Page 159 of Sin With Me

Chapter13

Emma

Two years earlier

“I still can’t believeyou’rehere.”

“I’ve been here before, Emma.” David laughed. His perfect veneer smile shone as he pulled me into him, kissing my shoulder. I was sitting with my back pressed against his chest, leaning back to look at the man who had crossed the world to be with me. His legs were at the sides of mine and I’d been sifting sand through my fist onto his shin for the past hour, listening to his breathing behind me, enjoying our permanent reunion. The evening was perfect. Warm Atlantic air ruffled David’s dark hair as the waves lapped against the shore. A gentle taste of salt resonated in my mouth. We’d walked along the beach, had a picnic earlier in the day, and now we were simply relishing one another’s company.

“You know what I mean. You’re in the U.S. to stay, and you’re not going to leave me again.”

“I love you, Emma. I’m sorry this couldn’t happen before but now, I will never leave you, my sweet.”

A sense of calmness settled over me. I’d met David eight years ago at my brother Tristan’s wedding in Austria. I was thirteen at the time, and the fifteen-year-old boy who had waved to me from across the restaurant had caught my attention the moment his mouth curved up. He hadn’t been invited or anything, but Tristan being the spontaneous kind of guy, decided to propose to and marry Allie the same day. So when we went to a local restaurant for a family dinner, my brother hosted everyone who was there already, celebrating his happy day. And that’s where I saw David. He was sitting with his family and eventually asked me to dance. Not that I knew how to, but it didn’t matter, because David had some sweet moves. I’d wondered if it was a European thing because everyone knew how to dance. I swear it was an instant love kind of a dance. David was so different and polite, and with the little English he spoke at the time, he intrigued me. He literally swept me off myfeet.

For a long time it felt like we communicated through the language of love. The gentle kisses on my hand when he greeted me and soft whispers in my ear in German sent chills and goose bumps along my arms that marched like an army of ants. He could have been saying You have something stuck between your teeth or There’s a booger in your nose and I’d still think it was the sexiest thing he could have whispered. For the first year, we kept in touch. I wrote letters on scented paper, leaving lipstick kisses in their corners. Once I got a chance to persuade my parents to visit my cousin Gabe in Austria, for two summers in a row, they knew that my summer fling was much more than that. David and I took turns visiting each other every other summer after that, spending the time to travel all over Europe and the United States. Needless to say, David’s parents weren’t pleased with the arrangement funded by my family.

“You’d better not leave me. Although your family would be happy if youdid.”

His father owned a bakery in Vienna. It had been passed down from his great-great-grandfather, generation after generation, and David was supposed to be the next in line to take over. That was why his family didn’t approve of us – I not only took their son across the world, but also threatened the possibility of him inheriting his father’s bakery upon retirement. That was the stipulation they made to David: it was the bakery or me. And David chose me. He left everything and everyone to be with me. With the few months I had left at NYU, David said it was enough time for him to get settled here and get ready to start a life, together as a couple, once I wasdone.

“They’ll get used to it. They have to. I’ll open a bakery here and make you and them proud.” He squeezed me from behind, nuzzling his nose into myneck

“I’m already proud of you. What will you bake?” I tilted my head to the side to allow him greater access, knowing so well that this would lead to a hot and heavy make-out session on the beach. I prayed my parents weren’t spying from the window. I didn’t actually think my parents would be, but my overprotective brothers, Julian and Tristan – well, that was another story.

“I will blend the American and Austrian together into pastries that melt in your mouth, and bread you can’t wait to cool down to try a taste. I think the two mix together so well. Don’tyou?”

Of course I did. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting there, waiting for the sun to dip into the ocean with the love of my life at myside.

“I agree,” I said. “And I can’twait.”

“You will be my inspiration, Emma. What do you call it in English? You will be my moose.”

I chuckled, “You mean yourmuse.”

“Yes, my beautifulmuse.”

The way he said that in his sexy German accent, I wouldn’t care if he called me a moose or a cow. I was his and only his, and he would be mine, forever.

We watched the sun go down, and just before it did, David shifted behind me, fumbling with something, and pulled out a ring in front ofme.

I gasped. “David… what are you doing?”

We’d talked about marriage before, and about the bunch of kids we would have, but we’d always said we’d wait until his business was successful. David wanted to carry his own weight in America. He wanted to support me and our future family. My family’s wealth didn’t matter to him; I was the only one who mattered.

“It’s not an engagement ring, but it’s a promise ring to do right by you all my life, sweet Emma. It was my grandmother’s, and I’d love for you to wear it. I promise to love you and cherish you forever, and one day, when I can afford it, I will get you a ring as big as a mountain.”

I spread my fingers apart so he could slide iton.

“I don’t need a mountain, David. This is beautiful.” I moved my hand from side to side, watching the small gems twinkle in the last light of theday.

“There’s something else for you in my pocket,” hesaid.

All right, if it was any other American boy saying that to me, I’d punch him in the face because I was sure he’d want me to feel his shaft. But this was David, the most polite man I’d ever met. He would never stoop to such low measures. He didn’t need to. If David wanted me, he’d go straight for the kill, telling me how much he wanted to make love tome.

He leaned to the side and after a second-long hesitation, I pulled out a rectangular card from his pocket.

Turning the crisp card over I read, Sweet Emma’s Bakery. A New Jersey address was displayed below.

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