Epilogue
I frown at the big, fancy truck parked in front of reception at the motel. It’s August – the height of the summer tourist season – and the motel is completely full. I hope whoever owns this truck doesn’t expect to just show up and get a room without a reservation. Because full is full.
Although, since Dakota is now living with Rhett, the owner’s apartment is available. I scowl. Owner’s apartment.
I’m supposed to be the new owner. Not someone who bribed the former owners to sell the motel to them. They promised they’d give me ninety days to raise the funds for a deposit. Their promise didn’t mean shit.
My stomach dips. I’m going to have to find a new job. Hell, I need to find a new dream since my dream of owning the Mermaid Motel is now lost to me. My eyes itch with unshed tears. I sniff and suck them back up. I am not crying again. Not now.
I straighten my back and march into the motel.
“Good…” The words die in my throat. I blink a few times but the man standing in front of me is real. He isn’t a mirage. “You’re here.”
Ben smiles. “I’m here.”
“Oh my mermaid! You’re here!” I scream before rushing to him and jumping into his arms. He catches me before twirling me around.
I wasn’t imagining how strong his arms how, how good he smells, how his brown eyes light up when he smiles. Ben is here. The man I love is here. In my arms.
I smile up at him. I probably look like a smuggler who outran the prohibition police with how big my smile is. His gaze dips to my mouth and my breath catches. I want to feel his lips on mine. I want to taste him. I bet he tastes as good as he smells.
He blinks before setting me down. My brow wrinkles. “What’s going on?”
He digs a letter out of his back pocket and offers it to me. “One last letter.”
“Another letter? But you’re here in Smuggler’s Hideaway. There’s no need for letters anymore.”
His cheeks darken, and he shakes the letter at me. “Please.”
“No fair. You can’t give me puppy dog eyes every time you want something.” I snatch the letter from him.
He smirks. “But it worked.”
I roll my eyes but don’t respond. Of course, it worked.
This is Ben. I’d do anything for him. Including read a letter when I’d rather be climbing him like a pole.
Without my clothes on. While he’s not wearing any clothes either.
And then touching and tasting every inch of his skin.
My panties dampen as visions float through my head.
Ben takes my hand and leads me to the sofa in the reception area. He sits down before pulling me onto his lap. He nods to the letter. “Read it.”
I enjoy the feel of being on his lap for a few moments before tearing open the letter. My mouth drops open and tears gather in my eyes as I read. By the time I finish, the tears are streaming down my face.
“Don’t cry, my darling,” Ben murmurs as he wipes the tears away.
I slap him with the letter. “You love me?”
He nods. “I love you, Sadie.”
“You bought the motel for me?”
He shakes his head. “No, I bought this motel for us.”
“You’re moving to Smuggler’s Hideaway?”
“Wherever you are, is my home.”
“I thought my dreams were ruined.” My bottom lip trembles but I clear my throat and continue. “I thought I needed to find a new dream. A new job. A new place to live. I thought my life was over.”
Ben frames my face with his hands and kisses my nose. “This is the start of our new life.”
I squeeze his wrists and lean into him. “For someone who doesn’t talk much, you sure know the right things to say.”
He smiles and I get lost in those brown eyes. There are specks of green in them. They’re unique and gorgeous and so Ben. I hope to have children with those eyes someday.
“I love you, soldier boy.”
“Not a soldier anymore.”
“You’ll always be my soldier.”
“I’ll always be yours.”
My heart thumps in my chest and warmth spreads throughout my body. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy before.”
“Challenge accepted.”
I giggle. “Not everything I say is a challenge.”
He winks. “It is to me.”
I lean back. “How about this challenge, soldier? Can you make me see stars?” My cheeks heat but I ignore them. “Or do we not have any chemistry?”
I feel his cock harden beneath me before he moans. “Challenge accepted.”
He stands with me in his arms. I wrap my legs around him before we crash to the floor. “You are seriously strong.”
“You weigh less than my pack.”
I gasp. “Are you saying I’m light as a feather?”
He grunts. “I wouldn’t say a feather.”
I giggle as he pushes open the door. “Where are we going?”
“My shit’s already in the owner’s apartment.”
It is. How? I usually have my pulse on every mermaid and smuggler at this hotel. How did he do all of this without me knowing? “How did you get the keys? How did you buy this place without me knowing?”
We arrive at the door to the owner’s suite. “I’m trained in subterfuge,” he says as he digs the keys out of his pocket and opens the door.
“You’re allowed to use subterfuge to surprise me but no using subterfuge to deceive me or cheat on me.”
He growls. “I would never cheat on you. Cheating is for losers who don’t know how to satisfy their women.”
I grin. “Does this mean you’re going to show me how you satisfy your woman? Which is me, by the way.”
He smirks. “I’m going to show you everything.”
He marches to the bedroom and throws me on the bed. I giggle as I bounce on the mattress. “Get to it, soldier. Get to it.”