When he finally notices me, he crosses the space quickly, and once again greets me with a kiss, and I love it. I hate like hell we have to sneak these moments in, but I love the fact that his first instinct is to connect with a kiss. He pulls back and looks at my short but tasteful red dress like he’s trying to guess something, and I know what that is. But he isn’t finding out until much, much later. Then I think, maybe I should let him know now. Nah, I’ll let him wonder. Much more fun that way.
I remove his slow wandering hands from around my waist and twirl away, my skirt lifting just slightly, and go around the room making sure everything is just perfect. And I don’t miss the fact that Dylan keeps his eyes on me a lot. Oh, I love teasing that man.
Luke and Jax finally arrive with the rest of the kids and their friends, and after that other guests begin filtering in. Pretty soon the large room begins to shrink in size with the number of bodies filling it. But I am glad to see everyone that shows up immediately greets the kids happily and goes into straight to having a good time. I worried about some of the adults turning this into a sad moment, but it looks like everyone showed up to party. I make my way leisurely through the crowd with Dylan for a while who introduces me as a friend of the family and tells them proudly that I helped Cassie plan it all, to which they all congratulate me.
Finally, Cassie begins pulling me behind her and Danielle, the friend she invited for the evening. She’s not a cheerleader, shocker, but I do become a little suspicious when I find out she’s the sister of the new boy, Austin, that Cassie is now into. That’s an interesting twist, but time for that conversation later.
Somehow I’ve managed to avoid conversation with Jax, thank God, because I haven’t missed the curious looks he’s been sending my way as time passes. As soon as he arrived Dylan put him to work helping load up some barrels full of beer and wine coolers then another full of soft drinks. Not long after that task he caught the attention of a cute little member of the wait staff.
Luke seems in a much better mood tonight and even brings himself to give me a sideways hug before introducing me to his girlfriend, Melissa. And of course, she is a stunner. A little aloof, but she does all the right things by hanging all over Luke. After the brief introduction, she drags him off for more privacy, and Michael informs me dryly, and I quote, “Won’t last longer than a week.” Of course Luke and his date are out of earshot, thank God.
The food is steadily disappearing, and I know why because it’s the best there is when it comes to KC barbecue. And if you aren’t a believer then check out my favorite show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The classic rock songs from the 70s and 80s have been coming through the speakers, and people take advantage of the music to dance. I even notice during one song that my gorgeous boyfriend is dancing with a beautiful woman, thankfully at a respectable distance. Otherwise, I would probably ruin everything by pulling her away by her long hair. I watch for a moment, and Dylan catches my eye over her shoulder. He shoots me a wink and shakes his head slightly. I know he’s conveying the message, I have nothing to worry about. I smile to myself and continue mingling.
After a while, he makes his way back over to me. “How you doin?” He asks.
“I’m doing wonderfully. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. Even Luke is in a good mood tonight.”
He looks over to the dance floor where Luke and his girlfriend are pawing each other, borderline inappropriately. “Of course, he is. He gets to touch his girl anytime he wants.” Yeah, that part does suck.
I shake my head, "Just remember that it won’t be secret forever.”
"Yeah, I keep that mantra in my head on repeat. I can’t wait to tell the world how I feel about you.”
I want to take this conversation further, but Jax saunters up to us, "No Alex? I talked to her yesterday, and she said she would be here?"
Part of me wonders if he's just looking for another night with her or not, but again none of my business. "She's finishing up at the salon and should be here soon."
He barely acknowledges me and nods his head toward the redhead Dylan was dancing with earlier. "You already have dibs on her?"
Dylan stays cool as can be, "Nah, go for it."
He shakes his head, "I already have my eye on a tall blonde at the bar. She's all yours, man. I am so fucking glad you are back in the game."
He gives Dylan a fist bump before heading to a group of men closer to the bar, no doubt just to get in better proximity to the tall blonde. I hate that Dylan can't just straight out tell him he's not interested. It’s just a small downside of our secret relationship, so I don’t need to overthink.
Dylan looks into my eyes, "I'm not going to do anything. That dance was just for show because he was ragging on me earlier about all the women here tonight and all that bullshit. I’ve known her a long time and knew she was safe to dance with. Her boyfriend is in the Marines and currently in Afghanistan. I knew him in high school, so we talked about him while we danced. I may let Jax think I'm in the game, but it won't ever go too far."
I nod, "I know. I trust you. I'm sure he is going to test you, though."
"I can handle Jax." Our voices are low, and the music is loud, so I'm certain no one can hear our conversation. Dylan leans a little closer, "The kids are going to Science City tomorrow. Michael has been begging to go, and Luke actually offered to take them. They’re heading out pretty early. You want to come over tonight?"
I smile, try to keep calm, Brooke. "You serious about me sneaking in your window?"
"It’s the French doors that go into my room, but hey, they look like a window. You think Alex will notice if you’re gone?”
I shake my head, "Probably not, she gets up early to run and then goes straight to work. She never wakes me up on Sundays."
"Good, I'll text you when they are all asleep?"
