“Addison?”
Oh no!
“Delaney. Um…hey! What are you doing here?”
“I heard they had a Monet on display so I just dropped down from L.A. It’s not far,” she began. “But wait a second. Shouldn’t I be asking you what you’re doing here? All the way in California.”
“Yeah, well I just decided it was time to check it out, you know.”
There was no way I was going to lie to her, but this also wasn’t the perfect time or place to tell her, Oh by the way, your dad and I have been having mind blowing sex all weekend…just thought you should know.
But now I had no choice.
“Wait, dad?” she said, looking around the side of me. “Dad?” she said again.
“Hey honey.”
It didn’t take a mathematician to put two and two together. She dropped her sketch book and ran out of the gallery.
“Is everything okay over here, sir?” a lady from the gallery asked.
“Yes, fine. Thank you,” Dylan said as he reached down to pick up his daughter’s book.
We stepped outside.
“Can you do me a huge favor?”
“Anything.”
“Just wait right here in this general area. I’ll be back, but I can’t promise you it’s going to be quick.”
“I totally understand. Sure you don’t want me to join?”
“This is on me,” he said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before taking off in a sprint down to the sand.
CHAPTER 15
Dylan
W hat in the hell were you thinking?” she yelled as I slowed from a run to a walk a few yards from her.
“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”
“Oh! And that’s supposed to make it better? You had a better way for me to find out that you were with my best friend?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Right. And how is it like then?”
“We met by chance. I didn’t know. We took our time.”
“You took your time? How long has this been going on?”
“A few weeks now.”
“A few weeks! And you’re just telling me now?”
“I was going to tell you after you came home for the semester. I didn’t want to fill your head with something that would seem so crazy from a distance.”
“Okay. So this is about me now? You were thinking of me first?”
“As crazy as it sounds, yes.”
Delaney shook her head and then lowered her face to her hands. I could hear her starting to cry. I needed to give her space to make sense of this, but not now. Now I needed to be there for her. I moved in and wrapped her up in a big hug.
“You okay?”
“I, I’m sorry, dad,” she said in between sniffles. “It’s just with mom leaving us, and now this. I just don’t know what’s going on with our family right now. It’s scaring me.”
“Everything’s going to be alright, honey. You know I’m always here for you.”
“I know,” she said, burying her head in my chest. A few seconds later she gently pulled her head back, looking up at me.
“But dad, my best friend? You couldn’t find someone else?”
“That’s just it right there, Delaney. There is no one else. I’ve never wanted anyone like I want her.”
“What about mom?”
“We were too young. We thought we were in love, but it was just lust. I know that now. I learned.”
“From your mistake? Is that what you were going to say?”
“Life is a process where we’re presented opportunities to learn about ourselves and grow. I learned that your mom and I aren’t right for each other long-term, but I also learned how beautiful and how enjoyable it is to have you in my life. My little girl.”
She pulled herself back in close and hugged me.
“I know you’re sincere, dad. You always have been. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m your dad. I love you no matter what. You know that.”
“But what about you and Addison?”
“I’m not sure you’re ready to hear this right now.”
“Dad, I’m as old as she is. If—”
“I love her.”
Delaney paused. She looked shocked.
“You love her?”
“Yes. I love her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. One hundred percent. It’s crystal clear to me.”
“What about her?”
“She feels the same, but maybe it’s best if you ask her for yourself.”
Delaney turned her head for a second looking out to the stars over the ocean.
“I guess it makes sense.”
“How so?”
“I mean, I always told her the nice things you did for me. And I showed her the pictures that you sent. I would gush about the other guys you were with in the pictures, but she never really said anything.”
“You were gushing about my buddies? How old were you then?”
“Dad!” she said, playfully slapping me. “We were almost out of high school.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“I could have been fantasizing about Justin Bieber.”
“Okay, this conversation has to end now.”
We both laughed.
“Just give us a chance, honey. Can you do that?”
“For you, dad, I can do anything.”
“Want to go find your friend?”
“You mean your girlfriend. That sounds so weird.”
“Yes, my girlfriend.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” she said.
We began walking back towards the gallery and then it hit me.
“One second.”
“What?”
“I didn’t tell you the full story. The full disclosure.”
“The full disclosure?”
“Maybe the full monty is more like it.”
“The full monty?”
“I’ve been working on the strip as a dancer at an all male review.”
I watched as her legs crumbled under her, and her body collapsed onto the sand.
CHAPTER 16
Addison
W hen Delaney came to a few seconds later we got her in a cab and took her back to the home where we were staying. Dylan broke out a bottle of wine after Delaney was feeling better, and we all sat on the rooftop discussing the craziness which had become our lives.
Delaney was embarrassed beyond belief at what her dad had done to make money. He didn’t say why he did it, but she put the puzzle pieces together pretty quickly and realized he did it out of his love for her. As much as she wanted to be furious with him, she just couldn’t.
And just when we thought there were no more surprises he hit us with another one.
“Girls, this pertains to both of you.”
“Dad, no more. Please. I’ve had enough crazy for an entire lifetime tonight.”
“We’ve turned the Crazy Corner and we’re headed towards Sunshine Street.”
“Sunshine Street?” I said, nearly spitting up my wine.
“Bodacious Boulevard sounded weird. So did Awesome Alley, and—“
“Okay, we get the picture,” Delaney said, reaching over to poke her dad in the ribs.
