Cupid In Heels

by Suzanne Halliday

  She was deliberately hiding her engagement ring.

  He bristled and was about to say something when a bolt of common sense stopped him.

  “Excuse us,” he barked at his aunt and uncle. Grabbing Sam’s hand, she got roughly jerked when he started off in search of his mom.

  “Hey,” she yelped. “Slow down.”

  “Mom,” he hollered. “Where are you?”

  “Kitchen,” he heard her reply.

  Stomping off in that direction, he pulled Samantha along as he hurried to make things right. It wasn’t until they reached the kitchen and became the center of attention that he realized Grace and Howie had followed close behind.

  In front of the stove island, stirring a large pot of something, his mom looked up when he stormed the room.

  He took Sam’s purse from her hands and tossed it on a table.

  “Mom. Samantha and I. We’re engaged.” He showed his mom the gorgeous diamond sparkling on Sam’s hand. “Wanted you to be the first to know.”

  Sam wore a stunned but pleased expression. When his mom and aunt started shrieking like groupies at a concert, he had to quickly move out of the way when all three women joined hands and danced in a circle as laughter and squeals of joy filled the air.

  “I’m a grandmother,” his mom screamed with absolute delight.

  Tears twinkled in Sam’s eyes when she smiled at him.

  Uncle Howie thumped him on the shoulder and murmured, “Well done, son.”

  “Did I do all right?”

  “You did the right thing, and that’s what matters.”

  John chuckled and shook his head. “Didn’t mean to bark it like that, but it had to be said.”

  He was mildly surprised when the women moved away from them to gather at the kitchen table. The words wedding and Chelsea could be heard.

  Howie sniggered. “You’ll get used to it. When women engage the planning mode, us gentlemen can pretty much pound sand. Let’s open the bar, shall we?”

  That was where they were—drink in hand—a half an hour later when Ryan and Jen arrived.

  Before it drove away, Jen clamored from the big Town Car, pointed at her horny husband, and snarled, “Stay away, you. Arm’s length.”

  She was frantically trying to right her outfit and fix the hair she knew had to look as if she’d been mauled.

  Ryan half skipped around her and made things worse with his attempt to help. Smacking his hands away, she sniped at him like a shrew.

  “I can’t believe you just did that. Look at me! I’m a mess.”

  His mocking leer ignited yet another lust-fueled bonfire inside her.

  “If you wanted me to behave, you shouldn’t have said anything about your panties. Men hear the word and instantly revert to a caveman.”

  “All I said was that they’re new. It wasn’t an invitation to …”

  “To what?” he drawled. “Get you off with my fingers in a Town Car with a driver only feet away?”

  Stomping her foot despite never remembering having ever done so before, she fought to keep hold of her fragile control. “Unfair,” was all she growled.

  Her new husband grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against his hard body. “I can’t help it, so there will be no apology. You need to be made love to around the clock, and I’m the man who accepted the challenge.”

  She softened and sank into him. “All you did was make it worse, you know.”

  A slow, sexy smile started in his eyes and spread across his handsome face. “Good. Then every word and gesture from now till we get home will be foreplay. A public seduction. It’s not always about naked bodies and the bump and grind.”

  In a breathless whisper, she confessed, “I’ve never known anyone like you.”

  He caressed her face and ran his thumb back and forth on her bottom lip. “It’s mutual, baby. I’ve never felt this connected to anyone, and all I want to do is lavish you with love.”

  Jen wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him in for a sweet kiss.

  “Don’t forget we have to call my folks. Okay?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Your parents will love me.”

  She laugh-snorted in response.

  The sound of the front door opening shot into her awareness.

  “Showtime,” Ryan murmured.

  Running up the stone steps to the door, she followed him and mentally chanted, Just smile. Just smile.

  Engulfing his mom in a tremendous hug, he called her Mama Lloyd and got her laughing.

  “Jenna!” Connie exclaimed when the hug ended. “This is a surprise!”

