Joel ran a soothing hand along my naked back. "Baby, the fight's already won, so stop worrying, alright?"
"Believe me, I want to," I said. "But you don't know them like I do."
"You think so, huh?"
I pulled back to ask, "What does that mean?"
After a long pause, Joel said, "Alright. Let's just say this. The dad? I met him in Bermuda."
"What?" I gave Joel a playful shove. "But you never told me."
"Yeah." He pulled me back into his arms. "And I wasn't gonna."
"Why not?"
"Because you had enough to worry about."
It was a sweet sentiment, even if I couldn't quite agree with it. "So why are you telling me now?"
"Because I want you to stop worrying. So let it go, okay?"
"But just tell me. What happened?"
"Nothing big," Joel said. "We had a talk. That's all."
I wasn't quite sure I believed him. "What kind of talk?"
"The guy's a bully," Joel said. "So we bullied him back. Not a big deal."
Not a big deal, huh? I asked, "What'd you do?"
"Nothing he didn't deserve."
I couldn’t decide if I felt concerned or relieved. Pushing that question aside, I said, "But aren't you worried you'll get in trouble?"
"Hell no," Joel said. "With all he's done? He got off light, and he damn well knows it."
I wasn't so sure. "But what if he stops knowing it?"
"Then we'll remind him."
"But—"
Joel laughed. "Forget it." He pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead. "It's gonna be alright. You'll see."
Desperately, I wanted to believe him. He sounded so sure. And yet, I wasn't blind to the fact that my twenty-fifth birthday was still nearly four years away. A lot could happen in that time-frame. And the estate needed a ton of repairs. Somehow, I'd have to find the money – and soon.
Even with Joel's help, it would be a huge financial challenge.
On a more positive note, I'd finalized all of the paperwork for Joel's art endowment, and after an initial period of disbelief, he seemed to finally accept that he'd won on his own merit. After the wedding, we were going to finish setting up the studio above the garage, so Joel could paint whenever inspiration struck.
Based on what I'd seen so far, inspiration would never be in short supply. Somehow, I just knew that Joel would follow in my dad's footsteps and take the art world by storm.
I smiled in the near darkness. It felt like a circle of life, completed in a happier way than I'd ever thought possible.
Joel's voice, quiet in the darkened room, interrupted my thoughts. "Maybe I should try again."
"Try what?"
"To get you pregnant."
And just like that, any remaining worries faded into the background. I felt my lips curve into a smile. "So that's what you've been doing?"
"Well, that and other things." His tone grew teasing. "I mean, it can't be all work."
I had to laugh. "Oh, stop it."
"You think I'm kidding?"
"I don't know," I said. "Are you?"
"Hang on," he said.
"For what?"
"This."
Chapter 55
Almost before I knew it, I was flipped on my back with him on top of me. I stifled a giggle. "Hey! What was that?"
"Wrestling move," he said.
I was still laughing. "You wrestle?"
"I do now," he said. "So what do you want? A boy or a girl?"
I smiled against his bare shoulder. "Both."
The sheets were twisted around us, but I wasn't going to let that stop anything. With a quiet laugh, I kicked the sheets aside, sending them falling away to who-knows-where.
Already, I could feel his hardness pressing against my hip, hinting at the promise of what I wanted.
He shifted slightly to the side and reached between us, grazing the intersection of my thighs. Almost on instinct, I felt my legs part, opening myself to more of whatever he was thinking.
And what I was thinking, too.
With a smile in his voice, he said, "You're beautiful, you know that?"
Everything – his words, his touch, and just the fact that he was here at all – had me wondering, and for the first time, how I'd gotten so very lucky.
He was beautiful, too – not just on the outside, but every inch of him. With this thought in mind, I reached out, taking his hardness into my hand. "I know lots of things," I said, giving his length a long, smooth stroke.
With a muffled moan, he said, "Yeah? Like what?"
