The Marriage Sacrifice

“What is it?” she asked. There was a hint of a smile on her lips.

“I had no idea it could feel like this.”

“It?”

“This. Us.”

She placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’re being serious when you say you want us to get married?”

“Totally serious.”

“Really?”

“More than anything. It’s what I want. Have I not shown you that you can trust me?”

She nodded. “I guess.”

“You guess? Give a guy a break here.”

She chuckled. “I don’t know. I’ve spent so much of my life trying to prove my parents wrong.” She shrugged. “I don’t want them to be right about this.”

“About us?”

“I don’t want to get married because they say so. It scares me a lot.”

“Do I scare you?”

“No. I rather like you.”

“That’s good to know.” He had a feeling he more than liked this woman.

“I don’t know. I’ve seen the way my parents’ marriage is, and I don’t want that. I don’t want to sit in a restaurant and watch my husband eye a waitress. I don’t want to have a boy toy on the side because my own husband won’t touch me.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know myself, Sage, and I promise you, I won’t let that happen. You mean too much to me. I won’t be a dirty old man. Besides, when I have you, there won’t be anyone else that I’ll ever want. I’ll only have you.”

Chapter Seven

Dom held the strawberry out to her. He’d already dipped it in some heavy cream, and the white liquid was spilling on their picnic blanket.

“Come and get it.”

“Dom? Come on. You’re making a mess.”

“You’re a neatness freak.”

Their wedding was days away, and instead of being home with their parents to prepare, they were out at the park, enjoying each other. He’d called her away from her work, not that she was having a lot of joy with her latest story.

Her muse had vanished since this wedding prep had started.

Her characters weren’t talking to her.

It was scary. She did love to write most of the time, but between the wedding and her charity work and volunteering, her stories had taken a back seat.

“Come on, have a bite of my strawberry.”

She rolled her eyes but leaned over. Just as she was about to take a bite, Dom took possession of her lips, kissing her.

She didn’t fight the kiss as she wanted his lips on her.

This was what had been scaring her.

Her wedding was days away, and she had this horrible feeling she was falling in love with her soon-to-be husband.

It wasn’t possible. How could it be?

They were … friends. That was what it was.

He broke the kiss and slid the strawberry between her lips. She took a bite of the fresh fruit, closing her eyes at the taste. The cream had all but dripped off.

Some of it hit her chest.

“Oh, dear, it looks like I’m going to have to lick it off.” He leaned down, and his tongue danced across her heated skin.

“Dom! We’re out in the open. Anyone could see.”

“I don’t care. You’re going to be my wife in a matter of days. I’m not having a bachelor party because you’re the only woman I want to spend any time with.”

“You’re not having a bachelor party?”

“Nope.” He got another strawberry, dipped it in the heavy cream, and ate it himself, leaving the green cap and stalk.

“I thought it was every single guy’s rite of passage.”

“To get totally wasted and to watch strippers?”

She shrugged. “It’s what I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, because watching a woman who has so many men drooling over them is my idea of fun?”

“I didn’t say it was your idea of fun, but come on, you’ve got to admit, it sounds tempting.” If he was going to have a bachelor party then it meant nothing had changed. He was still the same party animal she remembered and these feelings she had for him were an anomaly. In time, she’d get herself in control, and nothing would come of it.

“Do you want me to have a bachelor party?” he asked.

“I’m saying I wouldn’t completely mind.”

“I’d mind.”

“Why?”

He finished off his strawberry and lifted her up so she was sitting. Crossing her legs, she glanced at his hands, which held hers.

“What is this all about?” he asked.

“Nothing. I’m just saying, this wedding is kind of rushed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it as well.”

“No, something else is going on here, and you’re not going to hide it from me.”

She didn’t like his intense stare. She had a feeling he could see more than she wanted him to.

“I’m not going to have a bachelor party. If you want to have a bachelorette one, then that is up to you. I honestly don’t mind.”

“Seriously? You wouldn’t mind me having a bachelorette party?”

This time, he shrugged. “Why not? It’s a rite of passage, after all. It’s what you told me.”