The CEO And The Wedding Planner: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 201)

by Flora Ferrari

  But then Mason put his hand on my back and leaned in, whispering softly.

  “You’re doing amazing,” he told me.

  “I’m not doing anything,” I giggled.

  “Exactly,” he smirked. “That’s the point. You’re being yourself. Your beautiful, charismatic, interesting self. Just keep doing that and we’ll be okay.”

  His words gave me the confidence I needed that night, the first time Mason had been out in public since the phone mishap.

  The elevator door beeps and opens onto Gertrude’s apartment, moving boxes stacked everywhere as I walk down the corridor toward the kitchen that overlooks the park, even if the park is several stories below.

  I find Gertrude at the kitchen island, chopping tomatoes for an omelet, which just so happens to be one of my favorite dishes.

  It’s been two weeks since the craziness at the docks.

  Hardhat is in jail awaiting trial – everybody agrees he’s going to get life after the sadistic criminal life he’s led – and Mason’s business is glowing after it was made public the cellphone mishap was the work of a rival company. Now, everything is sparkling brightly, the trajectory of our lives a comet that keeps shooting up, up, up.

  Gertrude is unchanged, though, still the same fierce woman I met when I first walked into the Eternal Bond offices, hoping she’d give me a shot.

  “Morning,” she says. “And may I say how lovely you look in the paper?”

  “Urgh,” I say with a laugh. “I only brought it because I knew you’d want to see it …”

  I trail off when I see that she’s framed the front page and hung it from her wall.

  “Oh, I get it,” I laugh. “You haven’t got time to unpack your clothes but you’ve got time to do that. At least your priorities are in order.”

  She laughs as she chops expertly, shooting me one of her wide grins.

  “Really, Melody, I’m so happy for you. You’re doing an incredible job with Eternal Bond. You’ve found the man of your dreams. Everything is looking up.”

  “I’m still surprised you don’t hate me,” I murmur. “I lied to you, Gertrude. I put you in danger. I could’ve—”

  I bite down when tears threaten to well in my eyes.

  I could’ve gotten you killed.

  Gertrude sets the knife down and walks around the counter, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking at me sternly.

  “Melody, I’ve got something I need to tell you,” she says, her lips serious but her eyes playful.

  “Oh?” I say.

  “Yes,” she says somberly. “You see, I was behind the kidnapping. I asked that man to kidnap me so that your lover boy would feel so guilty that he’d buy me this lovely apartment. I’ve been planning it all along.”

  I giggle and give her a playful shove.

  “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

  “No,” she declares proudly. “And nor will I. Yes, you lied to me, but how could you not? You’ve lived a life where it was necessary. But that’s in the past and now it’s time to look to the future, your future.”

  I look at her closely, at the way her age lines crinkle lovingly, making her look full of character and spirit.

  “Gertrude,” I say. “Why do I have the feeling that you know something I don’t?”

  She tsk’s and returns to her chopping, shaking her head in a none-too-convincing way.

  “Now, dearie, let’s say I do know something. And let’s say it’s something momentous and quite wonderful. What good would come of me spoiling the surprise?”

  “Fair enough,” I say in a bantering tone, laying down the newspaper and leaning forward to get a closer inspection of her definitely-hiding-something face. “But let’s also say that you do know something, and instead of keeping completely quiet, you let me know that you know something but don’t tell me. Isn’t that just plain cruelty?”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

  “Really?”

  She rolls her eyes.

  “No chance, dearie.”

  I give her a mock scowl and then sit down, pouring myself a glass of OJ.

  “Oh, Melody, there is one thing. It’s quite silly, really, considering my age, your age—our ages. It’s just … well, no, it’s really quite silly.”

  “What?” I say, stunned at the way her cheeks are turning red, something I’ve never seen her do, even when the biggest bridezillas in the industry have gone full mayhem on her. “Gertrude? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

  “It’s just I’ve been thinking, well, that I could legally adopt you. You’re already a fierce and beautiful woman. You’re already raised, is what I mean to say. But it would mean something, wouldn’t it?”

  I can’t speak.

  A sob of pure joy escapes me and tears start flowing down my cheeks in irrepressible waves.

  “Really?” I gasp. “You’d really do that?”

  “Of course,” she beams, walking back around and folding me into her arms. “I already consider you a daughter. This just makes it official.”

  I feel like I’m floating in a cocoon of happiness as I sit in the back of the car Mason sent for me, gliding through the city on my way to the Eternal Bond offices.

  I’m not even sure why Mason wants to meet me there. Over the past two weeks, we’ve been working out of temporary offices since there’s been a water leak and we’ve been getting some repairs done.

  I still find it hard to believe that in a matter of weeks I’ve found the man of my dreams and now that Gertrude knows the truth about me, she wants to be closer to me, to be my freaking mother, not push me back to the gutter like I always feared.

  I smile like a loon as I step from the car and walk across the sun-dappled parking lot into the offices.

  “Mason?” I call.

  “Back here,” he says, from deeper into the offices than I knew they went.

  I walk into the back room – the framed wedding photographs watching me – and then through the rear door that has always just led to an alleyway area behind.

