Never Expected Love

by S. M. Stryker

  We get into the Rover, "Richard, what do you know about the accident? It's hard for me to think that a truck did that to my Jeep."

  "She was driving a truck that had been lifted and had a huge grill guard that covered the whole front grill of the truck. Since it was lifted, it had more leverage and could push the Jeep at a higher angle, and evidently at the speed she was going, you're lucky that it just rolled once."

  "I can't believe I have to get another vehicle, I really loved my Jeep."

  "Then get another one."

  "Yeah, I'll call Bill and see if he has any in stock. I guess I need to call my insurance and let them know and get a rental ordered."

  "I've taken care of that for you," Harlow says. "After I had calmed down on Friday, Davis took me back to your house. I found your insurance information and let your agent know, I told him that you will need a rental until you got a new car. It is in the garage. I figured that once they released you, you wouldn't stay home, so I made sure it was ready for you."

  "Harlow has been at the hospital ever since they brought you in, she hasn't left your side, so she needs a lot of rest too," I say.

  "What have you been doing with the bakery if you've been at the hospital?" Beckett asks, "You need to take care of yourself and your business, and you can't afford to shut it down for me."

  "It was far more important for me to be with you than my bakery, Beck, you should know that. I called one of my old co-workers, Kiley, to come in and help. We went to pastry school together. When I explained the situation, she dropped everything to help."

  "That sounds like a real good friend."

  "She is, I helped her out in school once and she is between jobs right now, I don't know, I might see if she wants to work with me, she already knows what she is doing, and we can maybe start doing additional things in the bakery. I wouldn't have to teach her anything."

  "That sounds like a great idea."

  We pull up to the house to pick up Nicole, and I meet her at the front door. She gets into the front seat and looks at Beckett. "You look like you have seen better days. You too," she says to Harlow.

  "Yeah, I look forward to a nice long shower and my own bed with Harlow cuddled up next to me," Beckett says. "I'm sure Harlow would appreciate a shower herself." Beckett looks at Harlow, "You haven't probably slept since Thursday."

  "Nicole grabbed a bag with our things in it, and I would clean up in the mornings in your room."

  "You should have stayed at the house, you would have been more comfortable."

  "It wasn't about comfort, it was about you, and being with you. You almost died for me, Beckett, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you."

  "It's going to take more than a truck to off me. I've too much to live for to head toward the light that fast."

  "How are you feeling, Beckett?" Nicole asks.

  "I'm doing okay, I feel like I have been hit by a truck, no pun intended, and I have a headache. It could've been a lot worse, I could be like Stacey."

  "What about Stacey? Isn't that the girl you just hired?"

  "Yes, evidently she was working with Brad, she is the one that T-boned him," Harlow says.

  "Oh...so she was the one in the fire."

  "Yes."

  I park the SUV and we walk into the restaurant. Mitchell and Raven are already there. When Raven sees Beckett, she runs over and slams into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he winces, a painful groan escapes his lips.

  "God, Mr. Dalton, I was so worried about you," tears brim her eyes. I can see Beckett is trying to catch his breath as he softly hugs her.

  "Raven, I'll be fine, I'm just a little sore, and call me Beckett, please."

  "Shit, I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking, and yes I'll drop the mister." She unlatches from around his neck and carefully steps back." Beckett starts to laugh, but you can tell by the look on his face just how badly he hurts.

  I miss family dinners like this. I would really like to start getting together like this more often, not necessarily out to dinner, but even a picnic.

  It’s nice to share this time with not only Beckett and Harlow but also Mitchell and Raven. After dinner, we all congregate outside the restaurant just talking. I guess we could have continued inside, but it is a beautiful night out and we were just saying our goodbyes.

  We break apart and Mitchell heads to me to shake my hand as I pull him into a hug.

  "Thank you, Mitchell, for saving our boy and kicking some sense into me. I'm glad I can call you my friend, my family." Then I slap him on the shoulder. "Love you, Mitchell!"

