9 Ways to Fall in Love

by Caroline Clemmons

  We picked out the dresses for Zoe, Monica and hopefully Bethany, if she agreed to be my maid of honor. They were pale yellow, butter cream halter dresses with silver beading accents at the waist, and a simple straight long skirt. Gretchen found her dress, too, a silver jacket dress with a long skirt, which looked so elegant on her and was something she could definitely wear again. Cooper brought me the silver Christian Louboutin peep toe stilettos.

  “These were calling out to me,” he laughed. When I put them on, it was unanimous that all the ladies would wear them.

  During lunch, I confirmed with both Bethany and Kane that they would be there. I hadn’t seen them in almost a year, so it was going to be a great reunion. Kane let me in on a secret that he was going to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Kaliegh. He’d planned to do it at Christmas, but thought Bora Bora was much more romantic, so he was in the planning stages and mum was the word. It was going to be hard to keep the news quiet. I almost squealed when he told me.

  The wedding countdown had started and it seemed like everything was coming together. It was a fun day, but I was ready to see my husband-to-be without an entourage. Our quiet time had been steamy and I craved him. I caught myself daydreaming about sex with him constantly. But my plans for a quiet evening shifted when the group started making calls to get everyone together for dinner. I conceded, since it was Dad and Gretchen’s last night with us before the wedding. We made reservations at Howard Wang’s Uptown, which was a break in routine but a fun place with really great food that everyone would love.

  I was in the bathroom dressing for dinner when I heard Grayson come in. As long as I lived, I would never tire of hearing “Hi angel, I’m home!”

  He joined me in the bathroom. I’d just put on a pair of jeans and a teal green sweater and was in the process of putting my hair up.

  “So, how was the dress shopping today? Tell me what the dress looks like.” He slid his hand up my sweater and tried his best to tickle me. I gave up my play fight and gave in to his sweet kisses. Before I could stop him, he had my bra undone and had me half-way undressed again.

  “Stop tormenting me! I’ll never tell, you’ll just have to wait. Now behave, or no surprise later.” I tried to tickle him back, but before I knew it, we were on the bed rolling around. Oh, how I love this man. He makes life--my life--complete.

  “How was your day, dear?” I asked between giggles and tickles.

  “Oh, you know, lots of breasts, but none as great as yours!” He winked at me before placing his lips on my taut nipple. I felt a twinge of warmth stir in my sex. I couldn’t think of anything else but my desire for him.

  “Well, maybe there was this one pair...” he teased me.

  “You’d better be teasing, mister! Go, shower time, be back in thirty or we’ll leave you. No dinner, no dessert!”

  “Bossy today, are you? Be right back.” He rolled to get off the bed. I made a final push and managed to shove him to the floor.

  “I give, I give.” He held his hands up in concession, but we were both laughing.

  “I just wanted to tell you something,” he said with such seriousness. I sat up in the bed and waited with anticipation.

  “I can go through anything, as long as you’re the one I see at the finish line.”

  His lips lingered on mine as he kissed me bye. He touched my cheek softly, dragging his finger down my neck before walking away.

  Wow.

  Moments later, my apartment was bursting at the seams with the twins, Monica, Cooper, and Mark. We drove to the restaurant and joined Zoe, Brent, Dad, and Gretchen. I hated that Zoe wasn’t able to go with us to the bridal boutique, but we made plans to go after my appointment with Dr. Stewart. Silently, my mind drifted, just hoping that Dr. Stewart would give me good news and that we were clear to start trying again. Thinking about it made me nervous; I didn’t want to disappoint Grayson. He was very open about wanting to have kids.

  I would’ve been more willing to wait awhile, but I didn’t want to disappoint Grayson and his longing to start a family and reluctant to push him on the issue. What if Dr. Stewart said that we couldn’t have a successful pregnancy? What if there were issues from the gunshots?