Already, his fingers had zeroed in on my favorite spot, and I let my eyelids flutter shut. "I know that I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, touching me in that special way of his. "I did almost from the start, you know."
I didn't know. I was still stroking him, loving the feel of him, hard and ready, in my grip. And yet, I had to tease him, just a little. With my eyes still shut, I asked, "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure it was me chasing after you."
He was still touching me. I was still touching him. In a teasing tone, he replied, "You think so, huh?"
Did I? In truth, I was finding it hard to think at all. I could feel my slickness, welcoming his touch more urgently now. Breathlessly, I admitted, "I'm not sure I can think."
"Yeah?" His fingers moved in a slow leisurely circle, making my breath catch and mind go fuzzy. In a tone filled with sin, he asked, "Why not?"
I felt my hips rise, seeking more of whatever he was offering. I confessed, "Because I want you inside me."
His fingertips drifted back and forth, making my hips move and my pulse jump. In a tone that was almost teasing, he said, "Now?"
A whimper of need escaped my lips. "Yes."
He slipped a finger inside me, even as his thumb continued to entice that special spot. "How's that?"
It was absolutely wonderful, but it wasn't the thing I'd been desperately craving. And yet, I had to smile. "You know what I meant."
"Oh yeah?" Another finger joined the first. "What?"
I was still stroking him. I knew beyond a single doubt that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. His hardness throbbed against my fingers, making me long to feel his hardness somewhere else.
I just had to ask, "How can you wait?"
"I love watching you." As he talked, he moved his fingers in a way that soon, had my hips surging upward, seeking more of his touch. "And," he whispered, "I want you good and ready."
I almost whimpered, "I'm ready now." I gave him another smooth stroke and felt myself smile when a sound of pleasure escaped his lips. "And you're ready, too."
"Yeah, I am," he said. "But admit it. You love this."
He was right. I did. But the urge to have him, really have him, was growing so strong, that the idea of waiting was impossible to consider.
My breath was coming faster now. I said, "Maybe I'll flip you over, so I'm on top."
"Yeah? Just try it."
I did. Sort of.
Nothing happened. But it really wasn't my fault. His touch was magic, and the idea of moving away from it, even for an instant, was making it hard to do much of anything.
I was such a goner.
He gave a low chuckle. "See?"
I opened my eyes, and I did see – the guy I loved, looking at me like I was everything he'd ever wanted.
I had to smile. The way it looked, he was a goner, too.
With our gazes locked, he finally gave in and moved closer, covering my body with his own. Soon, it wasn't his fingers teasing me to distraction, but the tip of his hardness, poised to give me what I'd been craving.
And then, a moment later, he was surging into me, just as I was rising up to meet him. As we moved together, I felt full and happy in a way I might've considered impossible just a few months earlier.
I reached up and ran my hands along his back, loving the feel of his muscles shifting and moving as he drove into me, harder and faster as I rose up to
meet him again and again.
And then, with a kiss so intense, it felt out of this world, we reached our peak together and practically collapsed in a breathless, happy heap.
I didn't want to move, and the way it looked, neither did he, so we held each other for a long, blissful moment, letting the night settle around us as our breathing slowed and something like sanity returned.
A few minutes later, we were still lying there when his lips brushed my ear, and he whispered, "Don't move."
I wasn't planning on moving. Still, I whispered back, "Why?"
"You know why."
At this, I had to smile. I did know why. A moment later, I felt his hand brush across my cheek. He said, "I hope they take after you."
I was still smiling. "They?"
"You said you wanted both." His tone grew teasing. "So I was going for twins."
And of course, I had to tease him right back. "Only twins? Not triplets? Or quadruplets?" I might've gone on, but for the life of me, I couldn't recall the next in the series.
"Quadruplets, huh? Well, you do have a big house."
I shook my head against his shoulder. "No. We have a big house."
This felt like a dream. But it wasn't. I lifted my hand from his back and gazed at the engagement ring, barely visible in the shadows.