I bite my lip while I think about it. It won't be the first time I've snuck in a window, but it's definitely the most exciting time. I simply nod my head and return his sexy grin with my own.
Alex finally shows up in time to eat and visit with a few people she knows who come into the salon as well as Cassie and her friend. She hangs with me and catches me up on today’s beauty shop gossip as I like to call it. After cutting the cake at nine, some people begin drifting toward the exit because it’s getting close to 10, which is the time Dylan has the room booked to.
Alex and Jax talk and laugh together like old friends, but show no interest in leaving together, and this only makes me wonder if maybe Alex was serious about not hooking up with him again. Which I undoubtedly think is a very smart decision on her part. At ten, she informs me she needs to leave because she’s meeting a friend early for breakfast after a run, plus she’s tired from having to work all day. Her leaving just gives me the perfect excuse to stay and help clean up.
Dylan tells Jax and Luke to round up all the kids to go home, and this leaves Dylan and me to stay behind. In the mayhem of rounding them all up, nobody seems to notice or question anything. Really, all this sneaking around is turning out to be way too easy.
Dylan and I have nothing to do since the employees are taking care of anything. They wrap up all the leftover food and offer it to us, but we tell them to send it to the homeless shelter that Dylan and the kids volunteered at on Christmas. We do split up the cake to take home because it was a delicious cake. That little part of the party plans came from Cassie, Michael, and Gabby’s planning. It was evidently ordered from Sylvia’s favorite bakery and turned out beautifully with a picture of all five kids.
Dylan finally walks me to my car and leaves me with a kiss. I smile all the way home to wait for his text giving me the all clear to sneak inside his ‘window’ which I’m thanking the gods is a French door since he told me to leave the dress on. The man has a very dirty mind.
Thankfully Alex is already asleep. So I quickly freshen up, change my panties, and sit on the couch to occupy my time until Dylan text me the all clear which finally comes about 11:30. When I arrive on his bloc
k, I park a couple of houses down on the opposite side of the street, so James Bond, so that the kids won’t notice my car when they leave in the morning. Thank God the thing is boring and totally unrecognizable.
I send Dylan a text to let him know I’m walking almost to his ‘window’, and yes, I know this seems very juvenile, but if this is the sort of thing we have to do to have some time together then it’s totally worth it. We can do this.
Besides, it’s really kind of fun.
Chapter 29
Dylan
I wake feeling on top of the world; really I’m just laying half way on top of Brooke’s warm body. Looking at the clock I see that it’s still early, and we’ve only been asleep for a couple of hours. I could stay like this forever, Brooke naked in my arms and in my bed. I’ve never woken up next to a woman unless I had passed out drunk after we fucked, and then it was always, get the hell out before she woke up. Now, I want to roll back time every time I look at the clock knowing that the minutes I have left with her are getting closer. This is the hardest part about keeping us a secret. That we can’t just wake up and walk out of this room together before kissing each other bye at the door before going to work. That thought is fucking terrifying for so many reasons. We've only been dating for a couple of weeks, and I already I want her invading my space and my life. I just want to be with her all the time because she brings me peace. I don't know how I lived without her.
Brooke shifts her body underneath mine enough to meet my gaze. “What are you thinking about?"
I lean down to kiss the corner of her swollen lips, the same lips that I ravaged over and over just hours ago. The same lips that brought me more pleasure in just a short time than all the women I’ve slept with combined. "How nice it is to wake with you like this. And really how surprised I am that you snuck in.”
I wasn't sure if she was going to go through with it and wasn't convinced until she walked through the doors of my bedroom. She was as excited as I was about it, and we didn't waste any time ripping at clothes before falling into bed. We had to be quiet with the kids being home, but it was still incredible. I wonder if any time with Brooke could be anything but incredible.
She laughs, "It was exciting. Lying to our friends and family is hard, but this is kind of hot."
I grin, "You like living a little on the dangerous side, huh?”
"Mmm, only with you.”
I know exactly what she means. I hate lying to everyone, but the thrill of being caught is a turn on. Of course, if we were caught together it would screw up so many things in our lives. "Thanks for all your help with the party. Everyone had a lot of fun and had a lot of compliments for you when I told them you helped plan it.”
"It was fun, and from what I can tell Sylvia deserved the very best."
"Yeah, she did. I can't believe she didn't make it 40."
Brooke snuggles up to my side a little closer, "Their friends talked very fondly of them."
It was a really good to see their friends. Sylvia was a social butterfly and always dragged my dad along, but I know he was very close to his co-worker John. He was there tonight and told me how proud my father was of me and how much he talked about me all of the time. That had to be just something you say because I don't picture my dad gushing about me. "Yeah. It was nice to see them all. Sylvia was really good at making and keeping good friends."
"I talked to a nice guy named John."
I nod. "If my father had a best friend it was him."
She laughed, "Yeah, he said your father was a gruff son of a bitch and then laughed and said he missed him.”
"Yeah, sounds like John. He's such a happy guy, so how he ended up being friends with my dad, I will never know."
"Well, opposites attract."
I laugh, "Yeah no kidding, must be how he ended up with Sylvia."
