by Haley Travis
Tyler’s hand rubbed along my arm gently.
“I didn’t want you to think that I was anything like him. I’m not – I don’t even know him. I only really met him two years ago.” I was trembling, and Tyler stopped on the sidewalk for a moment to put both arms around me, just holding me as a loud motorcycle passed by.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to speak. “Everything was happening so fast, and seemed so perfect, that I was terrified to make any fuss or bring any negativity into our little bubble of happiness.”
He nodded, listening carefully.
“And I’m sorry I came to the bar tonight,” I said quickly. “I wasn’t spying on you, I just needed...” The tears took hold and I couldn’t speak anymore.
“Shh,” he murmured, rocking us from side to side gently. “It’s okay.”
It took me a few minutes to calm down. Reaching into my purse for a tissue, I dabbed at my eyes, then looked up at him.
“We’re going to work it out,” he said.
I felt my mouth fall open and couldn’t stop it. “So that other girl...you’re not with her at all?”
Tyler looked completely confused. “What girl?” Then he blinked and laughed for just a second. “With the black hair? That’s not a girl, that’s Connie. She’s the head of one of our carpentry teams. She hugged me because she’s super excited about leaving for a trip with her boyfriend tomorrow, and she’s going to be gone for two weeks.”
He started to speak but I held up a hand. “If it’s over, I’ll survive,” I said softly. “I understand that you’re likely leaving me, and I’m used to that, but–”
Tyler grabbed me, holding me against his chest, stroking my back as he kissed the top of my head. “I’m not leaving you,” he said quickly. “I’m not.”
We stood together, just breathing for several moments, then he slowly pulled away, holding my hands. “Oh my god, Tana. I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Yeah, I did,” he said sadly. “No wonder you got nervous when I didn’t call for a few days. Your dad abandoned you. Your mom isn’t close. You mentioned that your school friends got boyfriends and didn’t speak to you anymore. Sweetheart, I’m not like that. I’m not leaving. If we ever did go our separate ways, there would be a huge discussion first, but I honestly don’t think that will ever happen.”
“You can’t know that for sure,” I whispered.
“Sweetheart, I already know that you’re the girl for me, and we might need to work some things out, but seeing another guy almost touching you snapped something deep inside me that I hadn’t even known was there.”
He held my face in his palms. “I need you. But I need you to be totally honest, even when it’s awkward or horrible.”
I nodded, blinking furiously through my wet eyelashes. He was so handsome, even when he looked so oddly serious.
“Tana, I love you. I’m not letting us go in different directions. Not ever.” He entwined his fingers with mine, holding them tightly between us in front of my heart. “We’re a team now, and I’m not leaving.”
I bit my lip, trying to stop the tear that was trying to spill from my left eye. “I love you too,” I breathed.
Dropping my hands, he held my face between his palms sweetly, kissing me so gently it made my head spin.
“I’ll never keep anything from you again, I promise,” I murmured.
“I’ll never let a day go by without calling or texting,” he said. “We won’t scare each other again, okay?”
“Okay.”
Tyler wrapped an arm around me as we continued walking to my place. “You were absolutely right about that number, by the way,” he said.
“What was it a number for?”
“The password to my uncle’s financials. I’d been able to access them before, but he recently locked them.”
“Uh oh,” I said, looking up to try to read his face. “Was it a mistake, or something bad?”
He tilted his head from side to side as if he were thinking. “Something bad, but done for what he thought was a good reason, I guess. But it’s straightened out now, and I’ll be taking over the company a lot sooner than I expected.”
“Wow. When is that?”
“In a couple of months,” he grinned.
“Congratulations,” I smiled as we walked into my lobby and I dug out my keys.
As soon as we were inside my apartment, we kicked off our shoes and I headed for the couch, but Tyler grabbed my hand and took me to the bedroom instead.
“Last night all I could think about was wanting to be naked with you so that we could connect,” he said, pulling off my shirt. “Is that okay?”
“Absolutely.”
It was delightful to pull each other’s clothing off with a less sexually charged energy. But as soon as we were under the sheet, our skin pressed together, things felt instantly heated.
His fingertips trailed up my spine, as my palms began to glide around his shoulders.
Every time we were together I felt like I was relaxing, becoming accustomed to touching him everywhere, and being held by his warm, rough hands.
“Sweetheart, once I’m running the company, I’m going to be doing everything I can to make the workload steady for all of the teams, so that we can predict our hours.”
“That’s okay, I know you’ll have to work late sometimes,” I said.
“Yes, but I also don’t want to be wasting all sorts of time driving to your place, and you coming to my place, and having big discussions over where we’re going to have dinner.”
