Dancing Hearts

by Heather Dahlgren

  “Boss, you’ve got this.” We spend the next half-hour prepping.

  “Alright, I’m going to open the doors. I’ve got about two hours, then Levi said he would help you out. It’s going to be busy so I thought it would be best to have an extra hand.” He agrees and I open the bar.

  Just as I thought, it is the busiest we’ve been. I knew having Wicked Union here would pull in the crowd, and that’s exactly what I wanted. I’m the same exact professional bar owner I’ve always been, and I can’t believe how many people actually point it out. It makes me feel awful, but I deserve it after the way I treated everyone.

  Steve and the guys get here and begin setting up. Levi and Rain come shortly after. Hunter, Ryder, and even Nia show up. Now I’m just hoping that Rowan is able to get Emma here. She is going to text me when they are on their way, and the later it gets, the more anxious I get. Finally though, I get the text and my heart begins pounding.

  I saw Emma come in, and holy shit, she looks beautiful. I can’t wait to have my girl in my arms again. I take a deep breath before I climb up onto the stage. Steve slaps my back, and I give him a nod. “Thank you all for coming tonight. We are lucky enough to have Wicked Union with us.” I wait for the thunderous applause to stop. “Before they start, I need to do a few things. First, I need to apologize to everyone for the way I’ve acted. This bar is my legacy, and I intend to keep it running with the respect it deserves. I appreciate each and every one of you for sticking with me all this time. So thank you.” Everyone claps, shouts, and whistles making me feel like I have gained back their respect. “Now I have something else I want to do. I know most of you have no idea, but I play the guitar. I wrote a song recently, and I’d like to sing it for you.” At this point I’m staring right at Emma. She looks shocked as Steve hands me my guitar, and I take a seat on a stool. I adjust the microphone and pluck my guitar to make sure it’s still in tune.

  “You’ve got it, Cooper. Get that girl back,” Steve whispers in my ear, and it’s just the push I need.

  “This song is called Dancing Hearts.” I begin to play the melody of Emma’s song, and I make sure to keep my eyes locked on her as I get ready to sing.

  ‘I never thought it was possible,

  To have a love like this.

  But it was completely undeniable,

  From that very first kiss.

  Your telling eyes,

  Your brilliant smile,

  You had me from the start,

  The second I laid eyes on you, you had my dancing heart.

  You make me laugh, you make me smile,

  You make my dreams come true,

  I don’t know what I did before,

  Being only half a person until you.

  I never thought it possible,

  To have a life like this.

  You consume my soul completely,

  It’s as if no one else exists.

  You have me now, doll, please know it’s true.

  There’s nothing in this world I swear, I wouldn’t do for you.

  Your love of music, love of art, you own my dancing heart.’

  As I sing, I watch a breathtaking smile take over her face, even though she has tears rolling down her cheeks. When I finish singing, the applause is magnificent. I wait until they stop and grab the microphone.

  “Emma Harris, I love you more than words or music can express. I’m sorry for being such an asshole.” She stands up, and I do the same, never taking my eyes off of her. I hand my guitar to Steve, but I realize she is running toward the door. Fuck no. I jump off the stage and run after her, catching her outside right in front of the bar. “Emma!” She spins around crying uncontrollably. I pull her to me and she allows it. I close my eyes reveling in the moment. It’s been too long since I held my girl, and this time I’m not letting go. She has my shirt fisted in her hands with her face buried in my chest. I kiss the top of her head and gently pull her back to look at me. “Emma, talk to me.” I reach up, wiping her tears away.

  “Cooper, I can’t believe you wrote me a song; it’s beautiful. For you to get up on that stage and share your talent with the world means more to me then you could ever know. Thank you.” I run my fingers down her face, staring in her crystal blue eyes.

  “Doll, if you loved it why did you run out here crying?” She starts to giggle and I raise my eyebrows.

