My mom was prominent on the first row, beaming with pride and waving at her grandchildren. My sister stood next to her. Vanessa thought she was too old to be a bridesmaid. My brother and his wife were there as well. One of the most surprising guests was Miles’s father, Baron Greaves. He was a stately looking man in his tuxedo with tails. His height and silver hair added to his presence. His facial expression bordered on grateful and pensive. I knew he was happy Miles had invited him, but his relationship with his son was an uneasy one filled with layers and layers of intricacies that may never get worked out. But I think they both wanted to try.
Once the path turned, I was hit with the most beautiful sight. Miles, first and foremost, who was undressing me with his eyes. But surrounding him were all our friends who meant so much to us both. Emma, Jenna, Shelby, Molly, Oscar, Sawyer, Ryder, and Brad, who begged us to let him marry us. He’d been dying to have an excuse to get ordained online to perform weddings. Who better, I thought, than my lovable goofball friend? He knew what this day meant more than most people, so it was fitting.
My father, with tears in his eyes, kissed my cheek before placing my hand in Miles’s. Miles tenderly brought me to his side under the pergola covered in pink climbing roses. He gently pressed a kiss to my lips. Our tears mingled with each other’s. “You look divine,” Miles whispered before we faced Brad to become man and wife. And there under the pergola, we climbed another wall and began a new chapter in my favorite love story. A story that began with a not so wicked boss.
Deleted Scene
Comedy Club
“Darling, I wish we were alone,” Miles whispered in my ear before he pressed a kiss to the side of my head.
That zinging feeling whenever his lips touched me was never going to get old. “We promised our friends we would come,” I reminded him quietly. “Besides, Molly and Oscar are leaving in the morning.”
It’s not that I didn’t wish we were alone too, I did—more than anything. But Oscar and Molly, who sat on the other side of Miles, waiting for the acts to begin at High on Laughs were really looking forward to all of us hanging out tonight. Dear Penelope, on the other hand, had jetted off after storming out of the house when we all returned from Chloe’s soccer game. To say Penelope was less than thrilled that Miles offered me a new contract was an understatement. She threw a temper tantrum complete with stomping feet and one good scream when Miles kissed me as soon as we had walked in the house. While I wasn’t sorry to see her go, I did feel sorry for her. Losing Miles would be devastating. I thought for sure I had this morning. I still couldn’t believe this was real. Miles and I were truly going to give this couple thing a try.
Miles groaned. He was doing a terrible job hiding his disappointment in front of his friends. “That was before I finally got my head out of my arse and decided to let you have your way.”
I leaned away from him, brows raised. “My way?”
He chuckled and tapped my nose. “Believe me, my love, from the moment I met you, I’ve wished for this.”
“Says the man who made me sign a contract stating he didn’t want to be romantically entangled with me,” I teased.
He leaned his forehead against mine. “All for your protection.”
I skimmed his lips, wishing to have more than just a taste, but since we were in public and my nosy friends sitting in front of us kept turning around and staring at us, I kept it short and sweet. “I’ll take my chances.”
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” He sat back and draped his arm around me.
I settled against him and shook my head at my friends, who were all unabashedly gawking at us.
“Y’all are the cutest,” Shelby said from Ryder’s lap. A moment not curve fondling his wife was apparently a moment wasted, according to Ryder.
“They are too adorable for words,” Oscar agreed. He and Molly were looking around trying to soak in the atmosphere, from all the old movie memorabilia, to the wall signed by every comedian who had performed there. They were impressed by some of the names.
“Well, it’s about time,” Emma chimed in. She gave Miles a pointed look, bordering on serious and playful. “Make sure you deserve her. Jenna’s always wanted to bury a body, and my dad owns acres and acres of land.”
Her threat didn’t faze Miles. “If I do anything to hurt her, please do what you must.”
Emma nodded satisfied. “I like you.”
Jenna hustled over. She and Brad had been standing near the stage, ready to begin their emceeing duties. “Did I hear my name?” she asked.
