I can hear the click of a camera every few seconds. The photographer has been here all morning, taking five thousand photos of Tillie’s every move. Quite frankly, it’s exhausting. My face hurts. I’m used to being behind the scenes, not in front of the camera.
“Roger that,” Jackson calls back to her.
“How are you holding up?” he whispers to me.
“I’m great. Now that she’s in the dress and has her hair and makeup done, she’s starting to calm down.”
He raises his brow at me as if to say ‘really?’.
“Calm by Tillie’s standards,” I amend.
He reaches his hand out and runs his thumb gently down the side of my face. “You look incredible.”
“Thank you,” I say, my tone still hushed. “I’m still not sure purple is really my colour.”
He glances down at what I’m wearing. “It’s a nice dress, but—”
I interrupt him. “If you’re going to say it’ll look better on the bedroom floor, I might have to seriously rethink our relationship status.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” he replies sheepishly.
I raise my brow at him.
“Alright.” He chuckles. “I might have been going to say that.”
I shake my head at him. “You really need to work on your game, dreamboat.”
He chuckles and turns to head back down the stairs.
“I think I’m doing alright. I got you, didn’t I?”
“You’re lucky you’re so pretty,” I call after him.
“Katie!” I hear Tillie yell. “We need you for more photos!”
I watch Jackson and his cheeky grin disappear from sight before I go back in for another round of killing my jaw.
***
“The happy couple are about to cut the cake, so if you could all turn your attention this way…” the voice on the microphone tells us.
Jackson wraps his arm around my waist and turns us so we can watch Tillie and Reece cut their monstrosity of a wedding cake.
The thing could feed a third-world country for about a week, but this was one of the things that Tillie was not willing to compromise on. Not even a little bit.
Tillie beams up at Reece as they hold the knife together and jointly push the blade through the bottom layer.
I’ve never seen her look so happy or in love.
She really has found the perfect man for her, and she knew it from the first moment they met.
I sneak a look at Jackson, he’s watching them with a smile on his face, and a drink in his hand.
It’s his first of the evening and he’s assured me that it’ll be one of only a small few.
Apparently, his days of drinking himself blind are behind him, and I believe him. He’s not the same heartbroken man he was when we slept together for the first time.
He’s no longer caught up on his ex and the life they shared.
I don’t even know if he’s angry about it anymore, I think he’s simply just moved on and put it all behind him, and I admire that about him.
Sure, it took probably a few drinking benders too many, but he got there in the end and like he always tells me, I’m a patient woman.
“Is he going to squish cake in her face?” Jackson asks me.
“Not if he wants to live.” I smirk.
He shoots me a disappointed look.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, that wraps up the formalities for the evening, I’ve been instructed by the bride to tell you all to ‘get loose’ and ‘shake it’ on the dance floor. So, go do that.” The MC chuckles through the mic and the room laughs along with him.
“You coming to shake it with me?” I ask Jackson with a grin.
“I’ve just got to shoot out back and check on Bryn, and then I’ll be right there,” he promises.
He kisses me on the forehead and disappears through the crowd.
He’s disappeared an awful lot since the ceremony finished, and it worries me that something might be wrong, but all the food has been perfect, the bartenders have been impressing us all.
Everything seems to be running perfectly.
“C’mon, girl, you’re coming with me!” Tillie cries as she strolls past me, grabbing my arm as she goes.
“I just need to check on something,” I tell her, but she shakes her head at me.
“Nope. You are officially off the clock. This day has been perfect, sweetie, and I’m so grateful for your obsessive compulsive planning skills, but now I need you to let your hair down and celebrate with me, because I just got freaking married!”
I laugh at her and give up on my attempt of going after Jackson. “Who the hell would have thought?”
She shakes her head. “Not me, that’s for damn sure.”
She takes my hands and tows me out towards the middle of the area I’ve had set up for dancing.
The live band in the corner has started playing and nearly everyone is up here singing along and dancing.
“I’m married!” Tillie shrieks again. “And he’s like loaded.”
I laugh. “I’m aware, Tills.”
I feel Jackson come up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist.
“Having fun, dimples?”
I smile up at him and nod.
“Can I steal you away for a minute?” he yells to be heard over the music.
I nod and let him lead me from the packed dance floor, across the room and up the stairs that lead to his apartment — our apartment after this weekend.
“Where are we going?” I ask once the noise dies down enough that we can finally hear each other speak.
“I just want you to myself for a few minutes.”
“You just want to see how this dress looks on the floor, don’t you?”
“Something like that.”
He looks back at me over his shoulder before turning his key in the lock and pushing the door open.
I’m still watching him, so I don’t notice exactly what he’s done until I’m nearly in the centre of the living room.
