“The weather is actually perfect for an outdoor wedding,” Chelsea says.

  I put the truck in park, then walk to her side. I give her a brief kiss on the lips as I help her down.

  She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re being weird.”

  Instead of answering or explaining, I just wink at her. Then I thread our fingers together and lead her towards the tent. I already texted Hayes to tell him to just go with whatever I say or do tonight. He didn’t even ask questions, just said “of course.”

  I wave to a few people as we move towards the seating area.

  Chelsea grabs onto my arm and squeezes. “Oh my God! Is that Jess Munoz over there?” She nods towards the front of the aisle.

  “Oh, yeah, she’s married to Dane’s older brother, Grady.” I point to another group of people off to our right. “Do you know who Micah Stone is?”

  “The country singer? Holy shit!” She puts a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was probably too loud. Why are there so many famous people here? I mean, I know that one of Charlie’s soon-to-be sisters-in-law is married to Mason Ball from Soul Obsession.” She looks up at me, her expression full of pure joy.

  “Yeah, he’s marrying Luna. Dane’s fiancée is actually Luna’s sister, Shelby.”

  “Of course. How could I forget? Charlie was so upset her doctor put her on bedrest. She wanted to come to the wedding. Max refused to go without her. Thankfully, his sisters understood.” She glances over at me. “I keep forgetting that you and Max are from the same small town. Kinda weird, don’t you think?”

  “Or perfect. Depends on how you look at things.”

  I lead us to seats where Hayes and his wife, Rory, are already sitting down. Hayes jumps up when he sees Chelsea and pulls her into a hug.

  “So great to see you. Chelsea, this is my beautiful wife, Rory.”

  The women exchange greetings, then we sit on the other side of the couple.

  “No kids tonight?” I ask Rory.

  “No. Mama needed a break. They’re with my sister, Ava, and her husband, Remi. They’re in town for a couple of weeks while he’s in between missions.”

  “He’s in the service?” I ask.

  “SEALs. But yeah, he’s still on active duty. I don’t think for too much longer, though. He’s itching to move back home so they can start a family.” She leans forward to see around my body. “It is really nice to finally meet you in person, Chelsea. I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I know you.”

  Chelsea smiles and they chat back and forth for a bit. I take the opportunity to put my hand on Chelsea’s back. Being able to touch her, feel the warmth of her skin, everything about it is right to me. The seats around us fill in, and I introduce Chelsea as my girlfriend. She gasps the first couple of times I say it, but by the third or fourth time I repeat it, she just rolls her eyes.

  Some of Hayes’s siblings end up sitting in front of us, including his sister, Madison.

  She turns to me, smiles wide. “If it isn’t my favorite hottie.”

  “Mads, please don’t start that,” Hayes says.

  “I think it’s funny,” Rory says.

  “Aside from you, dear brother,” she says to Hayes. “It is accurate. Where are the other hotties tonight?”

  “Hotties?” Chelsea asks from my side.

  “Ohhh, I don’t know you.” Madison glares at me. “Why don’t I know her, James?”

  She says my name in that knowing way. It’s my turn to roll my eyes.

  “Trouble, behave,” her husband, the sheriff, says.

  She leans over and kisses his mouth. “Do you even hear yourself? I can’t behave. Not yet. I have work to do.” Then she holds a hand out to Chelsea. “I’m Madison Burton, formally Crawford. This is my husband, Caleb.”

  Chelsea is about to speak, but I interrupt and do the introductions myself.

  “This is my girlfriend, Chelsea.”

  Madison’s brows raise. “Girlfriend? Why haven’t I heard about this before now? Is it new?”

  “Very,” Chelsea mutters under her breath.

  I smile. “No, we’ve been together three years now.” I lift our entwined fingers and bring her hand to my mouth for a kiss.

  “How did this happen?” Madison asks. She reaches over and smacks her brother’s knee. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You don’t need to know everything, Mads,” Hayes says.