  “Mom.” Ryan chuckled. “You have no idea.”

  She stepped up with her hand out, but Connie pushed it aside and drew her in for a hug. When they stepped back, Ryan’s mother slapped her thigh and laughed. “Why, I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.”

  “Is that VW Bus for me?” Ryan asked with an amused bark. He was pointing at what one could only describe as a magical mystery tour looking blast from the past.

  “I’m sure you can take it out for a spin, but you’ll have to ask Uncle Howie. It’s his.”

  Ryan perked up and looked past his mom into the house. “Uncle Howie’s here? Great! I want to talk to him about doing some renovations.”

  “Renovations?” Connie asked.

  Jen discreetly touched her husband and hoped he read the signal. She was relieved when he moved the conversation to another subject—only this subject turned her anxiety dials to turbo.

  “Mom, we have something to tell you. Wait till you hear.”

  Out of nowhere, his mom stopped, turned, and looked at Ryan. Then at Jen.

  “Has Jenna met Goober yet?”

  On a scale of one to five for weird moments, this one hit five and bounced off the scale. Huh?

  Laughing with such natural good humor that Jen chuckled too, Ryan painted Connie a vivid depiction of the big, shaggy wolf dog acting like a quivering purse puppy and trying to fit on Jen’s lap.

  “Well, everything is working out lovely,” Connie declared and then forcefully shooed them inside the house.

  “Family’s in the front parlor.”

  “Do I look all right?” she whispered.

  She was hella relieved when Ryan scooped up her hand and held on tight. “You’re beautiful. Don’t be so worried. You already know all the players.”

  Before they left the foyer, Jen noted a round table on which sat a shallow bowl that held an orchid bloom. They rounded the corner and found everyone spread out around a long, rectangular room that resembled a living history of furniture styles. The unexpected mish-mash instantly charmed her.

  “Gang’s all here!” Connie happily chirped. “My boys.”

  She saw John first. He had a happy glow that made Jen’s heart fill. Good for him, she thought. Then she spied Samantha at his side wearing an enormous sparkler and a shit-eating grin. Jen’s inner cupid took a bow, blew a kiss, and flew off. Mission accomplished.

  Connie’s twin—the irrepressible Grace Brewster—and her husband waved but remained in the background like witnesses waiting their turn.

  When everyone gathered in a cluster, Jen grimaced slightly from the panic rioting inside her gut.

  Would they think them nuts? What if Connie disapproved of their rash behavior?

  “Now, what were you saying, sweetie? You have news?”

  Jen didn’t shy away when Ryan reached for her hand. She stepped closer to his shoulder and nervously smiled.

  Her bridegroom cleared his throat and focused solely on Connie. “This isn’t as sudden as it may seem,” he began gravely. “Mom, Jenna and I got married this morning.”

  There was a long, very quiet moment when she thought she might have an asthma attack from apprehension.

  Grace’s booming voice rang out. “Nailed it!” She and her husband smacked their raised palms.

  Mr. Brewster grumbled, “Dammit. This one cost me a thousand bucks.”

  Co
nnie was chortling, and she kept clicking the heels of her shoes together. Then she and her sister broke into a goofy tribal dance.

  Jen glanced at Samantha. They both had similar brow-raising expressions.

  John and Ryan appeared dumbfounded but amused.

  “Someone want to share?” John asked. “Uncle Howie?”

  After a smooth routine of fist bumps, handshakes, and gestures with his wife, the heartily laughing older gentleman slung an arm around Connie’s shoulder and grinned.

  “This bet was between me and your mom. She insisted she could bring you both to the altar before the end of the year. I thought she was crazy. Knowing my nephews as I do, it seemed farfetched to think either of you would settle down. But I forgot something.”

  “Forgot what?” Ryan asked.

  “It might be a family trait, but sudden marriages seem to be our thing.”

  Grace laughed and threw her hands up. “Hallelujah.”

  “I met a cute surfer chick in 1973. It was a Tuesday. Malibu Beach. We got married three weeks later at a wedding chapel in Reno.”