His eyes were absolutely blazing, but I wasn’t positive about what he was trying to say until he said it.
“Tana, over the next couple of months, I’d like you to consider moving in with me.”
“Isn’t that a little fast?” I asked.
“Absolutely. That’s why I am warning you now. Or, asking you now, I guess. Will you please think about it?”
“Sure,” I nodded. “But wouldn’t you rather move into my tiny apartment?”
He chuckled as he grabbed my hip, pulling us closer together. I could feel that he was extremely excited, and not just by the idea of us moving in together.
“My place is too big for one person. I’m thinking if you move in this year, then in a couple years we’ll get married, have two or three kids–”
“You meant to say one or two.”
“Exactly,” he said quickly. “Maybe a dog.”
“You meant to say a cat,” I giggled.
“Exactly. A big fluffy, lazy cat that will sleep on your lap while you’re reading and waiting for me to come home.”
“I’m absolutely loving this idea,” I said. “I’m going to be responsible and think it through for a while, but so far, all signs are pointing to probably.”
“See?” he said to the ceiling. “One quick conversation and we already have a life plan. I absolutely knew that she was the girl for me.”
Stretching up, I blocked his view of the ceiling with my face, making him chuckle.
Tyler grabbed my hips, pulling me on top of him. He began to kiss me, but I squirmed away, putting my hands on his shoulders so I could look down at him.
“There’s something important I need to tell you,” I said.
“If you’re not in the mood, sweetheart, that’s fine,” he said gently.
“No, I really am,” I said with a wide smile. Staring into those dark, intense eyes, I said, “I love you, Tyler.”
“Good,” he said, pulling me into a deep, seductive kiss. “I love you so much, sweetheart.”
My heart seemed to grow wings, flapping in my chest at a few dozen beats per second like a hummingbird.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of staring at you, Tana.”
His kisses became more heated, then he paused. “If I wear out my eyes from looking at you, you’ll get me a discount on glasses, right?”
I laughed, as
he gripped my hips, shifting me into position, as the stiff head of his shaft lined up perfectly. As we kissed, caressing each other gently, his length gradually eased inside me. The wetter I became, the deeper he glided, until the pressure inside me made my pulse spike.
Rocking gently against me, inside me, Trevor groaned. “You feel so perfect, baby.”
“So do you,” I said softly.
“I missed you last night. I never want to sleep without you again,” he said, gripping my hips as his length seemed to become even harder and thicker.
My body was taking over as I dug my knees into the bed, rocking with him and against him as shivers licked up my spine. He held my eyes with his as he took my hands, placing them firmly on his chest as he pushed me gently up so that I was vertical.
“Oh, wow,” I exclaimed as he pushed even deeper.
Staring down at his layers of muscle, his broad chest and shoulders, I couldn’t believe this gorgeous man was now completely mine. Those deep, sexy eyes practically held me in a trance.
His huge hands gripped my ass, lifting and lowering me as I nearly went cross eyed from the sensation. Leaning forward just an inch, I found the angle that rubbed against me in the perfect way.
“You have no idea what it does to me to feel how wet you are,” he practically growled.
His eyes locked onto my swaying breasts as I moved in a wave, working with his rhythm. I was trembling from the intensity, my breath ragged, my thighs beginning to clench.
Tyler’s eyes were flaring with heat as he stared up at me. “You’re so sexy, Tana.”
“You’re the only one who’s ever made me feel sexy,” I whispered.
“Lean back.” I did immediately, as he licked his thumb and brought it to my clit. I gasped instantly, making him chuckle. “Is that what you needed, sweetheart?”
I nodded, my thighs tensing as I moved faster, working his thickness inside me steadily.
My fingers were digging into his chest but I couldn’t stop. “When I move in with you, are you going to tuck me into bed like this every single night?”
“Yes, baby,” he growled, a shudder rattling through him.
My hips began rolling faster, working his length all the way in and out as his thumb fluttered gently. I wanted to lean down to kiss him, but couldn’t break the spell of his stare as he took in the sight of my body practically dancing over his.
“Gorgeous,” he muttered. “And all mine.”
I was so close to the edge already that hearing him say that was like pouring gasoline on my internal fire.
“Yes,” I began to moan, then I was overtaken by shrieks as the hardest climax of my life shook me to the core.
“Tana,” he roared, gripping me almost roughly as he began to seize as well. We came together, grinding and twisting as his heat released inside me, making me squirm all over again.
Finally, I collapsed onto his chest, kissing him gently as his hands stroked my back.