But I didn't have to see it to know. It really was beautiful. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder how Joel had managed it. I couldn't stop myself from saying, "If I ask you something, will you promise to not be offended?"
He pulled back to smile down at me. "Now?" he said. "I don't think you could offend me if you tried."
Deciding to take him at his word, I asked the question that had been drifting in and out of my brain for the last few days. "How could you afford this? The ring, I mean." Quickly, I added, "I really, really love it. But I know I had all your money…" I gave a shaky laugh. "… so I'm wondering if you had to sell a kidney or something."
Sounding not offended at all, he said, "You didn't have all the money."
Now, that surprised me. In my sleepy, blissful state, I couldn’t recall the exact amount in the safe deposit box, but I did know that it was over fifty thousand dollars. I said, "So there was more?"
"Oh, yeah."
"How much more?"
"The other half."
"Wait a minute," I said, feeling almost awake now. "Are you telling me you had another fifty thousand dollars?"
"Give or take. But there was no way I was turning that over."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't want you telling me that I was spending too much."
I considered the timetable. He'd given me that cash before Derek's threat had driven us apart, before the moving truck, before the parking lot, before all of that.
In a tone of utter disbelief, I said, "Wait a minute. Does that mean you were planning this before that whole moving truck fiasco?"
"I wasn't just planning it," he said, "I'd already picked out some rings."
"Some rings?"
"Well, I figured you might want to pick your favorite."
It was so crazy that I couldn't help but smile. "Actually, I didn't have to, because you did. I absolutely love it." My voice softened. "And you know what?"
"What?"
"I would've married you, even without a ring."
Now, he sounded insulted, sort of. "The hell you would've."
"I'm serious."
"Yeah? Me, too."
I wasn't going to argue. I loved him. He loved me. So there, in the moonlit room, I drifted off to sleep with love in my heart and a smile on my face.
Somehow, everything was going to work out perfectly. I just knew it.
Chapter 56
The next morning, I was still asleep in Joel's arms when the pounding on the bedroom door started. I burrowed closer to him and mumbled, "If we ignore it, will they go away?"
"Those guys?" Joel sounded ready to laugh. "What do you think?"
The door-pounders were Steve and Anthony, who had just informed us through the locked bedroom door that someone was here to see us.
Who it was, I had no idea. But I did know that being naked in the arms of my future husband was a million times sweeter than anything outside this bed.
Again, the knocking sounded, followed by Steve's voice. "Hey! You're not still asleep in there, are you?"
I turned my face into Joel's chest and groaned, "I think I’m gonna kill him."
A moment later, Anthony's voice called, "Hey! If you don’t come out, we're coming in!"
With a sigh, I flopped onto my back and yelled, "Oh, for God's sake, we're still asleep!"
"You're not asleep," Steve said. "I can hear you yelling."
I turned to Joel. "You've known them longer. Shouldn’t you be dealing with this?"
He grinned. "Hell no."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd toss 'em down the stairs. And you'd be mad at me."
"I would not."
He was still grinning. "Liar."
"Oh, alright," I muttered. With a sigh, I sat up and called out, "Who is it?"
"It's Steve!"
"And Anthony!" In a lower voice, Anthony said, "Damn. You think she'd know our voices by now."
"Well," Steve said, "pregnancy will do that to ya."
"No kidding?"
"Eh, I dunno."
I hollered out, "I didn't mean at the bedroom door. I meant at the front door."
Steve called back, "Then you should've said so!"
Anthony called out, "It's some lawyer. He says it's important."
Suddenly, I was wide awake. And so was Joel.
Fifteen minutes later, we were dressed in casual clothes and sitting in the den, across from the lawyer. He was a big, dark-haired guy wearing a flashy business suit that probably cost more than Joel and I were spending on our entire wedding.
Then again, that wasn't saying much.
I looked to the lawyer and confessed, "I've got to admit, I'm a little surprised to see you." I smiled. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Oh, trust me," he said with a smile that dwarfed my own. "When I’m done, you're not gonna be complaining about anything."
