by Amy Brent
Everyone in the crowd oohed and awed, making me blush.
“We went through a lot, you and I, but in the end, we came out on top,” he said. “We have a beautiful family and incredible little boy, and you became the mother to my daughter that I had always dreamed of. Every day with you is an adventure, and I love you more every single day. So, I wanted to know, would make me the happiest man on this planet and say yes to becoming my wife?”
My eyes grew huge as he kneeled down and opened up a small black box with a very large diamond inside. My hands flew up to my mouth and immediately tears flooded my eyes, rolling down my cheeks. I walked forward, nodding my head and sobbing in happiness. He reached up, took my shaking hand in his, and kissed it gently. He smiled as I watched him slide the giant diamond ring onto my finger. I shook my head, lifting my hand in the air and staring at the ring. It was absolutely perfect, a bit over the top, but that was how Brandt was when it came to spoiling me rotten. He stood up and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly. I pulled my head back as he leaned in and kissed me passionately, bending me over backward like we were ballroom dancing. He pulled me back up, and I looked deeply into his eyes, laughing happily.
“She said yes!” Sicily yelled, running up and wrapping her arms tightly around my waist.
I bent down and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek. I had gained a husband and a daughter all in one evening, and it was the most perfect day of my life. Sicily put her hands on my cheeks and kissed me, smiling excitedly.
“You are the best mom ever, and now you get to be it for real,” she said, making everyone laugh as they dried their tears.
“That is the real gift,” I said, squeezing her nose.
“I have another surprise for you.” Brandt reached down to help me up.
“Another one? I don’t know if I can handle another one.” I laughed.
“You’ll like this one alone, I promise,” he said, handing me another small black box.
I opened the lid to the box and scrunched my eyebrows together. I reached inside and pulled out a set of keys, immediately recognizing them as my old house keys from Camden. I looked up at Brandt with confusion.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “I left these with the real estate agent for the new buyer a year ago.”
“I know,” he said. “She gave them to me when I signed the papers. I was the anonymous buyer on your house. I bought it so you could go there and visit with the kids anytime you wanted.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said excitedly. “You’re the one who bought my house?”
“Yep.” He chuckled. “And we had the two extra rooms renovated so you have a room for Sicily and a room for Dailen when you go. That way whenever you go home, you feel comfortable, relaxed, and you never have to feel like you’re imposing on anyone. Not that any of your friends or family would feel that way. I loved Camden, and I would love to go there with you as often as we can. We can have our New York home, and we can have our Maine home.”
“Oh, Brandt.” I held the keys to my chest. “I can’t believe you were able to keep this a secret for an entire year. You’re the guy who gave me my birthday present two weeks early because you were so excited about it.”
“I know.” He laughed. “Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Thank you so much,” I said, feeling completely overjoyed.
I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tightly, pulling back and looking into his eyes. He smiled that charming smile at me, and I felt like I melted all over again. The man surprised me at every corner, except now, they were good surprises.
“I love you,” I said, smiling.
“And I love you.”
Brandt kissed me and then reached down and picked Sicily up, bringing her in for a family embrace. She wrapped her arms around both of our necks and squeezed. I looked up at her with a huge grin.
“And I love you, too, Sicily,” I said.
“I love you, too, Mom,” she replied, bringing tears to my eyes.
After all that time, after all the trials, I had finally found the perfect family. I had finally gotten the happily ever after I had dreamed of my whole life.
The End
IT’S NOT OVER YET…THE PARTY HAS JUST STARTED!
Every girl deserves her very special bad boy.
Caroline deserves it too, doesn’t she?
If you loved Brandt and Emma, you are definitely going to love Caroline and Trevor.
Check out their very own super romantic and steamy story ahead.
Read on!
Caroline’s Story
Chapter 1
Caroline
“Yes,” Emma said to Brandt, covering her mouth and crying.
It was so damn sweet. My best friend, Emma, had said yes to the man of her dreams, and now she was going to get married. They had been through so much, between her getting knocked up, a bunch of drama, and her moving to New York City away from all of us in Camden, Maine. I was really happy for her. She was getting her dream life. I, on the other hand, was just happy to be in New York to see Emma’s little boy for his six-month birthday. Love was great, and it was fantastic. If you asked me about it, I would say go for it, but for me, I was satisfied enough traveling around, living my life with no attachments.
My parents had moved me to Camden right after I was born. They owned a real estate empire so big that they no longer had to run the thing. They wanted me to have a “normal” childhood, whatever that was supposed to mean. I was a wanderer, though, and when I turned eighteen and received a big hunk of my trust fund, I set off to see the world. I did it for me, but it kind of turned into a business. I had thousands of Instagram followers, paid sponsorships, and all of it came with pretty cool perks. It was my version of a dream life.
