Side Trip(83)
Dylan climaxed with her, their lips locked, and once everything that she’d been keeping inside spilled out, she collapsed on his chest and sobbed.
“Joy,” he soothed. “My Joy.”
She didn’t know how long she lay in his arms, but aside from the occasional passing car and the hum of highway traffic several hundred yards away, it was quiet. She felt Dylan inhale and hold his breath. She lifted her head, surprised to find his eyes bright with moisture. “What is it?”
“Are you going to marry Mark?”
She nodded. Her gaze dipped to his chest where his shirt collar met his neck. “I made a commitment. I promised him I would.”
“That’s not reason enough to spend the rest of your life with him.”
“It’s enough for me.”
Dylan frowned. His eyes searched hers. “What about what you want? What about us? Did this week mean nothing?”
She cupped his cheek. “This week was magical, but it isn’t real life.” She wouldn’t give up the life she’d planned on a whim. She didn’t expect Dylan to do so either.
Mark had called this morning and she’d answered her phone out of habit. She let him talk and she listened. But it wasn’t his pleas to rethink their engagement that had convinced her to stay with him. It was the vintage clothing in her suitcase and Judy’s bucket list, and every other list stashed in her sister’s hatbox. After just seven days on a road trip cross-country and one night of intimacy with Dylan, she was about to forsake Judy’s dreams and for what? A little bit of fun with a guy she’d just met? Another chance to be bold and daring like she used to be pre-Judy? Pursue a life she’d sworn for years to put on hold because she owed her sister? Joy didn’t go back on her promises or renege on her commitments. She reasoned if she was so quick to give up on Judy’s dreams and goals that she had to be feeling the same about Mark, which meant she wouldn’t forgo either. This road trip had muddled her emotions. She was conflicted, that was all.
She owed it to Judy to finish her lists. She belonged with Mark.
Dylan’s face fell. He averted his gaze. Joy felt her rejection of him in the way his body softened under hers, as though hope had abandoned him. But Joy didn’t make rash decisions, no matter the consequences, not anymore. And abandoning a man she’d devoted the past few years to for one she’d only known for a week would be the second most rash decision she’d made.
“We have a deal, Dylan,” she implored. “I know what I said earlier, but please, can we honor it?”
His eyes flashed with renewed determination. His brows drew in. “Then give me these last three nights, Joy. Stay with me in Chicago. I’ll book us a suite. We’ll order room service and stay in except when I have a gig. Just be with me. Please.”
A tear trickled over her nose. She inhaled a shaky breath. “Okay.”
CHAPTER 29
BEFORE
Dylan
Chicago, Illinois
“This is anticlimactic,” Dylan said. He stared up at the battered brown sign screwed into a lamppost on Jackson Boulevard. END HISTORIC US ROUTE 66. Considering the miles they’d driven and everything they’d shared, the marker was a bit of a letdown.
He’d dreaded this trip. Now he didn’t want it to end. If only they could stop time and exist in this bubble.
He reached for Joy’s hand, thinking nothing of it. She laced her fingers with his and the simple gesture felt natural.
“I feel like there should be fireworks or something,” she said.
Something for sure.
“We could kiss.” He waggled his brows.
She laughed. “You’ll get no argument from me.”
He lifted a hand to her face and brought his lips down on hers for a single, sweet kiss. Traffic moved past at an erratic, inner-city pace. Pedestrians cased the sidewalk in a mission destination frenzy. But for a split second Chicago fell away, leaving just him and Joy, an island in the middle of the urban chaos.
“That was nice,” she murmured when he broke off their kiss. He hummed in agreement.
“We’re unconventional, Joy. Historically, people go west on Route 66. We could turn around and chase sunsets.” He was teasing but a glint of possibilities flashed in her eyes.
She placed her palm on his chest, directly over his tattoo. “Always heading west,” she murmured, then bit into her lower lip. “What if we did?” she said in a breathless whisper that set his heart racing.
His gaze narrowed on the sudden urge to do something spontaneous. The last item on Judy’s list.
What if they did? What if . . .
He pressed the brake on that train of thought. He gave her a sad face. “London’s calling.”
“I was kidding.” She laughed it off but the spark in her eyes dimmed, and it made him sad. Time to get this ship back on course before he suggest something ludicrous, like move back to California with him.
“Ready?” he asked.
Joy shifted the bouquet she cradled in her arm. Pink roses. Judy’s favorite. The clear plastic wrap crinkled. They’d eaten a late BLT lunch at Lou Mitchell’s, munching on doughnut holes and Milk Duds while they waited in line for over an hour to be seated. Afterward, Joy had purchased the flowers from a street vendor. She laid the bouquet at the base of the light post.