Page 121 of Sterling Fight

And my wish on this one would be that Judd Sylver would propose to me for real.

As I pull back from the kiss, my phone rings on the kitchen counter. A quick glance at the caller ID and I know I can’t avoid this call.

“Let me get this,” I pat his chest. “I’ll meet you by the lake.” Maybe I’ll toss in my lucky penny to officially make my wish.

Judd’s brows lift in surprise as I never swim with him in the morning, but he presses a kiss to my cheek as I answer my phone before my voice mail will pick up.

I walk toward the library, taking my call, and fighting my stomach as it drops further.

Once I finish on the phone, I change clothes, but not into a bathing suit. My feet feel heavy as I cross the backyard and head down the dock. Judd is seated on the edge waiting for me, and I fold down beside him.

My heart is beating triple time. I don’t know why I’m so worked up all of the sudden.

“Everything alright?” He turns his head toward me while his feet dangle in the cold water below.

I tuck my knees up beneath my chin and wrap my arms around my shins. “That was Greetings Ambassador.”

“Oh-kay.” The tone of Judd’s voice matches the swirling pit in my belly.

“They have an opening and want to move our meeting up.” I pause and turn my head to look at Judd. “They want to see me tomorrow in New York.”

This shouldn’t be a big deal. I just get myself to Charleston, hop on a plane, and have the meeting tomorrow as scheduled. But I’m off-kilter at the thought of leaving Judd. I’m stumbling with what this appointment might mean for me. For us. If I accept the offer from Greetings Ambassador, I’d be losing my company and I’d be at the whim of theirs. While I don’t think they’ll ask me to move to New York, it is a possibility.

“This is good, right?” Judd nudges my shoulder with his arm, trying to find the positive in the moment when he isn’t always the most optimistic guy.

Suddenly, I’m not only nervous about my meeting but I’m anxious to leave Judd.

Judd watches me a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing while he glances down at the ring on my finger. “I could go with you.”

“You’d do that?” I lift my head which I’d been resting on my knees. Would he really come with me?

I’ll be there, Genie. For some reason, my father’s quieted voice whispers through my head. His promise to pick me up, which ended fatally.

“Of course. I love you.” Judd says is so casually, like he’s been saying it all his life to me.

He runs his hand up my spine and cups the back of my neck, tugging me toward him for a promising kiss.

Only, the energy around us crackles, and suddenly, Judd is pressing me back to the deck.

I shove his swim trunks down his hips. He’s wrestling with my jean shorts. Too soon, we’re naked, Judd over me, slamming into me, and I cry out, desperate for him to do it again and again.

The boards at my back aren’t comfortable but all I can think about is Judd above me, filling me up. The sunshine above him, the blue sky as a backdrop, and his eyes that match that vast space.

I’m swallowed whole by his love and intensity and an unexplainable fear.

I cling to Judd as I fall apart, screaming his name into the morning sunlight. Judd quickly follows, his signature grunt and that finishing wave of pulses becoming all too familiar.

Judd leans forward and kisses me. When he pulls back, bracing on his hands over me, sweat beads his brow.

“I love you,” he says again, like he’s puzzled by that love.

I want to reassure him we will be okay but, for now, we need to get moving. Plane tickets need to be purchased, and my sketches gathered, plus packing, and laptops, and . . .

Judd is hardly out of me and I’m already ten steps ahead. He pops upright, tugging up his swim trunks, before holding out a hand and pulling me upward as well. I slip into my underwear and shorts, and Judd takes my hand, linking our fingers together. I grip his bicep like I need the extra support to guide me up this dock and into the house.

“I’ll get some plane tickets. You shower and start packing.”

“Thank you, Judd. For doing this. For me.” I’m stammering, discombobulated a little from the rush of sex on the dock, and the switch to business mode.