by Layla Hagen
“I don’t want you to promise me that.”
“But I do promise we’ll work through everything together. We’ll be a team, and we’ll make it through every challenge.”
“You’re so romantic,” I whisper.
“I propose in front of the entire country, but you think this is romantic?”
My entire body yearns for him. I need to feel the warmth of his arms around me, his lips on mine.
“Both are romantic, Alex. That was the fairy-tale version. This... this is real.”
“So you’re saying yes?”
“Of course I’m saying yes. Did you plan this? Saying it on TV?”
“Not exactly. You’ve only ever known real love and trust from your family. I think I only realized that last week after the ordeal with the conference. I wanted to do something big so you don’t even have a one percent doubt about how I feel. So when David pushed, I thought, here’s my chance to go all-out.”
I close my eyes, smiling from ear to ear. How can he know I needed that? Even I didn’t know it. “Alex, I wish you were here so I could snuggle the living daylights out of you.”
“Snuggle? I go all-out, and it only earns me a snuggle?”
“I might throw in a kiss or two. I’m not saying where.”
He chuckles softly, then asks, “When would you like to go public? You’ll have a mob out your front door, so I’d rather be there with you.”
“Would it help with the box office if we went public now? Every media outlet is bursting to know. Positive publicity would bring more fans to the ticket counter.” The Bree Shannon premiere is next week.
“That doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll take it as a yes, so I say we go public as soon as possible. I can deal with the press, Alex.”
“Stubborn woman. What am I going to do with you?”
“Well, apparently you want to marry me, so I think you secretly like it.”
“I will not confirm that.”
I grin. “I notice you’re not denying it either.”
“I’ve got to keep a few aces up my sleeve, future wife.”
My grin widens. “It’ll be my pleasure to discover them one by one, future husband.”
***
The next day, I’m on pins and needles as I arrive at my parents’ house. Mom called yesterday after the show and insisted I stop by to spill all the details. My sisters announced they’re joining us too. As is habit in the Bennett clan, it became a big affair, so now the entire family is getting together for some steaks and gossip. When I pull into their yard, I realize everyone else is already here. Whoops, did I remember the time wrong? I’m fairly sure we agreed on one o’clock, and I’m usually not late.
Everyone is milling around the gazebo, where two grills have been set up. When I’m close enough to see who is who, my heart goes pitter-patter. Sophie is here, with her husband and son. My parents are in the gazebo... with Alex.
“Our girl’s here,” Pippa calls as I walk up the steps to the gazebo.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Alex.
Dad pats his shoulder. “Came to do things by the book, ask for your hand.”
Oh my God.
Mom hugs me, kissing my cheek. “You’ve got yourself a great man, baby girl.”
She lets go of me and, together with Dad, walks out into the yard, leaving me and Alex alone in the gazebo.
He steps right in front of me, taking my hands in his, kissing them.
“I wanted to make this special. Surrounded by our families.” He lowers himself on one knee, taking out a small, dark red jewelry box with the Bennett Enterprises logo embossed on it. He opens it to reveal a beautiful white gold ring, with a large princess cut diamond in the center and three small sapphires on either side.
“Summer Bennett, will you be my wife? Will you be mine to love and cherish every day?”
“Yes, yes I will.”
I hear someone sniff behind me as he pushes the ring on my finger, then stands and takes me in his arms, kissing me softly.
“And they were all in on this?” I ask him.
“Yes, we were,” Alice chirps from somewhere behind me. “Well, about today, not the TV thing yesterday.”
“Alex and I have been plotting ever since you returned from LA,” Pippa adds. “But I had to keep the secret.”
“I can’t wait to call you my wife, Summer Bennett,” Alex says. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Alexander Westbrook.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Three months later
Summer
Choosing only one or two flower girls and boys from my nephews would have started a small war, and as such, I had an entire brood of flower kids. Everyone who can walk on their own two feet received a basket. All the girls are wearing princess dresses, and the boys miniature suits. The youngest are still a tiny bit unsteady on their feet, but I figured they’d be walking on sand, so no biggie even if they fell. Not one of them even wobbled on their feet.
They’re still carrying their baskets inside the restaurants, even though their jobs were over once they spewed flowers on the carpet we rolled out on the beach.
Alex and I decided on a destination wedding. After we went public three months ago—Tara Delaware got the exclusive story first—things became a little gaga. On the bright side, the publicity helped Bree Shannon Finds Love #2 rake enough at the box office for the studio to greenlight Alex’s superhero spin-off.
I’ve always wanted a beach wedding, but with all the media attention, we couldn’t do that in San Francisco, or the place would be crawling with paps.
“I still can’t believe we’ve flown everyone to Hawaii,” I say to Alex. We’re sitting at the bride and groom’s table, watching our guests. The room is beautiful, decorated in shades of champagne and gold, with twinkle lights adorning the ceiling.
“I wanted you to have your dream wedding.” He kisses my hand, smiling mischievously. I can’t believe this gorgeous man is my husband. “You’re beautiful, Summer. I love your dress.”
“Thanks.”
