Free Here & Now by Melyssa Winchester, Joey Winchester

the long white tie down the middle, to his slicked back hair and dark brown eyes, it hits me.
    It wasn’t Dillon she wanted to make speechless when he finally made his way to the door.
    It was me.
     
    Dillon
     
    Holy shit.
    I’ve had the damn wind knocked out of me. There’s no other reason for me to be this stunned and out of it.
    When the door flew open, I expected to come face to face with Sarah again, but that’s not at all what I’m catching sight of now.
    Cadence is, and she’s dressed in this wine colored dress that falls just past her knees, her long caramel hair swept up and out of her face, small parts of it falling down, making her look like she walked straight out of a fairytale.
    She’s a princess alright, but Disney has nothing on my girlfriend.
    Cadence looks beautiful and if I could get my lips to open and sound to come out, I might be able to tell her that, but the way she looks is so damn powerful, I’m practically being pushed to my knees by the force of it.
    “Cat got your tongue, Rocky?”
    Again, words fail me and there’s nothing I want to do more right now than get my hand around to the back of my head so I can smack some sense into myself and kick start the brainpower needed to actually speak.
    “I love you, Adrian.”
    Her eyes break away from me and out toward where the limo is waiting and I can see just by the look in her eyes that I went a little over the top with this. I would have seen it even if her mom hadn’t come out and said something to me, but I’m really glad she did.
    I want this for Cadence, even if it is too much. She deserves a hell of a lot more than a limo ride to a fancy restaurant, but I’m taking things in baby steps here. With the way I feel about her, it won’t be long until I’m having a sky writer proposing.
    Okay Murphy, now’s the time to chill out.
    My dad’s words haunt me as I’m standing on the doorstep watching Cadence come to terms with that comes next.
    Never put the cart before the horse. Anything worth doing happens in its own time.
    There’s not a hell of a lot of things he’s said to me over the years that stuck or meant anything, but that little tidbit is one of the good ones. It matters in everything I do, but most definitely with the situation I’m in now.
    I need to leave the proposing shit to Kayden. I got a feeling that even if I did want to do that with Caddy, she’d shut me down right where I stand. I’m not even twenty and she’s seventeen. Marriage might be in our future, but it’s definitely not happening in the present.
    “Not nearly as much as I do you.” She grins. “A limo, really?”
    “Only the best for you.”
    “You didn’t have to—”
    “I know, but now that I’ve done it, can we just enjoy the ride to the restaurant? It will be kind of nice to be able to sit with my girlfriend in a spacious backseat without having to worry about keeping my eyes on the road.”
    The way her face lifts, her grin turning from sweet to mischievous, tells me everything I need to know. I was right earlier. Cadence wants this as badly as I do and I’m determined to make that particular want come true.
    It’s time to get on with this date and by the end of the night, create a fairytale worthy enough for both of us to remember.
    Holding out my arm, I wait patiently until she slips hers through it and with a wave back to Sarah, who appears leaning on the door, I walk my princess down the steps, all the while amazed that I’m even standing here doing this right.
    This is definitely not a play in the Dillon Murphy playbook. I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, but what I do know is that what I am doing is one hundred percent right.
    “Milady. Your chariot awaits.” I say the minute we’re at the back door of the limo, the driver staying firmly planted in his seat at my request so that I can enjoy every part of what comes next.
    “Well, thank you kind sir.” She replies sweetly before sliding past the now open door and