Sawyer gave Emma a squeeze. “My wife was just informing Miles you were thinking of going into the body burying business together.”
Jenna flipped her curly brown hair. “Heck, yeah. Watch yourself, mate,” she teased Miles. She pointed her finger at me. “You should watch yourself too. Brad and I have a surprise for you lovebirds tonight.”
Molly rubbed her hands together while flashing Jenna a conspiratorial grin. “That sounds positively delightful.”
“Oh no, no, no,” I protested. I knew all about their kind of surprises and it always ended up with one of us on their stage doing anything from bad Spice Girls karaoke to kissing strangers. “Miles and I are audience members only tonight.” I snuggled in closer to his side.
Jenna faux laughed. “Famous last words. See you on stage. Love you.” She flitted off to join Brad.
“Is she having a laugh at us?” Miles asked.
I bit my lip. “Maybe. I hope. We can leave if you want.” I didn’t trust Jenna and Brad, at least not in this regard.
“Excellent idea.” Miles started to stand.
Oscar placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. “Not so fast, mate. Believe me, I understand your motivation for privacy at the moment given the beautiful creature by your side, but it’s our last night in town and I have a feeling we will be seeing less and less of you in the future.” He leaned around Miles and reached out to take my hand. “You don’t mind, do you, lovey?”
How could I say no to that? I placed my hand in his and hoped it conveyed that not only did I not mind staying for his and Molly’s sake, but that I hoped we would all be a part of each other’s lives. I wasn’t looking to steal Miles away. Though secretly I hoped he would want to stay in America. At least for a while, or possibly until, you know, Chloe graduated from high school. Then if he wanted to whisk me away to the UK, I would probably be amenable to that. I was getting way ahead of myself. Funny how Miles had that effect on me.
“You do realize the danger you are placing Miles and me in if we stay,” I responded to Oscar lightheartedly, but meant every word. When it came to comedy, my friends took no prisoners.
Oscar patted my hand. “I have no doubt you two will rise to the occasion. Besides, lovey, our chap here,” he let go of my hand and patted Miles on the back, “did a bit of acting during our university days. He was quite smashing.”
I turned my attention toward Miles and tilted my head. “Is that so? What other hidden talents do you have?”
He leaned in and brushed his lips across my cheek. “I would be happy to show you those in private.”
Oh, holy mother. I needed to blow down my blouse.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Molly reached over Oscar and swatted Miles, “you’ve embarrassed the lass.”
Miles’s brows furrowed. “Did I embarrass you, darling?” He sounded worried.
“No, darlin’,” Shelby answered him for me. “She’s not embarrassed, she’s downright twitterpated.”
I whipped my head toward Shelby. “Thank you, Shelby.” The sarcasm ran deep, making everyone laugh.
“Don’t worry about Jenna and Brad,” Emma commented. “It can’t be any worse than the time they pulled me on stage for that made-up sketch to see how Sawyer would react if another guy kissed me.”
Sawyer cleared his throat. “Let’s not talk about that.” Obviously, it bothered him still. I knew it had that night too, by the sour look on his
face. I thought he was going to storm the stage and punch the guy. Yet Emma still hadn’t believed that Sawyer had feelings for her.
I wasn’t sure I agreed with Emma’s assessment that it couldn’t be worse than that, but I didn’t get to voice my opinion. It was time for the show to begin.
The house lights lowered while the spotlight for the stage illuminated some of my sneaky best friends.
Miles paid no attention to Brad and Jenna. He pulled me close to him. “Did I embarrass you? That was not my intent.”
I placed my hand on his clean-shaven cheek, touched by his concern for my feelings. “I know that. However, I would like to explore those talents of yours later.”
Miles ran a finger down my cheek. “You are making it very difficult for me to stay.”
I reached up and took his hand. “I already know it will be worth the wait.”
“Aspen,” he said low, “we aren’t waiting anymore.”