  But when I cross the threshold, I instantly know that the offices haven’t been closed for repairs.

  Rather, improvements.

  A luscious garden flourishes, soft grass beneath my feet and trees rising up all around us, our own private paradise. But the thing that really takes my breath away, that causes my heart to pump at the back of my throat and tears to prick and sting my eyes, is the miniature Niagara Falls that rushes soothingly in the corner of this private paradise.

  A sign proclaims Melody’s Falls.

  I approach, the smile on my face so broad I feel my cheeks aching. Mason stands off to one side of the rushing water, his eyes holding the same glimmering quality as the shimmering pool.

  He’s dressed in a silver suit that clings tightly to him, and his jaw is freshly shaven, square and sharp, and strong.

  He’s my man.

  My freaking man.

  And he’s built me my own haven.

  “Wow,” I gasp, turning slowly from the water to him. “Mason, this is just…”

  “What you deserve,” he cuts in, moving forward and enveloping me in his arms. “Less than you deserve. Because you deserve the world, Melody, and for the rest of our lives I’m going to do my best to give it to you. I love you.”

  I gasp and he smiles, letting out a breath of relief.

  “I’ve wanted to say that for a long time. I love you. I love you more than food and wine and business and life. I love you more than words could explain. I love you more than fucking air. The first time I saw you, I knew I loved you, but I had to wait, I had to be ready. Because I wanted to tell you now, here, before I asked you the most important question I’ve ever asked anybody.”

  “I love you,” I whisper, my voice heavy with emotion and breathy as I watch him.

  I watch my man step back and fall to one knee.

  I watch him reach into his jacket pocket and take out a ring box and aim those intense blue-flamed eyes
up at me.

  “Melody Baston,” he says, and we share a private joking glance over my surname.

  Happiness floods me when I realize that we can joke about it because it doesn’t have to hang like a threatening cinderblock over my life anymore.

  “I love you and I can’t wait for us to have children together. I can’t imagine a future without you in it. Will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”

  “Yes,” I squeal, as he opens the ring box to reveal a shimmering, elegant diamond set in a band the same color as his silver-moon hair. “Oh, God, yes. Of course yes, Mason. I love you so freaking much it hurts. I love you so much I could puke.”

  I giggle as he slides the ring on, and then stands up, smirking.

  “Well, don’t puke yet,” he says. “It might make this a little difficult.”

  He leans in and I leap forward with him, needy for the taste of him, not just my man and my partner anymore, but my freaking fiancé.

  “Wait a second,” I say, gasping as I break off the kiss. “Is this why Gertrude was being so coy earlier? Did you ask her blessing?”

  “Of course I did,” he grins. “She’s going to officially be your mother soon, right? What sort of an animal do you think I am?”

  I giggle and wrap my arms around his shoulders, standing on my tiptoes and guiding the kiss myself this time, guiding us toward a crescendo of lust and closeness that feels like it’s never going to stop.

  All this time, I was scared of who I was.

  I was scared nobody would want me.

  But I was wrong.

  And it’s never felt so good.

  EPILOGUE

  TWO WEEKS LATER

  Mason

  I wake to the sound of bacon frying from the kitchen, a soft sizzling that makes my nose wrinkle and fills me with hunger.

  The first thing I do, the first thing I always do, is reach across for Melody so that I can feel the soft curviness of her body.

  But of course, she’s not there.

  She’s the one making the bacon, dumbass.

  I laugh and sit up, rubbing sleep from my eyes and smiling like the happiest man on the planet.

  No, not like the happiest man on the planet.

  I am the goddamned happiest man on the planet.

  These past two weeks with Melody have been like a fever dream, one I never want to wake up from.

  Watching her take the reins of not just Natalie’s wedding but several others, too, has been a sight to behold, as though the confidence from our relationship is spreading like life-giving light to every part of her being.

  It’s the same with me, too, the love she’s given me and which I’ll always give her in return allowing me to savor the little things in my life like I never have before.

  I sit up and pop my neck from side to side, grinning widely as I feel the sex sore points all over my body.

  Then I walk in my boxer briefs through the penthouse apartment, across the wide open-plan living room, and to the kitchen with its sleek shiny metal surfaces.

  My queen is standing at the frying pan, biting her lip, looking like the fuckable goddess she is in a pink tank top and shorts that leave so little to the imagination my manhood tries to spring free from my briefs.

  “Are you trying to drive me insane?” I tease, walking up behind her and sliding my hands up her shirt, over her belly, toward those breasts that are made for squeezing and touching and pleasing.

  But then I pause.

  I feel something in her, a subtle change in her body.

  It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what.

  A tension that wasn’t there before, a nervousness moving through her.

  A scent, almost.

  Something’s different about her.

  “Melody?” I whisper.

  “Hmm?” she says.

  “Why are you acting so strange?” I say, trying for a laugh, but it comes out all hollow. “And why won’t you look at me, eh? Don’t say you’re still angry about the spanking I gave you last night. Because, as I recall, you gave as good as you got.”

  “No,” she giggles, putting the spatula down and turning off the burner.

