“So you want to go out on the boat...or not?” he asked, still unsure what her agenda might be.
“I do,” Leah answered. “To talk. Not to fish.” She cleared her throat, trying to muster up the strength to say what she wanted to say.
Ten minutes later they were loading the dogs onto Cap's boat and drifting out into the bay. The late afternoon sun sparkled on the water like diamonds, even though to the south a thick band of dark clouds approached. “Are we going to be okay weather-wise?” Leah asked.
Cap looked toward the south, then the west, and nodded. “The radar indicates it'll go about twenty miles south of us. Water's gonna be choppy though, so we aren't going too far out.”
As many times as she'd tried to imagine Cap in his natural environment or accompanying him out on the boat, she would have never guessed it would happen under these circumstances. When they were several hundred yards out from shore he turned around from his captain's chair and simply asked, “What's up?” as if he couldn't stand the suspense any longer.
“You're not really selling the warehouse tomorrow, are you?” were the words she chose to open with.
He didn't seem surprised that she knew. Small town, and all that, she thought.
“That's the plan,” he answered without hesitation. “Don't see any reason not to, and I'm getting a pretty fair price considering that it's half remodeled for a swing club.” There was no resentment in his response. He smiled as if he had long since severed his ties with his former dream.
“I don't understand why you changed your mind,” Leah admitted. “I hope it's not because of me.”
Cap stood up and moved toward her. The dogs sat up at the bow of the boat peering over the edge. He saw her watching Glory with concern. “Don't worry, Keeper never jumps in. They'll be okay.”
She stood and called Glory back to her side anyway. The beagle looked disappointed but obeyed. “You didn't answer my question,” she protested, looking back into his eyes.
“You didn't ask one,” he retorted, looking back at the water, avoiding her eyes.
“So we can't talk about this?” she asked, feeling frustrated already. Maybe this is a mistake, me coming here and blindsiding him like this. Maybe he doesn't want to rehash the past. He's over it.
“I can't for the life of me understand why you believed what Rhonda and Casey said about me,” he answered. Then he shrugged as if it had long since stopped hurting and turned back to the wheel. He steered them toward a little island perched in the bay with low scraggly shrubs and orange-tinted sand.
Leah felt her throat close up, preventing any sound from escaping. Cap continued to steer with his back toward her. “And you didn't even ask me what really happened,” he continued. “You've never trusted me, Leah.”
“You didn't come after me,” she finally said, the wounds breaking open, oozing fresh blood.
“I tried to contact you,” he argued. “You wouldn't talk to me. You told me not to call anymore.”
“When you didn't show up at my doorstep, like you had every other time we'd had a disagreement, I thought it was because you knew I'd found out you were using me all along. And that you didn't deny it.”
Those words sent him flying off the chair and to her side, suddenly enraged. Even in the dimming light, she could see the veins popping out in his neck and temple. It was taking every ounce of restraint he had not to scream at her.
Instead of screaming, his voice came out a hoarse whisper, as if it was the only compromise he could make. “How do you think I could lay next to you every night for months, plan our future together, ask you to move in with me, give up the lifestyle I loved, totally devote myself to you if I didn't love you, Leah? Do you really think I'm that great of an actor? Do you really think I can fake my attraction to you, my connection with you, my desire to make you happy in every single goddamn thing I do?”
Besides being dumb, she was now also frozen. He was staring at her, his face gripped with the pain they thought they'd both conquered, piercing into him with brand new blades. He stared at her expectantly as his metaphorical wounds bled all over the boat, daring her to answer the questions he'd posed through clenched teeth.
She felt his passion and fire evaporating from his body. And she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was not something that could be fabricated. Her heart was pounding irrationally, distracting her mind from being able to verbalize her thoughts. I have to say something. I have to make him believe that I trust him, she panicked. But she couldn't make her vocal chords work.
All the emotion inside of her welled up like a fountain and sent her sprawling forward into his arms. She slammed against his chest, her cheeks absorbing his sweat, the musky scent of him filling her nose. Her body convulsed with the onslaught of tears, weeping like a thunderstorm in his arms which slowly encircled her.
She felt his lips against her forehead and his entire body softened with relief. She felt it too, the sudden feeling that she was home, where she belonged. Her larynx began to vibrate, signaling she was finally capable of producing sound. She pulled back to see the tears clinging to his cheeks.
“Oh, Cap, I'm so sorry, I'm so very sorry. I should have trusted you...I should have trusted this.” She squeezed his arms as all the thoughts she'd stored away over the prior months began to tumble out uncontrollably.
“I've been so confused the last few months, not knowing how I feel about the whole swinging thing, not really understanding what you see in me. Not knowing if God was going to strike me down, not knowing if my parents would ever forgive me if they found out. Not knowing if I was going to lose my job, not knowing what the future held for me.
