The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (183 page)

“Maybe it is and maybe it’s not.  But you’ll never know unless you open it,” he tells me.  “Do you trust me?” he asks.

“With my life,” I tell him, meaning every word.

“Then open it.”

Now I’m excited and I can’t wait to see what he’s brought me.  So I walk over to the bar, lay the box down, untie the bow, and open the box.  Inside is an exquisite ring – one of the most beautiful rings I’ve ever seen.  The ring itself is a brilliant yellow gold fashioned into a simple infinity knot.  Layered between the twists and turns is yet another infinity knot designed in white gold with inlaid diamonds.  I can’t stop staring at its unique beauty.

“Do you like it?” he asks as he removes it from the box and slides it onto my finger.

“No!  I
love
it.”

“Good.  I know you’re not ready for an engagement ring, so I decided to give you this instead.  There are two infinity symbols – one for you and another for Bean.  It represents my love that will last forever and has no end.”

“But I don’t understand.  It’s not our anniversary.  We haven’t had a fight or anything.  Why here?  Why now?”

Adam puts his hand under my chin and moves my gaze away from the ring that sits strikingly on my hand up and into his smoky gray eyes as he answers my question.  “I want the world to know that you are loved and cared for.  You deserve that and so much more.  I had it specially made for you.  The jeweler called to tell me it was ready and I couldn’t wait one more day to give it to you.”

Adam wraps his arms around me and kisses me passionately. I am so lost in the moment, completely and utterly overwhelmed by all that is happening, that I greedily accept his kiss and demand more.

Slowly, the fog clears as we break apart and I can’t help but smile.  Sometimes he gets me so twisted up inside that I don’t know what the right thing is to do.  I don’t know what will happen once the baby arrives.  But if he can continue to make me feel the way he does right here and right now, then I know that I will be the one asking him to be mine.  Forever.  Until death do us part.

“
A
HEM
.”

Adam and I break apart to see who’s trying to get our attention.

“Emmy, do you mind if I steal Mr. Wonderful for a little while?” Evan asks, smirking.  “There’s a bunch of guys over there who want to congratulate him and catch up.”

Adam and I take a sweeping glance around, only to discover that the restaurant has really started to fill up.  Evan is pointing to a table he’s pulled together for Carlo, Troy, and Shaun from the New Jersey Sentinels.  The three of them are looking over at Adam and me, making kissy faces, and blowing kisses our way.  For such big, grown men, these guys are extremely childish.

“No, of course not,” I tell him.

Evan escorts Adam over towards the waiting pack of gridiron giants.  As soon as he arrives, they all greet him with overly friendly brohugs and congratulatory slaps on the back.  It warms my heart not only to see how much he is missed, but also how much he enjoys their company. 

“Stop staring at him like that.  You get to see him every day,” Reese teases, drink in hand, smiling widely.  “And by my calculations, at least half of that time he’s naked.”

“You two looked awfully cozy there,” Jette remarks. 

Reese shoots her a look.

“I mean more than usual,” Jette clarifies, giggling.  “What brought that on?”

I hold out my hand and show them the beautiful infinity ring Adam just gave me. 

“Aw!” they shout out in unison.

“What did we miss?” Camilla asks, joining us at the bar along with her husband Marcus.  I have always been jealous of Camilla’s big brown eyes and thick lashes.  I don’t think she needs to wear mascara to look that way – it’s not fair. 

“Just this,” I tell her, holding out my hand and proudly showing off my new diamond ring.  “Adam just gave us this.  Isn’t it the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Us?” Camilla asks.

“Us – as in me and Bean.  Duh.”

“Oh, Emmy, it’s stunning.”  She turns around and gives Marcus a jab in his side.  “Why don’t you ever do anything like that?”

Marcus frowns at her, then whispers something in her ear that makes her giggle sheepishly.

“Ooh – I forgot about that,” she chuckles.

“You can tell us later, after Marcus leaves,” Reese teases Camilla.

Marcus just shakes his head and laughs.  “Thank you for at least waiting until I walk away.  The last time you girls got your drink on, I had to suffer through all your dirty talk and secret sharing.”

