by Piper Rayne
She didn’t say no, but I saw the questions in her eyes. “I’m going to school.”
“Good. I support that. I support whatever you want to do.” I blinked, remembering what initially led us to this moment. “Except for stealing money for tuition. I’ll take care of it. All of it.”
“I can’t let you do that, Phillip.”
I pulled her closer to me on the bed so I could have one hand on her thigh and one cupping her cheek. “You can,” I said softly. “And you will, because that’s what people who love each other do. Let me do this, Abigail. Please let me do all of it. Everything.”
“I don’t need you to do everything for me.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Don’t I know it. I love your strength and independence.”
She closed her eyes as I kissed her tenderly.
When we parted, I could see it in her eyes. She’d made up her mind.
“So you’re moving?” Darla held up the duffel bag I’d thrown on my bed, later that day. “Just like that?”
I knew my friends would have questions. Hell, I had questions.
It was happening ridiculously fast.
And I’d never been so sure about anything in my life.
“Hey,” I said. “You’re the one who told me to go out and have a little fun. We only live once, right?”
Darla didn’t have an argument for that, so she started stuffing T-shirts into the duffel bag with a shrug. Phillip had tried to convince me to let movers come and handle my tiny apartment, but it was important that I do it myself. Besides, it gave me a chance to catch up with the girls and help them understand why I was moving so quickly. Not that it was quick. After all, we’d loved each other for over fifteen years. It was about time we finally figured that out.
And despite a few shocked questions, my friends were supportive, just the way I knew they’d be.
“So the sex…”
It surprised me Jessie was the one who asked about the sex first. But something about the way her eyes sparkled told me maybe my friend was finally getting ready to have a little bit of excitement in her own life, so I obliged by telling her every single detail. Well, most of them.
But enough that she threw her head back and groaned. “Okay,” Jessie admired, “I’m way overdue for a little of that kind of fun.”
“Yeah, you are!” Darla shouted her encouragement from the dresser.
“Kitchen’s all packed for donation,” Sandy said as she and Britt appeared in the doorway. “What’s Jessie overdue for?”
“Hot sex!” Darla and I shouted at the same time, before breaking out into giggles just as we would have twenty years earlier. “Seriously,” I said when I recovered. “It will change your world. Literally.”
Britt nodded pointedly. “Clearly. But not everyone can be as lucky as you. Aspen Valley is still a small town. There are only so many men to go around.”
“It’s not that small,” I protested. “And why can’t you all be as lucky as me? There’s no rule that says that.” I tucked a few more things in a box and looked up, an idea springing to mind. “In fact,” I said slowly, until all eyes were on me. “I think we should make a pact.”
“A pact?” Sandy raised an eyebrow. “Like when we were kids?”
“Exactly.” The ladies drew closer until we were all sitting on my tiny bed. “I don’t know if I would have been able to work up the courage to go ahead with everything with Phillip if it hadn’t been for you all convincing me to just go for it.”
“So really, you have us to thank for all this?” Britt laughed.
But I nodded. “In a way, yes. I do.”
“So what are you proposing?” Jessie crossed her legs and leaned in, curious. “We all encourage each other to just go for it?”
“Yes.” It really was that simple. “The next time one of us has the opportunity to step out of her comfort zone a little, they send a text and…we all support and encourage her to take a chance. Even if it’s risky.”
“It has to be safe,” Sandy added.
“Obviously.” I nodded. “But we’re all big girls, and we’re not stupid. We won’t do anything dangerous, and as long as we’re letting each other know…”
“It’ll be fine,” Britt finished. “And it could be fun.” She nodded. “I’m in.”
Darla laughed. “Well, I already do this, so I’ll be the lead cheerleader. I’m in.”
“Lord knows, with the twins almost grown and gone, I need something to occupy my time,” Jessie said. “And I could really use some hot sex of my own.” She shook her head and grinned. “Why not? I’m in.”
All eyes turned to Sandy. There was no way she’d agree, but to my surprise, a small smile played across her lips. “Okay,” she said. “I’m in.”
We all laughed and collapsed into a group hug on the bed.
Who said your forties were too late to take a risk and have a little fun? We might be late to the party, but finally we were all going to have some of the fun we’d always deserved.
Three hours later, the few possessions I had were boxed up and ready for the movers to bring to Phillip’s mansion. I’d officially quit my job at the Aspen Valley Country Club, not that anyone was surprised after Phillip and I had very publicly introduced our relationship to the world—and ourselves—at the party the night before.
And I was cuddled up, quite happy in Phillip’s arms on the couch in the living room, with two wine glasses on the table in front of us.