  Madison turns her attention back to me. “Tell me everything.”

  “She works for H & J,” I start. “It was her first day of work and I saw her across the room.” I look over at Chelsea. “I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. We were introduced and we shook hands.”

  “And I felt sparks the moment our skin touched,” Chelsea says.

  “Exactly.” I look back at Hayes’s sister. “I didn’t ask her out right away. I knew someone had told her about Brenda.” I make a scary face.

  “She was a straight-up lunatic,” Madison says.

  “True. But that’s not the story most people at the office know. They just know that after she and I, uh, went out, she was fired.”

  “Well yeah, you don’t want to ask someone out at the office after they’ve heard that story,” Madison confirms.

  “Exactly. So I was smooth. I moved her into my office and made her my personal assistant. Well, that was her title, but it was really about mentoring her. She’s brilliant and I knew she would benefit from working directly with the accounts instead of waiting to work her way up the chain.”

  Hayes laughs. “Dude, you were anything but smooth. The other guys and I knew you were head over ass in love when you texted Helen to buy a desk over the weekend.”

  I don’t even deny it. I just shrug.

  Chelsea looks up at me, questions and something else heating her eyes.

  “Anyways, after we’d worked together for a couple of months and I knew she felt comfortable in her job security, I asked her out. Initially, she wanted to keep our romance a secret. Didn’t want to develop a reputation.”

  “No one wants to be that girl,” Chelsea says. “The one he earns her way that way.”

  “So she made me work for it. But all that time, I’d paid close attention to everything about her. I wooed her with coffee, special monthly snacks and Terminator memorabilia.” I look back at my girl. “I never wanted her to doubt, for a moment, that I was in this for good.”

  Her breath shudders. And then Dane and the preacher walk up to the makeshift altar at the front of all the chairs.

  “You can tell me more later,” Madison says. “So nice to meet you, Chelsea.”

  “Nice to meet you too. I still want to know about this ‘hottie’ thing,” Chelsea says.

  “Oh, for sure. I’ll give you all the details.”

  The music starts and Luna walks down the aisle, then the Wedding March begins and we all get to our feet. I wrap my arm around Chelsea, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

  Then we watch as Dane and Shelby promise to love each other forever. And I can’t wait to do the same thing with Chelsea.

  chapter

  twelve

  Chelsea

  The reception is briefer than originally planned because the skies opened up and poured torrential rain down on us. I’m betting the bride and groom got some amazing wedding pictures out of it, though. Since they were out dancing in the rain as if that’s what they’d intended all along.

  We’ve been riding in relative silence since we left. My body is still buzzing from all the little touches and glances JD gave me at the wedding. Pretending that we were really a couple.

  “Why?” I finally ask.

  “Why what?”

  “Why did you do all of that? Say all of that tonight?”

  “We’re almost to my house, then we can get dried off and not be in the dark for this conversation. Sound good?”

  “Sure.” I mean no, it doesn’t sound good. I want him to tell me now. Was tonight some kind of punishment for me? Teasing me with what I could have had with him?

  Do I want to get out of my wet clothes? Yes. Do I want to watch him get out of his wet clothes? Abso-fucking-lutely.

  But he’s right, we do pull into his driveway and then the garage a few minutes later.

  “I didn’t bring anything to change into. I wasn’t exactly planning to stay,” I say.

  “What were you planning?”

  “Other than just getting you to stop ignoring me, I hadn’t thought much past that.”

  He laughs. “I’ve got something you can put on.”

  We go back into the house the way we left and he stops in the sizable laundry room. He pulls off his boots and socks, then starts taking off his shirt.

  I’m standing here like a weirdo just watching him. He pauses when his hands get to the button and zipper of his jeans. He cocks a brow at me.

  I toe off my shoes, but I’m still just looking at him.

