Page 109 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

Bridget gets comfy in her seat and blows Silas a kiss.

“Be sure to take pictures then, handsome.”

Silas chuckles at her.

Hours later, when Bridget opens her eyes, it’s dark. It takes her a minute to realize she has on her eye mask. She lifts it up and sees all the hotels and casinos surrounding them.

“We’re in Vegas already?” ahe asks, sounding groggy.

“Already? You’ve been asleep for four hours.”

Silas gestures toward the coffee and pastries he bought for her. She happily accepts and wolfs down two Danishes, then sips some coffee.

“Damn, I really must have needed the rest. The queen and Tyberious are putting me through it. I stayed up all night revising their sex scene.”

“I thought you wrote that a while ago.”

“I did. It’s been hell getting the scene right. Folks are anticipating this. They’ve been waiting five books. I’ve got to knock this out of the park.”

“And I’m sure you will. You take a lot of care in your writing. I can tell by reading it that Miranda and Tyberious mean so much to you, and you want to do right by them and your readers. Nothing wrong with taking your time.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“Tell me about your daughters’ mother.”

“Mothers. And the first one, Ronesha, was my high school sweetheart. We went to different colleges. She came back into town for the holidays, and we reunited. Nine months later, Danielle was born. Thankfully, we had amazing families who helped us. I was involved in every aspect of my girl’s life. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work. A few years into my job as a mechanic, I met Carolyn, and we started dating. Things were good, Danielle liked her, and she became pregnant with Tiffany. Both relationships ended because we just weren’t compatible. No animosity or anger, they both just ran their course.”

“I really wish that had been the case with me and Lamar. You know he told me about Justine at a party celebrating the release of book five.”

Silas stops the car and turns to face her. “Are you telling me that he told you he was leaving you during a party celebrating your professional accomplishment?”

“Yes, sir, he did.”

“And this was after you wrote how many books for him?”

“Five, in addition to my own work. I had to make time to do my job, his job and be there for LJ and Tanya.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to kick his ass? Hell, I’ll even let Big Head go first.”

Bridget laughs. “No. Violence would only give me temporary relief. This will give him something to think about for the rest of his days. Right now, he’s on cloud nine. When I gave my RSVP, he texted me this …”

Bridget shows Silas the message.

Lamar

Hello Bridget, so happy you can put aside your petty jealousy long enough to witness me and Justine’s special day. And you’re bringing a plus one as well. Tell Lyric or Suchi, or Aimee I’ll see them at the wedding.

Silas turns his nose up like the text is emanating a foul odor.

“You want me to grab your ass when we enter?”

“Sure.” She nods.

By two o’clock LA time, Bridget’s stomach is growling. They’ve just entered Utah and stop at a diner.

She yawns and stretches. Bridget looks around and sees nothing but mountains surrounding them. The diner is in the middle of nowhere, next to the highway.