“Dying!” Charlotte called from down the hall.
Hawk chuckled. “He’s in the limo. You look like you’re missing something.” His gaze flicked down to her feet.
“Shoes?” she said, wiggling her toes. “Who needs those? With my luck, I’ll end up leaving one behind again.”
He straightened. “Ella Embers, I solemnly swear you will lose no more shoes on my watch.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” She grinned at him before turning to dip her toes into the fuzzy snow boots waiting near the door. With the three feet of additional snow, Westville had gotten just last night, she wasn’t about to try and walk anywhere in heels. She’d change into them once they arrived.
Once they made it out to the limousine, Ella startled to find a few extra people waiting in the backseat. The couple occupied the corner of the stretched, leather seat. The good-looking man with dark hair and a wool coat over his suit waved a hand, while the blonde woman beside him pressed her lips together in a thin smile. A sparkling, blue gown draped over her knees and pooled on the limo floor, hiding her feet.
Ella situated herself next to Hawk, and they waited for Charlotte to settle at Ethan's side before closing out the frigid, snowy air.
"Hey, there," the man said. The woman at his side gave a little wave.
"Who's this?" Ella asked.
Hawk adjusted his coat and gestured toward them. "I'd like you all to meet some friends of mine. This is Adrian and Gabby Bear. I invited them to join us last year, but they couldn't make it. Fortunately, circumstances are different this year."
For some reason, this pronouncement made Gabby exchange a look with her husband and beam like a lovesick schoolgirl.
"Just how old is your baby now?" Hawk asked.
"She's six months old," Gabby said. "Rolling and cooing all over the place."
"Oh, a baby? Congratulations," Ella said. The limo driver turned a corner, giving her ample opportunity to lean against Hawk's side.
"Yeah, we left her with her grandma for a few days," Adrian said, rubbing a hand along Gabby's shoulder. "We didn't want to miss the ball this year."
"Too bad all this snow is here, or we could hit up Wonderland again too," Gabby said.
"Oh, you've been?" Ella asked, thinking of the few times she'd attended the nearby theme park. For some reason, this made her think of Adelie. She'd invited her cousin to come with her the last time, but Adelie had claimed she was busy. Maybe once things warmed up, Ella would have to try inviting her again.
"Yes! It was seriously so much fun. We went last year, during our honeymoon trip." Again, Gabby beamed. "It was probably the coolest place I've ever seen. Whoever owns it really outdid themselves with the tapestry of rides all centered around the book."
Wonderland was a one-of-a-kind theme park, though from Ella's understanding, it wasn't doing well lately. The winter season probably didn't help much.
"It's nice you could come now," Ella said.
"We wouldn't want to miss such an...important event," Adrian said, but his attention wasn't on Ella; it was on Hawk. In return, Hawk shot him a warning glare.
She wasn't sure, but some kind of unspoken communication just happened between the two men. What in the world was he talking about? A ball couldn't be that big of a deal for them.
***
Hawk guided Ella around the ballroom. A live band embodied the season in a sultry rendition of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and couples swayed together beneath a glittering drape of tulle and manmade starlight.
One hand around her waist and the other holding her hand, he pressed his cheek to hers and held her close. Her teal gown flowed, wafting above the floor like mist. She’d never worn anything so daring, with its short underdress contrasting the longer, see-through fabric, but she loved it.
“I’m glad I got the chance to dance with you this year,” Hawk said into her ear.
Ella tightened her embrace. “What do you mean? We danced last year. It was our own personal ball.”
“It was one of the best nights of my life,” he said in agreement. “But I think this year is going to be even better.”
“Oh?” she said as he twirled her out and brought her back to him. This was a dress made for twirling. The skirt flared out in such a satisfying way, she wanted him to do it again. “Why is that?”
Hawk grinned, a devilish thing, and stopped, right there on the ballroom floor in the middle of the song. Peering across the couples, he caught Clary’s eye near the orchestra, lifted a hand, and gave her a nod.