  I felt my body tense up and began to shiver, unable to stop even with deep breaths. Grayson had his arm around my waist and he must have felt me shivering. He whispered to me, “You’re shivering. Are you cold?” He looked at me with the most endearing eyes, so vibrantly blue.

  “No, babe, I was thinking about what you said earlier at the apartment.” I whispered back at him and winked. Wow--I’m sure there’s an Academy Award in my future. My act must’ve been convincing, because he grinned an intoxicating smile and mumbled something about dessert.

  The room was full, laughter swirled around us, and it was great to have almost everyone together for a pre-wedding dinner, all but my step-siblings and their significant others. My dad made a toast to family, those that were with us and those that couldn’t be, and it was beautiful. Harrison made a toast to Grayson and me. It was simply heartwarming to see the twins together again without trying to rip each other apart. If there is anything to be grateful for from all the recent events, it happened to be seeing these two together.

  Part way through dinner, Harrison surprised us all by announcing that he was relocating to Dallas to be closer to family and friends. Monica radiated her excitement. I thought they might be in love already. They were quite the attractive and charming couple, both very flirty with each other.

  Dinner was fun, but the time flew by and it was late. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. The tugging feelings that I had when Dad and Gretchen left surprised me. I’d gotten used to seeing them almost every day. It was just comfortable.

  Back at the apartment, we were finally alone and both in a very playful mood.

  “We still have that movie from RedBox. You want me to take it back?” he yelled to me while I was changing.

  Hmm, movie or something else, what to do? I decided to play with him a bit. I ran back into the kitchen and grabbed the chocolate body paint.

  “Go ahead and put it in, I’ll be out in a second.”

  While he put the movie in, I dropped my clothes, held the bottle under the hot water to warm it and painted myself with the chocolate. I loved it so much the first time, an encore performance was due.

  When I walked out into the living room with “Love Me?” painted across my tummy, he was shocked and speechless.

  He strutted across the floor quickly to me with bright, sparkly eyes and a devious grin. He leaned forward and barely breathed on my lips without making contact. When I felt the cold air between us, I sensed that he had moved back without kissing me.

  With my eyes open, he gazed into mine. “I’m yours, forever.”

  He stripped of his clothes and took the chocolate body paint from my hands. I was surprised when he used the chocolate to write “Yes” on his chest.

  With our bodies entangled, I knew that I never wanted to be anywhere else.

  Chapter 6

  “Good morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?” His hand grabbed my ass and pulled me close while he traced the pulse-point on my neck with his tongue. He was grinding his hips to mine, making it difficult to refrain from sex.

  “Um hmm, last night was wonderful. How’d you sleep?” Squirming, I tried to free myself from his morning temptations. I had a full day planned. “Control yourself, Dr. Brooks, you have a very difficult patient scheduled first thing this morning, you can’t be late for work!”

  “You’re my first patient, so if we’re late, no one will mind. Now get over here and snuggle with me for a few more minutes.” I delighted in obliging him, but the minutes went too quickly and soon we were out the door.

  I followed Grayson in to the physicians’ parking garage. As I pulled my Jeep up next to his car, he got out shaking his head. “We’ve gotta do something about your car, Alexandra. It’s past trustworthy, you know that, right?”

  “I know, but
can’t we discuss it later?”

  “Do you know where your title paperwork is?”

  “Fine, it’s filed in my desk. You’re relentless. No time for car shopping right now with the wedding. That’s a discussion for later, babe.” My mind was focused on getting my stitches out and receiving the all clear from Dr. Stewart, because I wanted—no make that needed—intimacy with Grayson in every way. I loved him and craved to be with him, sharing those special moments with him. His touch, his ability to satisfy my needs, the way he always held me after we made love, purely magical for me.

  When we walked into the office, Millie stopped and made a big fuss over me. I hadn’t seen her since everything had happened. She gave me a big hug and just held me. When she released me, she wiped tears from her eyes. “I’m so glad to see you, love. My heart has been heavy with worry about you.”

