After our time at the beach, we spend all day in our room. I make good on my promise to peel the bathing suit off of her and show her how much I love her body. Sunset rolled around, and we haven’t left the room yet .
I let her take a nap because, in a few hours, we have the rehearsal dinner. Right now, she’s snuggled up to me with one leg thrown over mine and her head on my shoulder. As I lay here holding her and watching her sleep, I realize this girl has had my heart for longer than I want to admit.
Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with her on paper, and that love grew the moment I heard her voice. But seeing her this week, I don't think I can go back to the way things were. She’s mine, and I need to make sure she leaves here knowing that.
Even though I’m not sure how it's all going to work out, and I don't have all the answers to the questions, I know she's going to ask. I need to convince her to take this leap of faith with me and trust that I will figure it out for both of us. It’s imperative that she trusts I will take care of her.
I want to tell her all of this, but I know it's not the right time. The rehearsal dinner kicks off a very stressful twenty-four hours for her between now and the wedding. Since we're both here for a few days after the wedding, I know I'll have her all to myself. Then it’ll be stress-free and relaxed. That's when I'll talk to her.
"Baby girl, it's time to get up and get ready for the rehearsal dinner." I gently wake her, and she groans. I can't blame her. I'm sure she could use a little more sleep, and I should feel bad about that, but I don't.
As she stretches, her breasts push up against my chest, and her pussy presses against my thigh, and it's my turn to groan. She smirks and tries to straddle me.
"I want to more than you know, but we’ll be late if we try to get in a quickie. You’ve told me you want to get there early."
"I know," she sighs. She hops out of bed and goes into the bathroom to get ready.
Getting out of bed, I pull on my pants. I lean against the door frame and watch her put on her makeup and fix her hair. Little things that I haven't gotten to see until now that I want tomemorize so I can play them over and over in my head when we're apart.
The thought of not being together makes my heart clench. I've gotten too used to having her at my side this week. Walking away from her is going to be the hardest thing I’ll ever do.
The rehearsal flies by. Everyone seems to know what they're doing, but all I can see is Rylee. I can't take my eyes off of her. As we wait for them to finalize the last details, I go with some of her family.
Her family, cousins, aunts, and uncles are so easygoing that I can see myself fitting right in. It's easy to tell how much they all love her. They’re all a little protective, wanting to know more about me, and I can't blame them for that.
Her dad comes up to me, using my full name. "Jase, why don't you take a walk with me?"
I turn and follow him across the resort to the enormous bar for another drink.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I have concerns about how close you and my daughter are getting," he says as we step into the lobby.
"Concerns such as what?"
"Well, you're still in the military, are you not?"
"Yes, I am. I have two years left."
"Do you expect Rylee to sit around and wait for you to finish your two years? And what happens if you reenlist? Do you think it's fair for her to give up her career and everything she's built to follow you around for yours? We both know she's worked hard to build up her business and get to where she is."
I know this better than anyone because I'm the one she talked to about her business. All the stress and late nights were poured into letter after letter, and I wrote back just as many letters of encouragement, telling her that I knew she could do it and how amazing she would be at it.
Rylee's always been there for me, but there’s the chance that two years will be too long for her to wait for me. We can do it as friends, as we've done for the last seven years.
But I haven't met a woman yet who’s been able to stick it out. Heck, the last time I thought I’d met the one, I ended up with a Dear John letter while deployed. I don't think I could go through that again, no matter how much I know in my heart that Rylee wouldn’t do that.
"I have no plans to reenlist. I'll be at my twenty years of service, and I can retire. After I get out, I have a game plan in place that I've talked to Rylee about extensively."
"That may be so, but that's still two years away. She could meet a great guy, settle down, get married, and have a kid on the wayin the next two years. Are you really going to stand in the way of that?"
The thought of Rylee with anyone else has me ready to punch a hole in the nearest wall, but I don't need to give her father any more ammo that I'm not right for his daughter.
"I would never stand in the way of Rylee being happy. No matter if it's with me or anyone else." The words taste bitter in my mouth, but I know they're the truth. Her happiness means more to me than anything else.
"If you love her, you know the right thing to do." He gives me a pointed look and walks off to rejoin his wife.
I stand there playing the conversation endlessly in my head.
Chapter 9
