“Dahlia, the minute you fell into my lap, everything became about you.”
Her laugh is low and husky. “You’re such a sweet talker.”
“That’s not what you were saying last night.”
“Well, yeah, you’re not just a sweet talker.” I can hear the laugh in her voice.
“You bring out the sweet and the naughty in me, Dahlia Granger. What can I say?”
“You can say a whole lot, is what I’m learning…”
I laugh and then moan. “God, I wanted to kiss you so bad at the airport. It felt wrong to kiss you on the cheek and send you on your way.”
“It did feel…strange…after…all we’ve done.”
I laugh under my breath. “Yes, my sweet, proper girl, it did feel strange after all that fucking we’ve been doing.”
I hear her quick intake of breath, and my heartbeat thrums faster. I love to make her blush, and I’d bet anything she’s blushing right now.
“All naughty aside, I enjoyed every minute with you, Dahlia, not just between the sheets and everywhere else we managed to…well, I said I was putting the naughty aside, didn’t I?” I pull the comforter over my legs and lean back.
“I enjoyed every minute with you too. It feels like I’ve known you much longer…” Her voice trails off a little bit.
“Yeah, it really does. You sound tired. I’ll let you sleep and talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, okay?”
“You too. Night, Dylan.”
“Night, Doll.”
It takes me a long time to fall asleep, and when I do, it’s to thoughts of her green eyes and those full, perfect lips smiling at me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
DAHLIA
Dylan and I texted and FaceTimed every day this week, and tonight I get to see him in person. He’s told me he misses me each time we talk, and it’s crazy how much I miss him too. We’ve stayed up late every night, talking for hours, especially Christmas night, after I put Chloe to bed. It’s scary how invested I already feel about a man I just met. I’m trying with all my heart to rein it in and enjoy the ride all at the same time.
It’s a roller coaster for sure.
Christmas was magical. We spent the day at my mom’s house. Chloe was in her element with both her Grammy and Grumpy (as she calls him) there. My dad stopped by in the afternoon and was on his best behavior. We actually had a really lovely time together. Chloe was elated about every present and didn’t just play with the boxes like she did last year and the year before.
She’s obsessed with the little kitchen I bought her.
She’s slipped a few times, mentioning Dylan and playing on the beach with him, and my mom has asked about him. I’ve tried to play it off like it was no big deal, just a friend I met in California who showed us around a little bit. I feel bad about not telling my mom everything, but I’m so paranoid about my dad finding out. My parents aren’t together all the time or anything, but they do talk regularly. They have an odd friendship, even though he put her through hell when they were married, and she still can’t stand most things about him. And he likes to pretend he doesn’t care what she thinks, even though he runs a lot past her.
I’ve told her she should draw the line when he tries to ask her advice about his woman of the month. They’re all young lookalikes of her.
She finally started asking more direct questions about Dylan last night.
“Is this Dylan guy why you’re glowing?” she asked.
“What? No!”
Turns out I wasn’t only being sneaky, but now I was a liar too.
I looked in her mirror after I denounced Dylan, and I was, indeed, glowing. And it was, indeed, because of him.
