The Rise of Emery James (42 page)
My eyes dart up, my heart taking off in a millisecond leaving me frozen in place staring at the tall handsome man leaning against my car. His arms are crossed over his chest and the small smirk on his face threatens to break into a full smile. God I missed his face. Cole Bennett is sexy as sin and his casual stare leaves me nearly panting in place. More than that it leaves me aching with the realization that I have missed him beyond words.
"What are you doing here?" I ask dumbly. Who cares why he's here. The point is he is here, standing right in front of me and I'm still frozen in place.
His mouth quirks up a little higher, clearly amused with my shock. It's just enough to break me from my stupor and I drop the bag and run the few extra steps into his waiting arms. His strong embrace wraps around me and my feet leave the ground.
It feels so good to be in his arms again. As if his physical touch instantly breaks free the facade I had going where I was dealing with how much I missed him. It's like a part of me has returned and I suddenly feel complete.
"I couldn't wait to see you. I hope you don't mind me waiting out here," he says, his voice warm and sultry in my ear. It wakes up the fire deep inside that I've been working hard to keep under control since he's been gone. But I was fooling myself in believing that I'd be able to make it much longer without seeing him. Without feeling his touch. How had I gone so long?
"I can't believe you're here," I say as I snuggle in closer to him, breathing in his familiar scent, afraid to step back and realize that he's some sort of mirage.
"I missed you," he admits roughly as we cling together.
Finally, I step back because I want to see his face. He's let his normal scruff fill in and it's dark and thick around his jaw. "You went all mountain man on me," I tease, pulling gently at the short beard hair.
He smiles and his hand covers mine as it rests against his face. "You like it?" he asks.
"I do," I admit. It makes him look rugged and mysterious.
"I kept it because I wanted you to feel it across your thighs later," he says, his look serious and sultry. I swallow hard, feeling the pull deep inside me. If we weren't at the school, I might seriously consider pulling him into my car for a quick reunion. I know he can see the direction of my thoughts because he smiles and then leans in and kisses my nose. "I have a lot of time to make up for. I hope you didn't have any plans this evening."
I love the way he assumes that we are back to good. He went away like I'd asked. He'd given me the time I needed and now just like he'd promised he's back and giving me everything. He is just as confidant as he was when he left, believing in us, in me. I couldn't be a luckier person.
This man, he saved me. He showed me how to save myself. My whole life he’s been there. He’s part of my fabric. I know now that no matter what, he’s it. He’s my forever. There is a reason I never felt whole when we were apart. He’s my missing piece.
“Take me home,” I say, looking up into his dark eyes.
“You are my home,” he says, leaning in to give me the most beautiful kiss I’ve ever had.
Cole
One Year Later
IF YOU WERE TO
ask me if I was nervous, I'd tell you no. I'm not. I probably should be. This is a big moment, one of the biggest. It's definitely one of the most important. But I feel calm. Honest. I'm calm because I have no doubt that what I'm about to do is the absolute best thing that I can do. It's the only thing I can do. The only choice.
Maybe I should be worried about what he'll say. He could very well give me a hard time, make me stand up and list all the reasons why I'm worthy. And if he does that's okay. I'll do it. I'll do anything he asks of me, because the end result. . .his blessing. . .that's the prize. The chance to ask Emery James to be mine forever is worth anything. Any sacrifice. Any fight. Anything in the entire world.
What's more, she deserves to know she's worth it. So when Henry asks me why he should give me his blessing to marry his daughter I can tell him straight up. Because I will spend my entire life making sure she knows she's worthy. I will spend all of my tomorrows making sure she is happy. I'm going to take care of her.
That's why I'm not nervous. I'm determined.
I step up to the front door and knock, squaring my shoulders.
Henry opens the door and meets my eye with a determined scowl. What he doesn't realize is that I saw his mouth lift at the corner just before he went in to protective father mode. It almost makes me smile because I see that he is going to make me go through every step. He's not a fool. He knows exactly why I asked to meet with him today.
"Hi, Henry," I say, standing straight. I may be taller than him, but he holds all of the cards.
"Cole," he greets me with one word and somehow he turns my name into a challenge.
"Mind if I come in and talk with you for a bit?" I ask.
Henry lets me stand there for a full minute before finally shaking his head and opening the door wide for me to enter. "Might as well get this over with," he grumbles.
Emery
THE PAST YEAR WITH
Cole has been the best year of my life. I couldn’t ask for more than what I have right now. When I came back to Oklahoma everything had felt dark. I was lost. I was so lost that I didn’t even know that I wanted to be found. It felt easier to just hide and survive until the pain was finally over.
I think back on that girl and it breaks my heart. She had no hope. She’d given it away along with everything else that made her who she was. She was simply a shell. A shell hidden behind a wall built so high and so strong that no one was supposed to find their way through it.