I settled against him, safe in his arms. I knew he wasn’t talking about leaving the comedy club early or even about sex. He was referring to living our lives unafraid of making past mistakes. We both knew we’d make mistakes just as much as we knew what we had between us was no mistake.
“All right, all right, all right,” Brad spoke loudly into his mic. The crowd got quiet and we focused our collective attention on the stage. “Who’s ready to get this party started?”
The crowd roared.
Brad flashed a wicked grin at his wife. “Baby, listen to that crowd,” he said more than pleased. “Why don’t you tell them what we have in store for them tonight.”
She swiped the mic from him and nudged him with her hip. “Love to, handsome.”
Jenna glowed in the spotlight. I always admired her curves and confidence. She was showing them off nicely in a denim jumpsuit that only she could pull off.
“Sooo,” she began, “our headliner is running late. I guess now that he’s starred in two movies, he’s feeling a bit full of himself, or . . . maybe his flight was diverted because of bad weather.”
There was a collective groan in the audience.
“No worries though,” Jenna threw me an evil look, “we have an even bigger celebrity in our audience tonight who has graciously volunteered to entertain us while we wait.”
Everyone in the crowd started looking around for the supposed celebrity while I gripped Miles’s leg. I couldn’t believe my friends. Well, I could, but come on, this was our first night out as a couple. My friends should be breaking him in slowly, not shoving him into the fire. Miles, on the other hand, was both pensive, shifting in his seat, while also looking a bit smug being billed as bigger than the comedian/movie star we had all come to see.
The spotlight was directed right at us, blinding us. Brad and Jenna both pointed at Miles.
“Ladies and gents,” Jenna’s voice hitched up a notch, “we give you the one and only New York Times number-one bestselling author and the master of thrillers himself, Taron Taylor.”
The guy behind us shouted, “Dude, no way! His books are so trippy.”
“Stand up,” Jenna instructed Miles.
Miles rubbed his legs before reluctantly standing and giving a wave.
Several females around us ogled him and commented about loving his dance routines on Instagram. A few even squealed like high school girls. Lots of pictures were being taken. Flashes filled the room.
Miles went to sit back down, but Jenna and Brad weren’t done with him or me.
“No, no, no,” Jenna stopped Miles. “Don’t be shy, grab your gorgeous girlfriend and come on up here.”
Several women in the audience sighed in disappointment to find out he was taken. That’s right, ladies, he was all mine.
Miles turned and offered me his hand. “Stage or the exit?” He left it up to me.
“Get on up here, Aspen,” Brad cheered me on.
All our friends began encouraging us, more like taunting us, to get up there.
My teenage self would have gone up in a second, but the mother in me was voting for the exit. My inner voice, however, reminded me that moms could have fun too. Fine. I took Miles’s hand.
He helped me to my feet, and we wended our way down the row and up to the stage. The spotlight and the crowd followed our every move. By the time we reached the stage, my cheeks were burning.
“Don’t they make a beautiful couple?” Jenna asked the crowd.
Lots of cheering ensued.
Miles held our clasped hands up together, playing into it. It was the first time I truly saw Miles for the celebrity he was. Managing his online presence never gave me a full appreciation for his star status. People would have never cheered for so long or so loud if I was with, let’s say, an accountant.
Brad lowered his hands, telling the audience to quiet down so he could speak again. “In honor of our famous guest tonight, we have come up with a very special sketch called Adult Bedtime Stories.”
“Ooooh,” the audience was intrigued.
“Before your minds start taking a trip down the gutter, we will be keeping this PG.” Jenna ruffled my hair.
The audience groaned.
“Okay, PG-13,” Jenna said playfully. That lent to more cheers.
I grimaced while Miles looked me over from head to toe as if he wouldn’t mind acting out a sexy scene. Thankfully, I knew Jenna and Brad were a lot of talk. They tried to keep their shows from being overly crude.