“Things have a funny way of working out, don’t they?” I nestled in closer and his arm squeezed me tight. “I mean, if I hadn’t have taken that money, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
He chuckled. “You mean, if I hadn’t have stopped into the pro shop that day.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But I took the money…”
“Right.” He pulled away and shifted on the couch so we faced each other. “And if I hadn’t have made you a deal you couldn’t have refused…”
“What if I had?” The question had just occurred to me. “I mean, would you really have turned me in?”
He didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Never.”
“So why make me a deal? And…kind of a ballsy one at that.” I crossed my arms and gave him a playful smile. It had been a risky offer, almost offensive, really. Not that I would have seen it that way. Not coming from Phillip.
He wiggled his eyebrow and smirked in that oh so cocky way he had that made my body pulse with desire. “Because I knew you’d say yes.”
Oh yes. He was cocky.
“What if I didn’t?”
“But you did.” He moved up the couch almost like a cat, so he was moving on top of me, pressing me back into the cushions. “And I knew you would,” he said when he was directly overtop of me. “Because you, my love, are stubborn, smart, feisty, and sexy as hell.”
I laughed a little and he caught my bottom lip gently between his teeth and tugged. Heat flared through me as he kissed me hard.
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said when he released my mouth.
“It doesn’t have to.” He wrapped his arms around me and turned so I was laying with my chest against his back, his arms holding me tight. “So,” he said. “Do you agree? Does it have to make sense?”
I shook my head and closed my eyes, in complete bliss.
He kissed the top of my head tenderly, and my heart filled with love and I knew with certainty that I was exactly where I was meant to be. “The only thing that makes sense,” I said softly, feeling every word deep in my soul, “is that I’m finally yours.”
I hope you enjoyed your introduction to Phillip and Abby! But we’re not done with these two yet. Find out what happens when Phillip plans a special surprise for Abby’s birthday in an exclusive epilogue.
About Elena Aitken
Elena Aitken is a USA Today Bestselling Author of more than forty romance and women's fiction novels. Living a stone's throw from the Rocky Mountains with her teenager twins, their two cats and a goofy rescu
e dog, Elena escapes into the mountains whenever life allows. She can often be found with her toes in the lake and a glass of wine in her hand, dreaming up her next book and working on her own happily ever after with her very own mountain man.
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Also by Elena Aitken
Enjoy these Free Series Starters from Elena’s Favorite Series
Choosing Happily Ever After —Ever After Series
Summer of Change —The Springs Series
Love in the Moment —The McCormicks
When We Left —Timber Creek Series
Unexpected Gifts — Castle Mountain Lodge
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SIPPING SEDUCTION
Copyright © 2021 by Dylann Crush
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, persons living or dead, locales, or other status is entirely coincidental.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. The author is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
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www.DylannCrush.com
About Sipping Seduction
One fake date. Two feuding families. Love’s on the line in Beaver Bluff.
Tori
I’m fed up with being everyone’s yes-gal. When my sister threatens to match me with her fiancé’s turtle-loving cousin for her wedding, I lie and tell her I’ve got someone lined up. How hard can it be to find a fake date for one night? But I live in Beaver Bluff, Tennessee, home of one of the state’s largest whiskey distilleries and severely lacking in suitable single men. I’m about to come clean, but then I meet a blue-eyed attorney on my flight home. Lucky for me, he doesn’t have plans on Saturday night.
Deacon
Family loyalty pulls me from the beaches of LA to the mountains of Tennessee. The curvy brunette on the plane reminds me of how much I miss the small town I’ve always considered home. She needs a date and the offer of a homemade pie and the opportunity to get my hands on her hips is too good to pass up. When we get caught between a generations-old family feud and the chance to explore the heat between us, it’ll be up to us to figure out where our loyalties lie.
Sipping Seduction is a prequel novella to the upcoming Whiskey Wars series.
Chapter One
Tori
“Are you sure you can’t assign me a seat?” I eyed the airline employee across the counter, hoping I might hit on a sympathetic nerve. “When I called earlier, I was told there were plenty of open seats on this flight.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Windsor.” Her thin lips stretched into a tight smile and she slid two boarding passes across the counter. “These will get you through security, but you’ll need to check in at the gate. If they can’t get you on this flight, you still have a guaranteed seat on your original booking.”
“Thank you.” I nestled my giant garment bag on top of the rented luggage cart and turned to find the elevator. I’d only been in LA for twenty-four hours but was already eager to leave. I was a small-town girl who didn’t like to stray too far from home, and the west coast was about as far as I could get from Beaver Bluff, Tennessee, without having to use a passport.
While the elevator took its sweet time, my cell rang.
“Hey, Bailey,” I answered. At twenty-two, my youngest sister was the baby of the family. I might be six years older, but she seemed to have decades more experience in love. She’d only called about a hundred times today to make sure I was on track.
