by AE Jones
Lorinda’s Wedding Tip: After all the wedding anxiety and hoopla die down, the bride and groom will realize that the real excitement is yet to come.
Epilogue
It had been one day, two hours and twenty-three minutes since Alex had said ‘I do’. And she was blissfully happy; as in dopey smile, birds singing, death-by-chocolate happy. Up until an hour ago, Devin had not been out of reach, which she had taken advantage of—repeatedly.
Now her husband was running her a bath as she lay on the bed like a pampered princess. She closed her eyes and sighed.
“Don’t fall back to sleep, babe. Your bath is ready. The water will get cold.”
She sat up and smiled at him.
“What?”
“You called me babe. That’s the first nickname you’ve used for me.”
He sat down next to her. “Yep. I’m trying it out. What do you think?”
“I like it.”
“You got any in mind for me?”
“Oh, I’ve had nicknames for you since the day I met you.”
His eyebrows raised. “Like what?”
She chuckled. “Mr. Cocky Pants.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Then there was Mr. Bossy Pants, and Mr. Cranky Pants.”
He grabbed her arms and she squealed while he pinned her to the bed.
“So you’ve wanted me from the beginning.”
She giggled. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“There’s a common denominator in all those nicknames. Pants.” He waggled his eyebrows. “You’ve been in therapy for a while now, sweetheart, do I have to explain a Freudian slip to you?”
Her giggle graduated to a full-blown laugh. “Of all the egotistical—”
He interrupted her with a kiss. “More proof. Ego…swelled head…”
She placed her fingers over his lips. “Enough! It’s a good thing I love you.”
His eyes began to glow. “It’s a very good thing.”
He kissed her neck and nibbled behind her ear and the bath was forgotten.
An hour later, she finally shooed him down to the hotel’s restaurant to find her some ice cream. Sure, they could have ordered room service, but she wanted to take a bath. So she drained the cold water and started over again. If he’d stayed upstairs she would not have been alone in the tub. While that sent her imagination into overdrive, she needed a couple minutes to regroup. And she needed ice cream. Peanut butter fudge swirl, if they had it.
She leaned back in the tub and closed her eyes as the warm water enveloped her. This was their last night at the hotel. Next they would drive along the coast. Next stop, Santa Monica, and an intimate little beach house courtesy of Sydney Thompson. She had invited them to stay in her summer home, and Alex was looking forward to it.
Both she and Devin needed some time to relax. The weeks leading up to the wedding had been crazy, and Sheila had kept her on a strenuous workout routine so she would fit into her wedding dress. Alex smiled to herself. Who would have thought Sheila was such a drill sergeant? She cringed at the memory of Sheila’s spin classes.
As she giggled to herself, a bright light flashed behind her eyes. She gasped and jerked upright, water sloshing over the side of the tub onto the floor.
* * *
Devin walked into the hotel suite. Where was Alex? He set the pint of ice cream on the table. Maybe she was still in the tub. He had tried to give her a little extra time for her bath, but it was hard right now being away from her. “Alex?”
“In here.”
He opened the bedroom door and frowned. Their suitcases were sitting on the bed, and Alex was jamming the last of their clothes inside.
“Baby, we don’t have to check out until eleven tomorrow, what’s the rush?”
Alex tossed her toiletry bag into her suitcase. “We have to go home.”
“Why?”
She avoided his gaze. “We just do.”
Devin reached for her and grabbed her hands, pulling her toward the bed. “Sit down and tell me what’s wrong.”
She hesitated. “I had a faery thing happen, or at least I think it was a faery thing.”
His stomach tightened. “What do you mean?”
“I was thinking about Sheila, and then for a second I was in her head or something.” Alex looked up at him, her eyes wide with worry. “She’s in some kind of trouble.”
“Did you read her thoughts?”
Alex’s forehead wrinkled in concentration. “Not what she was thinking, exactly. More like words or flashes of ideas. Mostly it was what she was feeling. She is really upset and scared. I tried to call her, but she isn’t answering her phone.”
Devin let go of one of her hands and reached for his cell. “I’ll call Charlie and have him check on her.”
He dialed the phone and it did nothing. “That’s weird. It won’t ring through.”
“I knew Charlie was involved in this.”
“How?”
“Because, besides being scared, Sheila is pissed, and I get the feeling that Charlie is somehow connected to whatever is happening.”
“Great. I’m going to kick that sea nymph’s ass when I get ahold of him.”
Alex smiled and rested her hand on the side of his face. “You can do that after we know they’re okay.” She stood. “If we leave now, we’ll be home by tomorrow morning.”
Devin stopped himself from groaning. “Okay, but they are both going to owe us for interrupting our honeymoon.”
Alex’s eyes softened and she bit her lip. “Don’t worry, the honeymoon is far from over.”
