by Alison Mello
Her brows shoot up. “Are you serious right now?”
I nod. “Dead. Order whatever you want.”
I’ve never been one to discuss my finances with people. I live a modest life but have a savings account most people can only dream of. I’ve worked hard for what I have. It's the way I was raised, and because of that, I just purchased the house of my dreams. I’m glad Jade had no idea how much money I had. I know she loves me for me and not for my bank account. Not that it was ever a concern of mine, but still good to know.
“I have no idea what to try," she says as she scans the menu.
“Mr. Taylor. It’s good to see you again.” Ashton, one of the waiters, comes over to the table.
“It’s good to see you too, Ashton.” I catch a glimpse of Jade with her jaw dropped. She doesn’t realize that I’m a regular here.
“What can I get you to drink.” He asks us.
“Just water for me.”
“Oh, um... I’m fine with water as well, thank you.” She pulls herself back together.
“Okay, do you need a few more minutes?” He asks, glancing between the two of us.
She shakes her head. “I’m ready.” He nods. “I’ll have the ten-ounce filet with Maine lobster.”
I smile, thrilled she didn’t try ordering the cheapest thing on the menu.
“Make it two.” Ashton knows that’s one of my favorite dishes. I come here at least once a month to treat myself to a nice meal, although it’s been a while because of our schedules. I get tired of pizza, and every day take out.
While we’re waiting for our meal, the gentleman at the piano starts playing Everytime We Touch by Cascada. It’s such a beautiful song. I stand from the table and hold my hand out to Jade. “Dance with me.”
She smiles and places her hand in mine. I escort her to the dance floor. Placing my hand at the small of her back, she stands tall, and I begin leading her around the dance floor. She looks amazing in this plum purple dress that goes to just above her knee.
We move across the dance floor with grace, in tune with one another, as if we’ve been dance partners for years. She looks deep into my eyes with a huge smile on her face. Her hand glides over my shoulder as I spin her around and pull her back to me as the song comes to an end. I stare deep into her eyes. “I love you, Jade,” I whisper so only she can hear.
She smiles. “I love you too.”
People are clapping, ending our private moment, so I take her hand, spin her away from me, and take a bow before we head back to our table to wait for our meal. The food is delivered, and once again, Jade’s eyes go wide. “Looks like I’ll be enjoying this meal twice.”
I laugh. “Yeah, the portions are definitely healthy.”
We go into a comfortable silence as we eat, but it doesn’t take long for Jade to announce that she’s full. “Bentley, this was delicious. Thank you for taking me to such a romantic place.”
“You’re welcome, my love. I’m glad you enjoyed it.” I can’t help but smile. She makes me so happy. I want to spend my entire life putting that smile on her face.
“We should have Micah add that song to our compilation.” She suggests as she pushes her plate away.
“I think that’s a great idea. We’ll talk to him about it on Monday.”
Ashton comes over with a tray stand, tray, and two to-go containers. He packs up what’s left of our meal and places them in a bag. “Can I get you some dessert?”
“No, thank you.” Jade pats her flat stomach.
Ashton leaves us the check, which I quickly take care of. I’m nervous and excited about the next part of our evening.
I grab our bag and take her hand. “Ready for part two?”
Her brows shoot up. “There’s more?”
I laugh. “Yes, love, there’s more.”
When we get outside, the valet is pulling up with the car. I open the door for Jade and then climb in. When I pull out of the lot, I can see her mind is reeling. She’s watching out the window, trying to figure out where we’re going next.
It takes a little bit of a drive, but we finally pull up to my long narrow driveway. It looks a bit creepy for a moment, but suddenly it opens up to this beautiful open yard with a long winding driveway. I climb out, and once again open Jade’s door, taking her hand in mine.
“Bentley, where are we?”
I smile. “Come on.” I walk her up the steps of the porch, punch some numbers into the keypad, and open the front door. We step inside a beautiful open foyer. There are rose petals scattered across the floor. With her hand in mine, I walk her to the back of the house. She gasps when I open the door that leads to the water crashing upon the shore.
“Bentley, this is beautiful. I can’t believe you rented us this place.”
I take her hands and force her to look at me. I shake my head. “I didn’t rent it. I bought it... for us.”
Her eyes fill with tears, and her jaw drops. “Jade, I love walking you home every night, but I don’t ever want to part ways again. Let me bring you home to our place every night.”
Her brows furrow for a minute. “Bentley, what are you asking me?” She asks, practically panting.
“Marry me, Jade. Let’s forever come home together.” Her hands tremble as she takes in that I’ve just proposed. I pull the box from my pocket and open it to reveal a beautiful princess cut diamond ring.
I smile. “Are you going to make me beg?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “I would love to spend the rest of my life with you.” I slip the ring on her finger, scoop her up, and spin her around.
“I can’t believe you bought this place. It’s beautiful.” She says with tears streaming down her face.