  He closes the distance between us, then turns me around. His hands go to the zipper at the back of my skirt and pulls it down. My senses are so heightened at the moment, I swear I hear every click of the metal teeth. The soft material slides down my hips and pools at my bare feet.

  His big hands grip my biceps and he turns me again. This time, he takes off my shirt, and I hold my arms up like I don’t know how to undress myself. Then I’m standing there in nothing but my panties and bra. They don’t match because this—nearly naked moment—was not even on my radar.

  My nipples harden. I already know my underwear are soaked and that has nothing to do the rain.

  His dark eyes slowly peruse every inch of my body. Every curve and bump and roll.

  “Christ, Chelsea,” he says, his voice so deep and husky. He makes quick work of removing his jeans and then he’s hanging our wet clothes up, presumably to dry.

  He crowds into my body, once again picking me up, and puts us chest to chest. This kiss is just as hungry and needy as our first one. Most of the fabric between us has disappeared, leaving little but delicious friction between my damp seam and his hard ridge.

  His lips leave mine to trail hot kisses down the column of my throat. Then he’s walking us out of the laundry room and through the house. Every step rubs his erection against my greedy clit and by the time he stops, I’m already on the verge of coming.

  “JD,” I whine.

  He looks into my face, searching for something I don’t understand.

  “Chelsea, I don’t want to pretend anymore. This is the first time we’re going to be together. I don’t want to pretend it’s just another night. Because to me, it’s so much more.”

  “Is that what we were doing tonight? Pretending?”

  He puts me down, letting me slide down his long, hard body. His thumb rubs over the two words inked into my bicep. No fate.

  “It was our alternate timeline,” he says. “If you had met me before Mike.”

  “JD,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “You don’t know how many times I wanted to beg you to choose me instead of him. All the business trips where he was gone for weeks at a time. Never sending you flowers or taking you on proper dates. No weekend flights to the Bahamas. It made me so fucking angry that he never treated you right when I was ready to spoil you rotten.”

  My heart pounds so loudly, I’m surprised he can’t see it beating through my chest. He’s going to hate me, but I need to tell him the truth.

  “JD, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  He sits on the edge of his bed and pulls me to straddle his lap. His hands grip my hips, squeezing the plump flesh. “You don’t know how I fought with myself. How I wanted nothing more than to press you face down on my desk and fuck you from behind. Plant your perfect round ass on top of my desk and kneel between your thighs, showing you exactly what I can do with my tongue and this beard.”

  I gasp. Where did he get this filthy mouth?

  “Tell me the truth, baby, did you ever think about those things? With me? Did you want them too?”

  “God yes, all the time.”

  Another tight grip to my hips. I know I’ll have fingerprint bruises there tomorrow. Oh, how I wish it meant he was marking me, claiming me.

  “Were there times when you wished Mike was nothing but a figment of your imagination?” he asks.

  I start to answer, then I pause.

  Shit.

  He knows the truth. He’s about to drop me flat on my ass and tell me to get the hell out of his house.

  “You already know, don’t you? The truth about Mike? How did you figure it out?”

  A ghost of a smile appears on his lips. “I didn’t figure anything out. Your sister actually texted me.”

  I roll my eyes. “Of course she did. She just can’t help but stick her fingers in everything.”

  I go to move myself off his lap, but his arms band around me, keeping me in place.

  “I’m glad she told me.”

  “You are?”

  He nods. “You should have told me yourself, but none of that even matters anymore. What matters is what happens after this.”

  “What do you want to happen? Because I know what I want. What I’ve wanted for three years.” I hold his face in my hands and look into his eyes. “I know because I love you. I’ve been in love with you. I’m tired of hiding that. Tired of pretending that I want anyone else but you.”

  His eyes close and he leans into my touch.

  “Is that really how you wish things had gone between us? Everything you said tonight? Did I ruin our entire relationship—before we even have one—with my silly lie?”

