Chapter 15
BOBBY
“Did you time the drive so we’d be here right as the sun set?”
We’re parked along the guardrail at a scenic point in Delridge, a small farm town forty-five minutes from where Ever works. She’s on the raised back seat with her arms around my chest, and with our helmets off, we’re staring at the last of the sunset as it slips beneath the horizon.
“Nah, I’m not that smart. I searched it up on my phone before I made up my mind to drive over and see you.”
It’s been a long time since I wanted a woman to like me so badly that it hurts thinking about when Ever will reject me. It’ll happen.
A bastard like me, who wasn’t wanted by his mother, who his half-brothers ostracize, and who is a continual disappointment to his father, doesn’t deserve love and what comes with it—faithfulness and happiness. That’s why I end it first before things get too serious.
With Ever, it’s getting too serious too fast. Money’s changed hands. I should have Ever fulfill her end of our bargain, but there’s this need to prolong the inevitable.
I’m after more than one day and one night with Ever Moretti. Spending time with her is the only way to win over her heart, and that truth scares the fuck out of me.
Jules was it for a serious relationship. That’s what I told myself. I wouldn’t fall for a woman’s looks and her words of fidelity again. Something tells me Ever is different. Ever isn’t Jules.
Fuck it. I’ll go with what’s in my heart and not the fucked-up shit about liars, cheaters, and manipulators that’s been in my head since Jules’s betrayal.
I can feel Ever’s smile before I hear the happiness in her voice.
“You planned out our trip.”
A statement that came out as a question.
“Why wouldn’t I? I came to surprise you. Of course I’d do the heavy lifting. No woman of mine will lift a finger.”
She sputters laughter. “Haven’t you heard? Women and men are equal.”
“This isn’t about paying your share, opening your own door, or me waiting for you to initiate, Ever,” I say with underlying command in my voice. “I take what I want, but I also take care of what’s mine.”
“You took me captive.” She interlaces her fingers that are splayed across my chest.
I understand she’s teasing, but I’m serious when I say, “You can leave at any time, sweetness.”
Her body tenses. “I like it here.”
Here is on my bike with her arms around me in the afterglow of the sunset.
“Warm enough?”
“Yes. Thank you for the jacket and gloves.”
“Keep them. They’re yours.”
“Does that mean we’ll ride again?”
“Whenever you would like to.”
“I’d like that.”
I cup her knee and squeeze. “You’re not a fan of surprises. Doing okay with this one?”
“More than okay. What you planned is perfect.”
I puff out my chest. I aim to please.
“Shakes at Queenie’s Diner. So tasty,” she said.
I had strawberry and she ordered chocolate.
“Exploring Delridge’s town center.” It’s been a while since both of us were there.
“Stopping in to say hi to Wendy at Sweets Creation Two.” Her boss’s other store.
“I’ve never met her, but she’s exactly as I pictured when I hear her cheery voice on the phone.
Tall, willowy, and blonde with a bright smile.
” Ever drapes her arms over my shoulders and laughs. “She couldn’t stop staring at you.”
I take her hand and land a kiss on her palm, enjoying her happiness before I strip her of it tomorrow, when I see her again, having changed my flight to Monday morning.
“I only have eyes for you.” I won’t do anything to jeopardize what I have with Ever, including giving another woman attention.
Ever grasps my jaw and kisses me square on my mouth before she continues. Her soft, warm mouth leaves me reeling for more. I smirk. For fuck’s sake, how can one quick kiss make my head spin and my cock stiffen?
“While you were checking out the pastries, she pulled me aside and said I’m a lucky woman. You’re a great catch, and the way you looked at me when you didn’t think anyone was watching you . . .” Ever waves her hand. “She said she nearly swooned at your feet.”
The word swoon has only been said to me by my little sis, Gwen.
That sis of mine loves her rom-coms and romance books.
I smile, liking it when Ever talks and fills the silence.
Her words fill the emptiness of my life since I left the military and began adjusting to civilian life. It hasn’t been easy.
No one waited for me at home. I kept it casual with the women who agreed to my rules. Dom isn’t a substitute for Carlos’s wise words, though he’s a great friend and business partner. He’s the father I was missing from my life growing up.
“I feel bad that Ben’s other store stays open later and Wendy or Sophie have to close later than my store does, but the other businesses in the town center have longer business hours, and Ben doesn’t want to miss out on customers.
There’s always the occasional customer who procrastinates and needs a last-minute birthday cake or dessert for a get-together, especially on a weekend. ”
“He’s a smart businessman and accommodating. Those customers will remember and become repeat offenders.”
“You mean repeat customers?”
“I said what I said, sweetness. They come in at the last minute for a reason. Their behavior won’t change unless there are consequences.”
“I see what you mean.”
Her tone changed from excited and happy to one I can’t decipher. Ever is as I described to her, an open book, and she’d lose at poker. But not seeing her, unable to put my finger on her change in emotions, I get off the bike and pat the spot above my seat.
“Are you sure it’s safe? I could fall over.”
She changes position. I sit and cup her ass cheeks in my large palms. “I won’t let you fall. I won’t ever hurt you.” I choose my words carefully, avoiding the use of “never.” I refuse to let my choice of words bite me in the ass later and rob me of my heart and soul.
Ever is on to me.
“You didn’t use the ‘n’ word.”
“Not with you, baby.”
“Why’s that?”
“I want you to keep your heart and soul. They make you who you are—a gentle and kind person who misses and still grieves the death of her mom and her best friend.”
Her eyes tear up. “Bobby.”
For fuck’s sake, I made my beautiful princess, who’d rather be saved by the villain than the hero, cry.
I wrap my arms around her and bring her to me. “It’s okay to cry, Ever. I still cry when I think about my mom.” I don’t want to make this about me, but I need Ever to know she’s not alone in working through her grief.
“Your mom’s gone?”
She didn’t use the “d” word. I understand. Death is final. “Gone” isn’t.
“Pancreatic cancer. My senior year of high school.”
“Did she get to see you graduate?”
I swallow past the tightness in my throat. My mom will miss the milestones in my life—my marriage to the woman of my dreams and the birth of my kids, her grandkids.
“She didn’t, sweetness.”
“I’m sorry, Bobby.”
“Me too.”