Page 39 of Wrong Number

I was so close to the edge already that hearing him say that was like pouring gasoline on my internal fire.

“Yes,” I began to moan, then I was overtaken by shrieks as the hardest climax of my life shook me to the core.

“Tana,” he roared, gripping me almost roughly as he began to seize as well. We came together, grinding and twisting as his heat released inside me, making me squirm all over again.

Finally, I collapsed onto his chest, kissing him gently as his hands stroked my back.

“Mine,” he whispered against my lips.

Gripping the back of his hair with both hands, I stared into his eyes as I whispered, “Mine.”

EPILOGUE ONE

* Tyler *

*** Eight Months Later ***

It felt like everything in the world had fallen into place. Tana moved into my house after we’d been dating for three months, and over the next few weeks somehow pulled everything together and made it look much more like a home.

There were beautiful photos, colorful pillows, and strange little sculptures like her crystal spheres across several decorative shelves in the living room.

She also helped me organize and plan the scheduling structure of Samuels Construction more efficiently, and between the two of us, helped organize, streamline, and digitize all of the paperwork.

I had politely declined any further requests for quotes from the “family” company, so they stopped contacting me. We had more work than we could deal with, and I found myself turning down some of the smaller jobs in favor of larger companies with more interesting designs.

If we were going to work like hell, we might as well make it the high-end stuff, which not only paid better, but was also a lot more interesting.

There was only one more important thing that I needed, to ensure that everything was in order.

Walking into Stanley’s new art exhibition with Tana on my arm made me feel like a million bucks. We didn’t go out on fancy dates very often, so dressing up was a fun treat. She looked absolutely gorgeous in a long midnight blue dress with her hair extra wavy.

As we made our first round of the event, greeting everyone we knew along the way, I loved how she’d gotten close to my friends, and friends of friends. She had seemed a bit shy at first, but when I was standing beside her, she could talk to anyone about anything.

Once the party was in full swing, I found myself becoming a bit twitchy.

As we approached the bar, Sylvia came out to give us each a big hug. “Tana, the cocktail you helped me invent at the pink flamingo party was amazing. I served it to a bigwig at an exclusive club last month and he lost his mind. What would you like tonight?”

I watched as Tana began to scan the liquor bottles, pondering.

“Ask her for the Tyler Special,” I whispered loudly.

Tana looked up at me with a smirk, knowing that I was up to something. “If there’s hot sauce or anything weird in it, I will be extremely disappointed in you,” she laughed. Then she turned it to Sylvia. “The Tyler Special, apparently.”

“Excellent choice,” Sylvia nodded.

She took a shallow glass bowl out from under the bar, pouring in a half shot of clear chocolate liqueur, a half shot of vodka, and a few drops of other things that were all clear, followed by one drop of cherry to turn the liquid pink.

She stirred it carefully with a red swizzle stick with all of the drama and concentration as if she were a witch brewing something in her cauldron.

Then Sylvia grabbed a pair of tongs. “Are you ready for the magic?” she asked Tana.

“Sure,” Tana said, looking around at the crowd who had gathered.

Sylvia pulled out a sphere of ice around an inch in diameter, placing it into the glass bowl and letting it roll around.

“It’s not a cocktail, it’s a moving sculpture,” Tana laughed.

Sylvia held out the bowl to her, then shifted direction at the last second to hand it to me. Tana looked confused, then even more perplexed as I knelt down before her.

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