Meant to be More (Meant to Be Series Book 4)

by Amelia Foster

  ***

  Jillian

  Present Day

  “Please don’t be joking.” The words barely made it past her dry lips.

  Dean smiled in that obnoxiously charming way she was never really able to resist and shook his head. “This isn’t a joke, Jillybean. I’ve loved you for two decades because you’re my best friend, but I finally pulled my head out of my ass long enough to realize I’m in love with you too.” He lifted one shoulder. “But I needed to feel like I could be the man you deserved before I told you.”

  She moved to wrap her arms around his neck and plant herself firmly in his lap. “How could you ever think you didn’t?”

  He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t have my shit together. And once I did, I had every intention of telling you everything and then…” He smirked with just a little more confidence than was necessary. “Then you came home and proposed to me.”

  Heat,that had absolutely nothing to do with the sun crept up the back of her neck. “Yeah, about that…I saw my parents last night. I told them that they would need to find another way to access the trust or they’d have to sell off enough assets to cover everything.” She leaned her forehead against his. “I didn’t want you to feel any obligation to stay married to me.”

  Dean tightened his hold on her waist. “This was never an obligation. I would have done anything to help you because I love you, but marrying you was a gift.” He brushed his lips across hers. “One I selfishly took advantage of so that I could do that whenever I wanted to.”

  She pulled back slightly in the circle of his arms. “Dean, I love you too, and I…I want to stay married to you for that reason and only that reason. I don’t want money or misplaced familial duty to factor into it at all, so I took them out of the equation.”

  “You only use my real name when it’s serious.”

  “Oh, very serious.” Jillian slipped from his embrace and knelt on the dusty ground beside Fredrock. She reached around to the secret weapon she’d hidden beside the enormous stone slab. She held up the single red rose with a grin. “Will you accept this rose?”

  He stood and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to her feet and fitting her firmly against his body. “I want more than a rose. I want you for real, forever.” His mouth clamped onto hers, needy, passionate, demanding.

  Her overloaded heart nearly exploded out of her chest at his words. She reached up to grip the back of his neck and keep his lips tight on hers.

  Long moments later when they finally pulled apart, she looked up at him, the last remnants of her adolescent uncertainty still lingering in her mind. “You’re sure?”

  His sapphire irises melted into warm, molten pools. “For most of my life I haven’t been certain of much.” He dropped his head down to rest on hers. “But you have been the one thing I’ve never questioned.”

  She fisted his shirt and brought his lips back onto hers. More than a decade of the feelings she had swallowed down and tried to ignore poured into the simple action that was anything but simple. “I love you.” She breathed the words against his mouth. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to tell you that.”

  Dean pulled back and tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

  Jillian rolled her eyes. “You’re adorable, but completely oblivious. I started falling in love with you in high school, Sparky.”

  His hand slipped beneath her top, stroking the bare skin of her back. His fingertips created a delicious shiver as they traveled up her spine. “What if I told you I fell in love with the seven-year-old version of you that appeared out of thin air wearing a fluffy, frothy, fancy dress?”

  “I’d call you a liar.” She smiled and pressed herself against him. “But that’s a nice try.”

  His wandering digits made their way under the waistband of her pants. “You know the most annoying part of this?”

  Jillian looked up at him, quirking an eyebrow. “The most annoying part of loving me?”

  “Yes,” he affirmed as his lips traveled from her mouth to the column of her neck. “The fact my asshole brothers were right.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dean

  Present Day

  He turned her slightly, nudging her toward Fredrock, his thumb tracing circles on her back and sending chills down his spine. He blinked once, then twice, and a third time just to be certain she wouldn’t disappear in a cloud of smoke. This reality was almost too good to be true.

  Jillian dropped her hand down to rest on his belt buckle. “Are we seriously doing this here? In the middle of the day?”

  Dean offered her a smile filled with far more confidence than he actually felt. He couldn’t admit the truth that this might be more nerve-wracking than his first time. “This is our spot, Jilly. What could be better?”

  “It’s also the middle of the damn day.” She rolled her eyes, but pulled his belt free of the loops with a whispered hiss. “Someone could see us.”

  With a gentle push of his thumb, he freed the button on her capris. “You and I both know we’ve spent hours out here before without anyone noticing.” He gave a wicked grin as he slid the zipper down. “I guess you’ll just have to be quiet so you don’t draw too much attention.”

  She tugged his shirt free from the waistband of his pants and tossed it to her right. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as her fingers traced the caverns between the muscles on his chest and abdomen. “I could say the same thing to you, Sparky. You’ve proven to be pretty…vocal yourself.”

  He gently pushed on her shoulder until she took a seat on the rock and dropped to his knees to pull both of her sandals free at the same time. “That’s the effect of a good woman on me.” He tugged her pants down and bent to plant gentle kisses up her bare thighs.

  She moaned and shed her own shirt, much to Dean’s delight. His eyes feasted on his Jilly, his best friend, his lover, his wife, as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back clad only in sexy-as-hell lingerie.

