Standing opposite the men, were the women of the party—Luca’s wife, Olivia; Jenna’s close friend, Diane; and Max’s mum whose face was partially obscured by a handkerchief as she dabbed at her eyes.
Unlike her forced race down the aisle at Stow-on-the-Wold, this time Jenna’s journey was too slow. Every impulse urged her to release her hold on Max’s father’s arm. She wanted to run to Max as fast as her pregnancy would allow and throw herself into his arms. Every step took way too long because she was dying to reach him and tell him the secret she’d been keeping since she’d awakened this morning.
‘You look beautiful,’ Max told her when he took her hand from his father.
She smiled up at him then sent the celebrant an apologetic look. Clearing her throat Jenna announced, ‘I’m sorry. I know you’ve all been waiting for this day for many years. I’m going to ask you all to continue to wait. I need to talk to Max before this proceeds any further.’
‘What?’ Luca and Nick said in unison as Max’s father stiffened and the women all gasped.
‘I promise we’ll be back soon.’
‘Jenna?’ Max looked as though she’d king-hit him.
How she was able to keep a poker face, she’d never know. She tugged at his hand to pull him with her as she walked out of earshot of everyone gathered and over to stand under a nearby tree. This first part of their wedding was going to be private.
‘What’s wrong, Jen?’
Taking pity on him, she allowed her joy to show in her face. ‘Nothing. Before we exchange our vows, I have some exciting news and I wanted you to be the first to know.’
Relief was evident in the long release of his breath. ‘Thank God you’re still going to marry me.’
Jenna laughed a little at his expression and teased, ‘Ha! If I caused you any grief, we’re even now for you making sure I fell in the lake when you took me rowing on my birthday!’
‘Uh-oh. You remember that?’
‘Yes, I do. You rat! You set the boat rocking so I’d fall in.’ Jenna laughed. ‘I was in a brand new blouse I’d bought in the hope you’d think I looked pretty in it and might notice me as a potential girlfriend instead of simply a friend who happened to be a girl. It ended up covered in the duck weed as I swam to the edge of the lake and stumbled out a dripping mess.’ She gave him a playful glare and placed her hand over where their child grew. ‘Heaven help us if we’re having a boy and he has your sense of mischief.’
‘He’ll keep us both on our toes.’ His lips twisted in a wry smile. ‘Tell me your news and it better be spectacular for you to have delayed our vows.’
‘I don’t only remember the day on the lake,’ she told him with a huge grin. ‘I remember everything, Max.’
‘Your memory has completely returned?’
‘It has. What Dr Gerber said about blocking out memories because of feeling traumatised or betrayed must’ve been true. I went into the coma feeling like I’d been betrayed by you because of the ownership of Herlstone Park. Now we’ve talked this through and I know your intentions were always honourable, the last block—the block stopping me from remembering details of my personal life—has been removed. I remembered it all when I opened my eyes this morning.’
He hugged her tightly. ‘That’s fantastic news.’
‘I also remember I’m a firm believer in equality.’ Growing more serious she said, ‘Max Bennett, my childhood friend and my one and only love, will you marry me?’
‘I will,’ he told her. ‘Right now. No more delays.’
Her lips spread so widely her face ached. ‘C’mon. Let’s do this!’
There was much relief from those assembled when Jenna and Max stood before the celebrant, facing each other and holding hands. Jenna heard Max’s mum blow her nose a couple of times as they exchanged their vows, but she was aware of little else except a deep happiness to be pledging herself to the man who’d only been a boy when she’d fallen in love with him all those years ago.
‘You may kiss the bride.’
‘Ah,’ Max murmured loud enough for Jenna’s ears only, ‘I’ve been waiting for this.’
‘Me too. Just as well my lips are healed.’
He leant forward and his lips hovered over hers.
She closed her eyes, wanting to focus on their kiss. Her lips parted and she rose slightly on her tiptoes.
‘Hey, Jenna?’
Her eyelids snapped open. ‘Yes?’
‘I love you.’
‘I love you too, Max. Now please, kiss me.’
Epilogue
Jenna glanced at the bedside clock through bleary eyes. Oh, Lord. Three a.m.
‘Stay there, I’ll get him.’ Max was out of bed and on his way to fetch their son before Jenna had even moved.
A few seconds later, as she hauled herself up against the pillows and reached for the glass of water on her bedside table, she heard her husband crooning to their son through the baby monitor.
‘Hey, little guy, Daddy’s here. Are you hungry?’
Jenna smiled as she heard the love in Max’s deep tones.
Three weeks ago, after a thirty-six hour labour and at a healthy eight-and-a-half pounds, Jackson had finally made his way into the world screaming. Max had been her rock once again through the labour and delivery, loving and encouraging her.
‘Better change your tail end before we take you into Mummy.’
What a guy!
Jenna was in awe of her husband’s seemingly endless supply of energy and the way he still managed to keep his finger on the pulse with his businesses even while he was there for her. Since Jackson’s birth she’d been exhausted from night after night of disrupted sleep. Tonight she felt even worse after having sat around most of the day in a court room waiting to testify against her step-brother, his wife and the man she’d come way too close to marrying.