It was like a line-up of collapsing dominoes. Clary responded. She tapped a finger to her ear before trotting toward the conductor. The conductor lifted his white-gloved hands, swirling his baton in the air. The orchestra obeyed, ceasing their playing.
As if they’d been planning to already, the surrounding couples parted like the Red Sea, backing toward the outskirts, forming a circle so the only two people standing in the center were Hawk and Ella.
Blood pounded in her ears. Every gaze pinned on her. “What are you doing?”
Hawk had secrets in his smile. He pressed a kiss to her hand before, never taking his eyes from hers, he lowered to one knee.
Ella’s heart stopped. Instinctively, her hands flew to her mouth with a gasp.
“This,” he said, reaching into his suitcoat. His hand returned with a little black box within its grasp.
With deliberation, Hawk creaked open the tiny box, displaying a magnificent diamond ring that caught the low light and sparked in his grasp. His blue eyes held all the confidence of a doting benefactor about to bestow an outrageous gift on an unsuspecting recipient.
“Ella Marie Embers,” he began. His tone pealed with certainty, and a hint of the admiration she’d come to expect from him over the past year.
“You are the most adorable woman I’ve ever met. Your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your delight at small things and positivity in tough situations, the way you kiss when you think no one is looking—”
Her cheeks blazed at having this pronounced to the room. Still, she couldn’t help grinning. Behind Hawk, Gabby and Adrian smirked with all-too-knowing smiles. Sneaky. Considering Adrian's comment in the limo, they had to have known what Hawk was up to tonight.
“For all these reasons and more, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
The tears answered first. They sprang without warning as she lowered her hands and declared a resounding, “Yes.”
The room exploded with applause. Hawk slipped the stunning ring on the fourth finger of her left hand, stood, and swept her into his arms. Her feet lifted from the floor as he spun her, whispering in her ear.
“I love you. I love you so much.”
She squeezed around him, bursting with warmth and bliss that could never compare with any other feeling.
“I love you too,” she said.
Though her feet returned to the ground, she continued soaring. Especially when Hawk brought his lips to hers. Though raucous applause doubled, everyone else faded. The edges of her vision blurred. Ella flew in a fog in his embrace, with his lips sealing the promise of the forever kind of love she’d always dreamed of.
Ella took a moment to admire the ring on her finger. It was spectacular, with multiple facets and tiny diamonds surrounding the circular cut of the large rock in the center. She couldn’t wait to show it to Chloe, Brandy, and Charlotte. And the kids at the hospital. She and Hawk visited them regularly.
Hawk wove his fingers through hers and kissed the back of her hand before waving to the surrounding crowd in gratitude. He must have had this planned, just as he’d done with everything else. Why else would the other dancers have responded and given them space so instinctively?
Her dad waved to her from the sidelines. No wonder Hawk had invited him to the ball this year. He patted the arm of his date, a short woman with a ready smile and an affinity for cats that Ella couldn’t fault her for. She’d take a kooky cat lady over her dad’s last choice
any day. Ella hadn’t heard from Stina or Pris since her visit home when Stina had been packing up all of her belongings.
Hawk signaled, and the conductor switched gears, leading the orchestra through a jazzy accompaniment.
“Ready to dance, Mrs. Danielson?” he asked.
“I love how that sounds.”
He held her to his chest. “Which part? The dance or the name?”
“The name,” she said. “I can’t wait to marry you. Though your dancing isn’t bad either.”
His laugh rumbled in his chest as he dipped down for another mind-numbing kiss.
Sneak Peek-
Alice and the Billionaire's Wonderland
Chapter ONe
Maddox rested his hands on the edge of the rabbit enclosure and stared at the little furballs. In all the years he'd owned Wonderland, he'd never had much interaction with rabbits. Now, he stood before their display in Arbor Ranch and Supply, desperately hoping this last-straw idea of his would work.