There are string lights everywhere — just like downstairs, and a huge bunch of my favourite flowers — pink roses, in a giant crystal vase in the middle of the table. I don’t know if they’re new, or if I was just too busy with the wedding prep to notice, but he’s put frames holding photos of the two of us all around the apartment too.
“What is this?”
He steps further into the room and then slowly turns to face me.
He looks like something out of a movie in his black tux and crisp white shirt, his entire frame softly illuminated by the glow of the lights.
“I thought you deserved something just for you.”
“Jackson,” I breathe in disbelief. I can’t believe he did all this for me.
He reaches for an ice bucket I hadn’t even seen on the table and pulls out a bottle of champagne.
He pours us each a glass as I wander around the room, softly touching the lights he’s hung.
I turn around and he’s right there in front of me, holding out a glass for me to take.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He holds his own glass out for me to clink mine against.
“What are we toasting?”
“You,” he says simply.
His eyes are trained on mine, and there’s an intensity radiating from him that I’m not quite used to feeling.
“You did all this for me?”
“I did.”
“But you hate string lights.”
“I can safely say I like them even less now.”
I glance around, breaking our contact, but I can still feel his eyes on me, boring holes into me.
I take a sip from my glass and moan in appreciation, I’d hate to know what this bottle is worth — this is the best champagne I’ve ever tasted.
“I wanted to talk to you about going into business…”
I flick my eyes back to him. “I’m in if you are.”
The corner of his mouth turns up into a small smile. “Oh,
I’m in dimples, I’m all the way in.”
I can’t explain the vibe in the air between us right now, but it feels a lot like that first time between us — just a magnetism, pulling us together.
“You won’t get sick of me… Living and working together?” I ask as he takes the glass from my hand and sets it down on the table along with his own.
He shakes his head as he turns back to me. “No.”
That’s all he says, and I can’t explain why, but he’s making me nervous.
One of his hands reaches for my waist and the other snakes around my neck.
I go to him eagerly, my own hands resting on his shoulders.
He leans down ever so slowly until our lips brush together, just one brief contact.
“I want to be your roommate…” he says before he kisses me again. “Your business partner…” Another kiss. “Your best friend…” His voice is husky and filled with promise.
I close my eyes as he brings his lips to mine yet again. “And your husband…”
My lids fly open and I look right into his eyes. “Whaaa… what?”
“You heard me,” he says.
I stand there staring at him, totally unmoving for a few beats.
I know what I heard, but I still don’t know what he means. I don’t know if he’s asking what I think he’s asking.
He drops his hands from my body and reaches into his pocket.
He pulls out a black satin ring box and my hand flies to my mouth. “Oh my god,” I breathe.
He drops to one knee and I hear myself gasp. This is really happening.
“Katie North — dimples.” He grins. “You are seriously the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He reaches out and takes my hand — the one that’s not still covering my mouth.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you ever since I woke up and read your first note. I should have known I wasn’t going to be able to get over you when I couldn’t even throw it away.”
“You still have it?” I whisper.
He nods. “I’ve still got them both. Apparently, I’m sentimental like that when it comes to you.”
I don’t know why, but that makes my heart melt.
All that time, I assumed it was still Lizzie who had his heart, but now I know that I owned a piece of him too.
He squeezes my hand again and I look at him, waiting for him to say what I know he’s going to say.
“Here I was thinking that Tillie and Reece were crazy for moving so fast, but when I’m with you… I get it. I don’t want to wait another minute for you to wear my ring on your finger.”
I can’t believe this is happening, but he’s right. I don’t want to wait either. The bond we share — it feels like we’ve known each other forever. He’s my best friend.
“You just don’t want to give me time to run off with one of your friends.”
He chuckles. “Bryn does seem awfully fond of you.”
I laugh and use my free hand to wipe the tears that are rolling down my cheeks.
He opens the ring box and reveals a beautiful, diamond solitaire ring. It’s simple and elegant and he couldn’t have picked something more perfect if he tried.
“You remember when you asked me if I was put off marriage forever?”
I nod. I remember. He told me he’d know if he met the right person.
“I found the right person, dimples, you were right there under my nose.”
I can’t even speak as he slides the ring out of the box and holds it up to me as an offering.
“Katie, I promise to love you, even when you can’t stand my cheesy pick-up lines a moment longer… I promise to love you forever, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
I barely let him finish his speech before I cry the word yes and throw myself at him.
He catches me, barely, and we both tumble to the floor in a heap.
I find myself beneath him, with his gorgeous face looking down at me.
I can’t believe I get to look at that every day for the rest of my life.
“Do you want your ring?” his muffled voice asks against my hair.
I nod eagerly and hold my left hand up for him.
He slides it into place on my finger.
“It’s kinda big,” he mumbles. “If you don’t like it, you can pick something else.”
