Love and Music (Small Town Secrets Book 3), page 21
I was waiting for Tyler to say more, but he was done—and a feeling of uncertainty washed over me. Dropping my eyes, I looked at his chest area, covered in black cotton, not so loose that you couldn’t see his musculature. But there was something I had to ask—now that he was here again and after my heart had been on a hell of a roller coaster ride. “So…what now?”
Tyler shrugged, but he had an ornery grin on his face. “Well…would it be all right if I kept coming to your book club?”
Surreal. That was the only way to describe the weird sensations that vibrated down to my bones. “Really, Tyler Green? You’re planning to fly to Colorado once every two weeks just so you can discuss a new book? Or are you thinking we could do a webinar? That might get a little annoying, though. I don’t know if some of my Boomer readers would appreciate all the tech.”
“I dunno. I was kind of thinking I’d just drive here.”
“Every. Two. Weeks?” Had he lost his mind?
But my heart was thudding in my chest. Seeing Tyler that often…well, I was afraid to hope it, but that meant we could potentially…
No. I couldn’t do that to myself.
“Yeah.”
“Are you crazy?”
He shook his head before closing the gap between us. “Not even close. You might not realize it, Meg, but I’m at a point in my career where I don’t have to live in any particular place. I could live in Columbia and be fine. When the guys and I want to put a new CD together, we plan—and then we get together and make it happen. And then we tour. It doesn’t matter where I live the rest of the time.”
Shivers crawled down my spine and made the hairs on my arms stand straight up.
“I lost you once because you didn’t think we could survive the distance and I was losing you again for the same goddamned reason. Our futures apart seemed too important back then to both of us—but now, not so much. Besides, I’d forgotten how much I love Winchester. I’ve really missed it here.” I hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even breathed. Was I hearing him right? Tyler ran his tongue over his bottom lip while his eyes scrutinized mine. “Unless I’m way off base here.”
Oh. My inaction, my quiet, my statue-like shocked response had miscommunicated my thoughts. Instead of saying anything, I grabbed his t-shirt in my fists, pulling him toward me. When our lips collided, I knew he understood. And his kiss assured me that everything between us was not just okay, but even better than I had a right to hope. “I think that’s pretty fucking cool, actually.”
“Just one problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I haven’t actually started house hunting yet, so I’m looking for a place. I don’t mind staying in a hotel while I look, but I do a lot of that on the road.”
“Are you kidding?” One corner of my lips twitched up. “My couch is super comfortable. Lisa sleeps on it once in a while, and she says it’s just as comfortable as her own bed.”
His voice was dry, his expression neutral, but I could see the twinkle in his eyes. “You’d do that for me?”
“Yeah. Of course. What are friends for?” Grabbin his hand, I led him toward the exit, shutting off the light to the meeting room before pausing in the hallway. “But there’s a problem.”
“What would that be?”
I turned to face him again in the semi-darkness. “Well…I’d be in the living room not letting you sleep, I’m afraid—and that couch really isn’t comfortable enough for two people. I guess I’ll just have to share my bed with you since it’s a tad bigger.”
“Megan Katrina Walker, are you trying to take advantage of me?”
“Oh, no. I would never do that.” I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him again, waiting to wake up from what was most certainly a dream. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah.”
“You know that song off your second album, ‘Maybe One Day’?”
“How could I forget it? I wrote it.”
A grin appeared on my face, belying how my stomach felt. “Did you… Uh, who was…?” I couldn’t get the question out of my mouth.
“You, Meg. I wrote that song about you. It was supposed to be my way of letting go. But you can see how that turned out.”
My mind circled over those lyrics, about a man who loved a woman so much that she stole every thought from his head, overtook every aspect of his life—and it wasn’t until the end of the song that the listener realizes the woman is no longer part of his world, whether because she died or left, but he was okay with her essence consuming him because even though she was gone, it was better to have loved and lost than to have never had her in his life in the first place.
“I know I told you at the reunion that it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I think I love it. I’m sorry I was the inspiration for it.”
“Don’t be. Maybe it spoke to you in some way.” His arms around me felt warm and secure as I drowned in his eyes.
But we had a second chance now and I wasn’t about to blow it. “I refuse to mourn the time we’ve lost, but is it silly to want to start making up for it right now?”
Pressing up against me so that my back was against the wall, he touched his nose to mine so that his face consumed my entire world. “That depends. Can you take tomorrow off from work?”
Smiling, I answered him with another kiss. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to get home. “Let’s see how we feel in the morning.”
“Ah. I love a good challenge.”
I laughed, feeling giddy, almost like I was in high school again as Tyler and I bounded out of the library. I had the feeling we were getting ready to make beautiful music together.
Epilogue
God. I had never been surrounded by more screaming, squealing, giddy, ridiculous women in all my life. In all honesty, probably something back in high school compared, but that was the farthest thing from my mind right now.
Why Tyler had thought it would be cool for me to do this, I’d never know.
My best friend looked stunning in her white lace gown studded in pearls, but her sculpted arms almost stole the show. She and Mike hadn’t taken long to fall madly in love and, before I knew it, Lisa was spending Thanksgiving in Dallas—followed by the rest of her life. But she was and would always be my best friend, so we texted and talked daily.