“But there was one thing I thought I did know, one thing I thought I was absolutely certain of, and that was that I loved you. When Mary came to tell me what Casey said and what Rhonda said, all of those unknowns just blew up in my face. The one sure thing I thought made up for all the unknowns suddenly didn't matter anymore if it was built on false pretenses.
“When I talked to Casey, she really felt you might be capable of using me. She still believed you had a second family all those years ago in Florida, which, by the way, I got the story straight on that. It's a wild, completely crazy thing, but we'll talk about that later. I've always looked up to Casey and thought she was so wise. And with everything so uncertain for me and all the fears about what I'd learned about myself, I thought maybe I'd just been suckered in, that I'd felt something that was never there. And then when you didn't rush in and save me, you didn't even try to convince me that your feelings were genuine, I felt like Casey was right and I'd just been a naïve, lovesick fool.”
“Me too,” Cap interrupted. “I thought I'd been a fool to trust Rhonda, Casey, and yes, even you. I felt like there was some sort of conspiracy against me being happy, against me achieving my dreams. I always felt like you were too good to be true, Leah. And I convinced myself that you were.”
“So what now?” Leah asked. “What happens next?”
He looked out across the bay as the sun descended closer and closer to the water. The threatening clouds to the south had blown away and the sky was warming up as if preparing to put on a glorious show. The dogs had moved onto the vinyl-covered benches flanking the sides of the boat. They seemed happy to be reunited and were sprawled out gazing at each other through heavy-lidded eyes.
He pulled her back into his arms. “I love you,” Cap breathed against her cheek. “I want to be with you, Leah. I'll give up swinging and I'll give up the club. I don't care about that stuff. I just want us to be together.”
She pulled back from him and studied his gleaming blue eyes. All she saw was love. Nothing more, nothing less.
If he was willing to give up swinging and the club to be with her, she knew that his motives were pure. And there was that word again. Pure: 100% one thing and 0% anything else. She couldn't prevent a huge grin from spanning her face, stretching her cheeks so wide that she nearly revealed dimples of her own. Seeing her smile set off
a chain reaction and soon Cap was displaying his dimples for all they were worth as he took her into his arms and held her close to his chest.
The sun had gradually melted into a fiery crimson band highlighted by streaks of orange and gold. The clouds had gathered to the eastern side of the sky, waltzing across the Atlantic in rosy ballgowns trimmed with lavender ruffles. In between the clouds and the sinking sun, golden beams shone down glazing the gentle rolling waves of the bay with a gilded brush. Leah imagined what she and Cap might look like from a passing boat, silhouetted on the sky's surreal canvas, lovers intertwined, the distinct boundaries of their bodies lost against the setting sun.
“You don't have to give up anything for me,” Leah finally whispered into his ear. “I love you too. And I want what you want. I want to make you happy.”
“You already do,” he smiled, looking over her shoulder to scan the horizon. “Look at us, sailing off into the setting sun! If that's not a fairytale ending, I don't know what is.”
“It's a little cliché,” Leah admitted, “but I'll take it.”
She watched him turn the boat toward the shore and with the movement, the dogs perked up their ears and ran to the bow again, feeling the bay breezes blow against their wet black noses. “So you're sure you're okay with me being some old fisherman and not a fairytale prince?” he joked.
She slung her arms around his neck and leaned down, her chin perched on his shoulder. “You may not be a prince, but at least you're a captain!” she laughed.
“I'll take it, Sugar,” he smiled. “I'll take it.”
EPILOGUE
Leah didn't deny that she was nervous. Six long months of work and The Factory was finally opening its doors. She felt like everything was in place: the bar was tended, the dance floor was waxed, the lights were adjusted, and the private rooms were comfortable and ready for play. The security guards had been well-trained and were at their stations. She and Casey had generated as much buzz as possible about the grand opening over the prior few weeks. Now she and Cap were just waiting in the office until the doors opened at 7 PM on the nose.
“It's nice that we have a few moments alone before it gets crazy in here,” she commented, scooting her desk chair back and moving to where Cap stood, fidgeting with something in his pocket. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Did we forget something?”
He glanced down at her and smiled, giving her a brief flash of the legendary dimples. “I think this is the most well-planned out grand opening in the history of swing clubs,” he laughed. “I can't imagine that we forgot even one trivial detail.”
“Good!” Leah exclaimed. “I want it to be perfect.”
Suddenly, he fell to one knee. At first she was concerned. Is he hurt? Did he drop something? And then the realization of what was happening washed over her. She felt her body begin to tremble before even one word passed his lips.