I don’t just love my dress. I love, love, love it. Nadine, Logan’s wife, designed it, and it couldn’t be more perfect. She wrote down every single request I had, and I was half expecting her to tell me I’m crazy, but instead, she held up a finger and announced, “I know just what you want.” The result is a stunning mermaid-shaped dress with a lace pattern crisscrossing the skirt. The bodice is asymmetric on one shoulder, made of strips of intricately braided silk and lace.
“I can’t wait to take it off you,” he whispers.
Of course, that’s where he was going with it. Typical. But then again, I’ve been harboring thoughts of tearing that tuxedo off him all evening. Great minds think alike, right? “I can’t wait to make love to you, wife. I can’t wait to love you for the rest of our lives.”
He leans in closer, feathering his lips over mine.
“Remember! Keep the heat level under five,” I say breathily.
“I did a great job at the ceremony, didn’t I?” he counters.
“You did.” He was the perfect gentleman. Decent kiss. Too decent. Too gentlemanly. “And the entire time, I wanted to climb you.”
“Watch it, or I’ll use this as leverage tonight.”
I grin. “Excellent plan, husband.”
The DJ taps the mic, announcing it’s time for my speech. Alex went first, and he charmed the room from the get-go. He didn’t even seem to break a sweat, while my palms are already clammy. I’m not great with speeches, but I want to make one tonight.
“Are you ready?” Alex asks.
“Not one bit.”
“I’ve got you, Summer.”
I stand up, picking up the mic from the table, where Alex put it after his speech, and clear my throat. Yikes. Here goes nothing. I just have one rule. No tears.
“Thank you all for being here today and celebrating with us. I know flying across the country on such short notice wasn’t easy for some of yo
u.”
“Girl, you could’ve gotten married on the moon, and we’d be right next to you,” my brother Blake calls from the table nearest to us.
“First, I want to thank some very important people for making me into the woman I am today. Mom and Dad, you’re the best, seriously. You’ve been our rock, always.” I sweep my gaze to my eldest siblings next. “Sebastian, Logan, and Pippa... growing up, I looked at you for guidance as much as I did to Mom and Dad. I couldn’t have asked for better role models. You have done so much for our family. I don’t know how to repay you, except by meddling into your lives the way a baby sister should. I hope you don’t mind, because I plan to keep doing it.”
Oh shit, I detect glassiness in Pippa’s eyes and feel tears swell in my own. No, no, no. I’m not even half done. I still have to keep it together for a bit.
“Alice, when I was ten and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I used to tell them, I want to be Alice when I grow up. Everyone thought that meant I want to copy your fashion style. But I just wanted to be as kickass as you are.”
Alice is fighting a sniff. Pippa looks up at the ceiling, flaunting her palms in front of her eyes, as if trying to dry them.
“We should have taken the waterproof mascara,” Pippa complains. I think she meant to whisper, but since the room is silent, her words reverberate through the space.
“You girls aren’t wearing waterproof mascara?” I inquire, hoping I’m misunderstanding.
“I thought the risk of turning into raccoons will motivate us to keep it together. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea,” Alice mutters, then draws in a deep breath. Yikes. On I go with my speech. I turn my attention to the first pair of twins.
“Christopher and Max, thank you for teaching me the value of pranks. Life at Casa Bennett would have been dull without them. Never lose your humor. We need the next generations of Bennetts to take after you.”
Lastly, I turn to the younger pair of twins. “Blake and Daniel, you were my partners in crime, but also my silent protectors. Yes, I know all about those times you sabotaged my dates in high school and after I returned from college. I know you thought you were smooth about it, but you really weren’t.”
They flash me sheepish grins, not looking sorry in the slightest.
“Well, thank you for doing it. Every sabotage brought me one step closer to Alex.” I glance at my husband, who stands up the moment I utter his name. “I love you more than I can say. But I’ll be happy to show you every day.”
As everyone starts clapping, I lower the mic, gazing up at him. “I promise to always have a smile for you and to believe in us.”
“We’re going to have a wonderful life, Summer.”
He pulls me in a long, passionate kiss. Heat level?
Though the roof.
Epilogue
One year later
Summer
I can’t stop watching them. I’m half hidden by the doorframe, drinking in this moment of bonding between father and daughter.
Alex sits in the armchair next to Libby’s bed, and our daughter is sleeping soundly on his chest. He sang to her right until her little eyelids closed. For a week, this has been the only way Libby would fall asleep, and we need her to take her morning nap before we leave to go to my parents’ house. I promised myself every day that I wouldn’t spy on their special moment, and every day I failed.
I hold my breath when Alex rises to his feet, returning Libby to her crib.
The day Alex first held Libby, who looked like a red and wrinkled burrito against his enormous body, I fell in love with him all over again. Being on the receiving end of his affection is pure bliss, but watching him with Libby fills me with a different kind of joy altogether. My heart grows in size every time he plays with Libby, or kisses her forehead, or just holds her. I try to duck behind the door, but it’s too late.
“You’ve been spying again,” he says as he pulls me out of the room.
