Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (27 page)

Yeah, that should have been awkward.

Turning to face him after he’d made her come for a
third
time and looking at those lips that had done incredibly, amazingly intimate things to her, should have made her blush. The fact that he was even
able
to make her come three times should have maybe embarrassed her. In the novels, the women often had multiple orgasms, seemingly easily, but she knew better than to think that was real-life stuff. But this was Bryan, and she had been waiting for him forever. Coming easily for him, begging him and pleading, doing whatever he wanted her to do, should have been expected.

It had been, if she was honest.

She’d known he could make her do anything he asked.

But instead of embarrassed or awkward, she felt beautiful. Sexy. And powerful.

She had affected him too. Deeply. She could see it. And feel it. And it was a heady experience.

Tess put a hand against his cheek and looked into his eyes, and for the first time, she sensed that the tables had turned.

She wasn’t the only one overwhelmed here. She might not even be the most overwhelmed of the two of them. And she knew that Bryan knew it too. She’d had no idea that making herself vulnerable to someone could make
her
feel powerful, but that was exactly what had happened.

Bryan didn’t look away though. He seemed to be drinking her in. He cupped her face in his hands and said, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For letting me be the one. For waiting for me.”

Her heart turned over in her chest. A bit painfully. She never would have thought it would be painful to hear something like that from Bryan Murray.

She also never thought she would have to choose between Bryan and something else.

Until that first day she’d put on running shoes and huffed and puffed her way over a quarter of a mile of country road, Tess would have picked being with him over
anything
else. Hell, for
months
after that, she still would have picked him. She’d hated running for at least four months. She’d barely liked it for a lot longer than that. It still hadn’t gotten to where she liked it
more
than Bryan. And that had been before he’d put his head between her legs.

She would never like anything more than
that
.

But how she felt about herself after running was better than how she felt about herself falling head over heels for Bryan again simply because he’d turned his attention on her.

Now that he lived—literally—four blocks away from her, she was leaving. Because if she didn’t, she would hate herself.

But…

“It never could have been anyone but you,” she told him softly.

He leaned in and kissed her. It was deep and hot, not hungry, but sweet and…thorough. He kissed her as though he was soaking her in and trying to become a part of her.

But he already was a part of her.

He always had been.

Chapter Twelve

“This is going to be great,” Tessa said, looking at the ladies gathered on the stage at the Community Center.

They’d completed their final fashion show rehearsal and were beaming at her from under the stage lights.

It was crazy, but Tess felt tears stinging. But it wasn’t the outfits or the perfect turns—which had been about sixty-percent of the turns—or that the music had matched up exactly. It was the familiar faces of the women she’d known her entire life, and the sexy voice of the emcee who had been equally charming, funny and informative during his narration.

She was going to miss the show.

She couldn’t believe it.

The festival officially kicked off on Sunday, but she was leaving for Denver tomorrow at seven a.m. The plan was to get there a week ahead of the race, get settled in the apartment that a friend of Bryan and Ty’s had helped her secure and train for a few days, just to get used to the altitude.

So she was going to miss the festival. Something she hadn’t done ever. Bryan was heading up all of the activities he’d helped her with over the past few weeks, and Hailey was handling everything else. It was all set, and she was sure it would go off without a hitch.

But she wanted to be here.

Tess turned away from the stage before she started to cry. It was so stupid. She’d seen every fashion show, every Lawn Yawn, every Founder’s Day play, every everything in Sapphire Falls. She didn’t really expect this festival to be dramatically different. But the giant beer pong game would be fun to see. Frank was the favorite, but she thought Albert could surprise everyone.

And of course the fun run. That was new and her baby. But Bryan was an excellent second-in-command and had already added so much to it.

She had nothing to worry about. She needed to be focusing on
her
run.

“Tess, don’t rush off,” Dottie called as Tess gathered her bag.

She was working on composing herself before she faced Bryan. He would hate thinking that she didn’t want to go to Colorado now after all her big talk.

Tess took a deep breath and turned to the stage again. “What’s up, Dot?” she asked.

“We just wanted to say thank you.”

Tess swung toward the doorway as a deep voice answered her question.

All of the guys from the Lawn Yawn were walking in.

“Wha—”

“Miss Sheridan!” A little girl ran into the room, dodging the older guys. It was Molly Petersen, one of the girls from the talent show. Her two sisters were right behind her, and they were followed by the other kids from the show.

Molly threw her arms around Tessa’s waist. “We’ll miss you!” she declared.

Tess returned the hug, still startled by the people who kept coming through the door.

“What’s going on?”

“My mom said you’re leaving,” Molly told her.

Tess hadn’t told many of the people involved with the festival that she was leaving. It wasn’t like they’d signed up for things because of her. The festival would go on as planned. No one would know the difference.

But people kept coming. After the older guys and kids was a group of her friends, including Hailey, Delaney, Hope and Kate and their guys, as well as Travis and Lauren Bennett, Phoebe and Joe Spencer, and Mason and Adrianne Riley. The gals from the book club were there, as was Peyton and several bakery regulars. Three families she’d worked on home remodels for came in behind several girls from Tessa’s three yoga classes.

The room was soon full of people Tessa knew and had worked with. Of course. This was Sapphire Falls. There wasn’t anyone here she
didn’t
know.