This time he couldn’t hold back the groan. If Charlie and Sheila weren’t already in trouble, once he got his hands on them, they would be.
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The next book, if you haven’t already guessed, will be about Sheila and Charlie’s relationship. Think Hatfields and McCoys with a supernatural twist!
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If you haven’t had a chance to read my Mind Sweeper series about a feisty woman with the ability to erase memories and the merry band of supernaturals who work with her, please see the series list on the following page. I will also be writing more stories about other characters in the Mind Sweeper world, so stay tuned.
Please turn the page to find a list of my other books and to read an excerpt of From This Fae Forward.
Books by AE Jones
Paranormal Wedding Planner Series
In Sickness and in Elf – Book 1
From this Fae Forward – Book 2
To Have and To Howl – Book 3
For Better or For Wolf – Book 4 (coming soon)
Mind Sweeper Series
Mind Sweeper – Book 1
The Fledgling – Book 2 (A Mind Sweeper Novella)
Shifter Wars – Book 3
The Pursuit – Book 4 (A Mind Sweeper Novella)
Sentinel Lost – Book 5
Mind Sweeper
Flashback Stories
Forget Me
Protect Me
Trust Me
Find all of AE Jones’s books on Amazon or visit her website.
Excerpt
From this Fae Forward
by AE Jones
A healthy bride…
is a happy bride.
Chapter 1
She was late! Sheila checked her watch again as she jogged down the hall. She was supposed to be participating in a conference call with a new bridal client, and if she didn’t hustle, she’d have some apologizing to do. She rounded the corner and slammed into her worst nightmare, Charles my-friends-call-me-Charlie Tucker. The last person she wanted to see or touch—sea nymph, mortal enemy, and all-around pain in the butt.
He grabbed her arms to stop her from falling on her bum and looked down at her, one side of his mouth quirking up while his brown eyes danced. “What’s your rush, tree hugger?”
She gritted her teeth. Over the last few months, his offhand comments had gotten more and more annoying. He flirted with anyone in a skirt, but for her he reserved insults. “Tree hugger? Oh, wait, I’m a woodland nymph so that means I hug trees, right? Funny. Now if you’ll excuse me, you’re going to make me late for the meeting.”
“I’m going to make you late?” He smirked. “The call already started.”
Shoot. “Then let me go so I can get in there. I’ve got to talk to the bride about a diet and exercise plan.”
“About that. I came out to find you so that I could give you some advice—”
She frowned. “You’re giving me advice about how to do my job?”
His eyebrows shot up. “Nope, on second thought, no advice from me. Wouldn’t think of it. Let me open the door for you. Don’t know why you’re standing out here talking to me when you’re late.”
A growl started low in her throat, but she covered it by coughing. The oaf brought out the worst in her. She’d almost growled at him. This wasn’t how she handled things. She hadn’t been raised to stoop to his level. But then sea nymphs weren’t known for being classy, were they?
Sheila sat down across from her best friend, Alex, who raised her eyebrows in a where-have-you-been look. Charlie swaggered in and propped himself up against the wall. Sheila ignored her and turned to the head of the table where Lorinda, Alex’s grandmother, spoke into the conference phone. The epitome of sophistication, Lorinda reminded Sheila of a blond Jackie O. She was also the CEO of For Better or For Worse, what Lorinda liked to refer to as the complete paranormal wedding experience.
“Melanie, of course your wishes are paramount,” Lorinda continued on the phone. “Peggy is our head wedding planner, and she will work directly with you to outline a full, personalized wedding portfolio to help you decide between us and the other contenders.”
Peggy rolled her eyes before introducing herself. What was the eye roll for? Apparently Sheila had missed something at the beginning of the call. Were they dealing with a bridezilla already?
Sheila couldn’t help but chuckle at the “new” Peggy sitting next to her. In the past, Peggy had looked like a fifties throwback, with a pageboy and cat’s-eye glasses. Now she’d decided the sixties were more her thing, and she was currently decked out in a short dress and a flip hairdo reminiscent of Carol from The Brady Bunch.
After a few more minutes, Peggy finished up, and Lorinda attempted to close the call before she remembered to introduce Sheila so she could go through her spiel.
Melanie interrupted Lorinda. “Before we hang up, we spoke earlier about the exercise wing of your business, and your director had not arrived yet.”
Lorinda cleared her throat. “Yes, well…”
“Hello, Melanie, my name is Sheila. I apologize for coming in late. I’m the fitness director here at the company.”
Peggy made a slashing motion over her throat.
“Oh, good, “Melanie continued. “I want to talk about an exercise plan. I understand you work one-on-one with the brides. I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”
“Well, thank you,” Sheila replied.
