Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dina couldn’t stop thinking about Sam. She had to finally admit to herself that hanging out with him was good. Real good. So good that it was hard to believe a new year had started. The time she spent with him over the holidays only made her fall for him harder.
She was sitting across from Anton and Autumn in her workroom and trying her best not to daydream her lunch break away. Autumn had brought over a pineapple upside-down cake, and Dina could hardly contain herself. She had no idea what possessed Autumn to bring one over, but she gladly accepted the lunch date. Dina had already polished off one slice and was heading for a second.
“I heard through the grapevine that you had some renovations done at your house.” Anton smiled and took a bite of the cake.
“It’s true. I had a fluffy-tailed rodent make his home in my boudoir two days before Christmas.” Dina shivered. “It was awful.”
Autumn laughed and shook her head. “She thought it was an intruder and called the police.”
“Who, by the way, weren’t very good at answering the phone.” Dina’s brow arched as she cut another piece of cake.
“So, where did you stay while your house was being repaired?” Anton asked, already knowing the answer.
“In Sam North’s guest bedroom,” Dina said, in between bites. She wasn’t going to take the bait no matter how much Anton and Autumn led her down the path.
“Does this mean you two are an item?” Anton’s right brow perked up.
“You mean since you asked me yesterday?” Dina chuckled. “And the day before?”
“Well, you’re just making it more difficult than you need to,” Autumn chipped in.
“Whose side are you on?” Dina laughed, taking her empty plate to the sink.
“I’m on love’s side, Dina. Love’s side,” Autumn joked, but Dina wasn’t sure she was entirely kidding.
“In other news,” Anton began.
“Please tell me you’re not leaving me.” Dina’s eyes widened.
“Not on your best day.” Anton smiled, glancing at the clock on the wall. “But you might ask me to leave after what I have planned happens.”
Dina froze in place. “What are you talking about?”
Anton and Autumn traded nervous glances and Dina’s heart sank. What had they done? What nefarious plan had they included her in?
“You two better tell me what’s going on.” Dina drew a deep breath and suspiciously stared at her possibly soon to be ex-employee.
“It’s not bad,” Autumn assured her. “In fact, you might be really happy about it.”
“Might be?” Dina’s hand went to her hip.
“Go ahead. Tell her,” Autumn prompted Anton.
“You won’t fire me, right?” Anton asked.
“It depends.” Dina was only marginally kidding. “Does it have to do with Sam?”
“Yes and no.” He let out a groan. “On Christmas Eve, I reached out to Emilia.”
“The blogger?” Dina’s brows scrunched together.
“Yeah. I saw that she does speaking engagements and private sessions so…” His voice trailed off. “I used some of my Christmas bonus you gave me to have her come today.”
Dina stared at Anton in disbelief. She was equal parts horrified and thrilled that her employee cared enough to do this.
“Why?” Dina shook her head. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” Anton glanced at Autumn. “We both think you’re making a bad decision by not allowing Sam into your life more.”
“He’s completely in my life,” Dina argued. “In fact, we just had breakfast this morning at the coffee shop.”
“And how did it end?” Anton asked.
“What do you mean, how did it end?” Dina asked, uncertain of where her employee was headed.
“Did he kiss you?” Autumn asked, cocking her head.
“How in the world is that relevant?”
“The longer you keep him at a distance, the likelier he is to go back to his old ways,” Anton said. “At least that’s my male perspective.”
“Then it’s not mean to be,” Dina said, already feeling a void in her chest at the thought.
“You don’t believe that.” Autumn covered the cake. “And if you do, I’m ashamed for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t just expect people to hang around you if you keep turning them down. Sam is no different, no matter what he says.” Autumn moved the cake over to the counter.
Autumn’s words left a sour taste in Dina’s mouth. That was precisely Dina’s point. If Sam cared about her the way he said, he’d wait until she was ready. He said so himself. Or had he said something to his brother, Joel?