  “She makes me pull my shit together.” He moved farther north, his lips leaving a soft trail on her skin. “She makes me fall in love.” His thumb hooked beneath the band of her underwear. “And she makes me scream so loud I lose my voice.”

  “Oh holy hell.” She laid back on the material covering the stone.

  Her barely muted cries surrounded him in a melody of bliss that stretched his self-control and the limits of his jeans. Although nothing tested his resolve more than glancing up the length of her body to see her bite down on her fist as he swirled his tongue once more around the sensitive nub that he’d been lavishing his attention on.

  She dug her fingers into his shoulders and pulled him up to her face. “Listen, Sparky, you better tell me you’ve got a condom hiding in your wallet or we are going to test the true ability of your snazzy little sports car to get us home in under five minutes.”

  With a soft chuckle he bent down to kiss along her shoulder to her collarbone, but his racing heart didn’t miss the word “home.” Their home. “My amazing wife planned a romantic rendezvous and forgot the most important part?”

  Jillian palmed his cheeks, holding him just above her. “Your amazing wife was slightly preoccupied with the whole confessing her love without losing the most important person in her life thing. Sex on Fredrock hadn’t really entered my mind.”

  He levered himself over her on one arm and reached into his back pocket, setting his wallet down beside the flaming hair fanned out around her head. “Good thing I’ve gotcha covered.”

  She shoved his shoulder until he was on his back and she straddled his waist. “Technically you’re the one getting covered here, Sparky.” She bent down to press a hard kiss to his lips. “And I’m just the girl to handle that.”

  ***

  Jillian

  Present Day

  She fished through his wallet until she located the foil pack and held it up between her index and middle fingers triumphantly. “Only one?” She rocked her hips against the denim bulge
beneath her, torturing herself just as much as him. “Little disappointed in your preparedness, Sparky.”

  Dean groaned and gripped her waist, his thumbs moving in circles around her hipbones. “I may be a grade A specimen, Jilly, but even I require a little recovery time. At least long enough to get home.”

  Slowly sliding down from his body, she lifted a brow. “Listen, Sparky, we have a lot of time to make up for.” She unfastened his jeans and pulled them free from his body.

  His breathing shallowed as she wrapped a hand around the shaft. “We’ve only been married for like a week and half and sure as hell haven’t exactly been celibate in that time frame. How could we have much to catch up on?”

  She grinned as she planted soft kisses on his navel. “I told you, I’ve been in love with you for a decade. You’re just a little late to the party.”

  Dean trembled slightly beneath her touch and her smile widened. “I stand by the statement that I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.”

  Jillian slid the latex in place slowly, with painstaking precision, and was rewarded with a guttural moan. She lifted onto her knees and hovered over him, bracing herself with one hand on his chest. With more self-control than she thought she could possess, she lowered herself onto him centimeter by centimeter, drawing out the moment as long as she possibly could.

  She leaned forward and kissed his lips softly, catching the end of another tortured groan. “Doing okay there, Sparky?”

  With a grunt he grabbed her waist and flipped them both until they were lying on their sides, gazes locked. “Now I am.” He captured her mouth in a desperate kiss and hitched her thigh over his hip.

  A light breeze floated across her bare skin, but the passion driving them both erased any chill that threatened. His steady and measured thrusts rapidly increased until he was driving inside her with the demanding force they both needed.

  His fingers slid from her leg to the small of her back and pressed into her spine, keeping her flush against him. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin at the juncture between her throat and neck before moving his wickedly gifted lips to her ear. “Later, I’m going to make up for this whole keeping quiet thing.”

  The ridiculously teasing taunt held enough seductive promise to catapult her into starry bliss. Fireworks exploded in front of her eyes and she bit her lips inward to silence the screams of ecstasy. Tremors rippled through her and she tightened her grip on his arm. Within seconds Dean’s muted growls echoed through her as his body convulsed beside her.

  Jillian nestled closer, her head under his chin, the rapid thumping of his heartbeat gradually returning to a steady, rhythmic cadence. She softly kissed his collarbone. “Pretty sure this whole outdoor sex thing requires further investigation.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Dean

  Present Day

  As much as he wanted this moment to last forever, laying sprawled out across a rock buck naked was probably not the wisest idea. He pressed his lips to the crown of her head. “We probably need to think about moving.”

  She moaned and pushed into a sitting position. “I hate when you’re right.” She reached for her top and held it to her chest. “Any chance you’d be able to come home and get a shower before heading back to work?”

  “Damn, you’re insatiable.” He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder before hopping off the rock to locate both of their discarded clothes. “But I think my wife’s little surprise lunch necessitates getting cleaned up before going back to the ranch and pretending like absolutely nothing just happened.”

  Jillian hastily tugged on the undergarments he tossed her direction and searched for her shoes. “I meant so that you could be presentable for work. And good, you can help me pack up what food hasn’t made its way to the ground.”

  Once they were both fully dressed, they worked efficiently to load everything into his car. Just as she turned to get one of the final loads he caught her in his arms and held her firmly against his body. “We’re going to need to talk and figure…a lot out.”