“Just like my fiancé, who, by the way, deserves nothing but the best.” I tug her back inside. “Let me show you around.” I point out the state-of-the-art kitchen, which I have already stocked.
“It’s beautiful.” She runs her hand over the dark marble countertop. “I can’t wait to cook for you.” She glances up at me with a huge smile on her face. “I can cook for our entire crew in this kitchen.”
“If there is anything you want to change about the place, just say the word, and we’ll get it taken care of. I contemplated showing it to you before I bought it, but I had to decide quickly because someone else was looking at it as well.” I shrug. “So, I told my realtor to make it happen.”
“It’s stunning, and I can’t believe you have it furnished already.” She glances around as I take her into our master bedroom.
“I wanted us to start out with all new stuff, so I have a friend that will take care of selling all the old furniture. I have plenty of time to exchange this stuff, so again, if you don’t like any of it, just say the word, and we swap it out.”
She shakes her head. “No, you have great taste, Bentley.”
“I agree.” I pull her over to our bed. “It’s time for dessert.” I slowly lean forward, pressing my lips to hers and our tongues collide. Every time I kiss her, it hits me with the same mind-blowing effect as the very first night, and I look forward to having that feeling for the rest of my life.
“Thank you, Bentley.”
I furrow my brows. “For what?”
“For not giving up on me. For loving me and for making me the happiest woman alive. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I can’t wait for her to officially be mine forever. For now, we need to celebrate our engagement with an evening of me enjoying every inch of her beautiful body.
Epilogue
Jade
I can’t believe the day we’ve been waiting for is here. We’ve all worked so hard, and now it’s time to leave it all out there for the judges. Every routine has an approximate time to be ready. Our team has already been on stage twice, but in between, I have spent my time changing and being glued to the TVs watching our competition, and it’s tough. There are a lot of really talented dancers here this year.
We still have our duet to compete with. Jitters hav
e fully taken over my body. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I have the love of my life by my side, and I’m doing something I truly enjoy. This should be exciting, but instead, I can’t stop shaking out my nervous hands. Yes, there’s prize money on the line, but honestly, Bentley and I don’t care about that. For us, it’s about doing our best and coming out on top. We’re both very competitive people. Not to mention we’re up against Jackson and Brittany.
Bentley walks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “It’s almost time.”
I nod, expelling a slow, steady breath. “I know.”
“Why are you so nervous?” He asks, kissing me on the shoulder.
I look up at him over my shoulder. “Aren’t you?”
He shakes his head. “Why should I be? I have the most beautiful woman in the world as my wife and dance partner.” Bentley flew his parents down here a month ago so we could get married on our beach with our closest friends and family by our side. It was a beautiful ceremony. “She has moves that most women would kill for, and to be honest, Jade, Micah was right. We’re perfect together.”
I smile. “I love you.”
He kisses me on the nose. “I love you too.”
“Up next from Micah Dance Academy, we have a brand new duo. Please give a warm welcome to Bentley and Jade Taylor.”
We hurry out onto the stage, waving at all the people gathered around to watch. This isn’t as big as Dancing with the Stars, but pretty close. At one point, it was my goal to make it on that show. Now, my goal is to live a long, happy life with Bentley by my side.
We have three minutes on stage, and Micah has taken every second of it with the compilation he put together. He starts with Walk Me Home by Pink, which made me laugh the first time I heard it. It was totally fitting seeing that’s how Bentley and I started. I’m wearing a long red low-cut dress like Pink wears in the video. I start walking away from Bentley, following the choreography that Micah taught us.
Micah’s mix rolls seamlessly into I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran. Right on cue, Bentley grabs the string of my dress and spins me, peeling the red dress from my body, tossing it aside. The audience screams as we continue dancing our routine with huge smiles on our faces. Little do they realize each of these songs means something to us.
J Lo blares through the speakers right as she sings, “I’ve met so many men, it’s like they're all the same.” Bentley throws his head back, laughing as I walk toward him, working the steps of our routine. I mouth the words of the song to him, but the music cuts once again. As it does, Bentley tears one more layer from my body revealing a thin, elegant dress and Every Time We Touch by Cascada starts to play. He spins me around, picks me up, tosses me in the air, and catches me perfectly. The crowd erupts, cheering us on as we finish our last few steps.
When we’re done, everyone is on their feet, and we’re both panting, breathless from pouring everything we have into this dance. Something that was so easy to do. It was a story, our story. It was our heart and soul.
He takes my hand and holds it up as I curtsey. We both bow together and jog off the stage. Micah is there with full-on smiles. He hands us each a bottle of water. “Guys, that was amazing. You were fun, flirty, sexy, perfect.” He states, with excitement hugging me.
“We couldn’t have done it without you, man.” Micah and Bentley shake hands.
“I doubt that, but thanks.”
The next couple is called to the stage. The competition is almost over, but Jackson and Brittany still haven’t gone. I want to get backstage, so I can chill and watch the rest of the dancers.
The three of us walk off to the waiting area and find a place to sit and watch from one of the mounted TVs. The choreography on one of the production routines was off the chart. It’s going to be tough to win this year.