"Why?" I asked.
"I've been pouring through all the particulars, and it turns out, you won't have to wait 'til you're twenty-five to fully inherit."
"Really?" I said. "Why not?"
"Well, once I got digging, I found all kinds of interesting sub-clauses. You said you're what, a year away from getting your degree?"
I nodded. "Yeah, but I had to drop out to take care of estate stuff."
And, because I had no money.
"Well, if I were you," the lawyer said, "I'd get back to school pronto."
I gave a confused shake of my head. "Why?"
"Because once you graduate, you get full control."
No way. Joel and I exchanged a look. Under his breath, Joel said, "Those pricks."
I knew which pricks he meant – Derek and his dad. I was almost too stunned for words. "So that's why they made it impossible for me to go."
I turned back to the lawyer and explained how several months earlier, all of my college funds had suddenly dried up, forcing me to drop out.
The lawyer nodded. "Eh, gotta hand it to 'em. It was a good plan."
"It was not," I said. "It was horrible."
The lawyer reached up to tug at his tie. "Yeah, well, I meant in the professional sense."
Yup, he was ruthless, alright. And horrified or not, I was glad to have him on my side. I looked to Joel and said, "Well, it looks like I'm going back to school."
The lawyer laughed. "Or, you could always get married."
In unison, Joel and I both turned to look. At the exact same time, we said, "What?"
"Married," the lawyer repeated. "Didn't I mention?"
I was staring at him now. "No."
"Oh. Sorry. That was the other thing. Lemme back up. There are three ways you can get control of the money." He held up
a single finger. "One, you can turn twenty-five." He shrugged. "You gotta wait for that one."
He held up a second finger. "Two. You can graduate from college. If you need a quickie degree, lemme know. I've got a few contacts."
He held up a third finger. "Or, you can get married." With a chuckle, he looked to Joel and said, "You seem to like her. You up for the job?"
From the look on Joel's face, he didn't know whether to kiss the guy or toss him out the front door. All this time, we'd been holding hands. I looked down. Joel's hand was closed over mine, hiding the ring from view.
With a laugh, I pulled my hand from Joel's and waggled my fingers for the lawyer to see. His gaze zoomed in on the ring. "Nice rock." He looked to Joel. "That from you?"
I spoke up. "Yes, in fact. It's a really big secret, but we're, uh, actually getting married this Saturday."
"Damn," the lawyer said, getting to his feet. "I guess I'd better get to work."
I had to laugh. "I guess you'd better."
On his way out the door, the lawyer promised to have a bunch of paperwork for me to sign on Monday.
I said, "But wait, won't Derek's dad have to sign everything over?"
The lawyer frowned. "Who's Derek's dad?"
"Sorry," I said, "I meant Mister Mitchell."
"Oh, don't worry about him," the lawyer said. "He's been signing anything I put in front of him."
I almost couldn’t imagine. "Really?"
"Yeah," the lawyer said. "Gotta give the guy credit, too."
I wasn't sure what he meant. "Why?" I asked.
"You know, because of the broken arm."
I didn't know. I gave a confused shake of my head. "He broke his arm?"
"Yeah. Some accident in Bermuda." The lawyer grinned. "A damn shame, huh?"
When I gave Joel a sideways glance, he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Uh. Yeah," he said. "A shame."
The lawyer was still grinning. "Not just a shame. A damn shame." And then, whistling a happy tune, he was soon gone.
Chapter 57
The day of the wedding dawned clear and bright, with sunny skies and almost no breeze at all. Around me, the house was bustling with activity, minus the one person I was most longing to see.
I hadn't seen Joel in almost two whole days – not since he'd left to stay in the guest house with his brothers and a few of his friends, including Cal. The arrangement had been my idea – something to honor the age-old tradition of not seeing each other until the actual wedding. But already, I was going crazy missing him.
Something True (Joel Bishop Book 2) Page 22