“Mine,” he whispered against my lips.
Gripping the back of his hair with both hands, I stared into his eyes as I whispered, “Mine.”
EPILOGUE ONE
* Tyler *
*** Eight Months Later ***
It felt like everything in the world had fallen into place. Tana moved into my house after we’d been dating for three months, and over the next few weeks somehow pulled everything together and made it look much more like a home.
There were beautiful photos, colorful pillows, and strange little sculptures like her crystal spheres across several decorative shelves in the living room.
She also helped me organize and plan the scheduling structure of Samuels Construction more efficiently, and between the two of us, helped organize, streamline, and digitize all of the paperwork.
I had politely declined any further requests for quotes from the “family” company, so they stopped contacting me. We had more work than we could deal with, and I found myself turning down some of the smaller jobs in favor of larger companies with more interesting designs.
If we were going to work like hell, we might as well make it the high-end stuff, which not only paid better, but was also a lot more interesting.
There was only one more important thing that I needed, to ensure that everything was in order.
Walking into Stanley’s new art exhibition with Tana on my arm made me feel like a million bucks. We didn’t go out on fancy dates very often, so dressing up was a fun treat. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a long midnight blue dress with her hair extra wavy.
As we made our first round of the event, greeting everyone we knew along the way, I loved how she’d gotten close to my friends, and friends of friends. She had seemed a bit shy at first, but when I was standing beside her, she could talk to anyone about anything.
Once the party was in full swing, I found myself becoming a bit twitchy.
As we approached the bar, Sylvia came out to give us each a big hug. “Tana, the cocktail you helped me invent at the pink flamingo party was amazing. I served it to a bigwig at an exclusive club last month and he lost his mind. What would you like tonight?”
I watched as Tana began to scan the liquor bottles, pondering.
“Ask her for the Tyler Special,” I whispered loudly.
Tana looked up at me with a smirk, knowing that I was up to something. “If there’s hot sauce or anything weird in it, I will be extremely disappointed in you,” she laughed. Then she turned it to Sylvia. “The Tyler Special, apparently.”
“Excellent choice,” Sylvia nodded.
She took a shallow glass bowl out from under the bar, pouring in a half shot of clear chocolate liqueur, a half shot of vodka, and a few drops of other things that were all clear, followed by one drop of cherry to turn the liquid pink.
She stirred it carefully with a red swizzle stick with all of the drama and concentration as if she were a witch brewing something in her cauldron.
Then Sylvia grabbed a pair of tongs. “Are you ready for the magic?” she asked Tana.
“Sure,” Tana said, looking around at the crowd who had gathered.
Sylvia pulled out a sphere of ice around an inch in diameter, placing it into the glass bowl and letting it roll around.
“It’s not a cocktail, it’s a moving sculpture,” Tana laughed.
Sylvia held out the bowl to her, then shifted direction at the last second to hand it to me. Tana looked confused, then even more perplexed as I knelt down before her.
“Sweetheart, you know that you’re the love of my life. You are the cherry in my cocktail, the Kahlúa in my hot chocolate, and you’re the only person I would ever allow to talk through a movie.”
I paused as all the people around us laughed.
Tana’s bottom lip was shaking as her eyes grew huge. I lifted up the bowl so that she could take a good look. Inside the crystal clear ball of ice was a diamond ring.
“Tana, my love, will you marry me?”
Her chin was nodding up and down before I could even finish getting the words out. I nearly dropped the bowl as she threw her arms around me, kissing me so hard I felt bad pushing her away. “I think I need you to say it out loud,” I said.
“Yes, Tyler, I’ll marry you,” she squeaked.
A gigantic round of applause circled us, as I handed her the bowl. To my absolute delight, she tipped it up and carefully took a sip. “Wow, this is amazing! Try it,” she said, passing the bowl to me.
It was somehow sweetly symbolic that the first thing we did as an engaged couple was to share something together. We passed it back and forth until it was empty, except for the ice cube rolling around in the bowl.
“How am I supposed to try it on?” Tana laughed.
“I’ve got it,” Sylvia said, taking the bowl from Tana’s hand and dropping the ice ball into a mug of hot water.
I stood up, holding Tana close. Sylvia dried the ring, handing it to me so that I could slip it on Tana’s finger.
“Wow, it fits perfectly,” she smiled
.
“I’m good at measurements, remember?”
Our friends descended on us, hugging and laughing and taking a ton of photos while Tana proudly waved her hand in front of everyone.
“Don’t worry,” Stanley assured me, “We got some brilliant photos of the ring in the ice beforehand.”