Bittersweet Deceit
Page 34
Everyone in the room held their breath, or so it seemed.
“Which is?” His smile lit up his face giving me the idea he might know.
I tugged on his shoulder so I could whisper in his ear. I quietly said, “No fisting.”
He laughed so hard he nearly fell over. “Deal,” he said aloud.
Everyone cheered as Stay slipped the ring on my finger. As he hugged me he said, “It’s not my grandmother’s engagement ring, but a family heirloom her mother passed on to her. If you don’t like—”
“I love it. It’s perfect. Thank you so much.” I put my arms around his neck and kissed him, not at all caring about the audience surrounding us.
“Thank you, Lainie, for saying yes.” He sat in my spot and shifted me onto his lap.
I watched our friends chatter about the news. Reclining back on Stay I asked, “Is this because we’re moving in together?”
“Partly yes, you know I’m old fashioned. But mostly it’s that you’re mine and I want everyone to know it. We can set the date when we’re ready.”
I whispered into his ear, “I’m ready.”
“Sorry folks for the short visit but I need to get Lainie home.”
The group laughed as we hugged everyone goodbye.
We managed to get very little packing done over the next few days. We couldn’t get enough of each other. With Stay I found a joy I hadn’t thought possible.
I never responded to Mason’s texts and emails. Internally, I thanked him for his love. I learned a lot about myself with him and he helped me release some of the hang ups I had about my body. He also opened my mind to trying new sexual experiences, which Stay benefited from.
I thought that when all the drama of my life passed by I would go back to being less emotional. Somehow Stay had opened my heart and now my emotions lived at the surface. I was getting used to getting teary eyed over a moving show, or a song that really touched me, or even the joys of my friends.
Sometimes the very worst experiences in life have a way of transforming into exactly what you need at the time. I felt grateful every day for the wonderful people in my life. I even found a true place of love for Bond, which I never thought could happen.
Stay and I decided to wait a year to get married and planned to do it at Butterfly World.
Blakely Bennett grew up in Southeast Florida and has been residing in the great Northwest for over nine years. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a degree in psychology, which accounts for her particular interest in crafting the personalities, struggles, and motivations of her characters. She is an avid reader of many genres of fiction, but especially enjoys erotica and romance. Writing has always been her bliss.
Blakely is married to a wonderful, loving, and supportive husband, who is also a writer, and who helps to keep her grounded. She is a mother, a communitarian, a lover of music (it is always on while she is writing thanks to Pandora), and a good friend. An advocate of love and female empowerment, she is also a facilitator for a women’s group. She loves to walk and hike for exercise, and finds that, since moving to Seattle, Washington, she is now one of those crazy people who walk in the rain.
Bittersweet Deceit is her sixth novel. She is also the author of the dark erotic suspense My Body Trilogy (My Body-His, My Body-His (Marcello) and My Body-Mine) and the co-authored of the contemporary romance, The Demarcation of Jack, which she wrote with her husband, Dana Bennett.
You can find Blakely on the web at:
www.blakelybennett.com
COMING SOON
The third novel
in the
Bound by Your Love series
Blue Persuasion