“Oh, my God!  I completely forgot about that night,” Jette adds.

“I’m not surprised,” Marcus agrees. “All four of you were shit-face drunk.”

“I remember all of it and the only thing we did was tell the truth,” I remind them.  “I seem to remember a certain someone never took a turn at Two Truths and a Lie.”

“Oh, I am
not
going to suffer through another round of that friggin’ game.”  Marcus grabs a bottle of Patrón sitting on the bar and turns, walking towards Adam and Evan.  “Hey, who’s ready for a shot?”

He’s greeted by a round of hoots and hollers.  It sounds like they’re all ready for a little tequila.

“Who didn’t take a turn?” Camilla asks.  “I’m pretty sure I went.”

“You sure did, Camilla.  You went first.  Next was me,” I remind them.

“I have no idea what happened, so you’re going to have to remind me,” Reese readily admits.  “All I remember is ordering Orgasms, Blow Jobs, and a Sloe Comfortable Screw from an adorable bartender.  After that, it gets a little blurry.”

“Um, I’m pretty sure I remember Reese spilling her guts out about,” Jette looks around the room before she finishes her thought, “Derek.”

“Oh.”  Reese now looks glum.  “So, do you know what that means?” Reese challenges Jette.

“No, what?”

“That means that every one of us went except you.  It’s your turn, Jette.  How ‘bout it, Running Girl?  Can you come up with Two Truths and a Lie?”

She thinks about it for a moment, and then agrees.  “Okay, but first – shots.  Emmy, since you can’t drink, how about if you make us a few shooters?”

“Hey, wait a minute, if you’re doing shots, make one for me.”  We all turn around and find Derek’s live-in girlfriend Shea standing there.  Shea strolls over towards us looking as lovely as ever.  From the first time I met her, I was deeply envious of her long, thick black hair and timelessly tanned skin.  Shea is effortlessly beautiful.

“I’ll make you a drink,” I tell her, “but then you have to take a turn at our little game.”

She smiles.  “If it’s a drinking game, I’m all in.”

“Okay, then – five Climaxes!” I announce as I step behind the bar to gather my ingredients.  The whole place goes quiet and all heads turn to see what’s going on – especially the men.

“Oh, relax you guys.  It’s a drink, not an event,” I bark.

After we do our Climax shots, we find an empty table, far away from the big screen and the men, to finish our little game.  “Okay, Jette.  Spill.  Two truths and a lie, in any order.  First person to get it right picks someone to do a shot.”

“Hmm.  Okay.  Here it goes.  One.  I had sex in an airplane full of people,” she begins.

“The mile high club!” I exclaim.  “Me, too.”

“Emmy, please – I’m not done.”  She pauses to think a moment.  “Two. During my freshman year in college, I stripped on amateur night at a strip club.  And three.  I’ve experimented with a little harmless bondage.”

My mind races quickly to consider the possibilities.  Soft bondage, when done right, is extremely enjoyable.  And so is discreet sex in a public place.  Aside from that, I cannot possible imagine Juliette McGuire
ever
taking off her clothes in public.  “Number two,” I shout.  “Hands down.”

“Is she right?” Reese demands.

Jette nods.  “Yeah, but don’t ask about the other two, because I’m not telling you four diddly squat.  Evan would strangle me.”

“Ooh – does he do that a lot, Jette?  Don’t tell me you like that stuff,” Shea mocks.

“Sure, laugh now, but remember – you’re next.”

“But first, I have to pick someone to do a shot.”  I look at each and every one of the girls surrounding me.  “And I choose ... Shea!” 

I hand Shea a shot glass and she downs it like a pro.  Now that she’s good and loose, we should be able to pry some pretty good dirt from her.

“Okay, Shea – you’re up.  Spill.  Two truths and a lie,” Camilla pushes.

“Let me think a minute.”  She closes her eyes and bites her lip.  When she opens them back up, she’s ready to share.  “Number one.  I had my first real orgasm a month ago.  Number two.  My ex-boyfriend cheated on me with my twin sister.”

