Epilogue
ALESSANDRA
FOUR MONTHS LATER
“Alessandra, if you don’t stop staring at me like that, we will never make it inside,” Booth growls beside me.
We’re parked outside Shirley’s , gussied up, ready to celebrate Johanna and Patrick’s upcoming nuptials.
I tilt my head, an angelic pout on my lips.
“ I’m looking at you like I always do.”
He points at my face.
“ And that’s the problem. It’s my kryptonite and right now I want to fuck you on the backseat, Jo and Pat’s rehearsal dinner be damned.”
Eyes blazing, he reaches for my hips over the console, but I wriggle away.
“ I can’t be late, I’m in the bridal party.”
Joy pulls at the corners of my mouth.
When Jo asked me to be her bridesmaid, I thought she was joking.
It was during my first visit back to the States .
Booth and I split our time together alone, with my parents, and in Sutton Bay .
“What did you expect? We’re going to be sisters.” Was her response .
Then I remember the man next to me, and because I love to screw with him, I lower my voice.
“ Haven’t you always wanted to fuck one of the bridesmaids?”
The horn blares through the small parking lot as Booth’s fist thumps against the steering wheel.
“ You cruel, wicked thing.”
“You love it.” I chuckle.
He nods in defeat. “ I really fucking do.”
When I landed at JFK , jetlagged up to my eyeballs, it was only when I spotted Booth by the luggage carousel that my energy levels soared.
We hadn’t seen each other in weeks, and when I catapulted myself into his waiting arms, it felt like a lifetime.
The time apart has been tough.
Every video call, text message, and email has kept us going, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.
While I was away, working endlessly to finalize this new investment in Berlin , he was in New York finally living out his dream.
He’d put in so many hours at the new restaurant he helped Pedro open, and I have it on good authority a permanent position awaits him.
Soon, we’d be together in one place, permanently, and I was counting down the days.
Just before I first departed for Germany , we flew out to visit Martin .
Since then, we’ve spoken almost every week, and after the wedding, we’re headed to Green Bay to visit Harvey and Sandra .
It will also be the first time I meet his son—my brother— Luke .
“C’mon, Dimples . Let’s get moving.” My hand grips the door handle, but a firm hand on my thigh stops me.
I turn to find Booth’s wary gaze.
“ Hey , what’s wrong?”
He takes a deep breath.
“ Sticky kids are out of the question. But …” Booth doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind, apologetically and passionately.
So this moment of hesitation is out of character .
“But what?”
The warmth of his touch leaves my thigh to take a hold of my left hand.
“ With Pat and Jo getting married, it made me realize we’ve never discussed…”
“Marriage?” I finish, cheeks straining to not react.
We haven’t, he’s right.
There was little talk about children because we made that very clear early on that wasn’t what either of us wanted.
But getting married?
We’ve somehow bypassed that subject.
My confident, charming goofball has the audacity to blush.
I let go of the handle, twist my body, and lean across the truck.
“ Do you want to marry me?”
Whatever response he had, dies.
His eyes blow wide and mouth hangs open.
With the tip of my finger, I snap his jaw shut.
“ Cat got your tongue?”
That does the trick.
He shakes himself from his stupor, and before I can blink, he pounces on me and drags me onto his lap.
Voice gruff, he whispers against the sensitive spot between my shoulder and neck.
“ Yeah , Silv . Yeah , I do want to marry you. I want to see you wear my ring. See it glistening as I watch you paint. Feel the cold metal against my cheek as you fall asleep. Watch it sparkle as your ruby-red nails wrap around my cock.”
All humor vacates my body.
An innate need to experience all those things overwhelms me.
“ I want that too.” My brow furrows, which he finds amusing, and he kisses the wrinkled skin.
“ Are you proposing?”
He barks with laughter.
“ No , baby. You’ll know when I propose.” He glides his hands up the outside of my thighs, calloused skin scraping deliciously against my skin.
“ Fireworks . Music . Maybe a flash mob.”
I punch him in the arm, earning me another deep belly laugh.
“ You’re ridiculous. ”
His smile widens.
“ Ridiculously in love.”
“So, marriage, huh?” My fingers comb back his messy hair.
“ Think you can handle me?”
“Nope. But where’s the fun in that?”
As quickly as his sentence ends, my lips are on his.
I’m about to cave and suggest we move to the backseat when a blur of movement catches my eye through the rear window.
Booth doesn’t stop, his kisses journeying across my jaw.
I try not to react when I spot Florence storming across the parking lot of Shirley’s .
Closely followed by Dex , who stalks behind her, his steps determined.
When he reaches her, he spins her around, and oh.
“What are you looking at, Silv ?” Booth grumbles.
When he goes to turn, I distract him and smash my lips to his.
The moment his tongue strokes mine and his heady taste fills my mouth, all is forgotten.
Our lips move lazily together, feeding the hunger we can never quite fill.
It’s a challenge not to strip bare and lose ourselves completely, but that’s the thing; with Booth , I’ve never been lost.
He found me, wandering aimlessly for truths and answers I wasn’t sure I’d ever find, and since that day forward, the path in front of me has never been clearer.
Our days are filled with so much love that distance and time mean nothing.
Because at the end of it all, he’s mine; I’m his.
And that, is all we need.
***
Thank you so much for visiting Sutton Bay!
I hope you enjoyed Alessandra and Booth’s story.
Not quite ready to say goodbye?
Read their bonus chapter here.