  She tilted her head and looked up at him. “Like what, Sparky?”

  Holding her without stupid secrets between them was like the one gift you get at Christmas that you never knew you wanted. “Like what this will mean for you. I don’t want you to give up doing what you love, but I have a responsibility to manage Recovered Hope and work with Mat.”

  Jillian fitted herself to him slightly tighter. “I took the job Sam offered me. Working out in the field was amazing and I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for anything.” She cupped his face in her hands. “But right now I love what I do with Sam and I’m hoping my husband will teach me more about the program he started.” Her voice dropped an octave. “And hearing you get all passionate about something is sexy as hell.”

  Dean groaned and pushed her slightly away from him. “You’re not helping when I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.” He took a step back and purposely ignored the saucy grin and lifted brow coming from the redhead. “Are you going to be good and listen?”

  She rolled her eyes then tossed him a wink. “Only if I have to.”

  He stuck out his finger. “You have to.” The last remaining piece of the puzzle rotated in his mind. “You need to know something.”

  All the mischief evaporated from her face and she sobered. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  He took a deep breath. “I met with your dad and explained my program to him and I invited him to participate to…to try to get him some of the help he needs. I didn’t think he was going to show up. I mean, he damn near kicked me out of his house, but—”

  Jillian launched herself into his arms and stole his words with a soul-rending, breath-stealing kiss. He staggered slightly from the unexpected force, but held her to him, losing himself once more in everything Jillian.

  “You really don’t need to try to make me love you more, Sparky.” She sniffed between tears rolling down her face. “I’m already crazy about you. Even though I’ll still punch you if you tell anyone I was crying.”

  He chuckled and kept a tight grip on her. “Never, Jillybean, never. You’re downright terrifying.”

  ***

  Jillian

  Present Day

  As soon as she turned the corner leading to their home, the sun glinted off the long black town car parked in their driveway and Jillian sucked in a breath. Dean’s hand immediately appeared on top of hers from his spot in the passenger’s seat.

  “I’m guessing that means you didn’t know they were coming.”

  She shook her head mutely and threw the car into park along the curb. Hastily she ran trembling fingers through her hair and cast Dean a disgusted look. “I’m damn near thirty and married, and yet I am still terrified my parents are going to know I just had sex.”

  Dean winked, which did absolutely nothing to lessen her nerves. “Don’t worry. As long as you’re only having sex with your husband it’s totally allowed.”

  A sleek head of hair the same shade as Jillian’s, now liberally streaked with gray, emerged from the backseat as soon as the driver pulled the door open. Her father followed with a drawn, resigned expression on his face. “Jillian,” her mother’s clipped tones prickled Jillian’s skin, “we’ve been waiting.”

  The instinctive urge to duck her head and apologize for making them wait washed over her, but she pushed it back and lifted her chin a notch. “Why don’t you come inside, Mother?”

  She blindly reached to her side for Dean and let out a small exhale of relief when his palm slid into hers and gripped firmly. Somehow she managed to unlock the door without dropping the keys in her shaking grasp.

  Helena marched in behind them with Edward in tow, her gaze sweeping over their small apartment, and Jillian could practically feel the judgement radiating from her mother. “Very quaint, my dear. I’m certain this must be an upgrade compared to the tents you’ve been living in.”

  The zing of offense that shot to h
er spine and straightened her posture evaporated as she realized there was a…teasing note to her mother’s voice. Something she hadn’t really believed the woman capable of.

  “I like it.” Jillian nodded and slid her arm around Dean’s waist. “It works for us.”

  The older woman knitted her fingers together in front of her. Helena shot a quick look over to her husband standing at her side. “You were right.”

  A feather could have easily sent Jillian toppling to the carpet at the power of the three words her mother spoke. “Excuse me?”

  Helena took a step toward her and some of the veneer that typically kept her perfectly expressionless face intact cracked and fell away. “I said you were right. Your father is sick. Something you would have already known if you’d allowed me to speak rather than barging in and rambling like a lunatic.”

  A wave of embarrassment briefly washed over her, warming her cheeks, but she lifted her chin a notch. The measure of confidence she’d gained by releasing years of pent-up hurt and frustration wiped away the momentary guilt. “I probably could have handled that better, but I don’t regret anything I said.”

  The tight lines around her mother’s eyes and mouth softened slightly before she schooled her features back into a much more controlled expression. “You most certainly could have.” She nodded in Dean’s direction. “Thanks to Dean, we’ve learned that your father’s addiction is an illness and something we will need to work on for a long time.”

  She blinked rapidly and shook her head slightly. “But that’s not the reason I’m here. It was unfair of me, of both your father and I, to lay such a heavy responsibility on you. And to ask you to do something like get married just to appease your grandfather’s stipulations and access the money we needed.”

  Emerald eyes that mirrored her own locked on Jillian’s gaze. “I can’t pretend to understand your mission in life to help people you’ve never met, but, darling,” her mother closed the few feet between them and clasped her daughter’s hands tightly in hers, “I am so proud of what you’ve done.”