Everyone gasps when they hear that.  We all know a little bit about her sister, Laci, and I, for one, would not be the least bit surprised if this one turns out to be true.

“And number three,” she continues.  “I had
someone
call me the wrong name during sex once.”

Holy shit.  I would bet my bottom dollar that certain
someone
is Derek and the name he erroneously called out was Reese.  Or Jette, but my money’s on Reese.

“I think number two’s a lie,” Camilla guesses.  “Sisters would never do that to one another.”

“Nope.  Unfortunately, that one’s true.  We were in middle school at the time.  It was a long time ago.”  Her sister died last fall and I can see Shea struggling with what must be very mixed emotions.  “Anyone else want to guess?”

“Number one,” Jette calls out.

“Right!  I’ve had a long-standing relationship with B.O.B.  As good as Derek is, he’s not the first one who figured out how to
ring my bell
if you know what I mean.”

Reese is oddly quiet.  I think her mind went to the same place as mine with Derek.  But that ship sailed a long time ago.  If my guess is right, then Reese isn’t the only one who’s not completely passed it.

“Would you guys mind being a guinea pig for me?  I’ve been thinking about making a special menu of pitcher drinks for dinner parties.  What do you think, Jette?”  It’s hard to experiment with flavors when you can’t actually taste test your recipe.

“Sounds great.  What do you have in mind?” she asks.

“Stay right here.” I tell them in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation, “I’ll be back.”

After grabbing a gallon-sized pitcher from the kitchen, I start filling it with all sorts of alcohol – there’s shots of tequila, vodka, rum, gin, bourbon, and triple sec.  I splash in some sweet and sour mix and stir, and then top it off with cola.  Voila!  I’ve just created my first pitcher of Texas Tea.  Now all I need are a few willing critics. 

Lucky for me, they love it, especially Jette.  She agrees to start putting pitcher drinks on the menu.  We take turns filling our glasses with Texas Tea and our signature fruit infused water.  A pitcher of Strawberry Water with Lemon and Basil sits on every table so the guests don’t overdo it tonight.  Of course, I pass on the tea and just stick to the water.

A small group of football wives is sitting not far from us and after a round or two, they send over an intermediary to negotiate a deal.  “Is there any way we could get one of those pitchers, too?”  Carlo’s wife Willow inquires.  “It looks amazing.”

Jette looks over towards me, imploring me with her eyes.  “It’s up to Emmy,” she tells them.  “She’s the master Mixologist here.”

Reese looks at me and can tell I’m not thrilled with the idea of getting stuck behind the bar and tries to intercede.  “There are pitchers of Sangria on the bar,” she reminds Willow.  The whole purpose of the Sangria is to keep Derek and me from being tied to the bar all night.

“No, it’s okay,” I tell her.  “I don’t mind.”  As I’m making the pitcher, I have a silent conversation in my mind.  Making the pitcher isn’t a big deal, but I could have said ‘no’.  I wish I didn’t agree so easily.

Besides, I say no to Adam every time he asks me to marry him – and that’s something I really do want to do some day.  It shouldn’t be difficult for me to say no to a bunch of women I hardly even know.

As I stir the concoction, I start to take inventory of the celebrities who have joined us here tonight. 

Kitty Sutton is here now with her boyfriend.  Her reality show, “Let’s Dance,” is in its fifth season.  It’s my mother’s favorite show.  My fingers itch to take out my cell, capture a few photos and send them to my mother. 

Oh, the hell with it.

I pull out my cell phone and take a discreet picture, sending it out to my mother just to give her a little thrill.

Also standing not ten feet away from me is talk show host Joey Griffin and his beautiful wife Maggie Martin.  He’s brought with him pop superstar Drake Heyworth.  I try to restrain my star-struck excitement.  He has his back to me as he carries on a conversation with Jette and Evan and I can’t help but stare at his perfectly round ass. 

I discreetly take yet another photo and this one is sent right off to Reese.  I wonder if I can get Evan to introduce Drake to Reese.  I’ve never met a man who can resist the likes of Reese Barrett and this über-hottie should be no exception.  After all, he’s just a guy.