  “Your mom and dad did the same thing,” Grace continued. “How’s the legend go, Connie?” she asked. “They met while working on an environmental project in Africa. Greg was the serious-minded philosopher out to change the world while my sister was a free spirit getting her fancy university work project groove on.”

  Jen let out a gurgle of laughter at the description.

  “They fell in lurve,” Grace teased. “But Greg, he knew that because of who he was, they’d have to play the game.”

  “He wouldn’t have it,” Connie told them all with a wistful smile.

  “So they snuck off and got hitched overseas and played the a fait accompli card.”

  Connie looked at her and Ryan with a sly smile. “Howie and I made the bet last year after I saw the way the four of you acted with each other at the annual holiday party.”

  Ryan kissed Jen’s hand. “Oh, you mean how this one managed to somehow,” he said with air quotes, “dump a glass of ice water in my lap.”

  She snickered and shrugged. “It’s true,” she admitted. “I guess you could say all that sniping and poking at each other was our courtship.”

  Connie blew them a kiss.

  “And let’s not forget the Lloyd CEO,” Jen playfully teased. “A big gathering where everyone wanted to talk to him but all he did was stalk poor Samantha.”

  The matriarch weighed in. “He also handwrote her Christmas card. I knew when he spent an hour writing out a holiday card that my son was falling in love for the first time.”

  Connie wiped away a tear of emotion and went to John. He kissed her cheek and hugged her tight. She looked around at all of them.

  “Thank you, Samantha. Thank you, Jenna. I can’t remember the last time we were all so happy. Before Daddy died, for sure.”

  Thinking she’d ease the sudden emotion that overcame everyone, Jen tugged on her suit’s jacket and said, “I’m claiming this one.”

  Connie and Grace zeroed in on her. “What?” they said in unison.

  “John and Samantha.” She sniggered. “I played cupid. Winning!” she declared with a victory wave.

  The twins cracked up with laughter.

  Samantha asked, “What are we missing?”

  The ladies composed themselves, and then Connie explained.

  Clicking the heels of her expensive looking shoes together, she looked a little like Dorothy in her ruby slippers.

  “Matchmaking is my thing.”

  Grace added, “Cupid is her spirit animal.”

  Connie shushed her sister and continued. “I was lucky to share being in love with someone as wonderful as Greg Lloyd. Once he was gone, I showered my sons with all that love. I also did what I could when I saw two people who obviously belonged together. That’s why Howie took my bet. He was wagering with Cupid.”

  “Cupid in heels,” Howie called out as Connie clicked her shoes.

  “You have to teach me that move.” Jen chuckled.

  “Me too!” Samantha added.

  An emotionally charged, clumsy group hug ensued.

  Connie instantly scolded her sons when she straightened.

  “You bring me my granddaughter,” she berated John.

  Scolding Ryan, she sniffed, “Fur grandbabies count too.”

  Jen saw him hesitate and wondered if his mother had too. He was thinking about the odds of them making a baby right out of the gate.

  “Shit,” John grumbled. “Now I have to find a new assistant.”

  “Pardon my French, Mr. Lloyd,” she bit out, “but fuck that. I’m not quitting just because we got married.”

  John’s relief was endearingly palpable. “Really?”

  “We might have to discuss her hours, though, bro.”

  Samantha wrapped her arm through John’s. “Well, about that. We’ve decided that his schedule needs to change, so he can spend time with his family.”

  John surprised the holy hell out of her when he agreed. “I’m going to work remotely at least one day a week. And maybe a half day too. We’ll see.”

  “Isn’t this perfect?” Connie muttered in a voice crackling with emotion.

  Grace put an arm around her sister. “You know what this means, right?”

  “Oh, hush,” Connie snapped.

  Jen and Samantha looked at each other. Something new was in the air.

  “What are you talking about?” John asked.

  “It’s simple, really,” his aunt declared. “Once the boys were happy and married, there’d be no more reason for this one to stay single.”

