I want You Deeper

EPILOGUE

They may not be living on the water, but they sure were spending plenty of time there.

Holding Renee’s hand, Derek waved at the approaching sailboat

carrying Jake and April to shore. He stepped forward and helped Jake navigate the boat to the dock, where they tied it up to hold it in place while they came on land.

“Nice boat!” Derek said.

Captain Jake laughed. “It’s no superyacht, but it was built by the best.”

This sailboat had been Derek’s wedding gift to Jake and April a couple of weeks ago. Derek and Renee had flown to their wedding in Fiji. Their courtship had been unusual and fast, but it was clear they were madly in love.

Of course, they could have said the same about Renee and Derek. Renee was staying with a friend in L. A. while in culinary school. She was also documenting every step of her journey toward becoming a professional chef. She still wasn’t sure whether she’d pursue it full-time, but she liked having the option.

“Ready?” Derek called out to the two of them as they stepped onto the deck. They looked like they were on vacation-not at all like two people who had been working their butts off on a big yacht for the past couple of weeks.

“I hear you’re going to show us what the Bay Area has to offer,” Jake said.

April skipped slightly as the two of them sped ahead of Derek and

Renee. “Can’t wait to see it.”

“I don’t know where they’re going,” Derek said in a voice low enough that only Renee could hear. “They don’t even know which one of these cars is ours.”

There was a fairly large number of cars in the small parking lot. You couldn’t even see Derek’s sportscar from here. Renee smiled over at him, and as always, his heart did a little jump as their gazes connected.

It had been two months since she’d left her parents’ home for culinary school. Every weekend, she made the drive up the coast to spend a couple of days with Derek, only to turn around and go back again. He planned to spend a couple of weeks in L. A. soon, but her coursework was pretty intensive. He had a feeling he wouldn’t see much of her.

Jake and April finally figured out that they didn’t know where they were going and turned to look at Derek and Renee.

Derek pointed. “The Lamborghini.”

Renee wasn’t into cars. She wasn’t even sure what the difference was between a Lamborghini and the countless other sportscars on the market. If he’d wanted to impress her with things, he’d been sorely disappointed overall. Renee was not impressed with things.

What she was impressed with? His support of her.

He was happy to do that, too. He was surprised by how important it was for her to be happy. It made him happy to see her happy.

“Wow,” April said as they climbed in. “I’ve never been in a car this expensive.”

Jake tossed Derek an amused glance as he climbed into the back seat behind her. “How expensive is it?”

“Ninety bazillion dollars?” April asked. “I don’t know. It doesn’t even matter. It’s just cool to ride around in something like this.”Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Renee looked from April to Derek, a frown on her face. He could almost read her thoughts. She was processing just how fancy this car was and wondering if she shouldn’t be taking it for granted.

“It’s things,” he said to Renee. “I’d be just as happy riding around in a five-hundred-dollar car if Renee was by my side.” “Aww,” April said.

Jake wasn’t quite as swoony about it. “Yeah. Like you could find a car for five hundred dollars. I doubt it would even run. Dude, have you shopped for a car lately?”

Instead of answering that, Derek climbed in and started the car up. No, he didn’t shop for cars. He got this one as a swap for a discount on a yacht for one of his clients, who owned a bunch of dealerships across California. His next car would probably be a similar setup.

“We’re having dinner at my house,” Derek announced as he sped out of the parking lot. Renee reached over and pushed the button to open the sunroof. This wasn’t a convertible, so that was as close as they could get to enjoying the beautiful day.

“Perfect,” April said. “How’s the chef thing going?”

This was directed at Renee, who was staring straight ahead. “Great. I’m in culinary school. It’s an expedited program, but it’ll still take a few months.”

“And you guys are apart during all that.” In the rearview mirror, he saw April sit back, frowning. “Sucks. Don’t they have a culinary school here?” Renee twisted in her seat to see her friend. “I’m learning from the best. Mostly because it makes for better writing. I’m doing a series for a food website.”

“April has been reading every word,” Jake broke in to say. “I think she’s your biggest fan.”

Derek had to step in there. “No, that would be me.”

“Derek has you on that one.” Renee laughed. “He signs up for notifications and reads as soon as an article goes live, even if he’s just woken up and hasn’t had his coffee yet.”