“So what does this have to do with Emilia?” Dina asked, shoving her embarrassment aside.
“It seems like you listen to her advice like it’s gospel, and it just so happens, she lives in Oregon so getting her to come here wasn’t that big of a deal.” Anton beamed. “I want to make sure my boss remains happy and doesn’t make the biggest mistake of her life. After all, my job depends on it.”
“I thought your job depended on wedding dresses selling.” Dina smiled.
“That too.” He let out a big sigh. “So does that mean I’m not fired?”
The door chimed and Dina let out a low groan. She didn’t know whether to be excited, mortified, or resigned that a complete stranger knew about her love troubles.
“We’ll see how the session goes.” Dina hid a smile and watched a nervous Anton leave to meet Emilia.
“He only did this because he thinks you’re making a big mistake by making Sam wait,” Autumn whispered.
“And do you?” Dina asked her friend.
“I do.” Her eyes dropped to Dina’s belly. “He’s excited about the baby, Dina. Really excited, but Joel says he’s never seen his brother this infatuated in his entire life. Joel didn’t think it was in Sam, and now Joel is worried that you’ll break his brother’s heart.”
Autumn’s words shocked her, but she didn’t have time to fully evaluate everything because seconds later, Anton came back into the work room with Emilia right behind him.
She was gorgeous. Her strawberry blonde hair was in two loose braids, and she wore a jumper, chunky cardigan sweater, and slouchy boots. Dina couldn’t help but notice the gold bangles on her wrist too. Emilia was put together really well, and Dina suddenly felt like she’d just crawled out of a cave after sleeping all winter.
Since Dina had spent so much time with Sam lately, she’d barely done laundry and while he happened to buy her some really cute maternity clothes for Christmas most items were sitting in a pile on the laundry room floor. In fact, today she’d fooled herself into believing she could fit into an old pair of stretchy jeans, and while they zipped up at the house, they were now completely unzipped and rolled over. Her only saving grace was her oversized sweater, so as long as she didn’t bend over she’d be fine.
“Dina Romano?” Emilia asked, sticking out her hand.
“That’s me and then some.” Dina smiled and shook Emilia’s hand, suddenly feeling sheepish. Emilia was a big deal, an up-and-coming celebrity in the blog world, and here she was standing in Dina’s dress shop.
Anton and Autumn made a lame excuse and quickly exited the work room, leaving Dina standing awkwardly in front of one of her favorite writers.
“Would you like a piece of cake?” Dina asked, wishing she hadn’t.
“I just had a burger across the street.” Emilia smiled. “But thanks. Should we have a seat?”
“That sounds heavenly,” Dina confessed. She’d finally hit the point where her feet tended to ache after barely any use.
“So, Anton reached out because you read my blog.”
“I tend to read it first thing in the morning. It always cracks me up.” Dina scooted the stool around so she could see Emilia without twisting her neck. “And there is so much truth in your stories. Your posts are really relatable.”
“Stories is the operative word,” Emilia said, laughing. “I started writing for entertainment and then people just started taking what I had to say seriously.”
“You’ve got a lot of good advice.”
Emilia laughed. “Thanks. I wish I could say it was my pleasure, but in the dating world…”
“It’s painful,” Dina finished for her.
“Exactly.” Emilia smiled. “So Anton filled me in a bit.”
Dina let out a sigh and grinned. “Of course he did.”
“The breakdown I got was that you slept with a man you were attracted to but only planned on a one-night stand.”
Dina’s cheeks blushed. “My one and only.”
“I’m not here to judge. If that’s your first, more power to you.”
“Well, I really wanted to make an impact.” Dina laughed, rubbing her belly. “Make it one to remember.”
“I think you accomplished that,” Emilia chuckled. “So does he know about the baby?”
“He does. I finally told him at Christmas.”
“And how did he take it?”
“He was excited and seemed genuinely happy about the baby.”
“Why do you sound surprised by that?”