  Connie pushed her away. “I’m not dating. Case closed.”

  Ryan said, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Mom, come on. Aunt Grace has a point. Am I right?” he asked everyone.

  John chuckled and smacked his hands together. “This has possibilities, guys. We need to find her a man.”

  “John!” Connie shrieked.

  “What?” He laughed.

  Samantha clapped her hands gleefully and waggled her brows at Jen. “We need to talk.”

  They giggled, linked their pinky fingers, and then hugged their men.

  Clicking their heels, though not quite as perfectly as Connie Lloyd had done, she and her soon-to-be sister-in-law hooted gleefully.

  “Cupid in Heels, version two-point-oh. At your service!”

  Epilogue

  Exactly nine months later...

  “Thirty seconds,” Ryan called out. “Twenty.”

  Jen struggled to stand and kept one hand on her huge belly as she joined her husband.

  “Ten. Nine. Eight,” he droned.

  She watched the digital clock as the numbers moved to midnight and when the clock buzzed, and a new day started, she and Ryan started celebrating.

  They had paper poppers and kazoos along with an abundant supply of sparklers at the ready. Goober ran around yipping happily.

  “We made it.” She laughed. “It’s official. Nine months and one day!”

  Ryan dropped to one knee and stroked their baby bump. He kissed it again and again and laughed his ass off.

  “Granny Carlton can officially calm the F down, now. We passed the naughty test! Whoop, whoop!”

  “Oh, man, I gotta sit down,” she mumbled. “My back is killing me.”

  “That’s because our son is a big boy,” Ryan crowed.

  He helped her get onto the lounger and put a pillow behind her back, and then he sat at the foot of the chair and put her feet in his lap. Goober climbed next to her and put his head on her thigh.

  Gently rubbing her feet, Ryan made a bunch of bad jokes about scary mothers-in-law that got her laughing.

  She thought back to their impromptu marriage and the past nine months and felt nothing but happiness. Their rash behavior simply hastened a happily ever after that felt charmed.

  Four months in, right around the time she sported an obvious baby bump, John and Samantha tied the knot. It was a beautiful cerem
ony for family and friends with Chelsea as the maid of honor. The bride was radiant and the groom an emotional basket case. They were, to borrow an oft-used phrase, cute as hell.

  Uncle Howie finished the apartment renovations not long after. By then, of course, the need for a modern nursery was apparent—something that gave her a chance to go to town. The charming junior suite had a window seat that looked into the terrace garden and decorations on the walls that Chelsea helped Jen pick out.

  Any day now, their son was due to make his arrival. Now that they’d successfully maneuvered around the nine-month tongue-in-cheek prohibition, she was good to go at any time.

  Sooner than later, she thought. Being pregnant was awesome and she had loved every second, but Jen was eager to move on to the next chapter where a baby wrapped in blue would be put in her arms.

  “I have to tell you,” Ryan was saying, “that my brother is handling this whole thing better than I thought he would.”

  She rubbed her tummy and laughed softly. “They got pregnant like we did. Boom!”

  “It’s gonna be so cool having our kids so close together. Cousins!”

  “I hope you two aren’t still haggling. You know, hon, it’s John’s right to pass on your dad’s name. And Sam is thrilled with naming their baby Gregory.”

  He sighed heavily and switched to her other foot. “Yeah, I know. And you’re right. We’ll use Gregory for a middle name.”

  She shifted around, trying to find a comfortable spot.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Ryan caressed her bump. Goober raised his head and looked at her expectantly.

  “Oh,” she squeaked when a pain shot back and forth across her belly. “That was weird.”

  Time slowed. She could hear everyone breathing. Her. Ryan. The dog.

  They waited.

  A few minutes went by. They started to relax and then another pain ricocheted with more oomph. This time, she grunted rather than squeaked.

  Uncertainty gripped Jen. “Ryan?”

  He was smiling. “Don’t you worry about a thing, my love. I’ve been practicing,” he proudly drawled.