“Of course,” Derek said. “We have to support our partners.”

They pulled up to the gate outside Derek’s home, and he punched in his access code. He’d had the cleaning crew come in the day before to deep clean the entire place, mostly to make sure it was perfect for April and Jake, who would be staying there for the weekend.

April and Jake didn’t speak as they pulled up to the house. Derek was surprised by how self-conscious that made him feel. He’d worked hard for everything he had, but he still didn’t feel deserving. Would he ever? He didn’t think so.

“Welcome to my humble abode.”

Derek’s joke fell flat, as he expected. The occupants of the backseat were still quiet, both staring out the window, mouths agape, at the scenery in front of them.

They held that same expression as he took them through a brief tour of the house. They gaped at their surroundings without comment, only increasing his fears that he looked like one of those braggy types.

“I wouldn’t want to clean all these rooms,” April commented as they took their seats at the table, which overlooked the pool. As with his visit to Renee at her mom’s house, Derek had made sure dinner was waiting on the table for them, still warm because it had been placed just minutes before his arrival.

“Derek doesn’t clean this house.” Renee smiled at April.

April nodded. “Oh. Yes. That makes sense.”

April looked embarrassed. He didn’t want it to be like that. He wanted it to be like it was on the boat, when the four of them had been equals. How did he get back to that?

He had an idea. “I want to go on a trip. Just the four of us.”

Derek lifted the cover on his plate to make them feel comfortable digging into their own food. This time it was steak and spinach-Captain Jake’s favorite meal. Renee had put it together just a couple of hours ago, with an experienced chef helping her out. That chef had stuck around to make sure everything was on the table when they returned from picking up Jake and April.

“What kind of trip?” Jake asked.

“A charter yacht. One of my own. We’ll have a captain and full crew.

This will just be for fun.”

“I don’t know-”

“You can help out the captain if you want.” Derek smiled. He knew his friend all too well. “The point is, you can relax. You don’t have to. Renee has already said she wants to help the chef out.” “Where are we going?” April asked.

“To Hawaii. To get married.”

Renee smiled as she took her first bite of steak. This was the first time they’d shared their news outside of her parents. Derek felt like Jake was family after spending so much time around him. So, he took a deep breath and made his next announcement, leveling it at the captain.

“I want you to be my best man.”

Jake stopped eating-stopped everything, actually. He just stared at

Derek. “You serious, man?”

Derek nodded. “Couldn’t be more serious.”

Jake looked like he might get a little emotional. Derek definitely didn’t want that. Fortunately, Renee jumped in to save the moment. “And I’d love for you to be my maid of honor.”

She said that to April, who immediately started to look emotional herself. There seemed to be no getting away from this.

“It’ll be a small wedding,” Derek jumped in to say. “Just our closest friends and family. We’re flying everyone over, but we’ll go by water.”

Renee reached over and took his hand, which was resting on the table next to his plate. They looked at each other and shared a smile. It had been just a couple of weeks since he’d proposed, in a romantic but private moment at her favorite botanical garden. He was learning more about her by the day, but one of the first things he’d figured out was that she liked simple, quiet, private moments.

He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life learning everything else about her.

“We’re in,” Jake said after he and April shared a look not all that different from the one Renee and Derek had exchanged. They were in love. Seeing that would never get old.

After dinner, they retired to their room, saying they wanted to rest. Derek had a feeling they wanted to give him and Renee some alone time since she’d just arrived from Los Angeles earlier that day. But Derek did nothing but walk her to her bedroom.

“Just a little longer,” he said. “Once we’re married…” “We’ll share a room,” she finished for him.

They’d had this discussion many times, and they both agreed that separate rooms and separate beds were best until marriage. They wanted their wedding night to be special. Besides, it wasn’t like their wedding was years away. They just had to survive the rest of culinary school, then celebrate with a trip to Hawaii and the best wedding ever.

“Goodnight.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. He felt her shiver as he moved his hand to her shoulder.

“Goodnight,” she whispered, looking up at him, eyes wide.

It wasn’t easy, sleeping on the other side of the house from her, but knowing they’d have the rest of their lives together made him happier than he’d ever been.