“He’s a notorious bachelor and uses the ski resort he owns with his family as a hunting ground or that’s what I’ve heard. Although, since I’ve met him, I’ve never seen that side of him. Really, I see the opposite. He’s loyal, kind, generous.”
“And that scares you?”
“Which part? That he used to be a notorious bachelor or that he’s an amazing man?”
“You tell me.” Emilia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“You’re good.” Dina laughed and let some of the stress drain out that she’d been carrying around.
“I’ve tried to keep my distance.” Dina tried to cross her legs and gave up on the idea.
“And is he happy with that?” Emilia asked.
“He doesn’t seem thrilled, but I’m worried he wants to be with me just because I’m pregnant.”
“What makes you say that?” Emilia asked. “Did he not show interest after you two slept together?”
“No, he did. He always has, but I just can’t get over his reputation. I’ve been burned a lot, been left at the altar, the whole thing.” Dina bit her bottom lip and thought about Dom. After all the years she’d spent with him, she never felt as comfortable with Dom as she did with Sam, and she’d only known Sam for five or six months or over a year if she used his math. “I’m so scared of another false alarm that I don’t even want a big wedding. I want a guy to just surprise me with one. Like I just show up somewhere and he jumps out of the bushes and says, “surprise we’re getting married”.”
Emilia chuckled. “I heard you’ve been engaged five times?” It was more of a statement than a question, but Dina nodded, realizing nothing was sacred with her assistant.
“Well, you don’t want those experiences to completely define you, correct?” Emilia asked.
“Not at all.” Dina shook her head.
“Sam probably doesn’t want his experiences to define him either, especially as he’s about to become a father, yet it sounds like you’re trying to make his future mirror his past.”
Emilia’s words lingered in the air as Dina thought about Sam and everything he’d done for her. All the things she’d heard about him in the past were just that.
In his past.
Yet, here she was holding up their entire future because of his experiences—the same experiences that made him who he was today.
“I understand being scared. A lot of things are changing in your life, but don’t close off the possibility of a real, lasting relationship with the father of your unborn child. You don’t need to punish yourself because you’ve been engaged a few times.” Emilia glanced over Dina’s shoulder. “I mean, are you happy now? You know, keeping him at a distance the way you have been?”
“No. It’s making me miserable,” Dina confessed quietly.
“Then quit making yourself miserable,” Sam’s voice boomed through the air, and Dina’s heart stopped. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”
“I think you know what you should do,” Emilia whispered, smiling. “I think you always have, but if you need anything at all, give me a call on my cell. I’ll be around town for the weekend. Anton’s got my info.”
Dina was speechless as she watched Emilia walk out of her life as Sam walked in, and for the first time ever, she saw Sam as the man he was, not the man she’d heard about.
“How much did you hear?” Dina asked, standing up from the stool.
“Enough to know that I’m not going to ever stop trying to get you to love me.” He looped his arms around her waist.
“Well, you’re not going to have to work very hard, Sam North, because I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”
“It’s about time.” He smiled, and she couldn’t help but giggle as he stood there and held her in his arms.
“What if I’m bad at love?” Dina asked.
“What makes you think I’m any good at it?” Sam smiled. “But all we can do is love our hardest.”
“Love hard?” she repeated.
“Love hard and love completely.” He touched his lips to hers and kissed her gently. “You’re all I need. All I want in life, Dina. You and my baby girl.”
Dina looked into his eyes and felt the love he’d been trying to give for so long wash over her completely.
“I love you, Sam North.” She looped her arms around his neck as he nuzzled her forehead and ran his hand along her belly.
“I love you more than you’ll ever know, Dina, and I’ll never treat you wrong,”
“And I’ll never keep a secret from you again,” she whispered and Sam only laughed.
“You weren’t that good at it, honey.” His mouth met Dina’s, and she let herself slip into his embrace as she imagined a family just for her.
A family that would love completely and fully and that was exactly what Sam North intended on giving her.