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One Month Later
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I SHOT A GLANCE BEHIND me at the spurting faux volcano set in front of the Mirage Hotel and grinned. Turning my gaze to my beautiful boyfriend, I looked up into his chiseled face.
“What?” he asked playfully, popping me gently on the nose with his finger.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I asked, lightly socking him in the arm.
“Ow,” he mouthed, smiling down at me as he rubbed his arm. “Such a brute.”
Shaking my head at his brute comment, I looked back at the volcano and its synchronized music. Then I chanced a glance up at Tyler and jutted my chin toward the smartphone clutched in his hand.
Looking down at the phone, Tyler’s brow furrowed and he asked, “What?”
“You owe me a post,” I replied immediately, not forgetting what he’d vowed that night in the alley a month ago...
...When we’d finally arrived back to the party, Colton had cocked a questioning brow at me as Tyler and I walked hand-in-hand to the party, happy and completely... together.
Colton came up and got in my face. Flicking his eyes to Tyler, then back to me, he said, “Char, a word?”
I shot an apologetic look at Tyler and said, “I’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” Tyler replied, chuckling as he let go of my hand.
When we were a few feet away, Colton said, “What are you doing with him?”
I lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Living a little.”
Colton studied my face, the silence growing uncomfortable, which was what I was sure he intended. I didn’t break weak, though, I just matched his stare and waited for him to say something. Finally, he said, “So, just having fun?”
“It might be more than that. He apologized for being a douche back in Vegas and even got us tickets to go back next month. No races, no business. Just us.”
Colton glanced back at Tyler, who was now chatting with my dad, and then back to me. “If he hurts you...”
I lifted my chin. “You’ll what?” I sighed. “Look, I can’t keep Alyssa from doing what she’s doing any more than you can promise that Tyler won’t hurt me again. Neither of us know what’s going to happen.”
“You’re right,” he relented.
“So, did it work?” I asked sheepishly.
He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Did what work?”
“The kiss that shall not be named,” I replied with a blush.
Colton lifted his drink and took a swig while nodding. “Yeah, she went nutso. Freaked out on me, asked if we were a thing. And at the end of the day, she realized she couldn’t handle seeing me with anyone else, and we’re giving it another go.”
I groaned dramatically. “Oh, my God. That was not what I meant by ‘did it work?’! I was asking if it made her go away!”
He laughed. “Sorry, we’re back on, for now.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Your relationship with her makes me dizzy.”
“That makes both of us,” he replied, chuckling.
“Yeah, keep laughing. It’s all fun and games until you come home to a rabbit boiling on your stove.”
Colton made a face. “That’s nasty.”
I shook my head and laughed as I headed back over to Tyler and threaded my fingers with his. He looked down at me and smiled.
I looked back on that day, thinking how I had still been so untrusting of Tyler, hoping he wouldn’t hurt me again, but... he hadn’t. We’d been pretty much inseparable since then. I had spent almost every night at the Dalton Mansion, and we’d formed an easygoing, fun relationship—and a friendship. Once we realized we needed to fall into step with each other, and learn how to trust and be open with one another, it had become so easy. Scary easy. We talked about everything... even the uncomfortable stuff. I told him about my weight insecurities, and he’d offered to have his chef make me only healthy food. At the suggestion, I hadn’t been offended, but felt happy at his gracious offer. It had worked, too... I was down twenty pounds. Tyler continually told me I looked great, but that he had loved my body before, too. I only had about ten left I wanted to lose, but they would off come slowly, I knew. I didn’t want to be stick-thin. I liked my curves... they just needed some tightening up a bit.
“Smile, honey,” he said. I looked up and as he pressed the button, I turned quickly and kissed his cheek. The picture was perfect, and I watched as he uploaded it to Dalton Industries’ Instagram and Facebook pages with the caption “Enjoying the volcano with the love of my life.”
That warmed my insides something fierce. I grabbed his phone and shoved it in my pocket. Spinning him around, I reached up and gently grabbed his face and gave him the fiercest kiss I had ever planted on anyone.
“I love you,” I said, when I finally pulled back.
“I love you, too,” he replied, putting his forehead against mine and smiling, making me melt as his crystal-blue eyes gazed into mine with love.
We stood silently for a few minutes like that, until he said, “C’mon, let’s go see how Colton is doing.”
I nodded. “Good idea.”
We walked toward the entrance of the Mirage and hopped into the first taxi we saw. “To the Las Vegas Speedway.”
“Right away, sir,” the driver said.
I looked at Tyler questioningly, and he shrugged. “I didn’t feel like waiting for the valet to bring the Bugatti around.”
Chuckling, I said, “Lazy ass.”
He kissed me. “Yep that’s me, a lazy ass. But you’re a fine ass.”
We reached the speedway within minutes, and after a generous tip, the cabbie flew off, chasing his next fare.
“Hello, Mr. Dalton,” greeted the speedway manager. “Your newest superstar is doing fantastic. Come on.”
“Very good, Gary,” Tyler answered. “Glad to hear it.”
I squeezed Tyler’s hand in excitement.
After the brief, official introductions at my dad’s anniversary party, Tyler and Colton had been overly cautious of each other, but quickly got to talking racing. Colton, being the way-too-modest person he was, wouldn’t mention he had aspirations as a driver. He’d only helped around the shop here and there, and would take out and race the occasional car we had at the shop (with the owners’ permissions, of course). So it was me who had to mention to Tyler what a hell of a talented driver he was. This piqued his interest, and the two talked shop nonstop for the next couple hours. So much so that even I had grown bored and had gone over to Jenna to do tequila shots with her and her brother, Alec. Tyler had to drive me home and put me into bed that night.
Gary led us up to the top of the speedway’s announcement booth where we looked out over the massive track where the racers were doing practice laps. Colton was, according to the monitor, on his sixth lap, and was beating out the other two cars on the track.
“The kid’s amazing,” Gary commented, putting on his headphones and flicking a switch. He then spoke into the mic attached to it. “You got this, Colt,” he said encouragingly to my brother.
After Colton beat the other racers with ease, we made our way down from the booth and onto the track. The early February day was cool but sunny, and the smell of exhaust, gasoline, and rubber filled my nose. I smiled as Colton got out of the red Ferrari and stood up, punching the air with his fist. It had only been a practice race, but the proud look on his face was priceless. He hugged me.
“Great job,” I said, proudly hugging him back.
“Thanks.” He looked at Tyler and shook his hand. “Mr. Dalton.”
Tyler chuckled. “I told you to call me Tyler. We’re practically family.” He looked at me and squeezed my hand with a smile.
My heart was full. I could not stop smiling. I felt like my little world was damn near perfect.
I glanced at the Ferrari and jutted my chin at it, and then looked at Colton. “You like the name I picked out for your baby?”
Multiple sponsor names were printed on the front and back, but underneath the number seven, the car’s new name was written. He looked at me and said, “That was you?”
I nodded, “Yep.”
I glanced again at THOR’S HAMMER written in fancy script, and smiled.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Candi Heart writes funny, sassy, and swoon-worthy happily-ever-afters that will leave you with a smile on your face and a sigh on your lips. She knows big girls need love, too, and loves to write about them finding their love stories with sexy alphas from all walks of life.
She also loves hearing from readers! You can find her at candiheartauthor@gmail.com or on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/CandiHeartAuthor/
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OTHER BOOKS BY CANDI HEART
Book 1—Racing Hearts
Book 2—Walking Dick
Book 3—Love Handles
Book 4—Big Escapes
Book 5—Sweet Treats
Each BBW romance in the series is a standalone love story with an HEA, and can be read in any order.