  “I was just so overcome with emotions, I didn’t want to cry and make a scene in there.” Damn, this girl is my world. I can understand what she means because I’m feeling the same exact way.

  “So does this mean you’ll take me back? I swear to you I will never hurt you again. Since you’ve been gone, I felt like I was missing a part of myself, like my heart stopped beating. I need you, Emma.” She pushes up on her toes and kisses me, but pulls away quickly. I’m taking in every inch of her face. “Did I prove it, doll?” She gives me that breathtaking smile.

  “You definitely proved it.” I crash my mouth to hers and lift her. She wraps her legs around my waist and tangles her hands in my hair. I have my hands on her sweet round ass. When our tongues collide, I feel the first few rain drops. I missed her taste so much it is consuming me in the best possible way ever. I hardly notice that it is pouring on us now because I’m got my girl in my arms and everything seems perfect again.

  Six months later

  I OPEN MY EYES AND look at the clock. It is only nine in the morning, so we have plenty of time. I smile when Cooper shifts beside me. I love waking up in his arms and I do every day now. After he proved to me that he was the man I fell in love with, it was like no time had passed between us. We just picked up where we had left off. Three months ago, he said he was tired of waking up to me only on weekends and moved me in with him. Ryan came home earlier than expected so he took over my apartment, ugly blue couch and all. Mary has made great progress with the new medication she is on. We had a long heart-to-heart, and she apologized for the way she treated me. She is still in the housing Cooper moved her to, and she actually loves it there, so we are hoping it can become a permanent thing.

  “Morning, doll.” I roll over to see my man. He is so unbelievably hot, and sometimes, I just look at him in awe because he is all mine.

  “Good morning.” He leans in to kiss me. It starts as a simple morning kiss, but quickly turns passionate. He pulls off my cami top and panties while I remove his boxers. My pussy is already aching for his touch, and I can feel his hard massive cock rubbing against me. He moves down to my breasts and begins licking, nipping, and sucking. He loves to mark me, but I admit I love it too. I lift my hips to silently tell him I need him. He looks up at me with heat in his eyes.

  “What do you want, doll? You know I like to hear it.” I feel my cheeks blush. Even after all this time, I still blush when I need to say the words out loud, but I’m so turned on I just say it.

  “I want your cock inside my wet pussy.” He growls before slamming his mouth to mine.

  “I fucking love when you talk like that.” I feel his cock at my entrance, and as I lift up, he sinks into me. I throw my head back, loving how it feels to be filled with him. He starts moving and I notice I’m a bit sore from last night, but the more he moves the less I notice. I bite my bottom lip when I start to get that tingling feeling.

  “I’m so close, Cooper.” He picks up his pace.

  “Look at me, Emma. I love how you look when you come.” I open my eyes looking into his beautiful brown eyes. He rubs my clit and my orgasm takes a hold of my body.

  “Cooper,” I moan, still looking into his eyes. He follows right behind me, grunting out my name.

  We are lying there recovering, and he is tracing my tattoo. He was so surprised and turned on when I showed it to him. He loves it as much as I do.

  “I think we better get up and have some breakfast so we can start getting ready soon. Are you excited?” I smile at him and he kisses my lips.

  “Hell yes. I can’t wait.” We climb out of bed and go in search of some breakfast.

/>   After a delicious breakfast and some fabulous shower sex, Cooper and I got ready for our day. We are now waiting in the bar for everyone to get here. “What time is Roy coming in?” Cooper wraps his arms around me.

  “He’ll be here around four o’clock.” Roy is still the head bartender, but Cooper promoted him to manager as well. They hired another bartender, Jessica. She has brought in a lot more male customers. It has been a blessing having more help because we have more time to do things without having to worry about the bar. “They are here. I’ll grab the coolers; you have the tickets.” I check my purse to make sure, and we head out.

