last minute." He hated begging, but right now, he had no other choice. Cassie was an extremely well-connected socialite across the South who had come highly recommended by his PR company. He'd already put thousands of dollars into the brand's publicity, and a launch party filled with celebrities and social influencers she'd bring was supposed to be the final piece they needed to make their whiskey a household name.
"Like I said, I'm sorry," Cassie continued, zero remorse in her tone. "I'll make sure you get your check back on Monday. Have a great weekend!"
The line went dead and Sam slammed his fo
ot against the brake, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the parking lot. His hands were clenched so tightly around the wheel, there was a good chance he'd snap it in half.
"Sonofabitch!" His anger bubbled over, exploding at no one in particular.
Disconnecting the call, he placed his foot back on the gas and turned into the next aisle of cars to look for a spot. Pulling his truck past the open spot just enough to give him room to reverse, he shifted gears and anchored his arm behind the passenger seat, looking out the rear window.
A little blue coupe turned into the spot seconds before he could. So quick, he almost missed it entirely. Are you kidding me?
Sam shifted into park right in the middle of the aisle. Shoving the door open, he hopped down from the cab and stomped around the bed of his truck toward the coupe.
"Hey!" he shouted at the driver, throwing his hands up in the air. "What the hell was that? You stole my spot!"
Sam’s next words jammed in his throat, startled for a moment when the perpetrator, a tall, slender woman with fiery hair, climbed out of the driver's seat as he approached. As angry as he was, he was first and foremost, a hot-blooded, all-American man. It was impossible not to notice her curvy figure as she crossed her arms over her chest, or the way the sun, just beginning to drift lower in the late afternoon, illuminated the varying crimson hues in her scarlet hair. She leveled intensely silver eyes at him.
Sam pushed away the distracting thoughts, trying to manage his irritation—and growing arousal. "Darlin, you parked in my spot." He tried for the nicest tone he could muster, but it still came out sounding terse.
One Night Stand: An Erotic Serial: Episode Four Page 3
