Connected (Connections, #1)(93)

Sighing, she inhales a deep breath and tells me, “No. That concert is the last concert I ever went to with my dad. It was the last time I ever went to The Greek.” She cups my cheeks as she continues, “I wasn’t sad when I opened it, I was happy. Those were tears of joy because you’ve given me back a memory just as so many were taken away.”

Now I’m the one swallowing back my emotions, trying to keep it together. I feel my body start to tremble, overflowing with the amount of love I feel for this girl. She’s had so much sadness in her life. As I gently pick her up and carry her to the bed, I feel so lucky that I’m the one who gets to give her her happily ever after.

I lay her down and start kissing her stomach. She sits up on her elbows and points to the nightstand. “You promised to explain,” she says and I laugh.

“Explain what?” I ask, my mind still reeling from her confessions.

“Your birthday wishes, silly.”

“Ahh, my birthday wishes for you,” I say smiling at her beauty and wanting to make her happy. I look at her, kiss her, then move to take a piece of ice out of the cup and let it melt on my tongue.

“What are you doing?”

“Dahlia, I’m granting you three birthday wishes.

“You can’t grant me wishes if I haven’t told you what I wish for, silly, and there is only one wish allowed per birthday you know.”

“Beautiful girl, you should know by now, I have my own set of rules for almost everything and birthday wishes are no exception.”

Running her fingers through my hair, she says, “So tell me genie, what would those rules be?”

“Well since you asked, I’m more than happy to tell. In my world, when I get to be the genie, as you called me, I get to come up with and deliver the wishes.”

She giggles that sound I love so much. She starts to squeal as I take another piece of ice in my mouth and slide my cold tongue down her body letting the ice cube dance in and out of my mouth along the way. I pause and look up at her as she watches me. “And this is wish number one.”

A low purring sound escapes her mouth. “Oh God River, I love your rules.”





I WAS BORN TO LOVE HER



I was born to love her

Everything about her

She is the one I need

The one I have waited for

She is everything.





River’s POV

February 2012 - 3 months later…





Shaking my head, I’m kicking myself for not ordering the necklace earlier. I pace the room with the phone to my ear. Mikimoto’s says the package should have been delivered to Xander’s house yesterday, and if the dick would answer his phone this morning, I’d know. I’m on hold with Federal Express, waiting for them to check the signature delivery log when the doorbell rings.

Making my way to the door isn’t easy. I just smile while stepping over all the boxes Dahlia still hasn’t unpacked since officially moving in. Thank God she only brought what she thought we needed and left the rest at Grace’s house or else there would be no where to walk. She’s in the office that we setup for her downstairs. She’s working on getting her new business off the ground.

We’ve managed to furnish the entire house and hire a housekeeper, but the unpacking is another story. For some reason, we never seem to find the time to just do it.

It doesn’t really matter anyway. Since neither of us cooks, we don’t need to unpack the boxes labeled kitchen. We always order out, go out, or eat grilled cheese.

I don’t give a shit about any of the domestic supposed-to-dos anyway because I got my girl, and we’re living life sweet and easy.

Opening the door, my * brother is standing there grinning. He pushes me aside as he strides into the living room, sitting his ass on the couch. “Why have you called me three times since I got in my car this morning?”

“If you’d answer your f*cking phone you’d know, dickhead.”

He flops his head back on the couch and spreads his arms over the back like he owns the place. “Since I was on my way here, I didn’t see the purpose in wasting my breath,” he says. Then reaching into the inside pocket of his leather jacket, he adds, “Dickhead.”

Pulling out the black satin box with the white letters M I K I M O T O emblazoned across the top, he smirks, “You looking for this, Loverboy?”

Turning my head toward the stairs to make sure Dahlia isn’t coming, I quickly head over to him. “You couldn’t have let me know it came, assface?”

“Assface? Hmmm . . . Maybe I should have just kept it and given it to the first pretty face I saw, tonight. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I’m sure a gem like this would guarantee I score.”

Tucking the box away in one the many partially opened containers blocking the pathways in and out of the living space, I walk over to sit at the counter. Dahlia insisted the movers not block the view with any of the boxes, so instead, we’re tripping over whatever items she unpacks but doesn’t put away every time we come in the room.

Standing up, Xander heads to the kitchen. “Dude, you live with one messy chick.”

Shrugging my shoulders at him, I say, “Some of us have more important shit to do than keep house.”

“But really, you have a housekeeper. She can’t do it?”