by Amber Nation
Wash, rinse, repeat as the days went on. But it was never monotonous as one would think doing a lot of the same things day in and day out. I actually found that I enjoyed seeing him off to work and being there when he got home. Who knew that I would actually look forward to and didn’t flinch at the term, housewife?
No, we didn’t run off to get married, nor had we even discussed it. But if and when the time came, I wouldn’t be scared of marrying a third time anymore because Dean was it for me.
How did that old saying go? “Third time’s the charm?” That definitely held value between the two of us.
Dean’s hand shifted underneath my dress and covered my bare knee, bringing me out of my reminiscing of this past week. I placed my hand over his before directing my attention to my right and on him.
“Whatcha thinking about, sweetheart?” His tone was gentle and it amazed me how his voice could make my stomach flip. I knew I could listen to the sexy timber of his voice for hours.
I put my elbow on the table in front of us and cradled my chin in my free hand and gave him a slight smirk. “Oh, I was just thinking about when we came here after I first got into town back before their wedding,” I indicated over to Baylor and Eden with my eyes. “And how we’ve flipped a complete one-eighty since then.”
“I for one am glad of the direction you two took. This outcome is way more enjoyable,” Eden chimed in with a smirk from my left.
“Oh come on, we weren’t that bad towards one another,” Dean interrupted, instantly on the defensive.
Eden quirked a brow while Baylor belted out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m going to call you on your bullshit right there.” He glanced over to me, “You guys were awful, so much tension and animosity. Who knew that this,” he indicated with his hand to Dean and myself, “would be the outcome of a fling.”
Eden raised her hand before bringing it behind my back, “I don’t care what it took to get to this point. The past is in the past, I’m just glad that my best friend is now here with me in Cottage Grove. And what’s better, she lives right next door.”
Her smile quickly faded and I knew she was about to address the elephant in the room. The fact that I never really brought up any plans to try and have another child wasn’t at all lost on her. I steeled myself for the conversation as it could go either way. “Have you two talked about the possibility of trying to have a baby?”
Now that I had gone through part of the mindset of having a child, before the decision was abruptly taken away from me, I absolutely had no qualms about trying again.
I looked over at Dean and his loving smile as he squeezed my knee, “We have discussed the topic again. And we feel that if it’s meant to be, then it will be. I’m not against having a baby, in fact I would be thrilled.” This was one of the first things that Dean and I discussed in depth when we returned to Cottage Grove. I knew I was getting older and would be turning thirty-six soon, so there would be risks to take and if it were to happen that I would stay at home during the pregnancy.
“What are we thrilled about?” Bentley appeared on the other side of Dean, his appearance a disheveled mess. His hair was laying in various wayward directions and part of his polo shirt was untucked from his jeans. He looked as if he came straight from a bathroom hookup.
“Jesus, Bentley, do you ever keep it in your pants?” Baylor admonished.
Bentley glanced down at himself and then shrugged a shoulder, “Actually, I have.” He looked around the table at our surprised expressions regarding his admission. “Yeah, I can’t believe it either,” he muttered rolling his eyes. What in the world was going on with him? It was obvious with the dark circles under his eyes and the few days worth of stubble that he hadn’t been sleeping well.
Wait…
“Well, color me surprised, Bentley Jenkins is wrecked over a woman. Never thought I’d see the day,” Dean chuckled, as he lifted his glass of bourbon towards his mouth only to have it removed from his hand by Bentley.
“What the…” Dean growled as he jerked his head towards the drink snatcher.
Oh no, this wasn’t good. Dean wasn’t Bentley’s biggest fan on a good day, but this would no doubt end messily.
He took a small drink, “I’m not wrecked over a fucking woman,” his defenses were on high alert and he responded a little too quickly. Hmm…
He signaled for the waiter that was in our section, thankfully it wasn’t Maisie, and raised Dean’s mostly empty glass in the air towards him. “Can we get two more of these?” he asked before he quickly tossed the rest in the back of his throat.
“Yeah, for some reason I don’t believe you,” Baylor goaded.
Bentley pulled out one of the remaining two chairs and flopped himself down into it. “Believe what you want, brother of mine,” he responded gruffly.
There was an internal war raging in Bentley’s head that he didn’t want anyone to notice. Everyone around me carried on with their conversations, ignoring the new person at our table, which I think was the norm for Bentley. He constantly lived in Baylor’s shadow, getting cast aside. But not by me, I just sat back and watched him.
A few moments later, his head looked up as he gazed past me, his eyes widened with shock before his body flinched. He silently cursed, “Fuck,” under his breath. If you hadn’t been watching him directly, then you would’ve missed the entire thing.