“I’m sure you can help me look my best in time for my wedding.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
Peggy shook her head firmly. Sheila glanced at Alex, who shrugged, as if she was as clueless as Sheila.
“Great! None of the other companies I’ve spoken to have been helpful at all. I’ll be in town in a couple weeks, and we can meet live then. We’ll have to plan nighttime classes, of course, since I can’t come out during the day.”
Peggy sat up straighter and held two fingers up to her mouth, impersonating fangs.
Melanie was a vampire? Oh, Holy Fates, what had she just signed up for? She glanced at Charlie, who grinned wickedly back at her. Was that what he’d tried to tell her in the hall?
“Yes, well. We, um, yes—”
Lorinda interrupted Sheila. “Thank you, Melanie, for meeting with us today. We’ll pull together a portfolio to help you decide whether you’d like to sign on with us for our complete paranormal wedding experience.”
Melanie gushed about how excited she was before ending the call.
Sheila dropped her head into her hands.
“Way to go,” Peggy groaned.
Sheila sat up and glared at her. “You couldn’t warn me ahead of time? You wait and do the finger fangs after I introduce myself?”
“I had Charlie come out to warn you.”
Crap. There would be no living this down any time soon.
Charlie chuckled. “I guess you don’t need me to talk about security for the wedding. Unless you want me to plan something to protect the bride from us. I’ll leave you ladies to your conversation.” Charlie reached up and tipped the brim of an imaginary hat to Lorinda, and then winked at Sheila before leaving. Winked! What a show-off.
Sheila frowned at the moony faces of the women around the table as they watched him leave. What exactly was so great about Charles Tucker? Sure, she had to grudgingly admit he wasn’t half bad looking, and he was tall. She was tall herself, and there weren’t a lot of men she got to look up to. But he was like an overgrown child. His blond hair needed a cut, and his perpetual five-o’clock shadow was simply annoying. And of course there was the fact that his people and her people had been enemies for hundreds of years.
“I’m still too new to this whole supernatural world, so would someone please tell me what the heck just happened?” Alex asked.
Lorinda sighed. “When a vampire is turned, they stop aging. But it’s more than that. They remain exactly the same. The same body shape, the same weight. There is no diet and exercise plan that will help this bride lose weight.”
Alex’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ for a moment before she spoke. “And she doesn’t realize this?”
“She’s in denial, dear,” Lorinda replied, “and unfortunately, she now believes Sheila can help her.”
“Because I just fed into her delusion,” Sheila said.
Alex spoke up. “Wow, this is something that Dr. Jennings would find fascinating.”
“You can’t tell your psychiatrist about this, Alex,” Lorinda said.
“I know. I didn’t tell her I’m a faery, and I sure won’t tell her about this. But she would be a great resource. So I guess that means Melanie would fall under my counseling job here at the company. Do you want me to talk to the bride?”
Sheila chimed in. “When exactly are you going to do that, Alex? Your wedding is on Saturday. You’re marrying the elf of your dreams. I don’t know why you’re even working today.”
Alex shrugged. “Where else would I be? Any last-minute plans are being handled here anyway. It doesn’t make sense to sit at home.”
“Don’t you have to meet with the Tribunal or something? It isn’t every day a faery and elf get married.” And that was an understatement. Alex and Devin were the first-ever cross-species couple to receive the Tribunal’s blessing to marry. And Sheila was so happy for her friend. She deserved the perfe
ct wedding, especially after Alex’s first fiancé, Steve the Schmuck, left her at the altar.
If only Sheila’s own fiancé had left her at the altar four years ago. Then she wouldn’t have had to deal with his cheating and their subsequent divorce. He was lucky she’d kept her nymph powers in check and hadn’t severed more than their marriage when she found him in bed with his masseuse. But that wasn’t how she handled things. And now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past. Humiliation and failure were two things she couldn’t—wouldn’t—tolerate again.
Now was the time for new beginnings, for Alex, and hopefully for Shelia as well. She dismissed the unpleasant memories and got on with her busy day.
Sheila paced her office, trying to figure out what the heck she was going to tell Melanie in a few weeks, when she noticed her phone blinking. She had a text message from a number she didn’t recognize. She almost deleted it, but for some reason, the little voice inside her head told her to look at it.
So much for listening to her little voice. It was junk. The words didn’t make sense. Her finger hovered over the trash can icon, but a second later, she jerked her hand away from the screen. The words did make sense. They made sense to a young girl who had made up a special language with her best friend. A language that only the two of them knew, and had used to share their angsty, pre-teen secrets.
Alyssa.
She hadn’t heard from her in years. Memories flooded her—a sister by choice, not by blood, but still the only real family Sheila had after her mother died. Why was she contacting her? Alyssa risked banishment from their people for even acknowledging Sheila existed.