  I notice that Mitchell's eyes start to glimmer with tears. A tear slips down his cheek, and he quickly reaches up to wipes it away hoping I didn't see it.

  "Mitchell, it's nice to see that you're human. Don't ever be afraid to show your emotions."

  "Thanks, Richard. I've never been shown or even felt this amount of love from anyone in my life. This is all so new to me. Thank you for accepting me into your family." He pulls me into another hug.

  Everyone walks out to their cars as we go our separate ways.

  I drive Harlow and Beckett back to his place. We're all exhausted, and I feel like I could sleep for a week. We say our goodnights as Beckett and Harlow walk into the house, I wait until the door is closed before pulling away.

  "What are you doing for the rest of the week?" I look at Nicole taunting her with my eyebrows as a big smile overtakes my face.

  I text Beckett letting him know that I will be out of the office the rest of the week while Nicole texts her manager and Sophia just in case she needs anything.

  We can't get away to a tropical island like I had planned, but it is summer in the Pacific Northwest, one of the most romantic places to go. The weather has been amazing so I take her to the place I had wanted her to fall in love with, I take her back to the beach.

  "How was your manager?"

  "The same, bitching about the timing, you know, there is always something that needs to be done now, as if no one else can do it. He's been getting more and more persistent almost to the point of obsessed. I didn't have the chance to tell you that he showed up on my doorstep last week."

  "Holy hell, are you kidding me? Did he call to let you know he was coming?"

  "That's the thing, no, he just showed up at eight o'clock last Wednesday and for no apparent reason. He said he wanted to talk to me and when I asked him if it could wait, he got pissed and walked past me to come in. He started to talk about my attendance at work and how I have been pre-occupied as if it affecting my job. Shit, Richard, I've given my life for that company and now that I want to work normal hours, I have attendance issues."

  "You need to talk to you Human Resource manager about this. That is uncalled for. You and he never ..."

  "God, Richard, no! He's a nice looking man, but I would never cross that line. To be honest, he never did anything for me, but now he just creeps me out."

  "So what happened, how did you get him to leave?"

  "Harlow walked into the kitchen and he scampered out the door like a mouse when you turn the light on."

  I have to chuckle at her analogy. "Would you email me his name so I can check him out please, something just sounds off, and to just show up unannounced is really inappropriate, even if he wasn't your boss."

  We drive up the steep driveway to the hotel that overlooks the ocean. After checking in, I carry our bags to our room. I unlock the door letting Nicole enter first. Her hands fly to her face as she sees the room. There are a dozen red roses in a vase on the table and petals in the shape of a heart on the large wrought iron canopy bed with sheer fabric cascading down the edges. The lit fireplace warms the corner of the room and a large Jacuzzi tub sits close to the glass wall with French doors which leads out to a large deck that overlooks the ocean. I set the bags on the ottoman and open the champagne that is chilling on the kitchenette countertop.

  "Oh, Richard," she looks up at me and tears gleam in her eyes, her
face full of astonishment. "How did you get this planned?"

  I take her hand and kiss her soft cheek as I kneel to the ground. I know I have already done this, but we never had the chance to fully finish. I don't want what happened to Beckett to cloud the memory of this moment.

  "Nicole, I love you, and after so long I never thought I would find the happiness and love you have shown me. You have brought the light back into my life and I don't ever want it to go away again. After this last weekend ... well, I don't want to waste any more time for something, someone that I want to be with forever. Say that you'll be my wife, say that you will marry me tomorrow. Let me make your dreams come true. I love you, and I don't want to be separated from you any longer.

  Nicole slowly drops to her knees as tears shimmer in her eyes, and her lower lip quivers as she brings her hand to my face. She runs her fingers over my lips, looking at me as if she is seeing me for the first time. She doesn’t take her eyes off mine as the tears slowly start to slide down her beautiful face. She hasn't said anything yet, and I wonder if I’m asking too much of her. Then her lips start to twitch as the corners of her mouth curve upward and as her whole face lights up. She draws her lower lip between her teeth and nods her head, then whispers, "Yes, Richard, Yes, I will marry you."