I turned around to see exactly what his eyes were transfixed on and it didn’t surprise me in the least to learn that it was Miri, who appeared to be here with another man. Her eyes were equally as wide and equally as transfixed on him. Now, I hadn’t seen Bentley since the night of the wedding, and I had no idea what went on, if anything at all. But when I turned back around and focused my attention on Bentley, there was no doubt in my mind that he was hurting.
His deep brown eyes flashed to mine and I could see the underlying heartache lingering in their depths. I tried to give him a small smile, but he quickly shook his head. He knew that I was aware that there was something was going on, but he wanted to leave it at that.
My heart ached for what Bentley must be going through. Hopefully in the end, everything would work out the way it was supposed to.
Eden’s excitement brought my attention back to the table, “You know what I just realized, Jules?” I honestly hadn’t a clue, so I just shook my head. “You and I finally got our happy ever after.”
Bentley hastily chimed in with his two cents worth, “Happy ever afters are for fucking losers.” He quickly downed his glass of bourbon and stormed off from the table.
I could see Dean’s hands clench on the table out of the corner of my eye and I just knew he was itching to go after him. I covered his hand with mine and just shook my head, “Let him go, he’s in obvious pain and needs to work things out himself.”
Dean’s expression turned perplexed, “What are you talking about?”
I looked over to Eden whose eyes told me she understood what was going on, and I turned back to Dean, “I’ll fill you in later, let’s just have fun between the four of us.”
We sat back and finished up the rest of our drinks. If you had told me months ago that I would end up falling head over heels madly in love with a divorce lawyer, I would’ve laughed in your face and told you to take a hike. But love had a funny way of finding you even when you weren’t looking, or in my case, didn’t even want it. I supposed Eden was right, we did find our happy ever after. It took me a long time to realize that I could be happy again, and I was just glad that I finally listened to what my heart had wanted all along.
I glanced over at Dean to see him already watching me intently, a smile on his face so bright that it made the corners of his eyes crinkle. The insurmountable love that was directed towards me was unmistakable and I found myself leaning in his direction, bringing my lips to his. He met me halfway and we shared a kiss that I would never grow tired of. It was soft and gentle and wasn’t rushed. But in that kiss, it told me everything that I already knew, and once he pulled away and my
eyes fluttered open, he let me know once again, “I love you Julia. I’m so happy that I made you see that all of this,” he swept his hand down the length on his body, “was worth more than just a fling.”
He sure knew how to lay it on thick, but I loved him for it. I rolled my eyes, and muttered “You have one hell of an ego there, Mr. Parker. Pretty sure of yourself, huh?”
But he knew he was right, he did show me that what we had together was definitely worth more than a fling.
About The Author
Amber is a stay at home mom currently residing in Southern Indiana with her husband and two beautiful daughters. If she's not shopping, going to concerts or on road trips, or having her nose stuck in a book, you'll often find her at the ball field watching one of the numerous sports that her girls are involved in.
Contact Amber
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ambernationauthor
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @nation_amber
Website: www.ambernationauthor.com
Acknowledgements
My family: Jarrod, Alexis, and Olivia- I say this each and every time but it still holds true. Thank you so very much for believing in me and continuing to stand behind my decision to write and following my own dreams. I love you three to the moon and back!
Savannah Stewart: I don’t know what I would do without you in my life. I am so thankful that we’ve crossed paths due to the Indie community. Thank you for being such a great friend, one that I truly feel that I can rely on. Love ya, lady!
Mayas Sanders: I feel I can always come to you and you’ll give it to my straight up. Thank you so much for always being first and foremost taking a chance on my writing and my books. I appreciate you more than you may ever know and am so thankful to have you in my corner.
Ashley Volk: Thank you so much for your continued encouragement and support. I can always count on you to give me an honest and straight forward opinion before I release to the rest of the world.
Najla Qambar: It all started with a premade cover and has grown into an amazing series of beauty. I absolutely love all the work you do and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.
Jen Akers: You, my friend, are an editing master! I appreciate all of your hard work in making my books the best they can be. And I now know that it is all right, not alright. LMAO!
Enticing Journey Book Promotions: Thank you so much for your continued hard work. I cannot express just how much I appreciate all that you do.
READERS, AUTHORS, and BLOGGERS: THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to read and review More Than A Fling and not only for taking a chance on Dean and Julia, but for any of my books that you’ve chosen to read. Without the readers, we are nothing. So I greatly appreciate all of your continued encouragement and support. MUCH LOVE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!