Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (29 page)

He nodded. “You stopped and gawked around a lot at the Grand Canyon too,” he said.

She elbowed him. “I took in the view on Maui too,” she said.

“Yeah, but you preferred
that
view from the massage table they set up on the sand,” he teased.

“Well…yeah.” She took a swig of water.

This was their third trip. Third of many. Once she’d realized she didn’t want to actually race and compete, and that Bryan did want to travel if it was with Tess and involved seeing some back roads, they decided to make the trips without even looking at race schedules. Tess did a ten-mile run in each place, on her own, competing only against her own time. And always taking time to stop and look around. They spent the rest of the time sightseeing—though usually self-led, since tour guides drove Bryan a little batty—taking in the local culture and food, swimming, tandem biking, canoeing and other activities Bryan could do, and having hot, dirty sex. As well as making love.

“So the top of the mountain wasn’t the only thing I asked about when I rented this place.” Bryan stretched his legs out and leaned back, propping his elbows on the step behind him.

“Oh?” She took a long swig of water.

“The shower is enormous. And has a built-in bench.”

Tess felt her mouth curl into a smile and she looked over at the man she’d loved for almost twenty two years. Okay, honestly, twenty five. She’d never really been over him. “I saw that bench. You think it’s sturdy enough for two?”

“For sure.”

“Even with a lot of…motion?”

“Absolutely.”

Tessa felt her heart accelerate faster than it ever did running. “Did the reservation people wonder why you were asking?”

“Why I was asking for a sturdy built-in bench in an enormous shower?” he asked. “I have a spinal cord injury. They can’t ask questions like that.”

She laughed. “But you probably told them anyway.”

Bryan certainly hadn’t gotten any shier in the eight months they’d been together. In fact, if it was possible, he was
more
outgoing than before. He was big on public displays of affection, as well as public displays of pride in Tessa. He loved to talk to the people they met traveling, explaining about his injury and his crutches, and how he was following the love of his life around while she ran in all the places she’d dreamed about. And when he found someone interested in running or biking, it was impossible to shut him up. He loved the personal consulting via email and Skype that had organically popped up from those conversations. He’d taken up blogging again and did video blogs when he wasn’t working with Ty’s athletes, running the Come Again, and working on the multitude of community projects and committees he kept signing up for.

Frankly, keeping up with him was exhausting.

And Tessa had never been happier.

“So my mom made me swear that we weren’t going to get married spontaneously on one of these trips,” he said casually.

The water Tessa had just sipped went down the wrong pipe and she had to hack and cough for a moment before she could speak.

“
What
?” she squeaked a moment later.

He grinned at her. “I told her about this tandem bike race in Spain in June. I was thinking we could do that, and that the finish line would be the perfect place for us to get married.”

Married. Holy crap.

But it didn’t take that long for the idea to sink in. It actually would be kind of perfect. Except…

“June is festival time. We can’t miss that,” she said. She’d vowed to never miss another summer festival in Sapphire Falls ever again. It had almost killed her not being there for the last one.

“Okay, then town square during the festival it is,” Bryan said agreeable. “We could do the tandem bike in Spain thing anytime.”

She laughed. “Oh, sure, anytime.”

But they could. That was the wondrous thing.

Then she stopped. “Did you just…you want to get married during the festival next year?” she asked.

“Well, yeah,” he said as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

Married.

To Bryan.

That didn’t take
any
time to sink in. She breathed out and slumped back on the step. “Well, it’s about damned time,” she said and tipped her bottle up to empty it.

A moment later, he yanked the bottle away, tossed it onto the ground and hauled her into his lap.

She laughed as she straddled him. “I don’t smell very good.”

“Say it, Tess,” he told her in that low, firm voice she loved.

“I don’t smell very good.”

“The other thing.”

She smiled. “That it’s about damned time you married me?”

“Say yes.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

He looked up at her for two beats, realized she was right and muttered, “Dammit.”

She laughed again and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Good thing I know you so well and that I don’t want all that romantic, sweet stuff.”

“Yeah, well, you’re going to keep getting it anyway,” he told her.

She knew that. And she didn’t
really
mind at all.

“As long as you have Delaney put in a built-in bench in our new shower, you can be as sweet and romantic as you want,” she said. Delaney was helping them build their house, right on the outskirts of Sapphire Falls. “
Outside
of the shower. And the bedroom,” she added. “And your office. And the kitchen. In those places you better be naughty.”

“The shower is already in the plans,” he told her, cupping her butt and pressing her down against his growing erection. “And maybe I’m starting to come around to your way of thinking about the shower and the bedroom and my office and the kitchen.”

She shook her head. “Everything always goes
your
way,” she said, her heart full of love and happiness.

“Are you kidding?” he asked. “You’ve made me work harder than any girl, coach, doctor or physical therapist ever did.”

She grinned, and he laughed.

“Which is exactly as you’d intended, right?” he asked, his smile and eyes full of the same love and happiness and satisfaction she was feeling.

