One Wild Ride

by Elizabeth Lynx

  “And my hero, too,” I said and reached over to put my hand on her shoulder.

  “And mine. Thank you so much, Grace, for what you did,” Alexa said with tears rolling down her face.

  I glanced over at Agent Chace and saw him pull the glasses back over his eyes. Leaning forward, I whispered in his ear, “Don’t think I can’t see you crying. You try so hard to act tough, but inside you’re a big softy.”

  He cleared his throat, buckling his seatbelt clearly ignoring me.

  “Everyone, buckle up. It’s a nine-hour drive to Chicago so get comfortable,” Jagger said.

  I sat back in my seat. We put our seatbelts on as the car moved forward. I held Alex’s hand and rested my head on his shoulder. I had no idea I fell asleep until the car stopped.

  We were at a gas station.

  “Where are we,” I asked as my voice rumbled to life.

  “Just outside of Des Moines. Still have a way to go,” Alex said and I could feel something tickling my neck.

  Alex was playing with my necklace.

  “With all that has happened, this necklace never got lost or broke. It always stayed with you.”

  I instinctively reached up to touch the gold heart and dusted Alex’s fingers in the process.

  “Yeah, for a cheap necklace my sister saved up for to buy when she was thirteen, it has held tight.”

  “Because it’s her heart,” he said and I gazed up at Alex. “You never left her behind, Aria. She’s been with you the whole time.”

  I nodded as my face crumbled. He pulled me into his arms and let me cry. All those tears I held inside me, all those years I pushed the thought of her away—they were finally free.

  We were all finally free.

  EPILOGUE

  Alexander

  6 Months Later

  Aria loved me.

  At least, that’s what she told me every day. And when I told her I was taking her on a trip to a secluded tropical island for the last two weeks of December, she said she loved me then, too.

  Even now, as we sit and watch the waves crash on the beach, sitting under palm trees on a double lounger that fit both of us, she whispered those words.

  “I love you, too,” I told her and tried to control my hand as it trembled reaching to push a few strands of bright blond hair out of her face.

  I couldn’t handle the pressure. Every time she told me she loved me, my throat tightened and I wanted to run into the ocean to get away.

  “Is anything wrong, Alex? You look nervous.”

  Forcing a smile, I shook my head. “No, of course not. This is our dream remember?”

  My cheeks felt like they were going to crack as I held the grin. She nodded and sat back, gazing at the waves once again.

  I deflated in relief that she bought it. It was a lie and she believed me. But for how long?

  A male voice came from the side of our lounger. “Would you like to order drinks, maybe a snack?”

  It was the butler that came with the home we rented on the island. He’s a nice guy. Very accommodating and seemed to know our needs before we did. But I’m not ready yet.

  I mean, yes, technically, everything is in place, but emotionally, I didn’t think I was ready yet.

  Aria started to say something but I cut her off. “No, Tyler, not just yet. I’m still full from breakfast.”

  I chuckled as Aria knitted her brow.

  “Maybe I want something. I’ll have the—” Aria said as I sat up cutting her off from Tyler both verbally and physically.

  “No, don’t. I, uh, we should do something first. Like sex. We should totally have sex.” I sort of half-frowned half-smiled.

  Everyone was quiet.

  “I’ll come back later,” Tyler said and I heard sounds of sand shifting as he scurried off.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Aria reached over, placing her hand on my forehead.

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “It’s just, I’ve been thinking. With everything that has happened to us, and even your friends, this year, I wonder if we should have more sex.”

  My words were broken. Nothing coming out of my mouth made sense.

  “I like the part about having more sex but what does that have to do with what happened this year? And if you really wanted to get me in the mood, you’d feed me first. Hence, why we should have ordered when Tyler was here. You know I’m easy when it comes to good food.”

  I groaned. She was too good. Even when we got home from being kidnapped by my mom this past summer, she insisted on finishing the mural. Even if I only used that mural as an excuse to get near her, she wanted it there to reflect our crazy journey together.

  It somehow changed as she finished painting it. There were still elements of old master paintings but instead of it being a history of art, it was a car on a highway with art along for the ride.

  “This is hard,” I said as I pounded a fist on the thick striped padding that covered the chair.

  “No, it’s not,” Aria said as she stared at my swim trunks.

  “I mean this. Us.” I gave up trying to delay. It was time.

  “Tyler! We’re ready,” I yelled and within seconds he appeared.

  I hope he wasn’t listening. What if we had decided to have sex?

  He placed a silver tray down on the small table beside me and left.

  I grabbed the silver bowl. It was cold but I held on. Taking the lid off I presented it to Aria.

  “Oh, shrimp! I love shrimp. Perfect. Wait. Is that . . ..” She lifted the gold necklace from the center of the ice. “This is my necklace but there’s something else there.”

  I put the silver bowl back on the platter and turned to Aria.

  “It’s been exactly six months since your birthday. And since I missed it because of my crazy mother, I wanted to make up for it. Sort of a half birthday,” I said and released a deep breath.

  “There are two hearts on here, instead of one. The new heart is covered in diamonds,” Aria said as she cupped the pendants and brought them closer for inspection.

