Page 87

My arms are folded across my chest as I stare at two women seemingly having a pleasant conversation.

My chest tightens and my heart races as I glance over at the dunk tank, where Luke Dalton is currently sitting on a platform and his wife is tossing beanbags at the lever that will get him to fall.

He had to switch stations, which meant he had to take his focus off keeping Savannah at bay.

And now she’s talking to my half-sister, the same half-sister who shares a common goal with her, and fear permeates my entire being from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

They’re smiling, and Stephanie is nodding while Savannah talks. Then Savannah smiles while Stephanie says something.

“Can I steal you away for a second?”

I jump, startled at the sound of a deep, raspy voice close to my ear.

“What are you looking at?” Tristan asks, and he follows my gaze over to his ex-wife and my half-sister. “Oh,” he murmurs.

“It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything’s fine,” I say in some attempt to stop him from going over to talk to Savannah. My best bet is to just keep them away from each other.

“What do you think those two are up to?” he asks.

I shake my head as I purse my lips. “No idea,” I murmur. “But they seem to share a common goal. Neither of them wants us together.”

We watch as Tiffany Gable joins in on their conversation. My chest feels tight.

He nods before he slings an arm around my shoulders. “They can try their hardest, but they’re not going to keep us apart. We’re stronger than that.”

I glance over at him, and his expression is so resolute, so sure , that I can’t even dig up an argument to his words.

I need to tell him.

Not today, obviously, but he deserves to know at some point. He probably wouldn’t even believe Savannah if she did tell him, so I’m not sure why I let her get to me.

I draw in a deep breath filled with his scent, and it instantly calms me. “I need to pee,” I announce, and Tristan laughs. “Baby girl is bouncing on my bladder today.”

“I assume you don’t want to use the Porta-John?” he asks.

I laugh. “I was going to sneak into the Pizza Joint.”

“I can do you one better,” he says, and he grabs my hand and turns me around. We walk down the block and he pulls his keys out of his pocket, and then we walk up the steps of the corner house. Our house.

It still doesn’t feel real. I don’t know if it ever will, even after we move in and bring home our baby and celebrate holidays and actually live here.

“A nice, clean, private bathroom just for you,” he says, and I run through the house to the first-floor bathroom.

After I finish my business, I head back out and find Tristan sitting on the bottom stair, his eyes on his phone.

“Where were you going to steal me away to?” I ask, and he clicks his phone off and slides it into his pocket.

“Here,” he admits, holding his hand out with a dramatic flourish. “I wanted to give you a short break.” He nods over to the camping chair set up in the family room. “I brought you a chair if you need to sit and there’s some bottled water in the fridge. Do you need anything?”

I hold my hand out to help him to a stand, and as soon as he’s up on his feet, I wrap my arms around him. “Thank you,” I murmur softly into his chest as his arms come around me, too.

“I did have an ulterior motive,” he admits.

I lean back and raise a brow. “Oh?”

He leans down to brush his lips across mine. “I’ve been thinking about that huge island in the kitchen and how gorgeous you would look spread out naked on it. Or bent over it. If we close the kitchen blinds, nobody would see anything…”

Heat pools between my legs at the mere thought of it.

I need to get back to the festival.

I need to check on everyone, make sure nobody needs anything.

He presses his lips more firmly against mine, and his hand drags slowly up my torso.

Screw it.

Everyone’s fine. A ten minute break won’t matter.

I let him guide me toward the kitchen with his hand on my lower back.

“We’ll be quick,” he says. “I know you need to get back, but I will take my time with you on this counter. On another day, when we have more time, I will lick my way through your sweet pussy and I will enjoy every single second of it.”

He tugs at my jeans, and I frantically pull them down my legs with my panties, eager for him and for this moment and for everything he’s saying.

“But today, I want you to bend over. I need to feel you. Your body. I need to know this is real, that you are real. That this is all really happening and it isn’t just some dream where you give up nearly two months of your life to plan the first event for our foundation together. I want to make this a tradition for every event we attend together where we find a way to sneak off to be together even if it’s just for a few minutes.”

“Oh,” I moan softly as he slides a finger into me from behind as he finishes talking.

“Jesus, that’s wet,” he murmurs, and then I hear him rustle around a little as he unzips his jeans, too. “You’re ready for me.”

“I’m always wet for you,” I say, my voice rising as he plunges into me while I talk. “Oh, yes,” I murmur as I feel his cock slide in and out of me.

“I’m always hard for you,” he grunts, and he slides forward again.

“Harder,” I say, and he answers with a more ferocious drive. He picks up the pace, too, moving harder and faster, and then he leans over me and uses his fingers to rub my clit in fast circles.

The feelings I have for him seem to inexplicably deepen as we connect in this way, and I lose all sanity and control as he completely owns my body.

“Oh fuck, Tessa,” he growls, and his words paired with the feel of him rocking into me push me over the edge. He hits his release at the same time, slowing his thrusts and pushing harder into me a few more times as his grip on my hips tightens and the sound of his groans fills the room.

He pulls out of me and spins me around, and then his mouth finds mine, his kisses hot and frenzied as we both attempt to come back down after that.

He pulls back and leans his forehead to mine. “I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you, too,” I whisper back.

I just hope love is enough for whatever the outside forces are plotting against us…because I’m not ready to stop living in this fantasy with him.