The court case had attracted a ridiculous amount of media attention. There’d been even more publicity when Jenna had testified in the court case about Midnight Blue. Because of their combined wealth, and the degree of publicity they’d attracted due to the court case, Max had decided the security personnel were to be a permanent fixture in their lives.
‘Here’s our boy, Mummy. He’s ready for a feed.’
The sight of Max naked from the waist up always made Jenna’s mouth dry. The image of her strong husband cradling their tiny baby protectively against his bare chest was a vision she etched into her mind. Every memory was even more precious now she’d experienced memory loss.
Holding out her arms to take Jackson, Jenna sent Max an exhausted smile. ‘Thank you for bringing him to me. I feel like I’ve only just finished feeding him.’
‘Why don’t you leave the breaking in of the new colt to someone else today and take things a bit easier?’
Jackson made a cute baby gurgle as Jenna prised his fist away from his mouth and encouraged him to attach to her breast.
‘I think I will.’ Although she’d been trying to keep up with her hands-on role at Herlstone Park, Jenna realised she’d been pushing things too hard. She might be capable but she wasn’t superwoman and she didn’t want to hire a nanny. What she needed was to find a better balance so her health didn’t suffer. ‘I’m entitled to some maternity leave, aren’t I?’
‘Yes.’ Max sat down on the bed next to them and she saw the smile playing around his mouth.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I thought I was challenged in my corporate roles, but the greatest challenge of all is trying to get you to slow down and take things easier without telling you to do it!’
‘Am I that bad?’
His tongue tip clicked against the roof of his mouth as he said, ‘You definitely have micromanaging tendencies.’
‘Not fair! I’ve delegated really well.’
‘Of course you have. That’s why you charged down to the stables the second Jackson was asleep yesterday morning, then scheduled a staff meeting to coincide with his afternoon nap.’
She bit d
own on her lip but couldn’t stop herself from laughing. ‘Okay. I admit it. I’ve got to hand more over to the staff.’
He arched an eyebrow and pointed out, ‘They did cope admirably when you lost your memory.’
‘Right. So, if I don’t back off someone is likely to knock me over the head to try to give me amnesia all over again.’
‘I love that you’re so capable and savvy.’ He reached over and swept an errant strand of hair from her cheek. ‘But I love you as the mother of our child even more. I’ll never get tired of seeing you feeding him.’
Jenna laughed. ‘I loved the picture you presented when you came through the door with him.’
‘He’s going to grow up so quickly. We need to treasure every day.’
With a groan she said, ‘Maybe we could just speed through the night-time feeding routine and fast forward to the point where he sleeps all night?’
‘Hm.’ He leant forward and brushed his lips over hers. ‘But then you’ll be having sleepless nights for an entirely different reason.’
‘You promise?’
‘I do.’ He winked at her. ‘Need another glass of water?’
‘Yes, please.’
Thinking about what Max had said, she knew she needed to back off and hand over more responsibility. If anything, the publicity from the black market ring had brought Herlstone Park even more business.
Midnight Blue was still under contract to the duke, the ring of thieves had been broken and imprisoned. There’d been no question of Jenna being in breach of their breeding contract as—at his own insistence—security had been the duke’s responsibility. Now, the duke was intent on tracking down and acquiring all the colts and fillies that’d been sired illegally by the prize-winning stallion.
Max came back with more water.
Taking it gratefully she asked, ‘What time are your parents arriving?’
‘The first of the delivery trucks are going to roll in right before lunch.’
‘I’m so glad they’ve agreed to move to Herlstone Park to be closer to us.’ They were the most incredibly adoring grandparents. Renovations had proceeded at light speed to convert part of the home to a private apartment for them, rather than putting them further away in a cottage.
‘On our wedding day, your mum told me you’d confided very seriously the first day you’d met me that you’d just met the only girl you’d ever liked.’
Max laughed. ‘I remember. You, in your overalls and wellington boots with those cute Pollyanna plaits, were the only girl who’d ever been able to hold a decent conversation with me.’
‘All over a leggy, newborn foal.’
Jackson made a snuffling little noise at her breast and Max reached a finger down to their son’s hand. For a moment, their baby paused his sucking as he grasped Max’s finger in his tiny hand.
Heart swelling with emotion at the trust and bond between father and son, Jenna reached out her free hand and placed her palm against Max’s cheek. ‘I love you, Max. I always have and I always will.’
He covered her hand with his own and his steel-blue eyes looked deeply into hers. ‘We’ve found our way back to each other time and again, my darling. In this lifetime and the next, never doubt that you are my forever.’
Jenna smiled. ‘I can definitely live with that!’ Life stretched ahead of them and she couldn’t wait to seize each day and enjoy the love they shared. It was fabulous.
Thanks for reading Seduced by the Stranger. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you liked this book, here is my other title in this series, Seduced by the Enemy.
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ISBN: 9781489279361
Title: Seduced by the Stranger
Copyright © 2019 ALYSSA J. MONTGOMERY
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Seduced by the Stranger (Billionaires & Babies, #2) Page 25