“So here’s how it goes,” Brad turned the attention back to him. “I will be the narrator for our author and hero here.” Brad patted Miles on the back. “And my hot wife will be the voice of our heroine, Aspen. Our victims . . . er . . . participants will have to act out what we say.” Brad turned toward us. “Sound good?” he asked.
Um . . . not even remotely. I raised my hand to object, but Jenna grabbed me while Brad took a hold of Miles. Miles was pulled to one side of the stage while I was practically dragged to the other.
“Please don’t embarrass me,” I begged Jenna.
She patted my cheeks condescendingly. “Never.”
Right.
“You’ll be thanking me, I promise.” She gave me one more pat.
I highly doubted that. I gave Miles an I’m-so-sorry look before Brad started the ridiculous sketch. Miles returned it with a reassuring smile. I had to say it did make me feel better. He always did.
“Once upon a time,” Brad began, “there was a so-so looking Brit.”
The audience snickered at Brad’s big, big lie.
Miles didn’t let it bother him, in fact he faced the audience and spread his arms out so everyone could get a good look at him in his fantastically fitting slacks and button-up, further proving Brad’s assessment wrong.
I didn’t care that every woman was ogling him, just as long as no one threw their panties at him.
Brad stepped in front of Miles and continued. “Our average looking Brit finally got smart and decided to come to the winning side of the pond, otherwise known as America.”
Miles’s frowned. He had some strong opinions about the Revolutionary War. The audience, though, found Brad highly amusing. Laughter rang through the club.
Brad stepped to the side, letting everyone see Miles before giving him a push toward me. “As luck would have it, the Brit met an exponentially better-looking woman than him.”
Jenna gave me a shove toward Miles.
Miles eagerly reached for my hand and pulled me to him, making the crowd say, “Aww.”
“It’s the first thing he’s gotten right all night,” Miles whispered in my ear.
It was sweet he thought so, but I didn’t agree. Miles was probably better looking than anyone I knew.
“But,” Jenna walked toward the center of the stage, “our heroine, while charmed with the debonair Brit—”
Brad pretended to shove a knife in his heart. He wasn’t fond of how physically attracted Jenna was to Miles.
“—she was afraid.” Jenna turned around. “Act afraid,” she inst
ructed me.
Ugh. Fine. I just wanted to get this over with. I turned dramatically from Miles.
Some women in the crowd booed.
“Thankfully, though,” Brad interrupted the booing women, “the Brit knew she was the best thing that was ever going to happen to him, and he fought valiantly for her.”
“It didn’t hurt either,” Jenna added, “that his accent made everything he said sound sexy.” Truer words had never been spoken.
Brad and Jenna waited for Miles to act his part.
Miles did his role justice and swept me off my feet, holding me tight against him.
The crowd loved it. I did too.
I threw my arms around his neck and peered into his beautiful eyes wishing we were doing this in private. Though I had to admit this was kind of fun.
“Ooo la, la,” Jenna fanned herself. “Our heroine could hardly breathe when she found herself in our hero’s arms.” That about summed up how I truly felt.
Brad wagged his brows. “Our hero, on the other hand, was hoping for some heavy breathing between the two.”
Miles’s grin said he agreed.
“Keep it PG-13, babe,” Jenna reminded her husband.
Brad wrapped his arm around Jenna. “Okay, fine, our hero confessed his love before kissing her passionately.”
I felt the entire crowd stare intently at us, waiting for Miles to quote unquote confess his love.
My face turned red while I bit my lip. “You can skip the first part,” I whispered.
Miles leaned in until our noses touched. “What if I don’t want to?”
My heart stopped. What? Did that mean what I thought it meant? He couldn’t, right? We just started dating. Though we did live on the same property and we spent a lot of time together. But love? Were we ready for that? My heart started beating again, this time erratically. Excited about the prospect.
When I didn’t answer—more like couldn’t answer—Miles brushed my lips with his own. “Darling,” he whispered, “I’ve been falling in love with you from the moment we met.”
My Not So Wicked Boss (My Not So Wicked Series Book 3) Page 25
