Before I even knew what was happening, my dress was over my head and on the floor as I laid on the sofa and Emmit made love to me every so slowly.

God I loved race day.

Two Months Later

AS I STOOD ON THE window of my car, I yelled out in victory lane. Turning, I quickly scanned for her.

Blue eyes caught mine as Adaline made her way over to me. Jumping down, I ignored all the pats on the back and the yells of congratulations. The only thing I saw was her.

Adaline.

My breath caught in my throat when she stopped in front of me. “You won,” she said as she pressed her lips together.

The last race of the season.

I raced my fucking ass off against Malcolm Wallace and even though I wanted to ram into the back of his car, I kept my cool and took the win from him. I knew by taking Malcolm out, I risked wrecking my own car.

“You know what’s even better than winning?”

Tilting her head to the side, Adaline asked with a smile, “What?”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her body flush against mine. “You kissing me in front of everyone.”

Adaline chuckled as she pressed her lips against mine.

I knew the world couldn’t be shut out for long. My name was called out and Adaline took a step back to let the rest of the world invade our moment.

“Emmit, how does it feel knowing you won the last one, but you were still out of reach of that title?”

With a smile and a small shrug, I looked into the reporter’s eyes and said, “There’s always next year.”

More rounds of post race interviews took us well into the night. By the time Adaline and I made it back to the bus, I was exhausted and Lola was ready to play.

“I just want a shower and a bed,” I mumbled as I walked past Adaline and into the bathroom.

Lola had been on my heels until Adaline called her to go outside.

As I stood under the shower, I thought about this past year. So much had happened and there was still so much more to come. In five weeks was the wedding. Five weeks and Adaline would be one-hundred percent mine. My hands pressed against the shower wall as I let the water run over my body and dreamed of marrying Adaline.

“Emmit, are you hungry?” Adaline called out.

My body came to life as her voice filled the bathroom. There was only one thing I was hungry for. Turning off the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and set out to find the love of my life.

I stepped into the bedroom and came to a stop. A package was sitting on the bed wrapped in plain white paper.

“I’m heating up some of the lasagna I made last night,” Adaline said from the kitchen.

As I picked up the package, I said, “Okay, baby. I’ll be right there.”

There was no note or card anywhere on the package. Ripping it open, I held a box in my hand. Lifting the lid, I pinched my eyebrows together as I reached in and lifted out a picture frame. Smiling, I sat down and looked at the picture of me holding Lola when she was about twelve weeks old.

“What’s that?” Adaline asked as she walked in and sat down next to me.

I laughed as I looked at Adaline. “Like you don’t know.”

As she glanced down at the picture, she smiled and said, “Is that Lola as a puppy? Oh my gosh, she is so cute. Where did you get this picture?”

I pinched my eyebrows together and asked, “You mean you didn’t give this to me?”

Adaline wore a confused face and said, “Nope. The only pictures I’ve ever seen is the one on your mantel of you holding Lola in your arms right after you got her and the one in the living room when she was older. I’ve never seen this one.”

I shrugged as I glanced at the photo. “I wonder who put this here then?”

Adaline slapped her hands on her legs as she stood up. “Maybe your sister or mom? They were both in here earlier during the race. Wasn’t there a card?”

I shook my head. “Nope.” Standing, I walked over and placed the picture next to my bed. “It was probably, Mom. She must have found the picture.”

Adaline smiled bigger. “It sure is cute. Makes you want another puppy.”

With a laugh, I shook my head and grabbed some sweatpants. “Hell no do I want another puppy.”

Lola barked as Adaline laughed. “Seems to me like Lola is down for a friend.”

I pulled Adaline into my arms and quickly gave her a kiss. “The only baby I want in this bus is our baby.”

Adaline smiled as we made our way to the living room area.

The rest of the night was spent with Adaline curled up in my arms as Hank finally showed up and we started back for North Carolina. I couldn’t wait to get home and just relax. I kissed Adaline on the forehead and slowly let exhaustion claim me.

“Two more weeks. Can you believe it darling?”

My mother was standing at her kitchen island cutting up some fabric that was being used to make bows or something for the wedding reception when Adaline and I got back from our honeymoon. Since we were having a family only wedding, we decided to have a reception for our friends and co-workers once we got back. I quickly learned to smile and nod and pretty much just let the women in my life do whatever they pleased concerning this wedding and reception.

With a polite smile, I shook my head. “Nope. It’s not going by fast enough. I just want to make Addie mine already.”

My mother let out a soft laugh as she concentrated on cutting the fabric. “She is not a piece of property to own Emmit Lewis.”

I took a bite of beef jerky and nodded my head. “Yes ma’am, I’m fully aware of that.”

My phone beeped as I pulled it out and saw it was an email. The Subject line read, Your Laluna reservation.

“Looks like the hotel is confirming our reservation.” I said as I opened up the email. My mouth dropped to the floor as I read what it said.

Dear Mr. Lewis,

This is to confirm your cancelation of your beach cottage booked from December 23 through January 5.

I didn’t even finish reading the email and I was calling the resort.

“Emmit, what’s wrong?” my mother asked as I mumbled every curse word known to man.

“Hello! Yes, I just got an email confirming that my reservation had been cancelled. Lewis. Emmit Lewis. I never cancelled anything. I’m getting married there for Christ sakes!”

“I’m so sorry about this. Ms. Morgan called and canceled that just moments ago.”

My heart was stuck in my throat. I knew Adaline hadn’t called because she was standing in the dining room laughing with my sister about some stupid family tradition. “When did she call exactly?”

“No more than ten minutes. I just sent the email. I was the one who took the call. She said she was the bride, Ms. Morgan.”

“That’s impossible because I’m looking at my fiancé and she has not been on her phone at all.”

“Oh my goodness, Mr. Lewis I’m so very sorry. She stated she was Ms. Morgan.”

I glanced at my worried mother as I made my way outside. “Okay listen, someone is obviously trying to play some kind of game. Please tell me our wedding is still set and that nothing has happened with that.”

More typing. Silence followed by more typing. “No, nothing has been changed with that. I’m putting a note in your file now to alert the entire staff of what has happened. Mr. Lewis let me be the first to apologize. I would have never cancelled it had I thought it was someone playing a cruel joke. She even had your credit card number when she confirmed.”

Stephanie.

“No harm, no foul. But if you would please alert your staff as well as Roslinda, our wedding planner, that if anyone tries to make any changes, she is to call me first.”