Page 31

I’m in Love with Miller

The next few weeks are a blur of sex, words, and planning. Time flies when you’re having fun, and I’m having so much fun that time is rocketing by.

My muse must be working overtime, because the book I’m working on is absolutely pouring out of me.

I sit at the keyboard, and it’s like magic happens as the words flow out of my fingertips.

I wish every book felt like this, and maybe it will going forward—if Miller and I keep doing what we’re doing.

If my muse keeps inspiring me.

So I’m enjoying the best writing of my life and the best sex of my life as the heat builds between Miller and me.

He continues to be the book boyfriend of my dreams, and I know things will change once the season is underway and he can’t be at home as much as he has been, but I’m enjoying the routine we’ve fallen into.

The draft comes and goes, and we find ourselves in May, a month out from Miller’s summer camp program.

Organized team activities, or OTAs, start at the end of the month, and they give us a little taste of what life will look like when he has daily practices to attend.

With that in mind, I start to look for my own community here in San Diego.

Cassie is busy with her two kids and the physical therapy business she owns, but she still makes time to meet me once a week for lunch.

We talk about the upcoming cruise pretty much nonstop.

I’ve also started talking more to Spencer’s wife, Grace, who takes Mondays through Wednesdays off from the winery she runs in Temecula, and sometimes we grab lunch while the boys are at workouts.

It’s a Friday afternoon at the end of May, and Miller is still at OTAs when an email comes through on my author account from a bookstore in Vegas. I open it the second I spot it because I already know what it is based on the subject line: An Invitation

Dear Summer,

My name is Victoria Woods, and I’m the owner of Harts and Harps Book Nook in Las Vegas.

One of my good friends and book besties, Desiree Nash, told me to get in touch with you because you may be interested in making an appearance in our store.

We would be absolutely delighted to host an event featuring you and your books.

We have several ideas for various events if you’re interested, such as a single day event with you, a romance book crawl that would include other authors, or even a launch party for you in store for your next book release.

If you’re interested, please reply back and let us know what potential dates would work for you along with your headshot, Instagram handle, and the ISBNs of the books you’d like us to feature.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Victoria Woods

Owner, Harts and Harps Book Nook

Excitement rushes through my veins. I take a look at my calendar, and since Miller will be at training camp after we get back from the cruise, I give her a list of dates starting toward the end of July.

It’ll be perfect timing for me, too, since I have a book scheduled to release at the end of the month.

I let her know I’d be interested in both the launch party and the romance crawl, and I also let her know that I don’t actually have headshots since I’ve never put my face anywhere.

It's probably time to fix that.

I’m both nervous and excited about this opportunity, and when Miller gets home, I’m practically bursting with excitement to tell him.

And the longer we live together, sharing in each other’s victories and spending time together, the more I want it to be real.

Whatever is happening between us is powerful enough that this is the strongest muse I’ve ever had. I go with it, and we plow through another month. Edits are done on my book releasing at the end of July, and I start writing the next one.

Miller and I run his weeklong camp together. He managed to rope most of his brothers into making an appearance and either teaching a session or running drills on the practice field.

I help organize things behind the scenes all week, and I find it’s yet another place for us to work together and bond. Because of that, the program is a huge success, and Miller has decided to make it an annual event that he can build into something bigger and better every year.

In between it all, I’m getting ready for the cruise, and before we know it, it’s a Tuesday and we’re flying to Vegas for Tanner and Cassie’s wedding.

We’ll spend two days in Vegas before we fly with the Banks and Nash clan down to Florida for our cruise leaving out of Miami on Friday, so I had to pack for eleven days.

I think I probably packed enough for twenty.

In fact, I brought so much stuff that I had to borrow some space in Miller’s suitcase .

He’s a guy, so he has like three pairs of shorts and some dress pants. His tux is waiting for him in Vegas since he’s the best man in his twin brother’s wedding, and we’re excited to be here tonight for the joint bachelor and bachelorette parties.

And this cruise is going to be something for the books.

Literally. Just like every experience in my life, I’m going to use it for book research, and I can only imagine the sorts of things I’ll see over the week we’re on the ship with a group of thirty-two relatives.

All six of the brothers will be there, some with kids, some with in-laws.

It’s a huge event—so big, in fact, that Cassie started a Facebook group so we had an open place where we could communicate, and I feel like I’m bonding with this family every single day in one way or another.

It's a little scary, if I’m being honest.

My engagement to the member of this family isn’t real. It feels awfully real, though, and I’m wondering if the cruise might be the right time for us to actually talk about our feelings.

I’m in love with Miller.

I haven’t told him that, and he hasn’t said it to me, either—at least not in the meaningful way as more than a friend.

But I’m there. I’ve been there for quite a while at this point, and I think it’s time to clue him in on it.

Maybe there was something to that pact all those years ago. Maybe the fake wedding we’re planning could turn into a real one.

A girl can hope, anyway.