  “I added the other heart,” I said as my own heart beat wildly in my ears. “It’s there because you already have your sister’s heart and now, I wanted to give you my heart. I made the heart out of diamonds because I want to make sure you have it forever.”

  I took the necklace from her and placed it around her neck. It sparkled in the sun but not as brightly as her beauty.

  “Aria, I know you don’t want to get married. And now that you have explained why, I get it. But, I still want you to have something to show you that I will always be yours. You not only helped me break free from all the things holding me back, but you showed me how beautiful life and love really is. I may be blood related to my mom, but you’re my family. I want us to live together, forever.”

  She sat there staring at me like I just told her I liked to fart only in bathtubs because it turned it into a sauna.

  I knew I was asking too much by wanting to live with her and telling her that I wanted to be with her forever.

  “This is all, uh . . .” She took her hand from me and fiddled with the hearts on her necklace.

  When her eyes darted away, I knew I lost her. Fuck. I can’t believe I did this. I couldn’t just leave well enough alone, could I? We were fine the way things were. Some nights she stayed at my place, other nights I stayed at hers. About once a week we would sleep in our own condos.

  “Of course I want to be with you forever, Alex. I love you. And this pendant, it’s so beautiful. When we head back to Chicago, we can figure out which place we want to move into.”

  I gave her the biggest, most goofy grin before I pulled her into my arms. She curled into me, her leg wrapping around my hip. It was like her body was made for me.

  My lips descended to her neck and I refused to stop kissing her until she finally pulled me away.

  “Alex, stop. I want to give you something, too.” She flashed a wicked smile before hopping up from the lounger and going back insid
e our house. The wall of the living room was made of sliding windows that we kept open during the day so it was as if we were always outside even when we went into the house. I watched her pull a large bag from behind the couch before she came back to the lounger.

  “I wanted to give it to you on Christmas in a few days, but since you gave me a gift, I thought it fitting I give you one. I hope you like it.” Aria placed the holiday-themed bag in front of me.

  I kept my eyes on her as I pulled a shoe box out of the bag. She was bouncing up and down on her haunches in excitement.

  While it was a shoe box, the way she was acting, I thought shoes would be the last thing in the box. I was wrong.

  It was a pair of sneakers. Not even expensive name-brand sneakers, but some brand I had never seen before. The logo looked like cell reception bars.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  I wanted to say more but what else could I say. Thank you for a pair of sneakers when I have ten more pairs at home.

  This was our first test as a couple. She buys me an average gift after I poured my heart and soul into her gift. I needed to learn to act like it was the best thing ever.

  I smiled and stared at her. She giggled. The more I smiled, the more she giggled.

  Then she reached over to the small table by her side of the lounger and tapped her phone a few times.

  My shoes vibrated.

  “Are these massage shoes?” I flipped them over.

  “No, here let me show you.” Aria reached forward and pressed the back part of the sneaker that on some shoes were an air pump.

  But the button didn’t pump air into the heel, it caused the bottom part of the shoe to flip open. There was a keypad inside.

  I was confused as I looked up at her. Her grin was wide and open—like a clown—and she had her arms out.

  “Alex. It’s a shoe phone. Just like Get Smart.”

  My dick hardened.

  “It’s a tech gadget. A sneaker. And a reference to one of the best shows of all time, all in one,” I said as I stared into her smart, sexy, perfect eyes. “I love you so much right now.”

  Then I tackled her. I didn’t let go of the shoes right away, but as we rolled around and I tried to slip off her violet bikini top sacrifices had to be made.

  “Aria, you’re going to have to undress yourself and me, too,” I said as I sat up on my knees while clutching the shoes to my chest.

  She rolled her eyes as she reached for my swim trunks. “What I do for love.”

  THE END

  Thank you for taking the time to read my story about Aria and Alexander. It would mean the world to me if you let me know how much you liked it by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or just let me know via email. I LOVE hearing from readers!

  If you want more, there are 2 previous books in the Cake Love series. The first book called Rules of Payne is about Morgana Drake and her boss, Henrik Payne. The second book in the series is called The Attraction File about Evaleen Bechmann and her frustratingly handsome co-worker, Edgar Mimir.

  The final book in the Cake Love series will be about Tiffany Blackburn and Jagger Chance (or is that his name? I guess you have to read it and find out!). That book will come out April 9th, 2018 and is called The Spy Ring. You can check out the sneak peek HERE.

  I will continue to provide you with the best stories my crazy mind can think up. That is a promise!

  Love,

  Elizabeth Lynx

  BEHIND THE SCENES

  This is the part of the book where I tell you little factoids about different parts of the story and/or why I wrote the book. As I write, I throw in things that have happened to me, to people I know, or stuff I witnessed in life. Some of it is crazy and some is dorky, but that’s me – crazy and dorky.

  Let’s get started!

  In chapter two, Aria was angry with Alex and makes up a fake award rich people get for being terrible. It’s a golden statue with the biggest dick. Well, folks, I have that statue. Honestly. Not making it up. My statue isn’t gold. It’s bronze, I think, but it looks like the Oscar statue took some performance enhancing drug, got a mohawk and decided to grow a beard.

