His jaw worked. He looked terrible. Determined. “I think we should get married.”
Um…I blinked at him. “What?”
“If we get married then we can offer a stable environment. A house. Two incomes. A commitment.”
I sat back, pulling my hand away from him, stunned. “Wow. That is just…wow.” That was literally the world’s most unromantic proposal. He was seeing me as a means to an end. A way to cement his custody fight for Camp.
“That way we don’t have to worry about the baby either.”
What did that even mean? Was he afraid I was going to battle him for custody of the baby? That was insane. We were dating. “Christian. I don’t think you have thought about this.”
“All I’ve been doing is thinking. This is the best solution.”
That would be my jaw dropping onto the table. “I don’t want to be a solution,” I hissed. “And I resent the hell out of the fact that you are bringing this up here, while I’m on break at work. This is not the place to talk about this. This is marriage!” I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “I actually need you to get away from me, please.”
“What? Why?” He looked baffled. “I thought you wanted to be married.”
He had lost his mind. “So let me trade one guy who doesn’t really want me for another one? Sure. That’s exactly what I want. Not.”
Christian frowned. “That’s not what I mean.”
Since he clearly wasn’t going to leave the table, I stood up. “I’m going home because I need to cry,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster. “And if I lose this job because of you I’m going to be really pissed.”
I fast-walked over to the bar, where I had stashed my purse, and blinked repeatedly so my tears wouldn’t fall. Brandy took one look at me and said, “Oh shit. You okay?”
“No. I have an upset stomach,” I said. “And I need to go home. Can you please tell the manager?”
She looked behind me to Christian, who I could sense was approaching us. “Baby mama drama at work is not cool, Jordan.”
I gasped. She could just mind her own business. “Well then, how about I quit, Brandy? I don’t need to be talked over like I’m not standing here.” I turned and glared at Christian. “And I don’t need to be harassed while I’m working either.”
“I asked you to marry me, how is that harassment?”
He actually looked confused and a little frustrated, as if I was being the unreasonable one.
“You did what?” Brandy exclaimed, sounding scandalized and gleeful. “Shut your face.”
“Do you mind?” I asked Brandy, outraged. “This is private.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I actually thought I might throw up. Or burst into tears. Or both. I rushed out the front door of the restaurant, and as luck would have it, it was raining and I had parked in the back lot. I didn’t want Christian to corner me by the Dumpster and force me to talk to his stupid face. The plan was to run out front, around the side of the building, and jump into my car.
Except I couldn’t get my purse unzipped. I was standing in the pouring rain on the sidewalk out front with trembling fingers trying to get the stupid thing open so I could dig out my keys. A glance back showed Christian was barreling out the door.
“Bella!”
I started running. I didn’t want him to see me cry. And I didn’t want to hear his stupid explanation of how this was practical.
Unfortunately, he had longer legs than me. He caught me by the arm and spun me around. “Stop!” I yelled. “Let me go.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking genuinely bewildered. “I’m confused here, Bella. I need you to talk to me.”
I blinked, rain pelting me in the face and blurring my vision. “Are you kidding me? You went dark for two days! You gave me one-word texts. Now you’re demanding I talk? Oh, screw you.”
“I was thinking. Do you need to think about what I said? That’s fine.”
“I don’t need to think about it.” Damn it, I was crying. “I am not a martyr. As much as I want to guarantee that you keep custody of Camp, I can’t marry you solely for that reason. I may be a dumb princess, waiting for the fairy tale that never happens, but I can’t be so practical that I am willing to commit myself and my life to a man who is only with me for the sake of his children.” My purse slipped out of my damp hands and I swore, bending down to pick it up.
Christian squatted down too, and while I grappled with the bag, he wiped the rain off my face. “Is that what you’re worried about? Bel, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to sound so businesslike. I’m just so scared to lose Camp I blurted that out. You deserve better.”
“Damn straight I do,” I said, swallowing back a sob. I lost my balance and fell onto my butt on the wet sidewalk. “Shit.”
“Come here.” Christian’s voice and expression were gentle. He hauled me off the ground.
I was vaguely aware of people moving quickly past us, of umbrellas bouncing along and shoes splashing water up in arcs. I swiped at my eyes. Christian’s navy T-shirt was soaked and his eyelashes had droplets clinging to them. Then his face disappeared.
He was dropping back down to the sidewalk. On one knee. Pulling a box out of his pocket.
Oh, God.
I stared at him, heart racing.
“Bella Rose Bigelow, will you marry me?” he asked, peering at me with a very solemn and intense expression. His pale blue eyes were darker than normal, the way they got when we had sex. He opened the box and a simple, but very beautiful, pink diamond flashed up at me before he pulled it out. “Not because of Camp or this baby, but because I love you. Because I was a cynical asshole who didn’t believe in a happily ever after, and then you crashed into my life, with your amazingly sweet heart and a smile that turns my world upset down twenty times a day. Will you marry me because I want you to be the first thing I see when I wake up every morning and the last thing I see before I fall asleep at night? Will you marry me because you and I were meant to be?”
