“Andre said to tell you that everything is set up.” She wrings her hands together nervously. “Max, I know that we don’t know each other, and I know that we started off on the wrong foot. And I totally understand if you don’t want us here. You just have to understand that Matthew is used to protecting her, so it’s hard for him to let go,” she says with tears.
I look at her and then at Allison, who is wiping away a tear. “I have a sister also. Our mother, she’s a drunk. Our father took off when we were kids,” I start out saying as Allison sits next to me and holds my hand. “She got married to not only a drunk but a drug user. When my sister was sixteen he tried to rape her.” I look at Allison, who puts her hand in front of her mouth. “It’s not my story to tell, but she called me and I went there. It was right after the rape charges. I was already skating on thin ice with the Stingers. Well, I went there and I beat him to a pulp, his face all bloodied and broken, my knuckles bleeding and sore. I just couldn’t stop hitting him. The only thing in mind was the sound of Denise’s wails. My mother, who yelled and screamed the whole time, called the cops on me. Doug came, bailed me out, and made sure that Denise was taken care of. From that day, it’s been just the two of us. I have no idea where my mother is or even if she’s alive, but I know that I would have done the same thing Matthew did if Denise went off with someone and eloped.”
“Max,” Parker says from her standing place, “will you make sure that my daughter is happy?”
I nod. “Every single day.”
“Would you do whatever it takes to protect her?” she asks.
“With everything that I have.”
“Do you love her, so much that your heart hurts when you are fighting? Do you love her so much, you would try and give her family a chance to be part of your life? Do you love her?” She stands there, five foot two, back straight, head high, asking me these things.
“With your daughter I can breathe easy. With her, I can smile just because. With her I know what love is.” I look down at Allison. “With her love I know that I can face anything, even the wrath of Matthew and Cooper.”
She is about to say something else when there is another knock at the door. This time Cooper walks in.
“So Karrie is sitting down at the table and has already started eating. I will add she is eating for two, but I’m afraid there will be nothing left if you guys don’t get out there.” Then he looks at the tears on his wife’s face and then at the tears on his daughter’s. “What’s the matter?” he asks as he takes his wife in his arms.
“I’m just asking my son-in-law some questions.” She smiles at her husband. “I’m starving and exhausted. Let’s leave Max to get dressed and go make sure she doesn’t eat all the food.”
They turn to walk out of the room, opening the door, and the sound of Matthew’s voice comes in.
“Dammit, Karrie, I said I was sorry. Stop throwing things at me!” he yells as you hear him say ouch, before the door is closed.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” my wife asks me, as I look down at our hands together.
“It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure,” I answer her.
She leans in and kisses me, her left hand going to my cheek.
“Thank you for loving me and for being something so irresistible,” she says as she leans in and seals it with a kiss.
Epilogue One
Max
Six months later
“You may now kiss the bride.”
I lean down and kiss my wife again, for the second time in my life. The shouts and cheering is very different than when we first did it. When I let go of her face, I see our family and friends—okay, more her family than mine—gathered in the backyard of my in-laws’ New Long Island mansion. I just have Denise, who stands next to me as my best man. She agreed to be the best man, but drew the line at wearing a tux. Instead, she stands next to me with tears rolling down her face wearing a strapless champagne dress. She looks beautiful, but not as beautiful as my wife as she stands beside me wearing another dress, this one picked out with her mother. It’s not as beautiful as her original dress, but she is still the most beautiful bride ever. This time her dress shines more. A soft breeze blows her veil back as we walk down the outdoor aisle, nodding to everyone as we pass them.
My mother-in-law beams with Cooper next to her. She got her wish. She planned the wedding that she has always dreamed of. Cooper got to walk his daughter down the aisle, even joking when they asked who gives this woman to be wed and he said “her mother, brother, and me.”
When we got back from Vegas the dust settled. Well, most of it did. Phil still got a kick out of pointing out to Matthew that it happened right under his nose. Which usually got me a glare and a grunt. Did my brother-in-law and I get along? Well, let’s say that we tolerate each other.
Allison finally moved all her stuff out of the brownstone and now it’s all over our loft, which I have to say I fucking love. Our pictures are also scattered around. We travel together and sleep in the same room now, which makes me happier than I can put into words.
“You happy, angel?” I ask as we get to the walkway leading to the big white tents that are set up for the reception. The ceremony was only fifty people, those closest to us. The reception, however, is five hundred of our closest friends and family. I tried to have them cut the list just a bit, but when Copper started puffing up his chest with my first daughter is getting married it’s a celebration and then my mother-in-law with the fake tears, you made her elope, I threw my hands up in defeat, not caring who they invited.
“Every day with you I’m happy,” she says as she kisses me.
We follow the pathway to the reception area, which is lit by jars of candles. The tent has a veil all over the tented roof with lights strung all up. Long tables fill up most of the yard with white linen cloths and gold chairs. Soft light pink and champagne flowers are all around.
“My mother went a touch overboard.” She grabs a champagne flute from a passing waiter.
