Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
SUTTON
“ W ow. You look beautiful,” Derek gushes as I walk up to his door.
His brown eyes rake over me. I chose a simple, off-the-shoulder black dress for the wine fest he’s taking me to today. Based on the appreciative once-over, I’d say he likes it.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Derek is wearing another short-sleeved button-down that clings to his biceps and chest. It’s like he knows it drives me wild and wears them to get a reaction out of me.
Like wanting to kiss him for hours on end. But I don’t. Because tiny hands are tugging on my dress.
“When do we get to go to the pool?” Lydia asks, her new life jacket in her hands. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken her swimming. With my work schedule and her wanting to start soccer, she needed a new one if she would be going in the pool today.
Derek drops down to her level. “Do you have your towel?”
Lydia looks up at me, and I hold up her backpack for her. “In there. With my favorite jammies and a book for bed. ”
“Perfect. Troy’s waiting inside for you. You two are going to have a lot of fun today, aren’t you?”
Lydia nods before rushing in the open door. She’s welcomed inside by a pair of older voices I now recognize as Troy’s parents.
“Don’t worry.” Derek smiles at me as we head inside.
“Who says I am?”
“Kids and water,” he tells me. “I promise, they’re in good hands with my parents.”
I nod. “I trust them.”
It’s not a lie—I do. Because I trust Derek. If he says she’s in good hands, I believe him. Lydia is showing Troy her new pink life jacket that is covered with unicorns.
“Look at mine!” Troy holds his up for her to see—covered in footballs, hockey sticks, and baseballs. “I want to be a football player just like my daddy.”
The pride in his voice whenever he talks about Derek is the most precious thing in the world. You can see how much he loves his dad, and it makes it that much easier to fall for someone who is so good with their kid.
Patricia walks over to me and hands me a piece of paper. “Here’s both of our phone numbers and our address. We’ll get the kids pizza for dinner and make sure they’re in bed at a reasonable time.”
“Thank you.” I tuck it into my purse, smiling at her. “And thanks again for watching them tonight.”
“We don’t mind at all,” Tony tells me, grabbing both kids and heading out to their car. “You two deserve a night out.”
“I’ll never complain about that,” Derek confirms as we follow them outside and help strap the kids into their car seats.
“Now, Lydia. Make sure you say please and thank you, and when they say it’s bedtime, you go to sleep without any fussing, okay?” I plant a kiss on her forehead.
“I will. ”
“I’ll pick you up in the morning, and you can tell me all about the pool.”
Her face lights up, and I give her one more kiss before shutting the door.
“Have fun!”
I wave as they pull out of the driveway and head off down the street.
As soon as they’re out of sight, Derek pulls me into his arms for a kiss that sweeps me off my feet.
“Fuck. I’ve been wanting to do that since you got here.”
Wrapping my hands around his biceps, I hold on as he dips me lower. I don’t care that we’re in the middle of his front yard and that any one of his neighbors could see us.
I’m desperate for his kiss. It’s hungry as his tongue tangles with mine. Derek’s hand slides lower, squeezing my ass as he pulls me into him. I wrap my leg around him, swept up in this kiss.
The way he amps up my pleasure makes me want to stay at home and take advantage of our free night in the bedroom.
Setting me back down on both feet, Derek presses a kiss to my forehead. “C’mon. Let’s get going before I say fuck it and take you to bed.”
I groan. “Would that be so bad?”
Derek nods. “Yes. Because I want to take you out. Wine and dine you like you deserve.”
“Fine, then let’s go.” I slap his ass in those tight shorts he loves wearing. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back.”
“Fuck,” Derek groans. “You can’t say that to me, Sutton.”
“Hey, you’re the one that’s teasing me.”
“I’m regretting every minute of it.”
The boardwalk is hopping this afternoon. It’s like everyone over the age of twenty-one came out to celebrate the first wine fest held here. When we checked in, they gave us each a plastic wine glass and a map of the boardwalk where all the different booths are set up. Different wineries from all over California are here, selling whites, reds, and rosés. Every stall has lines of people wrapped around them, waiting for samples. A few food trucks sit on the edge of the parking lot. Old wine barrels with bouquets of flowers take over the rest of the space, giving people a place to drink their wine.