I walked over to the hors d'oeuvres and perused the table, finding the chocolate-covered strawberries. I grabbed a napkin and a glass of champagne and looked around the room. Everyone was so happy, wrapped in their little bubbles of family and warmth. Even Emma’s and my good friend, Gillian, was cuddled up to her boyfriend, dreaming about babies and marriage. I was dreaming about Hawaii and the warm surf they were having. I glanced over at the large glass windows that overlooked the city and realized there was a balcony. I scooted past the others and made my way out there. It was the end of May in New York, and it was a lot warmer there than in Maine. I smiled, shutting the door behind me and taking in the gorgeous cityscape outside of Brandt’s penthouse apartment in the middle of the city. It was the best view I had seen so far.
“Chocolate covered strawberries are my favorite,” a voice said from behind me. “I remember you.”
I turned around, not realizing there was someone else on the balcony until he’d spoken. In the chair with his feet propped up was Trevor, Brandt’s best friend, and his vice president at Cogent Technologies. I remembered him too. He had hit on me Valentine’s Day the year before. He was so handsome with his slicked-back dark hair, strong muscles, and bright green eyes. At the same time, I could clearly remember him being incredibly arrogant, which was what had made me turn him down the first time.
“It’s really beautiful out here,” he said. “It’s a good place to clear your head, you know? Think about life.”
I tilted my head at him, noticing that he seemed different this time, more real. I smiled and walked over, sitting next to him in the chair. I had nothing else going on at that moment, so I figured why not pass the time talking to an incredibly handsome man?
“I didn’t even know this was out here.” I smiled. “I would have been out here the whole time. And I remember you too. How have you been?”
“Good,” he said. “Really good. Life has been treating me well. You?”
“Now that Emma’s life is settled, I’m doing very well,” I replied with a chuckle.
“Those two definitely went through hell to get where they are,” he said. “I’m happy for them.”
“Me too,” I said, clinking my g
lass to his.
We sat talking about the city and Emma and Brandt for quite a while. He was nice to talk to and the champagne in my hand made him even nicer. I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until Gillian poked her head out the door.
“Hey, girl,” she said. “We’re heading out. You want us to wait for you?”
“No,” I said, looking around at the empty apartment. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay,” she said, glancing at Trevor and nodding. “Be safe.”
“Always.” I watched her go back inside and then turned back to Trevor. “It looks like it’s time to get going.”
“There’s a bar down the street. You want to have another drink?”
“Sure,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “Why not?”
We collected our things, said goodnight to Emma and Brandt, and made our way down the street to the pub. We sat at a small back table, drinking, laughing, and talking about all the places I had traveled. He was really attentive, and I was enjoying my time with him. It probably didn’t hurt that he was incredibly hot.
“That sounds amazing,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to travel like that. To really get out there and live life.”
“You should,” I said, smiling and feeling a bit tipsy. “We only have one life. I go surfing. I go hiking, climbing, camping, and whatever I else I want to do when I want to do it. I know I’m lucky, having the money I have, but I don’t let myself feel guilty about it either. When you die, are you going to want to think about the deals you made with the conglomerates that are sucking the life out of our world, or are you going to think about the sunset off of Waikiki? I’m going to think about the sunset or the way the light splashed across the monks’ faces in Indonesia during the annual mass meditation. Freedom is a beautiful thing, and I won’t waste it.”
“You are very free-spirited.” He laughed. “It makes you incredibly beautiful.”
“Thank you,” I said, blushing. “I think it would look pretty good on you, too, if you loosened that tie a bit and messed up that perfect hair.”
“Maybe I will one day.” He chuckled. “You can teach me how.”
“That, sir, is my specialty.” I laughed, finishing my drink. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to the lady’s room.”
“I’ll grab us another round,” he said.
“You know the way to a girl’s heart.” I laughed, walking off to the bathroom.
I stood in the bathroom in front of the sink, tousling my long, wavy blond hair and thinking about the man I was out with. It was definitely a surprise, but most of my life was made of surprises. He was so uptight, but I could see the whisper of free-spirit trying to push through. I pulled that out in people. It was one of my best gifts. I smiled at myself and walked back out, seeing him waiting for me at the table.
“No drinks?” I said with a pouty face.
“They already did last call,” he said. “But my place is three blocks up. You want to come with me there and pop open the champagne that’s in my fridge?”
“That sounds fun,” I said. “Lead the way.”
He gave me his arm, and we walked out of the bar and out onto the sidewalks. As we strolled toward his place, I leaned my head back and took in a deep breath, closing my eyes. I tripped and caught myself, laughing loudly.
“You are so different.” He chuckled. “It’s a good thing, of course.”