I shake my head and by the time we look around it’s almost the end of the night. I stand next to my wife as she takes the microphone, tapping it to make sure it works. My hand is around her waist as I hold her hip in my hand.
“We just want to thank you all for coming and helping us celebrate our wedding. Well, second wedding,” she jokes as I lean in and kiss her neck. “I know we said we didn’t want to do certain traditional things, but there is one tradition that I can’t not do. And that is the father daughter dance. Where is my father?” my wife asks as she looks around. “Dad?” she asks as she spots him. “Come up here.”
Cooper stands up, coming to us as she hands me the mic and nods to the DJ, who starts to put on the song “Butterfly Kisses” as my wife dances with the man she calls dad. Her real dad didn’t bother getting an invitation, this after he called her after news of our elopement hit the media. He was less than pleased that she was irresponsible for all of her actions. The only thing my wife said was fuck you after hanging up on him and blocking his number. I watch as he hugs her and they sway. At the end of the song, she leans up to give him butterfly kisses on his cheek.
The dancing goes on till the wee hours of the night. Now here we are in the car, making our way to the house in the woods. She sleeps most of the way there, curled on the seat as my hand reaches across the console.
Once we finally get there and unload ther car, we sit on the dock, watching the water stream down.
“It’s so peaceful,” she says from her Adirondack chair. She looks over at me. “It’s perfect.” She gets up, coming to my chair, and sitting on top of my lap.
I wrap my arms around her, kissing the top of her head, and she buries her head in my neck and we watch the sun set.
Epilogue Two
Allison
Five Years later
“I don’t wanna go to Gramma and Granpa, I wanna stay and fish,” my three-year-old blue-eyed monster Michael tells me.
I smile at him and lean i
n, kissing him. “But they are excited to see you,” I tell him, as he crosses his little arms across his chest and pouts. Yup, just like his father.
Michael sits in his car seat as I wait for his father to come to the car.
“Max,” I yell, “let’s go, please.”
I look up at the house and see my husband coming down the steps with my baby girl Alexandria in his arms, her tiny pigtails slanted on one side, her gummy smile looking up at her father. She has him wrapped around her tiny little finger and she’s only ten months.
“Dada, Dada, Dada,” it’s also the only thing she says. Even though I carried and breast fed, he’s the star of her show.
“Let’s go, my little princess,” he says as he opens the door and puts her in her seat, bending down to blow bubbles into her neck as she giggles. He closes the car door, wrapping his arms around my waist, bringing his lips down to mine, and then slowly trails kisses to my cheek and then down to my neck. He groans as I push him away from me.
“No,” I say, smiling. “That’s what you get when you bring your daughter in the bed with us, blue balls.” I open my door, getting in, and watch him walk around, opening his door and getting in.
“She was crying,” he says as he turns the car on and starts driving while he looks into his rearview mirror, smiling at his son, who looks exactly like him. He sees Alex from the mirror he has placed in front of her as she tries to eat her toes.
“She was playing you. That wasn’t a cry, it was a whimper,” I tell him as he looks over.
“She’s teething, you said so yourself,” he says as I look out at the window, leaving our summer home behind as we gear up for the next year. After we got married, Doug presented him with another five-year contract. It’s Max’s last year, or so he says. Somehow I don’t believe him, but I will support him for however long he wants to do it.
The same time he gave Max his contracted he offered me the same one. It was a no-brainer for me until I got pregnant and had Michael. Max and I both decided that it would be too hectic for the baby with all the traveling and I didn’t want to leave him anyways. So I was now a stay at home mom, and I love every single second of it.
Training my replacement however was more fun than I care to admit, Olivier came highly recommended and let me tell you he was over the top.
We make it home a little after seven, having to stop more times than we would like with the kids. I get out, stretching my legs. I look at our home that we bought in Long Island. Gone is the loft. Well, not gone. Denise lives there now, but with the kids, we wanted—or Max wanted—a huge yard, so they can run and play, so we settled on a six-bedroom house. I shake my head as I open the door to get my baby girl out, who smiles at me as she reaches out her arms to me.
“Hi, princess,” I say as I put her on my hip.
She is content till she sees her father walk around the car and lunges for him. He catches her and throws her hands in the air.
“There’s my girls.” He tosses her in the air, catching her as she laughs.
We don’t make it far before Mom and Dad get here and honk the horn. “Gammy, Gampy,” Michael says as he runs to them, Cooper squatting down as he grabs him and tosses him up.
“You got so big,” my mother says as she gets to Cooper’s side and he puts Michael sideways so my mother can plant him with kisses.
“No more,” Michael begs as they walk to us and my mother sees Alex.
“There is my favorite baby girl.” She tries to get Alex, who hides her hands in her chest as she lies on her father, hiding in his neck. “Well, I see she hasn’t lost her love for dad.” She laughs as she kisses Max on the cheek. “Hey, son.” It didn’t take my mother long to fall in love with Max, and as soon as Matthew and Cooper saw that she accepted him, it was a little easier convincing them.
“Come see Mommy,” I tell Alex while I try and grab her. “So Daddy can bring in the things.”
She grunts out her displeasure in leaving her father. “Dada, Dada, Dada.”