“You’ve always said that hard work pays big dividends,” she told him. “That’s straight off your blog.”

“Hmm…it’s no wonder you love me. I’m quite brilliant.”

She scooted off his lap and held out her hand. “You are indeed. So let’s go get some dividends.”

“Dividends as a code word for sex. I like it.” Bryan took her hand and she pulled him to his feet.

Then they headed straight for the shower with the built-in bench.

And everything, absolutely everything, went exactly her way. Twice. Then his. And then hers again.

If you like Sapphire Falls, you’ll love Chance!

Take a trip this summer to another fun, sexy little town…

Twisted Up

Coming August 2016

from Erin Nicholas and Montlake Romance

Avery Sparks is a master at controlling chaos—and she gets plenty of opportunities as fire chief and head of emergency management in her hometown of Chance, Nebraska. The only thing she can’t seem to control are her feelings when she’s around Jake Mitchell, the man who was her first
everything
the night of their high school graduation. But Jake was so quick to leave Chance—and Avery—behind that she swore she’d move on.

While Avery’s job is to minimize drama, Jake embraces the chaos of an emergency. After enlisting in the Army National Guard, Jake became a nationally recognized leader in disaster recovery. Yet a life on the road has left him restless. So when a class-four tornado wreaks havoc on Chance, he’s eager to return home—and to the woman never far from his mind.

Now, Avery and Jake must team up to help their hometown weather a siege of violent storms. But it’s clear to them both that nature isn’t the only force they’ll have to reckon with. Will Avery and Jake’s whirlwind love affair be an all-new disaster—or can they recover from their stormy past to build a future together?

* * *

“I’ve got it.” Avery turned toward the shelves and stepped on Jake’s foot.

“Ow.”

God, this was so much—too much—like last time.

Except this time they were completely alone.

“Well, get out of the way!” She shoved the box onto the shelf, her elbow hitting his arm. “This shed is huge. There are a hundred other places you could stand.”

“I’m trying to help.”

She gave a short laugh. “You’re trying to drive me crazy.”

“By supplying a source of light and offering to lift a box for you?”

“By standing so close.” She put her elbow into his side and pushed at the same time.

Of course, he barely moved.

“I’m being a gentleman.” But he sounded like he was smiling.

She didn’t dare risk looking at him to confirm it. Because he was still so close.

“You haven’t been a gentleman toward me a day in your life.”

She was still facing the shelves but she felt him move closer yet.

“I protest that statement,” he told her.

He was directing the light at the shelves in front of them. She was grateful that he wasn’t trying to see her expression. With the light trained on the shelves, she could see that the bin directly in front of him on the second shelf was labeled “storm supplies.”

But suddenly getting into those supplies was far less important than the conversation with Jake.

“You protest based on what?” she asked.

“On the fact that I took you to your first and only Prom and made sure you had an amazing night.”

He had done that. She could still remember everything about that night—her dress, his tux, the way he’d been so attentive and had made her laugh, the way he’d danced with her, holding her close and making her feel safe, the sweet kiss on the lips he’d given her when he’d taken her home. Ten years later and she could conjure every detail of that fairytale night. The night she’d started falling in love with him.

“And on the fact that on the night of our graduation I was very sweet and made sure you came first,” he said.

Avery actually gasped at that. And she wasn’t a gasper. But that was so…in your face. Even for Jake. Jake teased and flirted and insinuated, but he’d never come right out and talked about them having sex that night.

And at that simple mention, her entire body heated and seemed to strain toward him, ready to do it all again, just like that.

Damn him.

“Getting me drunk on peach schnapps and out of my panties makes you a gentleman?” She tried to focus on the sarcasm rather than the memory of his hands slipping under her sundress, his big palms sliding over her thighs and up to her panties before tugging them back down her legs and tossing them over his shoulder with a glint of mischief and affection in his eyes.

She had to clear her throat after that particular memory reel played through her mind. “I don’t think that’s the typical definition,” she said when she was sure her voice would sound calm. “It’s sad that you’re still so hung up on that night.”

He chuckled and the sound tickled over her like he was running his fingertips up her arm and down her back.

And she knew that he knew she was full of crap.

He wasn’t the one hung up on that night. That was her. That was all her.

But no one had ever affected her like Jake did. And she didn’t even like him.

Avery immediately took that back. She did like him. She just didn’t want to like him.

She wanted to be upset and angry at him for leaving. For not even telling her he was leaving. And she was. That had hurt. But she was most angry with herself. She’d looked up into his eyes when he’d asked her to Prom and had immediately started thinking that it was the start to the future of her dreams. After Prom they’d spent time together after school and on the weekends. He’d never called her his girlfriend or said they were dating, but it felt like dating to her. And she’d been giddy. Jake was an amazing guy, every girl wanted him, and he’d chosen her. But more than getting a great guy who treated her like a princess, being with Jake also meant that she would be a part of her dream family. Jake’s mom and dad were like second parents to her. She loved Jake’s mom with her whole heart. If she and Jake were together forever, she and Heidi and Wes would be together forever too.