Then they appear, Brittany and Jackson are called out to the stage for their three minutes. Their moves are spot on, they manage to nail their stunt, but the chemistry is off. It’s one piece that Brittany doesn’t understand when it comes to dancing. It’s not just about the moves. It’s about the chemistry with your partner. Jackson and I had chemistry, but Bentley and I have far more. She’ll never be in the spotlight with him because she’s there for the wrong reasons. Soon we’ll see if the judges agree.
At this competition, the top three in each category are called backstage, and then you find out what place you took. They start with the solo’s first. Our friend Breigh took second place for her solo. We’re all so proud of her. The competition was legit fierce this year. We cheer her on from the room as they announce her name.
Next are the duets. There are three duets from our company alone, never mind all the other dance companies that are here. A gentleman comes to the back where we all anxiously wait. “Kylie and Jared of Miami Heat, Jackson and Brittany of Tango Dance, and Bentley and Jade of Micah Dance Productions.” Bentley and I jump up and down with excitement. We made the top three!
He escorts us to the side of the stage. “Wait here until you hear your name called.” He instructs the three teams.
“In the duet competition, this year’s second runner-up is Jared and Kylie of Miami Heat.” The audience claps, and they run out on stage to take a bow and get their trophy.
I look over at the couple beside me. “Good luck, guys.”
Brittany looks over. “You’re the one who needs luck. That mix of music was ridiculous.” She rolls her eyes.
“This year’s runner up is....” The announcer pauses for effect, making me want to throat punch him. “Jackson and Brittany of Tango Dance.”
I look over with a smile. “Apparently, the judges disagree.”
They take the stage and bow. Brittany is trying to look excited, but she’s failing miserably. Anyone could tell she’s pissed.
“And this year’s Duet Champions are Bentley and Jade of Micah Dance Productions.” They announce with a thunderous roar. The crowd rises, clapping and cheering as we take the stage. The announcer hands me a bouquet of flowers as the other dancers are ushered off the stage. I’m so excited my cheeks hurt from smiling.
Bentley picks me up and spins me around. He slides me down the front of his muscular chest. “You know what this means, right?”
I look up at him. “What?”
“We have to defend our title next year,” he says with a smile.
I toss my head back, laughing. “Babe, I’ll dance forever as long as you are by my side.”
He gives me a chaste kiss, and we exit the stage. I was prepared to find Brittany and Jackson waiting to give us crap, but they were nowhere to be found. We rush back to the waiting area to find our friends waiting for us, full of excitement.
They’re hugging us and cheering for us as soon as we enter the room, but our celebration is cut short by the announcer grabbing more teams. They call our women’s teams. We took first. Then they called the men, they took third, which no one was surprised by. They had a men’s team that was doing some sick tricks. Lastly, they called the company productions, and we took second.
Micah gathers us around. “Listen up!” He shouts, “all of you did amazing tonight. I’m super proud of you guys.” We clap for each other, excited that all our hard work paid off. “Now it’s time to celebrate. Bentley and Jade have invited us to their place for one hell of a beach party!”
Our friends are all cheering excitedly. It’s been a long few weeks. Between extra rehearsals to prepare for today and our work schedules, we’ve had little time for anything else. Now that this competition is over, it’s time to celebrate.
“Let’s party!” I shout to our crew, who is quickly gathering their things so we can celebrate.
Bentley looks down at me. “Let’s go home, beautiful.”
THE END
More Books by Alison Mello
A Coach’s Love
Refuse to Lose
Hustle and Heart
Rise Up
To Love and Serve
Shattered Souls
Cl
ub Thrive Series
Club Thrive Compulsion
Club Thrive Vendetta
Club Thrive Agenda
Club Thrive Deception
Club Thrive Predator
Once Broken Series
Embracing Love
Love Heals All
Love Conquers Life Series
Saved by a Soldier
My Broken Soldier
Forever My Soldier
A Soldier for Bella
Acknowledgments
A huge shout out to my girl Rhonda for encouraging me to write this story. Girl, I am so blessed to have you by my side on this journey. Thank you for posting those videos and encouraging me to write this novella during a time when a happy love story is totally what our world needed. This book is for you.
To my readers, thank you for being patient with me over the last year. I appreciate you staying by my side. It feels good to get this book out, and I’m excited to hear what you think about it. Stay tuned, there is more to come from me over the next year. I want you to know that I love and appreciate each and every one of you.
Thank you to my husband for always being there for me and supporting me. My writing times and work hours always get a tad crazy as I’m approaching a release, and he is always flexible and there for me when I need him. I love you and appreciate all you do so I can stay home and pursue this journey.
To my beta team and street team. You ladies rock. Thank you a million times over for always being there for me when I need you.
Special shout out to Julie from Jewels Editing! Thank you for all of your hard work on this book, girl. You made this book fun and easy to write. I appreciate all the work you put into making this book what it is today!