  “Oh, you’re so sweet. Well see? I’m just fine and have been in great hands with him. We have big plans coming. Speaking of which, has Grayson given you the itinerary for the wedding? You’re still planning to come, aren’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Thank you for inviting me, I’m so excited for you both.”

  “Are you women going to gab all day, or can I get to work?” Grayson tried to play fierce, but we knew he was a softy and we made fun of him when he wasn’t looking.

  He and Zoe carefully removed my stitches and put on some little strips to finish sealing up the incision and wounds, four places all together. My hip looked like a patchwork quilt, but amazingly it was all less noticeable. He assured me that I would barely be able to see them in six months. It was hard to look at them without revisiting the scene. I felt the emotional sting creep into my eyes.

  “Come here, angel.” He held me tightly. His strong arms around me. I loved the smell of him, like clean cotton. “I love you. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  I tried to hide my emotions from Grayson. I didn’t want to worry him. He had been so sweet and caring with me and I wanted him to see how strong I’d become.

  “I love you, too.”

  Millie knocked on the door, “Dr. Brooks, the surgery desk is on the phone needing you. Can you talk to them?”

  “Go ahead, I’m fine. I’ll see you upstairs.”

  On the way up to Dr. Stewart’s office, I prayed for good news. I’d been counseling with Tara every day, and we became very close. She reassured me that everything we’d been doing was completely normal and felt that we were doing all the right things. Her opinion was that the wedding was a big distraction in a positive way for us. It brought our family together and kept Grayson and me focused on our relationship. Secretly, my insides mourned the loss of our baby and my heart was broken in many pieces. Tara was the only one that I confided to about my turmoil and my fears. I didn’t want to be a drag to everyone else. While a broken heart wasn’t visible from the outside, it was there. I would never forget what those horrible people did to me and what was taken from us.

  My appointment at Dr. Stewart’s went well and we were happy with the good news. With hormone levels back to normal, she thought I’d actually miscarried earlier than the shooting. She informed us that we could resume sexual relations if we wanted to, but would have to wait a couple more weeks before we could try to for another baby and she really recommended that we wait until after the first of the year.

  My soon-to-be-husband grumbled about condoms, especially for our honeymoon. He put up a good argument, beating her down, so she agreed that we should be okay if we put off sex until the honeymoon. Grayson gave me a wink and I knew what that meant. Oh, goose bumps. The man already had a plan. He made my heart flutter.

  We went back to the office so that he could finish his work. Zoe joined me for an afternoon at the bridal boutique for her dress fitting.

  “That dress looks amazing on you. You look absolutely beautiful in yellow, Zoe. Let me get your shoes.”

  She gasped when she saw the shoes. “Those are fabulous! I’ll have to practice wearing them so I don’t fall off of ‘em during the ceremony!” she giggled. She loved the dress and the color was a gorgeous pairing with her blonde hair and dark eyes.

  We were having lunch at BreadWinners Café when I could tell she wanted to know about our doctor’s visit. Finally, she just asked. “Alex, did Dr. Stewart have much to say today?”

  “Everything looked fine, and the hormone levels were normal, which Dr. Stewart said was really quick. She thought that maybe we actually lost the baby earlier than the shooting, which makes sense with all the trouble I was having the weeks before.”

  I went over Dr. Stewart’s opinion with Zoe. As we chatted back and forth, I began to realize that Dr. Stewart answered the ultimate question I’d struggled with… nothing I’d done had caused the miscarriage. “Girl, you know how your brother is when he wants his way.” I gave her a quick look while rolling my eyes. She knew how her brother could behave.

  “Brent is ready to try for a baby, but I’m still thinking about it. I’ve stopped my pills, but he’s bitching about condoms. I just haven’t decided on the timing. Maybe we can just share your baby!” We both giggled at the thought.

  We talked over lunch about all the fun things we were going to do at the beach. We stopped by a few stores and I purchased an outfit to wear out that evening. She and Brent were going to join us at a place in Fort Worth for dancing later that night. We had planned something totally different. I don’t do much of that kind of dancing, but Billy Bob’s Texas in the Fort Worth Stockyards had been on my bucket list since moving to Dallas.

