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"I wish this could be the beginning for us," I murmured, my eyelids heavy.
The last thing I remembered thinking before I fell asleep was again how it really wasn’t fair that this happened the night before I had to leave. And that I was grateful it had. After wanting Dylan for so long, I would have that one amazing night to remember for the rest of my life.
As much as it killed me, I knew I had to let him go.
20
DYLAN
THREE YEARS LATER
Brentand I sat in the sleekconference room of Berman Agency, waiting for our meeting with the newmarketing team.
Deft Rock Brewery has been thriving since we opened our doors more than two years ago. Our customers loved our beer selection, and it had become a hotspot for locals to hang out.
We grew it into what it was, but we knew there were still areas for expansion and needed help taking it to the next level. We hoped partnering with a marketing agency would do just that.
Brent looked at some of the framed ads hung around the meeting room, hands on his hips. He leaned close to one, reading the fine print. “I don’t know, Dylan. Are you sure about this place?”
He’d asked me that five times since I’d mentioned getting some outside help with marketing and event planning, and I’d answered the same every time.
“No, but I’m more sold on this place than any of the others. They put the Clayton Winery on the map and seem to know their stuff when it comes to wineries and breweries.”
Brent was about to say something else when people started filing in, folders and laptops in their hands.
The last person to come through the door stopped and stared at me, her mouth falling open, then she hurried to her seat at the opposite end of the long table from me.
Lana.
She was even more breathtaking than I remembered. She looked more professional now, in her slim knee length skirt and a crisp white shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail. I imagined wrapping it around my hand, and then I had to remind myself we were in a meeting.
She glanced up at me again, and I smiled at her. She smiled back a little shyly, then looked down at her papers again. Her cheeks were pink, getting pinker by the second.
Alexander McCain, one of the partners of the firm, started talking about Deft Rock and some potential campaigns he thought could really take the brewery to the next level.
I hoped like hell Brent was paying close attention, because I couldn’t really focus on what he was saying.
I was too busy looking at Lana, just taking her in after not seeing her for so long. And after spending all of those years unable to stop thinking about her or the night we spent together before she left.
Her eyes kept meeting mine and darting away throughout the meeting.
Brent elbowed me and nodded in Lana’s direction with a grin like he’d just realized it was her.
I nodded and tried to stop staring. Maybe I’d catch something that Alexander was proposing for our business.
“. . . and that’s why I’m confident that Lana Murphy and Beth Curtis will be a great team to be in charge of your account,” he said.
Lana looked surprised as he touched her shoulder. “She cut her teeth at one of the top New York agencies before coming here six months ago and has done nothing but outstanding work for businesses in Everbrook and the surrounding areas. And Beth has been with the agency for four years and has been instrumental in handling our top accounts,” he said.
Lana opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but Brent spoke instead.
“I’m sure they’ll do a great job.” He winked at her, and her sweet little smile made me want to dive over the conference table and kiss her again.
So many nights after she’d moved away, I’d been awake in the middle of the night and nearly called her.
But I knew her life was in New York.
She had a new job, probably a new group of friends, a new boyfriend maybe. I had no right to try to hang on and hold her back.