  I throw my arms around her taking her lip to mine as I pull her bottom lip into my mouth lightly sucking it as a moan falls from her lips. Our tongues dance together as they unite in desire, want, and greed. Our hearts beat together as one as our love blossoms in front of us.

  I sweep her into my arms and place her in the middle of the bed. I stand there in awe of her, she is my love, my life, she's the beat of my heart. I slowly start to undress her as my desire for her intensifies. My muscles tense and my dick swells as the need for her overtakes me. I look down at her gorgeous body I can smell her arousal as I watch her lovely tits rise and fall with her panting breaths. "Have I ever told you how absolutely amazing you look? You are perfect, Nicole, how did I get so lucky?"

  I start to remove my clothes, "How do you want to come first tonight." I slowly pull my boxer briefs down, releasing my hard, swollen dick. I take it into my hand and start to run my hand up and down its length. I let my head fall back with the sensation as carnal sounds emanate deep in the back of my throat.

  I hardly feel the bed shift when she takes my dick into her warm, wet mouth sliding her lips over my hard, sensitive flesh. I hiss out a breath, my mind void of anything as her tongue slides across the head of my dick as it makes my balls tighten up and my dick swells to the point of painful. "Fuck, Nicole," the words slips from my tongue. I thread my fingers through her long brown hair as I feel like I'm going to explode. I pull away from her as she looks up at me with those unbelievable stunning blue eyes of hers. "I don't want to come in your mouth, I want to come inside you. Lay down."

  She lies down as I am at the end of the bed. I start to kiss and lick my way up her legs to the apex of her thighs. What an amazing scent she has. I slide my finger up and down then slowly dipping my finger inside her, teasing her clit. She's so wet for me; I take my finger and stick it in my mouth, licking off her essence. "God," I say.

  She writhes in pleasure beneath me, "Please, Richard."

  "Shhh, I know." I take her ankles and bend her knees, letting them fall to the side as I lean down and sweep my tongue through her folds, tasting and feeling each pulsation of her on my tongue. I've died and gone to heaven. I slowly insert my finger as my tongue teases her clit. Her moans grow louder. She fucks my mouth as she flexes her hips into my face, and God, how I love it. Her hands grip my hair, her moans get lower, her legs start to tremble, and I know she is ready to fall over the cliff. I suck her clit into my mouth and nibble on it pressing it to my teeth as she stills. Then I let it slip from between my teeth and start to rub it with my tongue and she explodes in my mouth as my name falls from her lips. "Richard, Richard, oh God, oh yes, yes, oh God."

  I move up her body and slowly flex my hips. My dick knows just where to go as I slowly start to fill her, as the last of her orgasm quivers through her body, pulling me deep inside her. "Nicole, God, you feel so amazing," I thrust into her deeper and deeper as I feel her legs start to tremble again her pussy pulling me and squeezing my dick, "Oh, Nicole, that's it, yes." I explode as Nicole's orgasm rips through her again. I collapse on top of her, trying to catch my breath. I rest my forehead on her. "You are mind-blowing. I love you, and I can't wait to make you my wife. I slowly roll off her to dampen a washcloth to care for her.

  I lay back in bed on my side and stare at the stunning woman beside me. I run my finger down her beautiful high cheekbones to her chin then running it down the indentation in her throat. "I can't believe what a lucky man I am that you would want to be my wife. I never thought this time in my life would ever happen. Thank you for loving me." I lean over and kiss her temple.

  She turns to her side and looks at me longingly, "I love you too, Richard, and I never thought this time would come for me either, you have made me so happy." She runs her fingers through the hair on my chest as she talks. "Are you serious about getting married tomorrow?" She looks up at me, those amazing blue eyes search mine as if trying to see if this is truly what I want to do.

  "More than anything in the world, in you, I have found my soul mate, the love of my life, I know we entered each other’s lives at the right time, and I won't lose it."