“Did you get on that flight?” Her worry poured through the phone, thick and suffocating, an almost tangible reminder that the fate of her big day rested in my hands.
“I don’t know yet.” The elevator door whooshed open. I struggled to hold the phone against my ear while navigating the luggage cart out of the elevator. “Can I call you back? I’m about to go through security.”
“Okay, but let me know.”
“I’ll keep you posted.” She’d been driving me crazy all month—all year, really. I wasn’t the only one who’d be glad when her wedding had come and gone. My poor mama had been trying to hold her in check ever since Sherman popped the question. Over the past year the wedding had consumed everyone’s attention, and we were totally tuckered out.
But Bailey was the youngest. She was my stepdad’s favorite and the spitting image of my mom. What Bailey wanted, Bailey always got. As the oldest, I’d always recognized the inequity, but did nothing to fight it.
I tucked my phone back in my bag and joined the long line at security. We inched along, back and forth through the maze of barriers until forty-five minutes had passed and I would have sold my soul for a sip of water.
“Boarding pass, please.” The security officer held out a gloved hand.
“One for me and one for the dress.” I handed over the temporary boarding passes along with my ID.
He stamped the tickets before passing them back to me. “That bag won’t fit through the conveyor. We’ll have to do a hand check.”
“Thank you.” I rolled the cart out of the way and braced myself before picking up the heavy bag.
“Congratulations. I hope you have a wonderful wedding.”
I nodded but didn’t bother to correct the assumption. Trying to explain to a stranger why I’d traveled a thousand miles away from home to pick up a dress that didn’t belong to me wasn’t worth the breath it would take. I’d learned that on the long cab ride to and from the designer’s showroom this morning.
I took off my shoes and put them in a bin, then wrestled my purse strap over my head and set it on the conveyor.
“Just place that on the belt, ma’am. Everything needs to go through the machine.” A burly security worker nudged his chin toward the garment bag.
“Oh, it’s a wedding dress. I don’t think it will fit.” I smiled, hoping he was the type who responded to friendliness in kind. Someone in this town had to.
“It’ll fit.” He held out a hand for the bag.
“I don’t think it will,” I argued, even as I let him take it from my fingers. “The agent who stamped my boarding pass said something about a hand check?”
But he’d already placed the bag on the belt, displacing the poor guy who’d been behind me in line.
“Sorry about this,” I said.
“No problem,” he assured me. He stood in his stockinged feet, holding a couple of bins filled with all of his electronics. Something about him looked familiar, but it was probably wishful thinking. He was tall with a muscular build. A well-groomed beard covered the bottom half of his face, and his bluish-green eyes sparkled—not just from the unflattering fluorescent lights above.
“Why don’t you go ahead and go through the machine?” the officer suggested. “I’ll be sure the dress makes it.”
I didn’t want to hold up the line, so I stepped into the full-body X-ray machine and assumed the arms-over-my-head position.
“We’ll need you to step to the side, ma’am.” A female officer on the other side pointed to a spot on a rubber mat where two footprints had been painted.
I did as she asked, helplessly watching the other guard struggle to send the wedding dress through the conveyor belt. He patted it down, trying to flatten the puffy bag.
“Do you mind if I wand you?” the female guard asked.
“That’s fine.” I held my arms out like she directed, my attention still focused on the dress.
She directed the wand over my upper half. Satisfied, she
moved down one leg then back up again.
“Sir, please be careful,” I called out over my shoulder. He had both hands on the garment bag, trying to stuff it through the x-ray machine. Bailey would kill me if even one hand-sewn bugle bead fell out of place.
The guy behind me in line waited, his bins still in his hands. Finally, the guard gave up and pulled the dress off the belt.
“We’re going to need to do a manual inspection. Do I have your permission to open the bag?” he asked.
“Of course. But please be careful.” I didn’t have much of a choice. With my arms still held out to my sides, I couldn’t exactly go with him.
The wand beeped as the woman ran it over my pelvis. Why would it beep? I didn’t even have on a belt.
“Do you have anything under your pants?” the woman asked.
My mind spun. “Underwear. But I don’t have any metal in my panties.”
“Do you have anything else on that might set off the wand?” She moved it over the area again and it responded with a high-pitched beep.
“Oh my God. Is it my IUD? Would an IUD set off your detector?” My cheeks combusted. Heat raced over my chest, up my neck, and spread across my face.
“No ma’am, an IUD wouldn’t set off the detector.” I don’t know how she kept a straight face. “Is there anything in your pockets?”
My pockets. I made a move to pat down the front pockets of my jeans.
“No sudden movements, please.” Two other security officers moved to stand behind her. Like back up. I’d never been the kind of person who needed back up before. I was the oldest—the rule follower—the responsible one.