  The shop stylist talked me into a Shakuhachi floral high-low sundress topped with a short denim jacket. I added a pair of Old Gringo boots with hearts and wings on them. I was worried that my panties were going to show, not to mention the scars on my leg, but Zoe insisted that they weren’t visible.

  “Grayson is going to melt when he sees your endless legs in that dress.”

  “You’re sure it’s not too short. I feel like my va-jayjay is on display.”

  “Relax, it’s you. He’ll love it.”

  I couldn’t wait to see what Grayson thought of the outfit. We tried to shop for clothes to take to the beach, but November wasn’t the time to find beachwear in Dallas.

  “Looks like I just got my excuse to do some online retail therapy, yippee!” Zoe proclaimed. “I suggest you do the same. You’re not gonna find a bikini anywhere around here at this time of year. Go online.” She laughed.

  “I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo,” I blurted out.

  She dug her heals in. “Does Grayson know that?”

  I shook my head. “I want to get something to remember our baby. I was thinking about a flower and petals across my lower back.”

  “I’ve got one there of angels wings. Something I wanted to do after my mom died. But I think you should talk to Grayson about it.”

  “I tried talking to him about his before. He told me the cross on his bicep is for your mom. He won’t talk to me about the one on his forearm, said it was a long, sad story while he was away in the military. I thought it might be for a buddy that he lost or something.”

  Zoe just stared at me, like she was afraid to say anything at all, finally she laughed. “Well, they hurt like hell back there. I’ll go with you if you want, but I still think you should talk to him about it before you get one.”

  “I will. I better get you back to the office, he’s going to be out of surgery soon.” I dropped her off at work. I found my mind picturing Grayson’s face when I asked his opinion about a tattoo.

  After conference calls and paperwork, I made arrangements for our trip to the San Antonio conference the week after our honeymoon. Grayson had a late day at the office, since he pushed his schedule back for me to take my stitches out and go with me to Dr. Stewart’s. He’s such a gentle physician, not just with me but with all of his patients. It was one of the first things that attracted me to him.

  My mind went back to the first day I was in
his office to meet him. I remembered the raw emotion that he had for his patient that day. He was so torn up about having to give her the news that she had cancer. Later the next week, I got to experience his bedside manner with the patients before we trialed my product in the operating room for the first time. God had blessed me with such a super, caring guy for a husband. How did I ever get so lucky? Thinking about my man made me miss him, so I decided to taunt him a little with a text message.

  Me: Can’t wait to see u later! I picked up this sexy little #, can’t wait for u to see it. Who’s picking up dessert, u or me;)

  Grayson: u dirty little girl, I am!

  When the twins walked in all dressed to go out, I was able to spot which one was mine with no problem. The watch, the smile, the lips on mine, I knew my guy! Especially when I said the word “dessert” and Harrison just looked at me like I wanted a menu!

  “Where’s the rest of the dress?” Grayson cracked at me.

  “All there is, baby. You don’t like it?” I cracked back.

  “I love it, but would prefer having those long legs all to myself. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep my hands in appropriate places while in public,” he teased.

  “Hmm, we’ll see about that mister. I’ll let you show me your moves on the dance floor.” I strutted away from him. When I turned back to look at him, his sexy grin made my stomach catch. I wanted to go out for fun, but I couldn’t wait to be back home to play with him.

  We waited for Monica to finish her photo shoot, which was running late. When she finally arrived, we made our way to Fort Worth to meet up with Zoe and Brent.

  Monica and Zoe tried to teach me this crazy dance to a song called “Wobble” by V.I.C. We danced and acted crazy. I watched Grayson give me those sexy, “come here” eyes as he licked those beautiful red lips. My body quivered. His eyes told me what he had on his brain. When I didn’t leave the floor, he came up behind me, matching my moves. I could feel the happiness in his pants as he rubbed up against me.