Runaway Bride’s Guide to Love (Guide to Love #1)

35. Emmett

35

emmett

~~ Eight weeks later ~~

“Come on Cap! You’re not getting out of it today!”

I let out a groan as I turn to Stella, who’s walking into the bathroom where I’m finishing brushing my teeth. “I hate the sun.”

“No you don’t,” she mewls, coming over to me and placing a kiss on my cheek. “Sun’s out, guns out, baby. It’s time to go to the beach!”

The last time we were in Florida, I convinced myself I didn’t mind the beach. Granted, I was looking for any excuse I could come up with to spend with Stella. But now that we’re solidly together and it’s November, I figured I could avoid the sandy hell this time around. But no, it’s an unseasonably warm day, which means Tiger wants to go to the beach.

Which of course I’m going to do because I love the hell out of that woman. But I’m not going to be happy about it.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Yup!” she says as she jumps up and down in a victory dance. “Now grab your book and your sunscreen. It’s beach day!”

She kisses me one more time before skipping out of the bathroom. I finish getting ready, flip the light off, and walk back into the master bedroom of the rental house we’re staying in.

And not just any rental house. The rental house. The Destin house where so many memories were made and started it all.

It’s where I first fell in love with her, though I didn’t know it at the time. It’s where she tried to beat me with a shoe, and where she rediscovered her love of Alfredo sauce. Where I held her for the first time as I buried myself inside her. Where we spent nights wrapped up around each other and mornings lazily in each other’s arms.

I’ve already talked to Simon about buying the house, which Stella doesn’t know about yet. Not that I don’t want others to live here—it’s just that this is our house in so many ways. I want to come here with her whenever we want. I want to skip away for weekend trips. Bring our kids here one day. Though we won’t have our honeymoon here—well, not the official one at least. When that happens, it’s going to be the trip of our dreams.

But that’s a long way down the line. We’ve only been together officially for three months, and most of that has been dealing with the Duncan fallout. That’s partially why we’re here. Stella’s birthday is next week, and to say she’s been a ball of stress is an understatement. So I told Simon we were skipping out for the week and I whisked her off to Destin. It was the perfect way to make her unplug, relax, and let me celebrate with her privately before her family birthday festivities next week.

The festivities she knows nothing about, that Ainsley and I are planning.

When I walk into the bedroom, I see Stella sitting on the bed in her bikini, and while I’d love nothing more than to peel that thin fabric away, I realize the happiness she had just a few minutes before has faded away.

“What’s the matter?” I say, taking a seat next to her. She tilts her phone for me to read, which is an email from her father.

“He pled guilty,” she says, the relief evident in her words. “It’s over. ”

Unfortunately, the saga with Duncan, the civil suits, and the fallout with the law firm took much longer than any of us would’ve liked. Granted, we all wanted for this to be over and done in a day, which we all know was a bold ask. And relatively speaking, it was quick. It just seemed to drag forever.

The video and audio footage we gathered that day was swiftly, and anonymously, sent to the attorney general, the SEC, the partners at Carter, Banks, and Fairchild, as well as Mr. Banks. When William asked Simon about it, he denied up and down that he had anything to do with it. All of the sisters followed suit. But the look of pride in his eye when he realized all of his children were full of shit was undeniable.

Because this was considered an anonymous tip, it was enough for the investigators to start digging. And lo and behold, if people looked past the surface of Stella’s passcodes being used and her bank account funneling the money, the next person was Duncan. But the giveaway? The moron used her passcodes during the two weeks she was away in Florida with me.

I was fucking her, and he was fucking himself. I think that’s quite poetic.

We knew Duncan was being questioned this week because of William, which was another reason why I wanted to get Stella the hell out of Dodge. I didn’t want her worrying about whether or not he’d lie his way out of it again. The investigators seemed to believe that Duncan really did it the last time we talked to them, but who knows what he’d say to change their minds.

“Dad said that he confessed to everything,” Stella says as she reads the email. “To using my logins and passwords. To using the bank account. Every stock he bought and sold, some of which they didn’t even know about. He admitted to it all for a shorter sentence.”

“Damn.” It’s good to see he did the admirable thing and pled guilty. Oh, who am I kidding? He did it to save his own ass. I have a feeling poor little Duncan wouldn’t like being spanked in prison as much as he did by Nadia. “I can’t believe he’s going to jail.”

“Neither can I. Granted, it was jail or pay the money back, according to what Dad told me. This means he doesn’t have a penny to his name. So if pleading means a shorter sentence, he’s going to sing like a canary.”

I bring Stella into my arms, holding her tight as he finishes reading the email from her dad.

“It’s over…” she whispers. “It’s finally over.”

I feel the immediate weight off my shoulders. And if that’s the relief I’m experiencing, I can’t imagine how she’s feeling right now.

“It’s over.” I repeat, kissing her temple. “You never have to worry about him again.”