  He smiles. “No, baby. You didn’t ruin anything.” He lifts me off his lap and sets me on the bed. Then he stands.

  It puts me just about eye level with the enormous bulge in his boxer briefs.

  “I love our story,” he says, peeling those boxers down. “It’s not perfect, but it’s ours. Not a single moment of time with you has been a waste. You were worth the wait.”

  “We’re worth the wait.”

  When he stands to his full height, I get the full picture. His impressive chest and those abdominal muscles, his tree-trunk thighs, but I am staring at his dick as if I’ve never seen one before.

  I clear my throat. “So I know that JD stands for James Dean.”

  He grunts. “My mother and her strange obsession with old movies.”

  “I think what it really means though is Jumbo Dick.” I glance up at him. “Sir, how do you even walk around with that monster between your legs?”

  He throws his head back and laughs. “I’m going to need you to make that announcement in the town square. Better yet, I’ll have a t-shirt made for you, telling everyone the truth about my name.”

  “You think I’m kidding.”

  He looms over me, pressing us down onto the bed. “Are you worried it won’t fit?”

  I roll my eyes. “No. That channel can widen to fit a baby head, I think it can fit your gargantuan erection.”

  He laughs again. Then he looks into my eyes. “I’m in love with you, Chelsea. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

  “We’re in love,” I tell him. “Now, can we please transition to the physical portion of this love story?”

  He gives me a shit-eating grin. “Yes ma’am.”

  chapter

  thirteen

  JD

  “The physical portion, huh? Did you want me to do something with my jumbo dick?” I ask, wrapping my fingers around my shaft and squeezing.

  “Yes, I’d like you to do a few things with it. Right now, though, I’m a little emotionally wrung out since I expected you to kick my ass out. I need⁠—”

  “A release,” I interrupt. “You need a release.”

  “Desperately,” she breathes.

  I roll off of her and pull myself fully onto the bed. “I believe you are still wearing clothes,” I say. “Can you show me what I’ll be working with?”

  She arches her brows. “You need a preview of the merchandise? Is that what this is?”

  I put my arms behind my head. “Yes, that’s exactly what I need.”

  She stands from the bed and reaches behind her to unhook her bra. Then she snorts. “You look like an obscene sundial with that thing.” She points at my dick.

  I bark out a laugh. “Maybe we should put that on a t-shirt.”

  She drops her bra, then slides off her panties.

  “Fuck, baby,” I groan. “You’re so damn beautiful.” Her full tits are heavy and tipped with hard, fat nipples. “C’mere. I want to touch you.”

  She puts one knee, then the other, on the bed and I immediately put one hand between her thighs. Her slick need is leaking down her thighs.

  “Baby, you’re soaked. You really do need me to make you come.”

  “Right now, I just want you inside me. I feel so empty.”

  “You’re never going to be empty again. Climb up here and sit your dripping pussy on my dick. Don’t put me inside yet.”

  She does as I instruct and soon my cock is covered by her slick, wet heat.

  “Fuck,” I groan. I pull her down so that I can reach her mouth. I will never tire of kissing this woman. Our tongues tangle and slide. I knew that we would be good together, but even my imagination didn’t predict the explosiveness between us.

  “Move your body, Chelsea. Use me to get your release.”

  She gasps as she makes the first pass of her clit against the ridge of my dick.

  “That’s right, baby. We’re going to play a little game of peek-a-boo with my cock.” She slides forward and the head of my cock disappears between her slick folds. Then back, and fuck, I could come this way too. But that is not how I want this to go.

  Her movements become more erratic as she moans, getting louder. “JD, I’m going to come,” she says.

  “Do it. Let me watch you fall apart.”

  One more rock of her pelvis and she cries out, her body quaking over mine.

  “Fucking gorgeous,” I tell her.

  She collapses onto my chest and I brush her hair away from her face.

  “I love you,” I say. Now that she knows the truth—now that we both do—we can say it as often as we like.

 

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