Brooke traces the tattoo on my neck lazily. She does that often when we are lying together. "How did they end up together?"
"Well, after my mom had died my dad went to a dark place. He spent a lot of time in a Jack Daniels bottle. I eventually ended up spending about a month with my mom's brother, Rick and his wife. I lived with them and their four kids until my dad got his shit together enough to pick me up. But he was never the same after that.”
Brooke is listening to every word, “Did he still drink?”
"No, he was just absent. He didn’t say a word. When I came home, I noticed that there was nothing left of my mother. Her clothes, her stuff in the bathroom, her photos, everything, was gone. When I asked where it all went he just said that it was all gone like her, and then said I was not never mention her again.”
She stops tracing the tattoo and moves her hand to my cheek, "That must have been so confusing for you."
I shrug, "I tried asking a few more times but soon learned not to. After that, we lived in silence except for a few grunts here and there. He would bark orders when he wanted me to do something. I actually loved going to school and turned into the class clown, probably to get the attention I wasn’t getting at home. I remember when I was around ten my dad had gone to the grocery store and met Sylvia. I never actually knew this until she told me.”
Brooke smiles sweetly, "They met at a grocery store?"
"Yep, according to her there was only one tomato left, so he let her have it. And then she asked him out."
"Well damn, he must have been either a charmer or a looker. Do you get it from him?"
I laugh. “My dad had women falling all over themselves to get to him, but he never noticed or cared. He was a big guy. Luke and I look like him.”
“Well, that explains everything then.”
“After he met Sylvia everything became all about her. She was really beautiful. Even at 10, I could see that. She was a lot younger than him. She had just graduated from college, and I guess was looking to settle down. It didn't take long for her to move in with us, and then she got pregnant with Luke. Right after that, they got married.”
"Wow, instant love."
"He definitely adored her."
"That's sweet."
We hear footsteps down the hall and a little bit later hear a toilet flushing before a bedroom door is closed. Brooke goes rigid in my arms. It’s a reminder that we aren’t alone. Man, I need to get Brooke away where we don't have to worry.
An idea comes to mind, and I’m praying she’ll go for it. "Hey, I know you just had a conference, but do you think you could have another one in a couple of weeks?"
"I’m assuming conference is code for me telling Alex I’ll be gone a couple of days. I think that's doable. The same hotel?"
I shake my head, "No, I want to take you somewhere special. March first I'm meeting a client in Osage Beach, Mo. It's down by the Lake of the Ozarks. Do you think you can get a day or two off?"
"I’ll have to ask, but I should be able to work it out. I'm excited already, but what about the kids?"
"Jax will stay with them. He loves the kids, and he will be happy about this new client."
She lays her head on my chest and closes her eyes. “That sounds perfect.” I cannot wait to spend a few days in a town where no one knows us, and we don't have to hide. I drift back to sleep planning our getaway.
A few hours later I wake up to Toby barking; then he stops after the kitchen door closes. I look at the clock and see that it’s 11, so I’m sure the kids are already gone. Brooke is still sleeping soundly next to me. It was nice not to have to set the alarm and help her get out of here before the kids wake up.
The peace is quickly interrupted when I hear Jax’s voice boom through my house, “Dylan? Are you here?”
“Shit.”
Brooke sits up and whispers, “Is that Jackson.”
I nod, kiss her on her cheek, and hop up, “I’ll be right back, don’t worry.”
She looks freaked out, and I put pants on and go out into the hallway closing the door behind me to find Jax in the living room, “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I was looking f
or the kids? Are they not home?”
I shake my head, “No, they all went to Science City.”
“What is Science City?”
“It’s an interactive science place that Michael’s been wanting to go to.”
He raises an eyebrow, “Even Luke went?”
I laugh, both of us still standing in the living room, “Yeah, he drove them. Why were you looking for the kids?”
“I was going to see if they wanted to go to a movie or something.”
“Thought you had a girl last night at the party.”
“Yeah, that was nice before I sent her on her way. It’s a pretty decent Sunday, and I just wanted to get out.”
Jackson, the toughest guy I know, wants to spend his Sunday with a bunch of kids. I’m not the only one who has been softened by this experience. “Nice.”
He grunts, “I know, it’s a hell of a lot different from last year at this time, but what can I say, they’re cool kids.”
“True, you could try Luke’s cell and see about meeting them there. I think you would find it kind of fun.”
“I will, you want to go?”
“I would, but I have to use today to set up some meetings. I need to call Mr. Callahan to make sure he’s still good to meet up on the first.”
“Mr. Callahan? Shit, now that would be fucking awesome. He knows everyone in Missouri. That would bring in a ton of business.”
“I know. With his connections, we could pretty much get all the business out of Missouri and probably Arkansas. We just have to do a good job for him. I know he’s got four sweet beasts we’ll have to prove ourselves with. I’m going to go to him, so I was hoping you could stay with the kids for a couple of days. I want to impress him, and maybe take a look at the cars. Break out all my business savvy on him.”
He nods, “No problem man. You do what you gotta do for him.” He calls Luke to finds out where the kids are and then goes to meet them.
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