“It doesn’t feel real,” she says. “This has been my life for weeks now. And just…all of a sudden…back to normal? What is normal? Is normal before I even met Duncan? I definitely haven’t been normal since we’ve met. Things are going to be boring. Oh no…what if now that I’m a regular person without lawsuits and federal investigations you’re bored and break up with me?”

I flip her over onto her back, kissing her because I need her to be quiet. Also this bikini has slowly been killing me since she first showed it off. I am but a weak man who’s obsessed with his woman. “Stella Banks, you are the farthest thing from boring.”

I quickly untie the top of her bikini and push it to the side so I can start peppering her chest with kisses. Unfortunately, that’s not a good enough distraction, as she keeps rambling.

“How do you know that? You’ve never met me without catastrophic things happening in my life. You’re assuming now, Cap, and it’s not good to assume.”

I sit up on my knees and pull at the strings of her bottoms. Again, she’s rambling about something, and I don’t even think she realizes that I’m stripping her, between her thoughts of being boring and if she should go on social media and make a multi-part series about “the man I almost married. ”

I stand up, figuring I might as well take off my clothes while she’s distracted. It’s not until I grab her legs and pull her so far down the bed that when I sit her up and she’s in eyeline with my cock, does she truly realize what’s going on.

“Are you going to stop talking nonsense? Or do you need something in your mouth so you’ll listen to what I have to say?”

Her eyes heat, and she licks her lips before slowly circling her tongue around my cock.

“That’s my girl,” I say. “Now, do boring girls like sucking cock?”

She shakes her head no as she takes me in.

“Do they swallow their cum in the office while hiding under desks?”

She shakes her head again, all while doing something wicked with her tongue.

“Do boring girls get fucked over desks? Or on balconies where anyone could walk by and see them?”

Her face blushes thinking back to what we did last night. Which, for the record, was one of the hottest things we’ve ever done.

“And do boring girls try to get in fights at bars and run away from weddings and befriend strangers?”

With every one of my words, Stella starts working me harder and faster. It’s like my praise is fueling her.

“No, they don’t. Because Stella Banks, you are the farthest thing from boring. And if you’re going to forget that, then maybe I should remind you.”

A popping sound comes from her sweet mouth as I pull her off me, but not so hard as she doesn’t have her bearings. In one motion I have her back on the bed, her leg on my shoulder, as I line my aching cock up to her and slide in.

“You’re the furthest thing from boring,” I say as I push into her, her heat wrapping around me as I make sure she’s good before letting go.

“You’re fucking beautiful. ”

And she is, really, at all times. Dressed up in her heels and skirts that try to kill me. Wearing my T-shirt with no makeup. Sweaty when we’re at the gym. Every time I see her, it takes my breath away.

“You’re strong as hell.”

I mean, who could run from a wedding, figure out a new life, be threatened to be sued, be questioned by the feds, and come out wearing a smile and never letting her demeanor crack? Stella Banks, that’s who.

“You’re smart. Funny. The furthest thing from boring.”

I lower her leg and slow my thrusts, but just because I want to lean down and take her lips as soon as I’m done saying this last one.

“And Stella Banks? You brought out something in me I didn’t know was buried. You make me want to be a better man. I can’t wait to show you all the ways you’re not boring. Because this life? The one we’re about to start? Boring is going to be the furthest word from it.”

I capture her lips with mine, burying myself in her deeper than maybe I ever have before. She purrs into my mouth and I hold her closer, wanting not a breath of air between us.

Boring? How could she think for a second that she’s boring? Every time I’m with her it’s something new. New sounds or touches. New ways she screams my name. Everything with Stella is like the first time, every time.

And I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. I’ll sure as hell never think she’s boring.

“Emmett…” My name spills out of her mouth as she tilts her head back. “Please.”

She’ll never have to ask twice.

I place her back down on the bed, this time bringing both legs to my shoulders. I’ve learned this is Stella’s magic switch, and I’m not going to be too far behind her.

Stella’s back arches and her legs tense against my chest seconds before she explodes onto me. It’s enough to send me just seconds later.

“Fuck me...” Those are the only words I can think of as I slowly bring her down and fall onto the bed next to her.

“You said it,” she says, rolling over so she’s now on top of me. “I love you, Emmett Collins.”

She places a small kiss on my lips as she starts slowly running her fingers through my hair. The acts are enough to send me into a late morning nap.

“I love you too, Tiger.”

That gets me another kiss before she moves slightly higher so her mouth is right next to my ear. “I’ll give you ten minutes to recover, but we’re still going to the beach.”

I groan, but only in jest.

I’ll take her to the beach.

I’ll take her to the fucking moon.

I’ll take her anywhere.

Because that’s what you do when you meet the person you were meant to find.

The person who adds a little chaos to your calm.

The person who completes you.

The person you know you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.