“It’s perfect,” I reassure him as I stare at the ring on my finger. “Nothing a trip to the jeweller for a re-size won’t fix.”
“Is it okay?”
I pull my eyes from the shiny diamond and into his stunning blue eyes. “It’s the most precious thing I’ve ever owned, because you gave it to me.”
“That’s a bit cute,” he mutters as he lowers his lips to mine.
He kisses me with so much passion, I want to rip the clothes from his body.
He pulls away with a heavy sigh. “They’ll be missing us down there.”
Truthfully, I’d forgotten about all the people downstairs, even about my best friend’s wedding.
“Oh my god, Tillie.”
He chuckles as he climbs off me and pulls me up by my hand.
“Don’t you dare breathe a word of this to her, if she catches us stealing her thunder, she’ll kill us both,” I warn him.
He reaches for my hand and slides the ring back off before putting it back in the box.
“I won’t say a word,” he promises me, “but on one condition…”
“What is it?”
“When we get married, I don’t want all of that.” He points downwards. “No offence to your profession or anything, but if I have to see another string of lights, I might lose my mind.”
He’s so sexy when he’s frustrated.
“No string lights,” I promise. “No fuss. No drama. Just you, me and our friends.”
He grins and pulls me in for a hug. “I knew I was marrying you for a reason.”
I press up onto my tippy toes and kiss him as my hands reach for the zip on his pants.
“What are you doing?” he whispers against my lips.
“I think you know what I’m doing.”
“I thought you wanted to go back down?”
“I’m going down alright,” I tell him as I drop to my knees in front of him.
“Oh, sweet Jesus.” He groans as I free his hard length.
“I told you I’d make it worth your while.” I smirk as I take him into my mouth.
EPILOGUE
Jackson
I’m about halfway through my shift when I hear the words no one in the hospitality industry wants to hear.
“Excuse me, can I talk to you for a moment?”
I look down the bar at the woman who has just spoken to me. She doesn’t have your typical ‘I need to speak to the manager haircut’, but pains in the ass come in all shapes and sizes I guess.
I step down the bar so we’re face to face, while my eyes roll internally. “How can I help you this evening?”
“Are you the manager here?”
Technically, Katie is the manager over here at the function centre, but I doubt I’m going to get away from this one on a technicality.
“I’m one of the owners, what seems to be the problem?”
She looks surprised. “Oh, there’s no problem.”
I frown at her. “Then what can I do for you?”
“Well, to put it bluntly… Has anyone ever pointed out how attractive you are?”
I’m not sure what I was expecting her to say, but it wasn’t that she thought I was hot, that’s for damn sure.
“I tell him all the time,” Katie says as she appears at the bar next to the mystery woman. “He’s a total dreamboat, right?” she says, her tone light and teasing.
“He’s gorgeous.”
“Like a real-life Ken doll. He’s even got the muscles to match,” Katie carries on. “You should see him with his shirt off.”
The woman smiles at her. “That sounds perfect.”
My face flames. “Um, excuse
me? I’m right here…” I interrupt the two of them. “Perfect for what?”
I don’t know what’s going on here, but it feels suspiciously like being pimped out.
“I’m working on a calendar for next year, a hot-guy kinda thing, you know the type… and I’m on the hunt for men who look like you,” she tells me.
“Oh, hell yes! He’ll do it,” Katie replies enthusiastically before I even have a chance to answer.
“Dammit, woman, stop throwing me under the bus. I don’t want to play model.”
“Oh c’mon…” She pouts at me. “You’re so pretty, dreamboat, it’d be a crime not to do it.”
“I think you’d be a perfect Mr. February,” the woman tells me.
I shake my head.
“Ohhhhh, pleeeeease,” Katie begs me. She raises a brow at me suggestively. “I’ll make it worth your while…”
I have to hold back a groan. The last time she made it worth my while I had absolutely no regrets about my decision.
There’s something about a reward blowjob that just makes it so much better than a regular one.
“How’d the two of you meet?” the woman asks Katie, with a twinkle in her eye.
Katie grins wickedly as her eyes flash between me and the stranger.
“We met at the bar right next door… He was heartbroken and drunk.” She giggles.
“The heartbroken bartender,” the woman says as her eyes meet mine. “God that’s got a ring to it… Please don’t make me beg.”
I think again about Katie making it worth my while and sigh in defeat.
“Mr February…” I wince. “I get to keep my underwear on for this thing, right?”
Katie raises her hands triumphantly and grins at me.
“It’s a deal,” the woman says.
MR. MARCH
Mr. March – Calendar Boys Series, Book Three, will be releasing March 10th 2019.
Visit www.nicolegoodinauthor.com for the cover reveal and to read the first chapter.
Amazon links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon AU
Amazon CA
THANK YOU!
Mr. February: A One Night Stand Romance (Calendar Boys Book 2) Page 13