“In the SEALs we had to assume different identities from time to time. That’s exactly what I did when I was working with the show.”
“Was working?”
“That’s right. The house we’re staying in…the guy who owns it is like a brother to me. He runs a security company and has offered me a very, very lucrative position protecting the celebrities around these parts. ”
“What parts?”
“L.A., Orange County, and Las Vegas if I want it.”
“Maybe best if we put Vegas in the rear view?”
“I agree, and that’s what I told him. Plus being here gets me a lot closer to you, and there are plenty of opportunities for Addison out here. I don�
��t know for sure, but I hear the pay is better and of course we’re right by the beach.”
“Wow…um, okay,” I said. “That came out of nowhere.”
“I know. I was going to tell you just before we left, after you’d had the chance to take in the entire weekend. And I’m not expecting a quick decision. We can take a week or two.”
“That’s not quick?”
Delaney looked at me and shrugged. “Military…split second decisions. A day is like a lifetime to them.”
“Two weeks isn’t enough?” Dylan asked.
I looked at Delaney and we both burst out laughing. We leaned towards each other and high fived one another behind my dad’s back.
“What’s going on here?” my dad joked.
“Girl power, dad! Nothing comes between a girl and her bestie!”
EPILOGUE
Addison
Two weeks later
S he’s looking forward to meeting you too,” Dylan said into his phone, as he turned to me and winked.
“Yep. Yep. We’ll call you before we take off. See you soon,” he said, and hung up.
“Well?” I said, my fists balled up against my chest, anxiously awaiting the news.
“We’ve got a place!”
My hands sprung open and my arms wrapped around him in a big hug.
“Oh Dylan. This is going to be so amazing.”
“It’s going to be amazing because of you, angel.”
“I’ll put in my notice tomorrow.”
“Me too,” he said.
“Good, because I’m not sharing you with anyone ever again. Not even one little peek.”
“That’s just the way I want it too. From now and forever this is all yours.”
“Meow,” I said, clawing at the air.
“Feeling frisky, aren’t we?”
“We are,” I said.
“Well, first thing’s first,” he said, dropping to one knee.
“Addison,”
“Oh my god,” I said.
“I knew you were the one the moment I laid eyes on you. I know what I want and what I want is you. Now, tomorrow, and forever and always. Will you make me the happiest man in the world? Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I said throwing myself at him as he caught me in his arms falling back onto the ground, where we rolled around like little kids, with the addition of a tremendous amount of wonderful kisses.
“This is the best day of my life,” he said.
“And this is the best day of mine,” I said.
“Let me see that beautiful hand of yours,” he said. As we were still on the floor, looking like a cute mess I’m sure, he removed the ring from the box and slid it on my hand. A perfect fit.
“It’s absolutely breathtaking.”
“Just like you.”
I hugged him again. “You always know just what to say.”
“It’s easy when I’m with you.”
“Like I said,” I winked.
“I know this is happening really, really fast, but I know. I truly know.”
“It is fast, but I know too.”
“And I want to make an honest woman out of you as soon as possible.”
“Can we get married on the beach?”
“You mean you don’t want to get married in Vegas?”
“Very funny.”
“I already checked with my buddy. Laguna Beach is a popular spots for weddings and we’ll have no trouble finding someone to preside over the services.”
“That’s perfect.”
“And it’s also perfect that it’s close to L.A.”
“I can’t wait to tell Delaney. I’m going to have her as my maid of honor. How unusual is that?”
“Well, we’re not exactly the most usual couple, so I think it would be right in line with how we operate. And I spoke with Delaney earlier today. She’s still a bit shocked by everything, but she’s come around even more. She’s very supportive of us.”
“That’s great. She’s been nothing but the same great friend she’s always been to me since our little surprise in California.”
“California. The place for a new beginning, for both of us.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Not that we needed a new beginning, but it’s a perfect way to start our life…together.”
“Together,” I said, as I kissed him deeply again.
“I love you and I can’t wait to show you each and every day for eternity.”
“And I love you, and I can’t wait for you to show me either,” I said, tapping him on the nose. “And I can’t wait to show you too.”
He helped me up off the floor and carried me in his arms to the bedroom.
For the first time I made love to my fiancé. My fiancé, and I was his.
It had a nice ring to it, just like the wedding bells I’d be hearing really soon as I walked down the aisle and became one with the only man I ever loved.
The End
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COMING SOON: LUMBERJACKED
Mounting bills and rising tuition costs force me to leave college mid-semester. I need money and I need it fast.
In my little rinky-dink, not even one traffic light, neighborhood there’s only one game in town. Big Timber Treecutters.
And its owner, Jack Wood, is my only hope. He's my dad's best friend and he knows how to swing his axe…but he doesn’t hire women, especially not me.
He’s as rugged and raw as the land he works, and rumor has it he’s got the biggest tool in the forest. And while he’s thinking of ways to get rid of me, all I can think of are ways I want him to split me like wet pine.
But now he’s got 99 problems and a birch ain’t one, and he needs my help. He says women have tried before but they can’t cut it. But I’m a busy little beaver and won’t take no for an answer.
And when I tell him about my secret bush that I’m saving for a very special woodsman, I know this is one fir he’s going to mark with his branding ax to show the world just who it belongs to.
And once he does, he says he’s going to do whatever it takes to prove to me that once you get with this lumberjack, you never go back.
*Lumberjacked is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
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Lucky 13: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants #13) Page 6