One Hot Summer
Page 52
In the seamless movement from the wall to Lincoln’s bed, clothes are shredded until there is nothing but hot, damp skin between us.
It’s then that I notice the rose petals covering the white comforter on his bed, and votive candles illuminate the night stands. “Thank you for coming to visit me,” he whispers in my ear while laying me down on his bed.
“I haven’t gone more than a minute without thinking about you,” I tell him.
The sheets fly above our heads, gently fallen on top of us like a blanket of feathers. His hands are everywhere, and tension is fierce. “Is this okay?” he asks. Though it seems a little late to be asking this question, I appreciate it.
“More than okay,” I respond with only my breath.
I hear the packaging of a condom torn open, and the quick struggle of his body as he slips it on. He’s quick to refocus his attention back on my lips as his hands and body do the rest of the work.
I’m melting into his bed as he presses into me. His arms cradle the rest of my body, allowing the friction between us to enhance every sensation. I love the feeling of our bodies being pressed together. It feels like I’ve been here with him before—something familiar and something I would want to relive over and over.
His lips encircle my face, moving down the length of my neck, and across my collarbone. I force him to roll over, pinning him beneath me, showing I like the control too. I press my hands against his chest and ride the waves just as he was.
Lincoln’s hands cup my breasts and his head falls back into the pillow. His hands find my hips and he squeezes as silent moans escape his lips, warning me of what’s coming. The sounds are enough to drive me to my brink. I move faster and harder against him, feeling him unravel, losing my strength to stay upright, and I cry out with release before I fall on top of him.
That was everything I thought it would be, and way more.
“How am I supposed to go back downstairs now?” I ask through missing breaths.
Lincoln’s hand sweeps up and down the length of my back. “I don’t know how I will ever leave this bed again,” he says.
“Well, you have to. The girls told me to come get you and bring you back down.”
Lincoln chuckles and places his hand on my cheek, kissing me again. “I’m glad they approve of me, at least.”
“Grace has been trying to figure out how to move you home with us since we got here, so they definitely approve of you.”
“Grace asked me twice to move to Boston,” Lincoln admits.
“She did, huh?”
“I told her my job here was only temporary, and Boston doesn’t sound like the worst place to be.”
Grace knew.
“I didn’t know—”
“She’s worried about you. She told me she’s never seen you so happy and she’d do just about anything to keep you smiling. Your friends really love you,” Lincoln tells me.
“I love them too.”
“Maybe someday I could love you like they love you.
“Maybe someday I could love you too,” I tell him.
“Will you message me, email me, and write me letters until I make it back to the Northeast?”
“Only if you promise to write back,” I counter.
“I’ll write to you first. That way, you’re the one who must write back,” Lincoln says.
“You’re kind of perfect, huh?” I tease him.
“That’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone else that.”
“I’ll never tell anyone about the secrets we shared. I’ll keep them with me forever, Lincoln.”
11
At the end of that night, we went out to the bar so we could dance the night away. Though, my heart was telling me I was sure I’d never see him again, I did what Lincoln kept swearing by, and lived for the moment.
It was the best moment of all moments I had yet experienced.
I said goodbye to Lincoln as we went to our respective hotel rooms, knowing how hard it would be in the morning while leaving so early.
After the last kiss, and the last long gaze, living for the moment felt like the worst idea ever.
He wasn’t there to remind me that it was better to have lived than to have missed out.
I knew better than to fall for a man so quickly.
Now, I’m trying to forget him. It was only two days of my life.
Though, some things can’t be forgotten.
Epilogue
THREE WEEKS LATER
I continue to look all around, taking in all the moments around us. I spot Keller sitting in the fourth row back, smiling at Grace. He’s imagining his future with her and it makes my heart happy for them.
Someday, I’ll have that.
Someday, I’ll be loved the same way.
I glance over to the other side of chairs, Rex’s side. My heart stops when I see someone smiling at me—someone I haven’t seen in almost a month. Someone who might love me someday.
Lincoln is here, and I did not invite him. He has written me letters every single day since I left Cabo San Lucas. He understood why I couldn’t say goodbye, which made me want to respond to each of his letters. However, not once did he mention being invited to the wedding, or crashing it, if that’s what he’s doing.
He waves at me with two fingers, smiles his heart out at me and points to his eyes, then to Grace because I’m not paying attention to the ceremony that began.
The ceremony is quick unlike Grace and Rex’s heated kiss. The crowd is cheering and whistling and a few are clearing their throats, but as if Grace needed to set a record, the second she decided it was time to end the kiss, she threw her arms up in the air, holding Rex’s hand in her left hand as if she won something special. She did.
“We’re married!” she shrieks.
In true Grace fashion, they rush the aisle, and disappear through the doors at the end. Macy follows, receiving a wink from Keller as she walks by. As for me, I follow Macy, but when I walk by Lincoln, I grab his hand and pull him to my side as we continue toward the door. The moment we’re out of sight, I spin him around and loop my arms around his neck, thanking him with my lips. “You didn’t tell me,” I mutter against our kiss.
“Grace swore me to secrecy,” he mutters back.
“I’ll have to have a talk with her after her honeymoon.”
“I got a job in Boston,” he says, lifting me at my waist and spinning me around. “So, can I ask you to be my girl now that I can date you?”
The choky feeling will not subside, and a couple of tears spill from my eyes because my heart has never felt so full as it does right this second. I nod my head, yes, squeezing my arms around him even tighter. “That rock really did a number on us, but I’m glad our secret is out now.”
Also by Shari J. Ryan
Women’s Fiction:
Shattered Stars
Last Words
The Other Blue Sky
The Heart Series (3 Books)
Ravel
Red Nights
Romantic Comedy:
The Man Cave Series (5 books)
The Bachelor Beach
Romantic Suspense:
Darkest Perception
Raine’s Haven
About Shari J. Ryan
Shari J. Ryan is an International Bestselling Author of Contemporary Romance and Women’s Fiction. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two young sons. Shari started her career as a graphic artist and freelance writer, then found her passion for writing books back in 2011. She has been slaying words ever since and creating imaginary friends ever since.
Web:
www.sharijryan.com
Make sure you join her Twisted Drifters Reader Group at: http://smarturl.it/ShariReaderGroup
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