  We are tailgating in the parking lot waiting to see Keith Urban. I’m so fucking excited. “Em, you want cheese on your burger?” I look over at Levi and shake my head. Rowan, Lane, and Lacey are dancing to Bartender by Lady Antebellum. Hunter, Ryder, and Ryan are playing corn hole, and Rain is helping Levi on the grill. Cooper wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my cheek.

  “What are you thinking so hard about, doll?” I smile taking it all in.

  “Just thinking about how lucky I am.” He squeezes me tighter resting his chin on my shoulder.

  “I’m the lucky one, that’s for damn sure.”

  Who would have thought one concert, one chance meeting, and one magical night would have led to a lifetime of happiness?

  The End

  I Drive Your Truck by Lee Brice

  Beer by Lee Brice

  Crash My Party by Luke Bryan

  Country Girl by Luke Bryan

  Rain Is A Good Thing by Luke Bryan

  Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Luke Bryan

  Out Like That by Luke Bryan

  I Don’t Want This Night To End by Luke Bryan

  Toes by Zac Brown Band

  Cruise by Florida Georgia Line

  We Were Us by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert

  Bless The Broken Road by Rascal Flatts

  Bartender by Lady Antebellum

  I want to thank every single reader who has supported me and loved me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate and love you all. Every message I receive, every sweet word and all the hours of laughs you give me I cherish. Know that I am truly honored to have the most amazing readers and I am grateful to every single one of you.

  I could not have done this without the love and support of my beta readers who are also my amazing friends. I could not have a better group of girls to cheer me on. Wendy Colby, Melissa Gill, Alexandra Godfrey, Dena Nannoshi, Larni Phipps, Michelle Ramirez, Jennifer Inglehart and Rebecca Wheeler. Thank you for your honest opinions, for pointing out things that I may want to fix and for loving my story. You girls have no idea how much confidence you gave me. I love you all more then you could ever imagine. Thank you for making me laugh, smile and cry tears of pure happiness. You all have a special place in my heart!

  A special thanks to my editor Kelly Hartigan. Thank you for making my book the best it can be. I love the friendship we have formed. My formatter Stacey Blake, thank you for making my book beautiful. It would be incomplete without you. My cover designer Melissa Gill for making me one of the most fabulous covers I’ve ever seen. Thank you all.

  A huge thank you to Sandra Love. You have gone out of your way to help me, with the cover reveal, release day blitz and blog tour. I appreciate everything that you do. You are a bright light in the Indie world and I am honored to be able to call you my friend.

  To all the blogs and bloggers that help spread the word, read my books and write amazing reviews. Without you the Indie world would be a much harder place. I can’t thank you enough for all the support you have given me in the process. You are all my rock stars!

  To my Change Chicks. I love you all so much and I appreciate all the support you give me. I think I have the best street team and it is because of you guys. Thank you for the laughs, the love and the sexy men.

  A special thanks to my husband Russell. You put up with a lot, don’t think I don’t appreciate it. You shell out a lot of money to make my dreams come true. Thank you for your support. I love you.

  I am 36 years old. I am married to my high school sweet heart. We have been married for almost 12 years and have 3 amazing kids. I’m a stay at home mom and my kids definitely keep me busy. I live at the Jersey Shore and love all there is to do here. I love nature, birds especially. I enjoy hiking and fishing with my family.

  I have always loved to write. In high school I used to write stories, poems and a lot of love notes! I absolutely love to read. I love the way I can get lost in a book and forget about the world around me. Now that I am writing books, I feel the same way, only it’s my book I’m getting lost in.

  As for now, I am loving this journey of becoming an author. It has been more then I dreamed it would be.

  You can always find me online. I love social media, so please feel free to interact with me.

  http://wwwfacebook.com/AuthorHeatherDahlgren

  https://twitter.com/HeatherDahlgren

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

  Remember when you were in high school? That guy you had a crush on, finally asked you out. You had that feeling that if he ever left you; you could quite possibly die. You had all your friends that made your high school experience the best times of your life, experiencing all your firsts. First kiss, date, party, drink, and sex. You actually enjoyed going to school, because you couldn’t wait to see your boyfriend or all your friends. Do you remember feeling like that?