It was hare-brained--no pun intended--but he couldn't lose the park. He had to do something. Sympathy wove through him as he took in the animals' gray, brown, and multi-colored furs. Stuck in their enclosure, no hope for escape without someone else's assistance?
"I get where you're coming from, guys," he told the rabbits.
"Tell me again why we're here," his friend and associate, Duncan Hawthorne, asked from behind him. In suit pants, a tan button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, Duncan stared at the display of animal feed and various accessories with disdain. "I've never pegged you as much of an outdoorsman. Or a pet person, for that matter."
Maddox peered down at his own suit and tie. The irony would have made him laugh if he didn't feel so downtrodden. Neither of them fit in with the store's rustic decor.
Duncan had come at Maddox's request, and he had it about right. This was the first time Maddox had ever set foot in a store offering western wear or livestock feed. He was more of a tennis player and golfer himself.
"Scavenger hunt," Maddox said. He'd given a lot of thought on how to increase interest in his declining theme park, and oddly enough, his mental deliberations had led him here of all places.
He couldn't let a rabbit loose in his theme park. Too many issues sprang up with that option. People might sneak their own white rabbit in and claim they'd found his. There also wasn't a way to humanely prevent the poor little creature from escaping the park, short of caging it, which would then make its location too obvious. And then there was the prospect of someone catching the rabbit at all, which was nearly impossible. On their own? With their bare hands?
A scavenger hunt throughout the park with a white rabbit at the finish line, though. That was totally doable.
"You're crazy," Duncan said. "Have you ever considered that the fact your numbers aren't where you want them to be is a sign you should just pack it in? Cut your losses, sell the place and move on to something that will actually be profitable?"
"Wonderland was profitable," Maddox argued. It'd made him a billionaire, after all. "I can't just walk away from the place. If I could just get some investors on board, I could do so much more with it."
Duncan read Maddox's not-so-subtle hint about wanting him to invest and lifted his hands. "I'm staying far away from that sinking ship. You opened a theme park in Vermont. You could have done it anywhere, but you picked Westville, Vermont."
True, the town was small, but that didn't mean it wasn't an ideal location for a theme park.
Maddox had appealed to his friend over a year ago, and many times since. But every time Duncan had asked for prospective numbers, what Maddox presented had never managed to impress him.
Several chicks in their nearby heated cages chirruped loudly. They were cute, too, if Maddox was interested in farming or free-range chickens. Which he wasn't.
"It's not a sinking ship." Maddox strolled to the opposite side of the rabbit enclosure. "People in Vermont like roller coasters as much as anywhere else. Besides, look. Here's a white one." He reached in to stroke it. The rabbit shuffled on the pen's shavings. "I wonder if we can have a little waistcoat made to fit him."
"You're going to dress the rabbit? Why not just get a Build-a-Bear?"
Maddox gave him a blank look. "Dude, have you even read Alice in Wonderland?"
"I don't need to read it. Everyone knows the story."
"Then you know Alice follows a rabbit wearing a white waistcoat down his little hidey-hole, and that starts her whole adventure."
"I'll tell you what you need to do," Duncan said, clasping his hands behind his back and joining Maddox as he stared at the rabbits. "You've got good bones to the place. What it needs is a makeover. A new look."
"Wonderland doesn't need a new look." Maddox had used his mom's old sketches of her vision from the beloved story when doing the initial layout. He wasn't about to change a thing.
"Come on," Duncan said. "Everyone needs a makeover once in a while. Just spiff up the place. Add new signs, redo the decor. It might show certain investors you're serious about the future."
Duncan ran an extremely successful business where he offered financial advice as well as backing. Maddox had begged his friend to give Wonderland a chance and choose it as one of his investments. Was Duncan suggesting what he thought he was?
He held out a hand. "Hang on. You're saying if I give Wonderland a facelift, you'll consider backing it?"
Duncan tilted his head to one shoulder. "I might. The place does have some serious potential. To the right person."