And now, here I was, Lisa’s friend and maid of honor, trying to catch the bouquet she tossed. But it came nowhere near me. Instead, a beautiful woman named Casey caught it. I’d met her just moments earlier when Tyler discovered one of his old Winchester buddies.
Turning to look at Tyler, I shrugged before joining him on the patio underneath a tree. “Remind me never to play softball with you.”
I grinned, taking the flute of champagne he handed to me. “Guess we’ll just have to stay friends with benefits.”
My good-looking boyfriend shook his head before turning slightly. “Scott, this is my girlfriend, Megan Walker.”
“Hi, Scott. How do you guys know each other again?”
“We went to high school together—I was just a few years older. But I think we were both in band, weren’t we?” Tyler nodded. I didn’t remember him because I’d kept to myself a lot, even more so when I’d been a freshman. I was lucky to know most of the kids in my graduating class. “A couple years later, Tyler and I played some of the same parties around town, so we got to know each other better.”
The gorgeous woman in red who’d caught the bouquet joined us, giving Scott a hug and a peck on the lips. “This means we have to set a date.”
Scott picked Casey up and twirled her in agreement. They looked so crazy-happy in love, and I wondered if Tyler and I were there yet. Sure, he’d moved to Winchester as promised—and I’d moved in with him at the beginning of the year. Things felt great between us, even after he spent a couple months in California with his bandmates recording an album.
It felt all too perfect—and I wondered when it was all going to come crashing down.
But I was going to enjoy it while it lasted. So we laughed and smiled and had fun into the evening when the dancing started. Tyler and I swayed under the stars with dozens of other couples on this romantic night. Pressed up against him while a warm breeze wafted the scent of passion flowers under my nose, I knew I didn’t want this moment to end.
“I’m pretty disappointed in you, Meg.” The words were alarming, but his tone of voice told me he was teasing, so I left my head resting against his chest.
“Really? And why is that?”
“I was counting on you catching that bouquet. Everything hinged on that. I made sure I had a ring, just in case I had to propose. Now I’m not sure what to do with the damn thing.”
Up popped my head. I even stopped moving my feet. “What?”
His gleaming teeth made me question if what he was saying was true. “You heard me.”
Yes, I had, but it felt like a dream. “Say it again.”
“I’ll do one better.” In the middle of the swaying bodies dancing, under the moon and stars and twinkling lights hanging around us, Tyler stopped moving and instead reached in his pocket to pull out a box before getting on one knee.
On his knee!
“Meg, we spent way too many years apart when we should have been growing together. We’re together now, but I want to make it permanent. I want us to be together forever.” He opened up the little box, and I swear the diamonds on that gorgeous ring outshone all the little lights around me. My breath escaped me, just as the words left my tongue. “Say you’ll marry me.”
I didn’t even notice at first that some of the people around us had stopped dancing and were instead watching the spectacle Tyler was making. Ordinarily, I would have run from something like that, wanting to bury my head underneath my pillow. But being with Tyler changed me. He helped me come out of my shell, whether I liked it or not. He mattered more to me than needing to feel safe or private.
So, in front of all who cared to watch, I got ready to answer—but my throat locked. My eyes filled with tears as I pursed my lips and fought the onslaught of emotion. But I nodded. I did it furiously, because I wanted Tyler to know that he was my man, the only man I wanted forever and ever.
Bringing my hands to my face, I covered my mouth as a sob gushed forth and Tyler grinned. He stood up and took my hand, whispering to me. “I need to put the ring on your finger.”
“Yes, Tyler. Yes.” He kissed me with passion—and then we got that beautiful sparkly ring on my left finger. Its weight reminded me that it was there.
That this wasn’t a dream.
The people who’d been standing around us clapped and cheered, and a couple guys even slapped Tyler on the back, but it was like we were there alone. I was lost in his eyes, in his arms. And we danced all night while I dreamed of the day we would be dancing at our own wedding, the start of our lives together as one.
THE END
Thank you for reading Megan and Tyler’s story. I hope you loved it! The next book in the Small Town Secrets series is Love and Deceit. Will Shane be Ivy’s knight in shining armor or just another jerk?
Sign up for Jade’s VIP mailing list and get a free copy of her bestselling book, Bullet.
Click here to get started: www.jadecjamison.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” While you’re more likely to see Jade headbanging than Dirty Dancing, she—like Baby—won’t be put in a corner…or a box. So even though you can’t really stick her books in one genre, you could say she mostly writes steamy Contemporary Romance—and, while you’re at it, you’ll notice in her stories that Jade freaking loves Colorado, hard music, coffee, bad words, and CHOCOLATE!!! And so do her characters.
Oh, and there’s always a glimmer of hope…because if life doesn’t have that, what’s the damn point?
Find out more about my books at my website. If you want to say hi, come visit my Facebook page or join the fun in my Facebook group, Bullet Babes—but I love getting emails, too!
Reviews are “proof” to other readers that my books are worth reading and they’re vital to my author career. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review, even if it’s just one sentence, it means a lot to me!
Jade C. Jamison, Love and Music (Small Town Secrets Book 3)