Even Derek, Doctor Kyle Ames and Officer Scott Hansen were there.

And then Tess was caught up in a hug by Caitlyn Murray, Bryan’s little sister. Her boyfriend, Eli, might pitch in the major leagues, but Eli and Cait were from Sapphire Falls and had promised to make it to at least part of the festival. Eli had even brought some friends from the team, which promised to make this festival even more memorable—at least for the baseball fans in town. And since Eli had signed with the Friars,
everyone
in Sapphire Falls was a baseball fan.

Tess felt hands on her shoulders and instantly knew who was behind her.

“Hey.” Bryan’s low voice in her ear made the tears that had been threatening finally slide down her cheeks.

“You did this, didn’t you?” she asked.

In true Sapphire Falls style, when any gathering of more than two people occurred, food and drink was appearing like magic. A cooler of lemonade and beer was set up beside a long table covered with chips, sandwiches, fruit salad and cupcakes, where power tools and poster board and markers had been five minutes ago.

“All I did was casually mention to a couple of people that you were heading out in the morning.”

She turned and looked up at him. “When you ordered the cupcakes or asked Dottie to make sandwiches?” she asked with a smile.

“Seriously. All of them did this after hearing you’re leaving.” He dipped his knees slightly to look into her eyes. “You’re surprised?”

“Uh, very.”

“Tess, you’re very loved.”

She laughed lightly. “This town loves—and takes—any excuse for a party.” But she felt her heart warming as she looked around. They were all here for her. She knew that. Felt it.

“While I’ll admit that it’s not
difficult
to get people together to eat and drink,” Bryan said, “you have to know you’re important to them.”

Tess could tell it was very important to him that she acknowledge that. “I know.” She put a hand on his cheek. “Thank you.”

They were broken up a moment later by friends and family, and Tess was passed around the room as everyone wanted to tell her how wonderful the festival was, how wonderful they thought her running was, how wonderful they thought Colorado would be for her and how much they would miss her.

About an hour in, Tess was completely overwhelmed. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention, or being showered with love and being praised.

Bryan knew that.

She was walking past the doorway that led out to the lobby of the center when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her around the corner.

Bryan backed her up against the wall just on the other side of the room full of people, rescuing her.

“You ready to get out of here?”

“You think I can just disappear?” she asked, hoping for exactly that.

“You want to make a speech or something?” he teased.

She shook her head adamantly. “Definitely not.”

“Up on stage? Spotlight? Microphone?”

He was kidding, she knew, but she still shuddered. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Good.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I knew this would be a lot for you, being the woman of the hour, but you deserve it. I want you to know you’re loved and wanted.”

She nodded, her throat thick. “Thank you.”

“Ride the Ferris wheel with me.”

Her heart thudded. It was so stupid. She was thirty years old, for God’s sake. But his look, his tone, and her reaction were all far too serious for a simple spin on a carnival ride.

Because there was nothing simple about taking a girl on the Ferris wheel in Sapphire Falls. Everyone here knew that when a guy invited a girl into one of those swinging bucket seats, it meant he was serious about her and was staking a claim.

It was Friday. The festival didn’t really kick off until Sunday, but the carnival ride company was already in town setting up.

“Do you think they’ll let us ride?” she asked as Bryan took her hand and they snuck out of the Community Center and headed for the square.

“I already set it up,” Bryan said. “We’ll be the first riders of the festival.”

She liked that. It was even…romantic. And she didn’t mind at all.

There was no one else at the ride but the operator. He gave them a big grin as they walked up the slight ramp to where the seat stopped to load and unload. They got in, and the man clicked the lap bar into place. Then they began their ascent.

They didn’t talk as they slowly made their way to the top. As they climbed, Tess looked around, taking it all in. It had been a few years since she’d been on the ride, and she’d never done it at night.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, not sure why but feeling like the moment called for quiet contemplation.

The town of Sapphire Falls spread out below them, glowing with the soft yellow lights of the street lamps in the residential areas and the taller lights farther out that stood in the yards of the farmhouses. On Main and around the square, it was quiet, the lull before the festival. Soon, the streets and sidewalks would be covered with people, multicolored lights and booths, stands and games.

But this was the real Sapphire Falls. Peaceful, comfortable, happy.

Everywhere her gaze landed, she had a memory. Dottie’s Diner, the gazebo, the grocery store, the bakery—it was all visible from up here.

“You’re a part of this town, Tess. It’s partly the place it is because of you.”

She nodded, accepting that truth for maybe the first time. “I’m going to miss it so much.”

“It will always be here. Whenever you’re ready to come home,” Bryan assured her.

She turned to him. “All of it?”

His gaze roamed over her face before meeting her eyes. “Tessa Sheridan, are you asking me to wait for you?”

Her heart gave such a hard thump she couldn’t breathe for a moment. Because she not only wanted to ask him exactly that, but she had a feeling he was going to say yes.

“Well, if I kiss you on this Ferris wheel, it means you’re mine,” she told him.

“Well, if you don’t kiss me on this Ferris wheel, I’m going to kiss you.”

But she did.

“Wait for me,” she whispered against his lips.

“Always.”

* * *

Eight days later

Six miles. She was six miles in and it felt good. Running in the mountains was tougher than the Nebraskan plains, but Bryan had pushed her over the past two weeks and she could tell she was ready. She could do this.