  The story behind that statue goes back about ten years when I was living in Chicago with my hubby and we hadn’t had kids yet. Having all that free time we decided to enter the 48 hour film project. That’s where you get a genre, a line of dialogue, a certain character and a prop that must be used (if I remember correctly). Then you have 48 hours to film, edit, and turn in a 5-7 minute film. Our friends, my husband, and I went for it. Our genre was time period (which was one of the worst genres you can get for a 48 hour film because it’s hard to make the world around you appear from a different era in that short period of time). But we went for it. I chose 1980’s After School Special as inspiration for the film.

  And it worked, because we got an audience favorite award. That’s where the statue came from. Now, it didn’t have a giant penis or mohawk or beard when we received it, that’s where one of our friends came in. He was an artist and did some metal work. He made a mold of the statue and gave it all those features. Don’t ask why. We all thought it was funny at the time. Now you know I have a biggest dick statue.

  In chapter twenty-nine, Morgana’s mom has a room that’s decorated year-round for Christmas. That was inspired by a woman I used to work with. I used to be a medical photographer at a medical school. There was a woman who worked down the hall for the head of the medical school. I think she was his assistant, but that was a long time ago so I’m not sure. What I do remember of her, was how proud she was that she had a room devoted to Christmas. She always had a Christmas tree up and the entire room decked out in green and red and gold. When I asked what she did at Christmas time, she told me she put up a tree in every room (even the bathrooms got small, tabletop trees). If there was such a thing as Christmas addiction, she would be a full-blown addict.

  In chapter thirty, Alexa mentions an old tv show from the early 90’s called Get A Life which featured Chris Elliott. That whole scene was inspired by me and how I used to be a mega couch potato. Meaning, I had the tv guide schedule memorized from 1978 through the 1990’s. Seriously, if you named a show from that time frame I had probably watched it. and I LOVED GET A LIFE.

  It was absurd, immature, and ridiculous and I was crushed when it got cancelled. I remember going on a rant on the phone with my first boyfriend because I was so angry it got cancelled. I mean, the main character dies 10 times during the course of the series. Who does that? Yet, he would be back to life the next episode. I’m still a little angry they cancelled that show.

  That ends the Behind the Scenes of One Wild Ride. I may lose fans from this but I did warn you I was a crazy dork.

  SNEAK PEEK: THE SPY RING

  Here is an unedited sneak peek into the next book in the Cake Love series, The Spy Ring. Enjoy!

  A gold ring.

  A wedding band. Big, smooth, and upon lifting, I noticed the weight. Not a cheap slender thing bought with little money, but something with heft, meant to stay.

  Flipping it over the inscription made my throat tighten and my heart heavy: Honor always. Protect fully. Love forever.

  “What a crock of gobbledygook.” I said giving the ring the stink eye.

  Was it judging me?

  A part of me felt it was, so I bared my teeth to show I meant business.

  I felt stupid. Getting mad at a ring, an inanimate object. Perhaps I wasn’t angry at the gold in my hand but old memories of the most wonderful man that ever-lived, chipping away at my heart. The hot hands of guilt spreading boney fingers around my neck and across my chest.

  “I’m not the one that cheated.” I said to the ring.

  But no matter what I said, it didn’t stop the ache in my heart. And in some way, I felt I had cheated on the memory. A man that didn’t exist anymore, only his bones remained deep in a wood box underground in Elmhurst. But my heart felt him and that’s what hurt most of all.

  I fisted the
gold in my hand knowing it didn’t belong to the man I loved, the man long gone but felt daily. But it did belong to the man I fucked last night.

  At least, I think we had sex. That’s what made the whole thing stomach churning, I don’t remember. I woke up in a stranger’s hotel room, naked, and realized he was married by finding his wedding ring.

  Wow, Tiffany, you can’t even do a one-night stand right.

  I winced as the wedding band made a clacking sound bouncing on the wood of the coffee table when I dropped it. The stabbing behind my right eye grew in strength from the joke that he obviously believed his marriage to be.

  It might have felt like I was cheating on my dead husband but this guy actually fooled around behind a woman’s back. A woman who placed this beautiful ring on his finger believing him to be her savior, her true love, and the man who would never deceive her.

  I’m done. I needed to find my clothes and get out of this room before the guy, who I can’t even remember the name of or what he looked like, got out of the shower.

  Thankfully, he was already in the bathroom when I woke up to save the embarrassment of facing him. All my friends, except for Evaleen, told me I needed to get laid. My husband died over ten years ago and I haven’t been able to find the time or the heart, to be with another man.

  It had been too long and that’s why when I came to Las Vegas for the weekend with my friends I thought it was the perfect time to have a no-strings attached fling.

  Wrong.

  They were wrong. I was wrong.

  The only thing the night left me with was nausea, terrible remorse, and breath so bad it could be used to bring down a small elephant.

  As much as I needed a drink of water and hot shower to clean off my shame, I had to find my clothes.

  One of my red leather heels was under the coffee table and after further inspection I found the other behind the lavender couch. After a few minutes of hunting I had gathered all my clothes, even my green lace undies that were wrapped around the telephone.