  She turns and loops her arms around my shoulders and gazes up at me, her face fresh and unburdened with makeup, showing the natural vivacity of her unshielded skin, the genuine beauty of her eyes.

  “I’d never be angry about that,” she says, looking as bright as the sun with her dark hair all tousled from bed. “I’m not angry at all. I just couldn’t sleep and I’m scared if I look at you for too long I’ll just start jumping around like a maniac.”

  I pause.

  I stare.

  My mouth goes dry, and my hopes soar, and for a moment everything goes silent except for the pounding of my glee-filled heart.

  “I took a test, Mason,” she says. “Three tests, in fact. I wanted to be sure. And they were all positive. We’re pregnant, Mason. We’re freaking pregnant!”

  I let out a laugh like a madman and sweep her into my arms, running into the living room as she giggles – yep, like a madwoman – and we spin and spin and spin.

  Happiness blooms between us like a physical force and my love for her gets even deeper and more certain, something I thought impossible. Finally, I put her down and fall to my knees, laying my ear against her belly, clutching tightly onto her thighs, her thick juicy perfect fucking thighs.

  “I can hear them,” I whisper.

  “Don’t be silly,” she laughs, smoothing her hand through my hair. “It’s probably only been a couple of weeks.”

  “I don’t care,” I smile, squeezing her, them, closer to me. “I can hear them, Melody. And they’re telling me you’re going to be the best damn mother in the world.”

  I don’t have to look at her to know that she’s smiling.

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  ONE AND A HALF YEARS LATER

  Melody

  I sit at Gertrude’s side in the ballroom, the dance floor full of laughing, happy people, and the Jazz band playing their hearts out.

  All around the cavernous heavenly room, the servers circulate skillfully, doing their jobs with grace and ease. I find myself scanning the trays to make sure that they’re all clean, adequately filled, pleasingly arranged, until I notice that Gertrude is shooting me just-relax daggers.

  “The planning is over, dearie,” she says, looking dignified and pristinely beautiful in her long pale blue dress, her hair done up in an interwoven pattern inlaid with small beads that enhance the silver. “This is the time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labors. The ceremony went off without a hitch. They’ve had their first dance and nobody fell down. I’d consider this a success.”

  “I can’t wait to see the pictures,” I whisper, unable to stop smiling.

  This is the biggest wedding I’ve planned so far, but not the biggest I mean to plan, no way.

  I’ve got big … well, big plans for the future of Eternal Bond.

  “Yes, that will be nice,” Gertrude agrees. “There’s nothing like framing a moment like this, is there? I still can’t believe you and Mason got married before Natalie, though.”

  I giggle.

  “What the heck were we supposed to do? We just couldn’t wait.”

  I feel a warm glow inside of me, lighting up every part of me when I think about Mason. Even after a year of being together, that glow hasn’t left.

  And then, as if by magic, I turn to find my husband standing there with Lacy in one arm and Jacob in the other. He cradles them close to his chest, whispering soft soothing words, and of course, the little bundles just sleep soundly with his giant strong handsome frame to protect them.

  He looks dashing in his suit, so solid and reliable and mine.

  “See?” he said, grinning warmly. “I told you a little walk around the grounds would work beautifully.”

  “You’re a showoff,” I tease, pouting at him jokingly.

  “If anybody’s a showoff, it’s you,” he says, sitting down ne
xt to me.

  I reach over and take Lacy, rocking her softly and kissing the top of her head, smelling her just-Lacy smell, and then I reach across and nuzzle Jacob’s cheek with my hand so that he knows Mommy loves him too.

  “Oh, really?” I banter. “And how’s that?”

  “Because you did an incredible job with this wedding, that’s how,” he says. “And you’re clearly aiming that sassy-as-hell pout at me so I’ll shower you with compliments. You see, Mrs. Mackendale, I can see right through you.”

  I hug Lacy closer to my chest, feeling her little heartbeat against mine, glad that we’re sitting at the furthest table at the back, where I specially checked it was safe for the children to be noise-wise. I wouldn’t risk them. Not my little bundles. My treasures.

  “So where are they?” I ask.

  “What?” Mason smiles.

  “Don’t play dumb, husband,” I giggle.

  “The compliments, boy,” Gertrude laughs. “She’s asking for the compliments.”

  Mason smiles widely, his eyes flowing with love, his lips proclaiming serene happiness.

  “I don’t have to try very hard to compliment you, Melody. You’re the best person I’ve ever met. You’re smart, funny, loyal, beautiful, talented—”

  “Okay, okay,” I say, cheeks blooming red. “You’re embarrassing me now.”

  He grins and I smile, and then he leans across and kisses me. We pause forehead to forehead, our precious twins between us, a tight ball of happiness as the Jazz music plays in the background, with my adopted mother sitting right there, watching, happy and carefree.

  And just when I think life can’t get any better, I feel it, a subtle twitching in my womb.

  It’s too soon.

  But it’s unmistakable.

  Another life.

  Another slice of happiness.

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  NINE YEAR LATER

  Mason

  “But Dad,” Jacob says, jumping up and down in the computer chair and nodding at the lines and lines of code on the screen. “I don’t understand why it isn’t working. I used all the solutions and everything and it’s still not working.”