“You, my dear, are perfect. From the moment I met you, I have wanted more and more of you. When I thought I lost you, I was devastated. I had lost a treasure. I believe that God brought us back together; how else could everything have fallen into place like it did? And you know what? Even after a year, I still want more of you. I want you to be my wife. Leah Elizabeth Miller, will you marry me?”
She didn't want to mess her eye makeup with tears, but the more he said, the less of a choice she had. Looking down at him, on one knee, opening a small hinged box that held a huge diamond perched on top of a platinum ring, she could do nothing but nod and cry. He plucked the ring from its velvet nest and slipped it onto her finger, then jumped to his feet. He threw his arms around her, picked her up and swirled her around in a circle, her heel-clad feet flying off the ground. He set her back down on the floor and she witnessed a wave of confusion crash onto his face.
“What's wrong now?” she asked, only half-exasperated.
“So that was a yes, right?” he clarified.
“Oh my gosh!” she screamed, the tears drying on her cheeks which were spread into a wide grin. “Of course! YES! YES! YES!”
The door burst open and camera flashes began blinding them. He pulled her into an embrace and pressed his lips against hers. When he finally released her, he spun her toward the door and there was Aimee and Anthony, Casey, Mary, Cap's daughters Emma and Ashton (who were only slightly freaked out when they were told about the club), and all of their lifestyle friends with cameras and champagne. Noticeably absent was Rhonda, who had been effectively banished by the group once word circulated about the havoc she had wreaked.
“We open in an hour,” Casey announced. “First, we celebrate an engagement!”
There was a collective whoop that arose from the crowd. Leah stumbled into the hallway where she was kissed and hugged by dozens of people. She was completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and joy, not to mention shock that someone had actually managed to surprise her. She worked her way through the crowd and toward the bar where a huge sheet cake, the sides embellished with beautiful marzipan starfish and shells. On top was written in flowing script: “Congratulations Cap & Leah!” and there was a tiny couple in a tiny boat sailing off into a frosted sunset.
After the crowd began to disperse and mingle as Casey served up the cake, Cap pulled Leah into the little hallway on the other side of the bar and pushed her up against the wall, pressing his large frame against her. The lighting was too dim to make out his facial expressions but it heightened all of her other senses. She smelled his familiar, musky cologne and heard his breaths falling against her face and chest as he stroked his finger down her cheek. “I know you hate surprises,” he apologized.
She clasped her hands around his neck and felt the new sensation of the hard, cool diamond pressing into her skin. “I do hate surprises,” she agreed. “I'm sorry I'm not very good at this fairytale stuff sometimes.”
“That's okay. I'm pretty sure there aren't any fairy tales about swinger clubs anyway,” Cap observed.
She giggled and suggested, “Maybe there should be!” He couldn't see in the low lighting, but her eyes were glinting like gemstones.
“Well, there's a swing club in ours!” he grinned. “And I'm pretty sure there's going to be lots of dreams come true in this place.”
She pulled him in close to her again and as she began to press her lips against his, she hesitated just for a moment, long enough to whisper, “Mine already has.”
THE END
Cap and Leah’s story continues in Book 2, The Catch, where we also meet new characters Paisley Parker and Calvin Mitchell.
www.phoebe-alexander.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phoebe Alexander writes #sexpositive #bodypositive erotic romance featuring compelling plots intertwined with passionate, fiery encounters. She believes that real, relatable characters can have even steamier sex than billionaires, rock stars, and the young and lithe-bodied. She also advocates for ethical non-monogamy through her writing.
Phoebe lives on the East Coast with her husband, sons, and multiple felines. When she's not writing, she works as an editor and consultant for indie authors. She also volunteers her time running a 4000-member indie author support group. Free time is her single greatest fantasy, and if she happens to have a moment she spends it at the beach, traveling, shopping or...wait, who are we kidding? That's about all she ever gets a chance to do.
Join Phoebe's newsletter at www.phoebe-alexander.com or follow her on Twitter @EroticPhoebe, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/phoebealexanderauthor, or on Instagram @authorphoebealexander
ALSO BY PHOEBE ALEXANDER
Mountains Trilogy
Mountains Wanted
Mountains Climbed
Mountains Loved
Christmas in the Mountains (A Mountains Trilogy Novella)
The Navigator (A Mountains Trilogy Novel)
Eastern Shore Swingers Series
Fisher of Men
The Catch
Siren Call
Sailors Knot
The Playground
&n
bsp; Project Paradise (Juniper Court Series) http://www.junipercourtseries.com
Writing as K.L. Montgomery (contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedy)
Green Castles
Given to Fly
Romance in Rehoboth Series
Fat Girl
The Catch
Plot Twist
Badge Bunny
Wedding War (Coming in 2019)
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Fisher of Men Page 31