I search my mind for a real excuse, as I have all week—I’ve come up with some stinkers such as “I was just passing,” or “I thought I heard something,” or “I needed something from my room”—then decide to own up to it from the get-go.
“Guilty.” I lifted my arms, lacing them around his neck. “But you both look so adorable! I just can’t help it.”
He brings his hand to my cheek, pressing his thumb on the bow of my upper lip. Then he kisses me there, and when he pulls back, my breath catches.
Sometimes he looks at me with lust, sometimes with tenderness, and sometimes, like now, I see something in his eyes I can’t quite decipher, but it tugs at all my heartstrings. He angles my face up, kissing me deep and hot.
Lowering both hands to my hips, he guides us backward down on the corridor. I chuckle when I realize where he’s taking us.
“I’m already dressed for my parents’ party. What do you think you’re doing?”
“If I get my way, I’ll be making love to my wife in a few minutes. And we both know I always get my way.”
I narrow my eyes, attempt to glare... and fail. I’d point out how smug that assumption is, but he does get his way when it comes to activities of the wicked and hot variety.
It isn’t my fault that the man is hotter than sin though. Or that I grow more susceptible to him as time goes by.
Okay, so maybe that is my fault, but I can’t own up to that, or I’ll never hear the end of it.
I pull him in for another kiss, sighing against his mouth. He makes sure to close the door to our bedroom once we’re inside. “You look beautiful, Summer.”
“It’s a new dress.” Pink chiffon, with a trim bodice and a layered skirt. “I managed to buy it in my old size.” I twirl once and, when I come to a stop, notice Alex has moved closer. He’s right in front of me.
“You’re beautiful in any size, Summer.”
He brings his hand to my belly, caressing it, the way he used to do when Libby was inside. He even made up a song for her, and she kicked the first time when he sang it—even if it was terribly off tune, but I didn’t have the heart to point it out. “Our Libby grew in here. She came out strong and healthy, like you.”
He kisses the tip of my nose, then each of my eyelids. One of his hands goes to the zipper.
Seconds later, my dress is pooling around my feet. Then he spins me around, placing both my hands on the bedpost. He pushes my panties to one side, stroking me until my thighs quiver. Then he slides the panties all the way down, tracing the back of my thigh with his tongue, and I grip the bedpost tighter. My hips arch when he slides inside me, just the head, rubbing it against the tender flesh until I’m out of my mind turned on. He hugs me from behind, flattening my back against his shirt.
“I love you so much. Sometimes I wake up in the night and look at you and still can’t believe you’re mine. I’m the luckiest man on earth.”
“Alex....”
My voice trails away as he pulls out of me, and we move to lie on the bed. He climbs on top of me, loving me fast and deep until I pull at the bedsheet with both hands. He covers my mouth, kissing my sounds of pleasure before giving in to his own release.
“I love you more every day, Summer. How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “It’s the same for me.” I run a hand through his hair, then pull him closer. “I love you so much.”
***
Libby wakes up ten minutes before we’re set to leave. Through a miracle, we actually do make it out the door in time.
Once we’re in the car, I check my phone to see if anyone has written in our family chat group. Considering the sheer number of people in it, I always have to catch up.
My e-mail inbox is hopeless these days. I have no clue how the public got wind of it, but it’s cluttered now.
“Oh, look. I just got the seven hundred and forty-fifth request to post a pic with you and Libby on social media.”
He smiles. “They’ll wear you down eventually, babe.”
“Nope, the two of you are
for me. Just for me. I’m territorial like that.”
“I love that you are.”
I found out I was pregnant with Libby two months after we married and one month after I opened my gallery. We’d planned to wait a while longer before having children, but we were over the moon anyway.
Needless to say, things got a bit out of hand after she was born. Most days I’m still trying to figure out my ass from my elbow. But when Alex looks at me with those molten green eyes and says, “Babe, we’re in this together,” I remember that life isn’t about perfect. It’s about figuring it out together, every step of the way. I don’t know what I would do without him, or my family. My parents hover over Libby every chance they get, and so do Alex’s parents. The desire to be closer to their grandchildren outweighed their fear of Alex’s fame, so they moved to San Francisco a few months ago. They’re working on mending their relationship with their son.
Things are mad at my parents’ house when we arrive, but that’s nothing new. Mom and Dad had to extend the gazebo because it was too tiny for all of us.
Not, of course, that everyone attending today will fit inside. My parents’ wedding anniversary events are usually a crowded affair, but for today’s event, every single adopted Bennett seems to have shown up, as well as all of our cousins. A soccer match is already being planned. Business as usual in the Bennett clan. Mom takes Libby into her arms as soon as she sees us.
“You won’t give her back to me until I have to feed her, right?” I tease.
“You have her all the time,” she coos. Mom is very sweet that way. Whenever a newborn pops into our family, she’s all over the baby.
“That tip for the tummy ache worked like a charm, Mom. Thanks.”
“Anytime, sweetie.”
Alex tucks me into his side as Mom heads with Libby to my dad.
“You know what? I think Libby needs a brother or a sister. Or both, really,” he murmurs.