Lucky for me, Cole showed up with a sledgehammer, a ladder, and the determination and patience to remove it piece by piece. Guys like him aren’t supposed to exist in real life. Love like I feel now; it’s supposed to be reserved for fairytales.
No, that’s not right. It’s not a fairytale. Fairytale suggests some sort of rose colored lens of perfection. We fought through fire for this love. It comes with scars and bruises and an appreciation for each other that could never be born from easy.
That broken girl is still a part of me, but she feels distant now. She is only there to remind me of how far I’ve come. I’m a lot stronger than she was. I live a lot louder than she ever did. I won’t ever regret those moments of darkness. They built me into who I am now. It was the lessons I learned in my darkest hours that have helped me fight my way back. They are the things that have shown me my own power. My own strength. They gave me the ability to finally rise.
Emery
THE WATER LAPS AT
my ankles as I walk along the lake sure. It’s cool on my skin and it sends goosebumps over my flesh. The sun is setting across the water and I soak up the moment because it’s perfect. I splash the water up and laugh at the way the drops dance across the water like a kaleidoscope.
“Are you going to stay down there all night?” Cole calls from his spot on the tailgate of the truck. He’s smiling, amused at how lost I was in my own little world. God, he’s handsome. How did I get so lucky? How did I ever earn a second chance like this?
I leave my spot on the shore and walk up to join him. He’s piled blankets high in the bed of the truck. Stargazing like this is still one of our favorite things to do. It’s where our past and our present live. It is perfectly us.
“Hi,” I smile sweetly as he slips his arms around me.
“Hi, baby.” He kisses my forehead and I swear I melt against him. Even after all this time, he can make me swoon with the simplest of actions. “I love you,” he says quietly. As always, when he says those words to me, my heart squeezes with emotion. The words are so much more than words. I feel each one of them completely and I treasure them. They will never get old.
“I love you too, Cole,” I return, hoping he can hear all the emotions behind the phrase. Hoping he feels it as deeply as I do. He kisses me again and I know that he does.
“Dance with me?” he asks suddenly. He always does this, begs me to dance with him – it doesn’t matter where we are or if there is any music at all playing. I always give in, because being in his arms is my favorite place to be.
The sun has nearly disappeared beneath the water now, but the moon is full tonight and it’s already rising. Cole pulls his phone from his pocket and sets it down. “I brought music,” he says proudly and I giggle.
“You think of everything,” I say as music starts and I sink into the embrace of his arms. The soft melody breaks through the coming night, mixing with the sound of gentle waves and our steady breathing. I can feel the warmth of his breath against my neck and the way it heats my skin sends shivers throughout me.
I get lost in the lyrics of the song, I’ve never heard it before, but as the haunting voice fills the air between us the lyrics bring a tear to my eye because they are beautiful.
I get to love you,
she sings and it hits me so hard that it feels like my heart my burst with the sense of understanding. I get to love this man. What an amazing gift that is. What an amazing blessing to have the chance to love him so completely, so honestly.
I step back and look up at him with glistening eyes, “This song,” I start.
He brushes the hair back from my face and cradles me in his hands. “This song is perfectly us. You are the greatest gift in my life Emery James,” he says simply. That makes the tear fall. He looks down at me with such intensity, such honesty and my heart stutters, trying to catch up. “I will love you with everything I have until my last breath. Even then, I don’t think I could stop.”
I try and speak. I try to respond with words that will mean as much to him as his just did to me, but they won’t come. They are caught in my throat as my heart beats against my chest, as it beats only for him. He doesn’t care that I don’t respond, because apparently he’s not done with his speech.
“I have something I want to give you,” he says quietly. He brushes his thumb across my cheek taking the tears that had escaped.
“What is it?” I ask through my broken breathes. He smiles at me, brilliant and dazzling.
“My last name.”
I hear my breath catch in the silence that hangs after his words. He waits for me to catch up, to know where this is going and it only takes me a moment. The tears fall quick as I watch him lower down to his knee. I’m still so stunned that I can barely keep up with the details as he pulls something from his pocket and takes my left hand into his.
“Emery James – The day I found you my world became brighter. The day I lost you, I lost my heart. The day you came back to me was the day it beat again. I never want to spend another moment without you. You are everything, I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. Will you marry me?” he asks.
My face can barely contain my smile. I can barely hold in the joy that is overtaking me. Cole Bennett. Forever. “Yes,” I manage as I fall down to my knees to be closer to him. He wraps himself around me, raining kisses over my skin, as we laugh and cry against each other.
“Yes?” he asks as if needing me to confirm it.
“Yes. Always yes,” I say. He grabs my face and kisses me hard, claiming what is already his.
When he leans back he asks, “So, I get to keep you?”
“Yes,” I say.
“Tomorrow too?”
“And always,” I promise.
“Always works,” he says.
The Beginning.
Also by Shae Scott
Unfinished Series
Coming Soon:
Free Fall (Lily and Miles)
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