I roll my eyes as I carry my whiny daughter inside the house as the boys unload the car. I place her down in the family room as she crawls over to her toys that she hasn’t seen in a while. She puts everything in her mouth.
“You look like you lost weight. Are you okay?” my mother asks and I just nod.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It was a hectic summer. Alex was all over the place. I spent half the time running after her,” I explain to her as the front door swings open and Michael runs in.
“Uncle Matthew is here with Auntie Karrie,” he says as Matthew walks in with Karrie following behind him as the kids around them, all going to see Alex in the room, who shakes her hands up and down in excitement seeing all the kids.
“We brought pizza,” he says as he puts down the five pizza boxes he is holding on the island as Karrie smiles and places paper plates she is carrying beside them.
“Welcome home. Nothing says welcome home like twenty people showing up, right?” She looks at Matthew, who rolls his eyes.
“I wanted to come and see my niece and nephew. Kiss me,” he says as he walks into the room, picking up Alex, who grabs his face, pinching him as he tosses her in the air, blowing bubbles on her stomach.
“You look just like your mommy.”
She laughs, not understanding what he says, so she counters with, “Dada, Dada, Dada.”
“I look like my dad,” Michael says from beside him as Matthew looks down at him, putting Alex back on the floor and taking Michael, tossing him up.
“You may look like your dad, but you’re all Grant inside.”
“Horton,” Max says as he comes into the room. “Ignore your uncle. His old age is getting to him.”
I see Matthew whisper fuck you to him.
“You’re older than me.”
“Your sister keeps me young.” He winks at him and then Matthew throws his head back, groaning.
“Sick, sick, sick.” Then he turns back to Michael. “Did you practice your stick handling while you were gone?”
Michael shakes his head. “We went fishing.”
“Okay, fine, but tomorrow you come over and we can play hockey.” He puts him down, coming into the kitchen, grabbing a plate, and putting pizza inside.
“Did you get the e-mail Oliver sent everyone?” Matthew asks while chewing his pizza, “he is insane.”
“Why?” I ask as I cut a tiny piece of pizza and give Alex some as she sings da da da da.
“For the Horton Grant Pediatric foundation picture, he wants us all to be in our tux suits, with no pants.” Max tells me, leaning over and kissing Alex.
I laugh at the thought, “I mean it might be really really good.”
“You know some of the guys cover their junk when he comes in the room right.” Matthew says, “when you came in they would stand up and lift a leg to have it hang, meanwhile now they just cover it. It’s hilarious.”
Our quiet night becomes a welcome back party as everyone drops by. Even Zoe and Zara, who come in with candy for the kids. Luckily, I intercept it before they can give it to them. By the time everyone leaves, Michael is dragging his feet to his bed and Alex sleeps on her father’s shoulder, her hands under her. He places her in the crib as she fusses a bit.
“It’s okay, princess, Daddy is here.” He taps her bottom as she falls back to sleep.
I tuck Michael in as Max comes into the room, kissing him goodnight as he turns on his side and falls asleep before we walk out the door.
“You tired, angel?” He throws his arm around my shoulder and my stomach still gets butterflies.
I turn up, looking at him, the best thing to ever happen to me. The best thing that I could ever have wished for. My prince. Or now as he calls himself the king.
“What do you have in mind?” I ask as my hands already slide up his shirt.
He moans out as he picks me up and my legs wrap around him. “I was thinking a nice long shower.” He kisses my neck as his hands squeeze my ass. “A little back rub after that.
” He closes the door behind us and goes to the monitors, turning them both on in case the kids get up. He is the best father in the world. “So what do you think?”
“That plan sounds so irresistible, just like you.” I lean down, kissing him, thinking that no matter how much we fought it, it would have always ended up like this. I would have always been his wife.
It was just something so irresistible.
Books By Natasha Madison
Something Series
Something So Right
Something So Perfect
Something So Irresistible
Tempt Series
Tempt The Boss
Tempt The Playboy
Tempt The Neighbor – 2018
Heaven & Hell Series
Hell and Back
Pieces of Heaven
True Love Series
Pefrect Love Story – March 2018
Unexpected Love Story – April 2018
Broken Love Story – May/June 2018
Novellas
Cheeky
Until Brandon –April 2018
Madison Rose Books
Only His
Start at the beginning
Something So Right
Prologue
Giddy like a kid in a candy store, I skip up the front steps of the house. I haven’t seen him since he skated off the ice this morning and left me squirming in the locker room. Who knew dirty talk could be downright titillating? This girl right here, that’s who.
I should just walk in like I normally do, but the door is locked, so I ring the doorbell, glancing around at the other houses. It’s so peaceful this time of day. Families getting ready to either go to the big football game or making dinner. The sound of footsteps draws my attention back to the door, with the goofiest smile I’ve ever had.
“Hey—” The words die in my throat as I see a blond girl with legs all the way up to her throat wearing the same T-shirt he had on today. This can’t be happening. Heart pounding to an erratic rhythm, all the blood must have rushed to my head because I’m suddenly hot.
Something So Irresistible (Something So Series Book 3) Page 23