  Well I sure as hell don’t. High school was nothing but a cluster fuck for me; disappointing and lonely. I was not popular; I actually didn’t have any friends. I certainly did not have a boyfriend. I was made fun of, or worse, completely ignored. I hated all four years. There was never a reason for me to enjoy being there. The girls made fun of my clothes, my hair, my glasses, my intelligence and even my weight. The boys didn’t even bother to look in my direction unless it was to bully me with their asshole ways. They were after the cheerleaders, the popular girls, and the easy ones. I stayed to myself. I tried in the beginning to make friends, but I was extremely shy. I threw myself into my studies and just counted the days until graduation.

  Of course, some of the bullies were worse than others. There was this guy, Matt, king asshole himself. Everyone has a leader for their group; Matt was the leader of the football players. If he told them to piss their pants, they would have done it. The girls were always the worst, but he was their head cheerleader. One day, right at the end of the day I was at my locker. The girls had been relentless that day. They spilled my lunch all over my shirt and laughed when I got upset. I couldn’t wait to get home. I put in my books from my last class when I suddenly felt something dumped on my head. It smelled awful, it was running onto my face and down my back.

  I turned around and there was Matt. Laughing his fucking ass off at me, holding a milk container, “I thought an ugly cow like you could use a little sour milk.”

  Everyone is laughing and I can feel the vomit coming up my throat. I try to hold it in, but the smell is fucking awful. I throw up all over the floor in front of my locker.

  “Holy shit. She just fucking puked!” I hear him cackling behind me.

  “Maybe she should do it more often and lose a few pounds.” Fucking cheerleader. I refuse to turn around, so I wait in my own vomit and sour milk until I can’t hear the laughing any more. With tears running down my face, I make my way to my car. Hoping that tomorrow will be just a little better. It never was though. Every day was just as awful as the day before.

  I was raised in a single parent home in New Jersey. My dad raised me because my mom passed away when I was just five years old. He tried his best with me, but I have two older brothers, he didn’t know how to raise a girl. I never did girly things. I played soccer, hung out with the neighborhood boys, climbed trees, and got dirty. I once asked my dad if I could sign up for dance and he told me that I was too good at soccer to quit. I also was not taught how to present myself as a girl. I had no one to
teach me how to do my hair or makeup, even how to dress. I became a ponytail wearing, makeup less, tee shirt and jeans kind of girl. It’s what I knew. I have red hair, which for some reason made all girls that much more mean to me. I was not a fat girl, but I wasn’t a skinny cheerleader either. Yet another reason they teased me. When June of my senior year came, I think it was the happiest I’d been in four years. I knew it was almost over and I was thrilled.

  I was beyond excited to start college and have a new start. No one would know me, so I could be anyone I wanted to be. I was determined to reinvent myself to become the person I wanted to be; the girl who had friends and boyfriends. I wanted to experience all my firsts in college, which I never got to do in high school.

  Those four years were a total shit storm, but I definitely learned something in that time. I knew exactly who I wanted to be and there was nothing that would stand in the way of becoming that. All those kids who were mean to me and made my high school experience suck, I was going to give them all a big FUCK YOU. I may have taken all that shit then, but I was not going to take it ever again.

  When I graduated, the first thing I did was start working out. I was going to lose this little weight and tone up. I started running in the mornings and joined a gym to tone up. I did many sit-ups at home to help get my stomach flat. I spent hours on YouTube learning how to do my hair and makeup the way I wanted it to look. I learned how to straighten my hair, curl it, and even put in a messy bun. For my makeup, I taught myself how to do the everyday look and going out looking sexy. Finally, I went shopping. I used to hate shopping, but when you start to feel good about yourself, holy shit, it’s actually fun. I bought myself everything new to go along with my new look.