The waves are crashing in the distance, a soothing sound that I love.
It’s the perfect time spent together.
“Rosé or white?” Derek asks, as we make our way to the front of the line of one of the many booths.
“Rosé, please.”
We each get our sample and sip on it as we link hands and walk through the crowds of people. With every brush of his arm against mine, heat ripples through me.
I don’t know if I ever felt like this for my ex. Derek is awakening things inside me that I thought were long buried. And after only a few weeks?
It should scare me, but it doesn’t.
Because it’s Derek.
“Sutton?”
“Hmm?”
Derek stops near one of the barrels and sets his wine down before pulling me close.
“You’ve zoned out on me.”
“Thinking.” I wrap my arm around his shoulders, taking a small sip of the cool wine.
“About?” A smile curls Derek’s lips. There’s the barest hint of a five o’clock shadow there.
“You. ”
A full-blown smile erupts across his face. “I like hearing that.”
I press closer to him, feeling the heat coming off him in waves. “You know I like you, Derek, right?”
He nods, picking up his glass and taking the last sip of his wine. “I do, but it’s nice to hear you say it.”
Setting my own glass down, I link my fingers behind his neck. “I do, Derek. You’re making me feel…alive, for the first time in a long time. And I like it.”
It’s true. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like this. So much of my life is dedicated to Lydia and work. It’s hard to have my own life sometimes. Being with Derek makes it feel possible.
Like I can have it all.
Derek leans in, giving me another sweet kiss. “Mmm. Delicious.” Derek’s lips are cool from the wine.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of kissing this man.
The kiss is too short. I wish it could be longer, but Derek steers us off toward more stalls to sample. As the afternoon goes on, it gets more and more crowded.
Filling our glasses once again, Derek links his hand with mine and tugs me toward the path down to the beach. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
“Are we allowed to have our drinks out here?”
Looking both ways, we step over the rope that separates the festival from the beach.
“As long as we don’t get caught.” He winks at me.
“You’re a bad influence.” I laugh, kicking off my sandals. My feet sink into the sand as I follow him down the beach to where the waves are kissing the shore. The sun is starting to sink closer to the horizon.
I see children running on the beach as a few older teens fly kites nearby, and blankets and umbrellas litter the stretch of sand around us.
“There’s other people coming down here too.” Derek points back to where we came from as others make their way down the beach holding their wine glasses. “We’re fine.”
“If you get us in trouble…”
“You’ll what?” Derek drops down onto the sand and pulls me next to him. “Hmm?”
“I don’t know. Not kiss you.” There’s not a chance in hell I could hold myself to that. Not with the way Derek is staring at me right now.
It has my heart fluttering in my chest.
“Do you think you could?” Derek leans over, tugging my earlobe between his teeth.
“You’re not playing fair.”
“Nah, just changing the play on you.”
His warm breath sends a shudder through my body. It’s because of that I miss the water coming toward us.
Until it crashes over both of us.
“Oh my God!” I shriek.
“Holy shit!” Derek yells next to me.
I try to scramble out of the water, but the long fabric of my maxi dress clings to my legs, tying me up as I fall into Derek’s lap.
Laughter lights up his dark eyes, the sun casting him in a warm, golden halo. God, this man is perfect.
Another wave crashes on the shore, sending the icy water cascading over us. “Let me up!” I shout between laughs.
Derek shakes his head, closing me in with his elbows on either side of my head. He sinks farther into me as the sand washes out to sea. “Not until I get a kiss from you.”
“Are you really holding me to that right now?”
“Yes. Because there’s no way I can breathe knowing I won’t have another kiss from you, Sutton.”
All thoughts of the cold flee my head as I lean up to take Derek’s lips in a warm kiss. Something about this one feels different from all the ones before it.
Like it’s cementing what we have together. The promise of a future. Of everything I’ve always wanted for my family but never thought I could have.
Derek.
If this man is my forever, I will give him every single one of my kisses.
Forever.