“Excuse me. Why, exactly, is the dog getting attention before me?”
I look up with a sunny smile. “Simple. I love him more.”
Jensen clutches his chest. “Ouch.”
I stand up and press a kiss to his cheek. “Sorry, but yes. Dog trumps boyfriend.”
“Hmph.”
“Wow, Kelly, this is incredible.”
I turn around to find Dogwood Cove’s mayor, Ethan Monroe, and his fiancée, Summer, standing in front of me. “Thanks, guys.”
“Please tell me you’ll do something similar for our barbecue reception next month?” Summer takes my hand and gives me a pleading look.
“Of course I will. Is everything ready for your wedding? Where is it again?”
“The Cayman Islands,” Summer says, clapping her hands. “I’m so dang excited. I wish you could come with us.” Her smile starts to turn down, so I jump in.
“Nah, someone’s got to run the bakery and the café! Besides, I think it’s amazing that you’re keeping it so small and intimate.”
Ethan gives me a grateful smile. He’s one hell of a handsome man, with his lumbersnack vibes and take-charge personality. He’s also a great mayor, and completely dedicated to Summer. If I weren’t so madly in love with Jensen, I’d be jealous of her. Hell, Iwasjealous. Of her and Ethan, Mila and Jackson, Finn and Ashley, all of the amazing couples in this town. But not anymore because now, just under a year after Jensen moved to Westport, I am one of those couples. And tonight, we’re all at Oceanside Resort, the place Summer inherited from her dad, for a bonfire birthday party for Mila.
“You’re the best, Kelly.” Summer hugs my shoulders. She’s such a sweetheart, it’s easy to see how she and Mila were best friends for so long. You know those people who just have a good heart? Summer is one of those people.
Jensen pulls me into his side as Summer and Ethan are called over to a group that includes Ethan’s friend, Finn, and his fiancée, Ashley.
“Babe. She’s right, you are the best,” he mumbles against my hair before pressing his lips in a kiss. “As much as I enjoy your friends, how much longer do you need to be here?”
I look up at him confused. “Why?”
“Because you left the extra frosting at home, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, I was thinking it could make for an interesting art project.”
It takes a minute for my brain to catch up to what kind of art project he’s talking about. But when he slips a finger under the hem of my shirt and drags it back and forth, I get it. Heat instantly floods my body. “Oh.Oh.”
Jensen quirks a grin and nods slowly.
“I’ll just go and say goodbye to Mila and Jackson. Why don’t you load Oliver in the car and I’ll meet you there?”
“Five minutes, babe. I really,reallywant that frosting.”
“Fuck, you’re delicious,” Jensen rumbles, licking a drop of frosting off my right nipple.
“That’s the frosting,” I gasp as he tugs the peak in between his teeth.
He continues, using his finger to spread frosting in lines all over my chest, following with his tongue. He takes his time in all of my favourite spots, the places he knows will send me higher than ever. And when we finally abandon the frosting and he slides into me, I don’t care about the sticky sweet mess that covers me and the bedsheets.
All I care about is the man in front of me, the man who knows me better than anyone — the man who is my best friend, my lover, and my soul mate. My past and my future.
Vows and Promises
Julia Jarrett
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