Maddox had known Duncan long enough to know he never so much as hinted at something like this unless he was serious. Empty promises were too risky when money was involved. For Duncan Hawthorne to even imply interest was a milestone.
Maddox gripped his shoulder. "You won't be disappointed."
"I haven't agreed to anything yet." Duncan shrugged out of his grasp. "Why not start with a new brand? You find the right image to rep the park, and you might be turning me down."
Maddox laughed. He couldn't help the way his insides swelled like a hot air balloon. "Let me see how this rabbit stunt goes. It's a scavenger hunt, and I'm sure it's going to triple the numbers I usually get. I'm increasing publicity to spread the word. People are going to be all over this. Searching for the next clues to riddles? Finding the white rabbit at the end?"
"It is clever," Duncan said with an obliging nod.
"Come on, man, it's ingenious." Or so he hoped. He muscled down the worry tying knots inside him.
"Where'd you come up with it, anyway?" Duncan asked.
Maddox winced. If it was anyone else, he never would confess as much. But this was Duncan. They'd been best friends since freshman year at UVM.
"It was Ruby's idea," Maddox said.
Duncan's eyes widened. "Ruby, as in your ex?"
"Yeah."
"Are you seeing her again?"
The insulting question stung. It didn't help Maddox's surly mood. "You're seriously asking me that? Come on, man, you know what she did to me."
Duncan knew how much that breakup had rattled him. It was the sign of what a good friend he was that he hadn't gone public with as much detail as he'd been privy to. With the amount Ruby had invested in Wonderland, calling their breakup messy was the understatement of ever.
Ruby had backed out of both their engagement and his business when profits had begun to sink. Evidently, she'd only been interested in him if his park was successful.
Her version of success was different from his. He had a billion-dollar theme park that reflected his mother's favorite book. He'd started it for her. It had made him a huge success, and he couldn't lose it.
Lately, the park's appeal had all but vanished. The numbers weren't coming. In fact, with the cost of operating rides, maintenance, electricity, and staff, profits were drifting into the fiction category right along with the book it was based on.
Duncan's expression shifted from skeptical to apologetic. "Forget I said it. I just wa
nted to make sure this rabbit thing wasn't some ploy to get her back."
Maddox rammed away his uneasiness. Though his relationship with Ruby had ended badly, he did still hope to find someone to share his life with. But she would need to be someone he could trust, and Maddox wasn't sure anyone like that existed.
He shook his head. "This is my livelihood. My mom's idea. I have to do this for her. I need investors."
"Whatever you say," Duncan said as a short, youthful associate with black hair and freckles made her way down the aisle toward them. "I'm going to see if they have any turtles. There's a mock turtle in the book. Why not set one of those loose?"
"It's supposed to be a challenge," Maddox said with a laugh.
Duncan whirled to walk backward as he spoke. "Right. A challenge. Because everyone loves those."
"When I'm offering a cash prize big enough to feed a family for a year, they do," Maddox said as Duncan turned his back to him and strolled toward the display of saddles.
"Can I help you?" the cute associate interrupted. She wore an Arbor Ranch nametag on her plaid blue shirt, and cowgirl boots climbed up the ends of her jeans.
Maddox rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he was crazy to do this.
He could tell the associate no thanks. He could leave the furry cottontails behind and find where Duncan had strolled off to. Or he could step out of the box and take a chance.
He'd always preferred that option.
"Yeah," he said. "I need a white rabbit."
This is going to work, he told himself as the associate assisted him with the rabbit. Whether the park was set in Vermont or not, he'd issue his challenge everywhere he could. Bring in new customers. He'd get Wonderland back on its feet.
All he needed was the right girl.
Find out if Maddox saves Wonderland and gets the girl in Alice and the Billionaire's Wonderland.
***
For a free book, plus info on new releases, giveaways and more,
Ella And The Billionaire's Ball (Once Upon A Billionaire Book 2) Page 17