I smiled and took his arm, and we walked back to his place. I looked up at the soaring ceilings of the lobby of his apartment complex, saying hello to the security at the front. They smiled and nodded their heads, not used to someone like me. I guess no one was used to someone like me in New York. We took a private elevator up to his place, and when the doors opened, we were inside his apartment. It was huge, on the top floor, and with its own spectacular view of the city. It was obvious a decorator had put the finishing touches on the place, and everything was so clean and perfect. I looked up at the side wall in his living room, my mouth falling open. There was a wall of records from floor to ceiling.
“Wow,” I gasped. “You collect records?”
“I do,” he said proudly. “My father did too. Most of the ones on the bottom three shelves were gifts from him over the years, but the top shelves are ones I picked up on the way.”
“May I?”
“Of course,” he said. “Pick something out, and we can play it.”
“All right,” I said excitedly running over to the wall and scanning through them. “Wow, you even put them in alphabetical order.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled in the kitchen, pulling out the bottle of champagne. “Keeps me busy and out of trouble.”
I smiled, running my finger along the spines of the albums. I moved along until I spotted Fleetwood Mac. I pulled one of the albums from the shelf and smiled.
“This is my favorite,” I said. “I don’t even have to look any further.”
“Nice choice,” he said, pouring us both a glass of bubbly.
I put the record on the player and set the bar down, closing my eyes and swaying back and forth as the music started. I put my arms up in the air and started to dance, swirling the skirt of my dress around. He smiled, watching me as I moved around his living room, dancing to the music freely. He handed me a glass of champagne, and I took a sip, still dancing around him. He laughed, watching me as I circled around him. I put my glass of champagne down and took his out of his hand, setting it next to mine. I grabbed his hands and moved him, smiling as he undid his tie and took off his jacket.
He started to dance to the music with me, his enthusiasm growing as the music intensified. We laughed loudly as we spun around his apartment, and I was sure he had never done anything like that before. As the song ended, we whirled into each other’s arms, laughing loudly. He leaned me back for a dramatic finish and then pulled me up. His arms were around me tightly as we chuckled, looking into each other’s eyes. Maybe it was my free-spirit, maybe it was the champagne or the music, but I couldn’t hold back. I leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips with force. He smiled with my mouth pressed against his as “Edge of Seventeen” came on. He slid his hand down mine and started dancing with me slowly.
I kicked my shoes off and danced across the living room with him barefoot. We laughed and giggled the whole way around, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. He brushed his hand across my face, pulling my wild hair from my cheeks. One of his arms held me tightly to him and his other cupped the back of my neck as he pulled me closer, kissing me passionately. I could feel the electricity move through my chest, the passion building. His tongue smoothed over my lips, and I opened up, tasting the champagne on his lips. The smell of his cologne was intoxicating, and there was no holding back for me anymore. I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck, still swaying my hips to the sound coming from the record player.
His hands ran softly down my sides, and I dropped my shawl to the ground around my feet. Trevor’s lips moved from my lips and down my neck until he reached my shoulder. I breathed heavily, feeling the erection in his pants. He leaned down and scooped me into his arms, cradling me in his arms. We walked toward his bedroom, letting the music continue to pump melodically through the apartment.
Chapter 2
Trevor
This woman had definitely taken me by surprise and was not the woman I thought she would be. As I stood in the barely-lit bedroom, looking down at the slender beauty in front of me, with her long, wavy blond hair, decorative choker, and Bohemian knit dress that was held up by two small straps, slid tightly across her chest, and fell into a flowy skirt to her knees, I could feel my passion getting hotter. Her bright blue eyes were covered in mischief, and the wild in her was no act. She was living every moment of life. It was intoxicating, even beyond the copious amounts of alcohol that we had drunk that night.
I pulled my hand up to her and slid her straps down her shoulders, watching her dress fall down her perfect body into a pile at her bare feet. Her small, p
erky breasts heaved with her breath, and her small, lace panties sat perfectly on her slightly curved hips. She was incredible, and sparks flew through my belly as she slowly undressed me, running her hands over my skin. When I was down to my boxers, she took my hand and led me toward the bed, crawling up to the pillow and lying down in front of me. I smiled, crawling up onto the bed and pulling her panties from her body, tossing them to the side.
The mood between us went from playful and excited to passionate, and her bright blue eyes darkened quickly. I lay down on my stomach and kissed down her thigh, moving over her perfect pink pussy to her other thigh, listening to her moan lightly. I moved back, this time, pushing her folds apart with my hand and sinking my tongue down across her sweet juices. I groaned, tasting her, licking my lips to the hint of sweetness between her legs. She moaned, her body arching as I moved my mouth up to her clit and sucked it in, rubbing my tongue across it. The sounds of her wails aroused me even more, and I lapped at her faster, pushing two of my fingers into her pussy. Her hips came up off of the bed as I rubbed her clit and fingered her fast and deep.
