Dylan pushed in deep. She was wet and ready, her body desperate to feel his.
They made love for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. Never once did they look away from one another. Sarah could feel Dylan in her soul. This man she’d loved for so long. She wondered if their paths had crossed all those years ago—back when they were na?ve teenagers—for a reason. Perhaps a higher power had known how their lives would turn out, the loss they would suffer.
And somehow they would find themselves again in each other’s arms.
It was a happy thought, one Sarah wanted to hold on to forever.
“I love you,” Dylan whispered, his hand caressing her cheek. “I’m not good at this, but you probably already know that.”
Sarah smiled. “I’m not, either.”
He rocked into her again and again, her body humming with every thrust until she was nothing more than a bundle of overstimulated nerves.
“Let me love you forever, Sarah. Since the day you let me into your house three years ago, I’ve known who owned my heart. But I wasn’t looking for you to fix me, so I had to fix myself. For you. I wanted to be worthy of you.”
Sarah couldn’t stop the tears streaming down her face. “Dylan…”
“Marry me, Sarah.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs, then stopped beating completely. She had to remember to breathe. Not an easy task when he kissed her so sweetly.
“Marry me,” he repeated when he pulled his mouth from hers. “Say yes, please.”
“Yes. Definitely yes.”
ASKING A WOMAN TO MARRY you while having sex probably wasn’t the best way to go, but Dylan hadn’t wanted to wait any longer. He had royally fucked up, and he didn’t want to risk losing Sarah forever. She had forgiven him, but that didn’t matter.
Now, as he lay in the dark, holding her against him, he thought about Meghan. He smiled to himself, wondering if this was her handiwork. If he had to guess, Meghan had put Sarah in his path. She’d always been trying to take care of him, and even in the afterlife, she was reaching out to him.
Oddly enough, he wasn’t sad when he thought of her now. He was thankful for the time he’d had with her.
“What are you thinking about?”
Dylan turned his head, brushing his lips across Sarah’s forehead. “Meghan.”
“Yeah?”
“She always liked you,” he told her.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Back in high school. When you and I were dating, Meghan and I were just friends. She thought you were good for me because you were so sassy and smart.”
“I had to be in order to keep you from steamrolling right over me.”
“She actually got mad at me when I told her that I had to break up with you.”
“But you were going off to college,” Sarah said. “It only made sense.”
Dylan tried to see her face in the dark.
“What? You think I didn’t know that’s why you broke up with me?”
“I figured you thought it was Meghan.”
“No. I didn’t think you were that kind of guy.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know. Hence the reason I didn’t egg your truck like my friends wanted me to.”
Dylan smiled into the dark. “And to answer your question earlier … about Meghan.” He sighed. “Yes, I did share her before we were married. She wasn’t into it, so I shut that side of myself down.”
“Did it bother you that you had to?”
“No. After a while, I never thought about it.”
“You loved her, Dylan. It makes sense that you did what you could to make her happy.” Sarah turned. “I want you to know you can talk about her with me. I’d like to be able to talk about Paul.”
He kissed her forehead again. “I’d like that. I want to be able to talk to you.”
“Good. And as long as you do, I won’t have to withhold sex from you.”
Dylan laughed, pulling her tighter to him. “Were you serious when you said you’d marry me?”
“Yes.” Her hand slid over his chest. “Were you serious when you asked?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to talk to your kids first?” she asked.
Dylan kissed her forehead. “I’ll talk to them. They’ll be thrilled, I’m sure. But the bigger question is, where are we gonna live? My place or yours?”
“Where do you wanna live?” she asked. “I’m not married to this house, just so you know. In a fit of rage, I sold my house because Paul had lived there, and like I said, I was mad at him for so long. So, I bought this one so I didn’t have to live with my mother.”
“Well, you’ve got one up on me then, because I live in the guest house on my grandfather’s ranch. I didn’t want the commitment of buying another house.”
“It looks like we’ve got options then.”
“Options.” Dylan rolled over so that he was hovering over Sarah. “I like options.”
chapter THIRTY
Tuesday, January 31
“I’M GETTING MARRIED,” SARAH BLURTED.
Elaine stared back, a small smile on her lips. Sarah waited patiently for her to say something. “I assume from the fact that you’re glowing that this is something that you want?”
Sarah clasped her hands together, fighting the urge to fidget. “It is.”
“You love him.”
It was obvious that wasn’t a question, but Elaine surely knew her well enough by now to know that Sarah wouldn’t even dream of getting married unless it was for love.
“This is happy news, Sarah. Are you having any second thoughts?”
“Not at all.”
“Have you told your mother?”
Sarah smiled. “I did. She was the first person I called.”
“And what did she say?”
Chuckling, Sarah looked up and met Elaine’s gaze. “She told me that I’m taking my New Year’s resolution rather seriously. And then she told me that I better bring Dylan by so she can talk to him. That should be interesting.”
“And have you talked to Jake?”
“No, not yet. I called and left him a message. He called me a little while ago and I asked him to meet me for lunch.”
“How do you think he’ll take it?”
“I think he wants me to be happy.”
“You think?”
“He’s going through some issues of his own right now.”
“Something you can help him with?”
Sarah knew that was a trick question. “No. And I haven’t been sticking my nose in. I told him I’m here to talk whenever he needs me. I’m not trying to fix him.”
Elaine smiled. “But you want to.”
“No,” Sarah admitted. “I don’t want to fix him. I wish I could make the situation better for him, but I can’t. And since he’s not in danger, I know I can’t project my feelings on him. So, I’ve offered an ear and when he’s ready, I know he’ll talk to me.”
“I’m proud of you, Sarah. I think you’ve come a long way over the years.”
“I think I have, too. It took some time, but I’ve made some progress.”
“And Dylan? How’s he doing?”
“He’s good. He’s in control of his life. He told me that was the reason he didn’t contact me after … you know.”
Elaine nodded.
“He said he had to fix himself in order to be worthy of me.” Her heart melted a little more as she said the words aloud.
“And you believe him?”
“I do.”
“It sounds like things are working out.”
“I think they are.” Sarah glanced at her watch.