  "What about our friends and family?"

  "I will do whatever you want to do, if you want a big wedding we can do that, I know that is a big dream of most little girls. However, with everything that is going on with Harlow, I know that there would be no way to have a wedding until Brad is caught. To be honest, I don't want to wait that long. I've wasted too much time, this is my time, our time. I figured we could have a big party after everything dies down." I look deep into her eye. "What do you want to do?"

  "I don't want to wait," she says, "life is too short, and I don't want any regrets." She runs her hand down the side of my face. "You've taken that pain away that I've lived with for years, showing me that it has no power over me anymore. I agree with you, we can have one hell of a party later."

  "God, I love you."

  We stand in line at the courthouse to get our wedding license and see what time the judge has open for a wedding. I'm nervous and fidgety. I can see that Nicole is too.

  When we get to the window, I take a deep breath and tell the clerk what we want to do. She sets us up with a judge just after lunch, so we have a couple hours. Nicole grabs my hand and pulls me out of the courthouse and down the street. "Where are we going?" I ask.

  "I don't have a ring for you."

  "That's not important to me, Nicole." I pull her to a stop letting her know that I don't need a ring to prove I am married.

  "This is something I want to do, it's important to me." We start to walk again.

  "Are you okay with my mother's ring?"

  She comes to an abrupt stop, spinning around to look at me. "I love it, Richard, and I'll wear it with such honor that you would give me something that has so much meaning to you." She pulls me to her and softly rubs her lips against mine. God, what this woman does to me.

  We find a little jewelry store and walk inside. As Nicole is looking around and talking to a sales clerk, I do the same. Mom's ring was emerald cut with tapered baguettes, but she didn't have a wedding band to go with it. So I found a channel set square diamond band that I knew would accentuate the engagement ring. I quietly have the other clerk ring up the ring and have him clean Mom’s so it will look its best. I slip the box in my jacket pocket so she won't know; I continue to look around, when I see the most stunning pearl necklace with matching earrings. Three strands of ivory pearls braided together that lay just above the collarbone. The earrings are a simple pearl hanging from a French clasp with a diamond fastened below the pearl. Every woman needs a pearl necklace when she gets married. By the time I am finished, Nicole is too.

  We have time to g
rab a sandwich at a little deli before we walk back to the courthouse. On our way back to the courthouse we pass a little flower stand. I drop Nicole's hand and quickly walk over to it. I find a dozen of bridal white roses and have them trimmed and wrapped in ribbon. Their light pink centers match the pink dress she's wearing. This is all so perfect.

  As we approach the courthouse and knowing we have several minutes to be there, we sit on a bench to just absorb the day and each other. I turn to her and pull out the large blue velvet box that houses the pearl necklace and earrings.

  "I know you didn't ever have anything like this planned when I asked you to come with me, but no woman can get married without pearls."

  I open the box as she gasps and places her hand to her chest. She looks down at the pearls then back up to me. "Oh Richard, they're beautiful."

  "I didn't know if you had any, but if you did I'm sure you didn't bring them with you and this is your day."

  She leans over to me wrapping her arms around my neck giving me a kiss. "I don't have any, and I will always cherish them, thank you so much. Will you help me put on the necklace please." I stand up, walk behind the bench, and fasten the necklace around her neck as she puts the earrings in. I then lean down and kiss her neck at the sensitive pulse point beneath her earlobe, causing a moan to escape her lips.

  "Nicole, they look lovely on your neck. I knew when I saw them they would be perfect on you."

  "Richard, they're so beautiful, thank you," she says as she raises her fingers to the pearls and lightly runs her fingers over them.

  "Anything for you, my love."

  I take her hand as we head into the courthouse and to the chamber where some of the weddings are performed. "You've never looked as beautiful as you do right now," I say to her.

  The big double doors open, and we’re called back into the chambers. It's an ominous feeling, my heart is racing, and I feel the butterflies in my stomach. I take a deep breath, and I think about my parents and know they're smiling down on us right now.