With each word, I grew warmer and warmer, despite the cool rain pummeling me. Now that was a proposal. I nodded frantically, not sure I could speak. I fingered my horseshoe necklace and swallowed hard. “Yes. I will marry you, for all those reasons. And because I love you too. So much.”
Christian stood up and slipped the ring onto my finger.
“It’s pink,” I said, thrilled beyond belief. It felt…personal. Like Christian had thought about me when he picked it out.
He nodded. “Pink for my perfect princess.” Then he kissed me. “I love you.”
Christian grabbed me in a hard hug, whirling me around in the rain, while I laughed and the crowd of people who had gathered around us clapped.
If that wasn’t a fairy tale ending I don’t know what would be.
Epilogue
Bella and I got married in late August in Boston so my twin brother could be there on a weekend pass from rehab. He stood there as my best man now that we were tentatively rebuilding our relationship. Sophie was Bella’s maid of honor. Her parents were there, along with my mother and other siblings. And Camp, of course. It was straightforward, done in a garden at a pub. Bella was in a sundress and I wore jeans, though she did talk me into wearing a tie. After dinner and toasts, it was just me and my bride alone in a big-ass bed in a hotel.
Perfection.
Our daughter was born on St. Patrick’s Day, and I let my wife pick her name, thinking she’d name her Lily or Ava or Lauren. Instead she picked Lucky, which I thought was kind of a kick-ass name. Lucky Jordan. It seemed right.
I stood in the kitchen of what was now our house, debating having a beer. I had bought furniture for the place, and Bella was curled up on the new sofa, Lucky nursing peacefully. My girls. God, it killed me every time. Camp was already in bed for the night, thriving in his new environment, though we made sur
e he still saw plenty of my mother and Charlie. He was in awe of his baby sister, repeatedly giving her kisses on the head and telling everyone, “My baby.”
Ali had lost her custody case. She had been granted supervised visits with him, which seemed fair to me. As much as it rankled, I couldn’t deny my son a relationship with his biological mother, and I prayed she wouldn’t flake again.
Sophie and Cain were living together part-time in Camden in Cain’s place on the weekends, with Sophie staying in Boston during the week. They seemed really damn happy together, which confused but thrilled me. I didn’t get their dynamic, but then again, no one probably got mine and Bella’s either. I just knew Bella was excited to have her sister around on the weekends and I had a whole new respect for my twin and his commitment to sobriety and Sophie. He had every reason to resent being around Camp and me, and yet he was working really hard on moving forward.
I figured my role was to let it play out however he wanted because I was the one who had fucked things up. I was grateful as hell that everything was as good as it was.
I went for the beer, even though I was exhausted. Lucky was only two weeks old but she was as vocal as her mother and just as demanding. Camp had been a walk in the park compared to this one. But a beer sounded damn good, and would help me sleep to boot. “Do you need anything?” I called to Bella.
“Just you,” she said.
Like seriously, could I have it any better? Nope.
The doorbell rang. Cain and Sophie were dropping by to see Lucky. I went to the door and answered it. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” I gave Sophie a hug, which she resisted slightly, but then relented. When Sophie and Cain had first started coming around to hang out with us, I’d been offended, but Bella assured me Sophie just didn’t like people touching her. She seemed to like me okay enough and she did love Bella clearly, so I was just going to keep trying with her. She didn’t have a problem touching my brother. Damn, every time we saw them those two were all over each other.
“How’s the baby?” Sophie asked, giving me a smile.
“She’s fantastic. Adorable, like her mother.” I reached out and shook Cain’s hand. “Come on in.”
“Good thing she looks like her mother instead of you,” Cain joked.
“You and I are identical twins so that’s a stupid statement.” But I knew he was kidding. The transformation in Cain in the last year was amazing. He looked healthy, happy. At peace. I felt damn grateful both for that and for him allowing me back in his life.
As they followed me into the house, I asked, “You guys want anything to drink? Water, a soft drink? Bella’s feeding Lucky in the living room.”
“I’ll take a water.” Cain followed me in to the kitchen while Sophie went directly to Bella and the baby.
“You mind if I have a beer?” I asked Cain.
“I don’t care. Drink whatever the fuck you want.”
“I’m trying to be sensitive to your feelings,” I said. “It would be a dick move to drink in front of you while you’re in recovery.”
“If I can’t handle you drinking a beer in front of me I need to go back to rehab.” He gave me a rueful look. “Don’t treat me weird. Just be normal, seriously.”
I gave him a fist bump. “Cool. I can do that.”
After grabbing both our drinks, I went over to the couch and dropped down beside Bella with a sigh. For a guy who worked nights, this lack of sleep shouldn’t be kicking my ass, but it was.
Cain said down beside Sophie just in time for Bella to say with her usual enthusiasm, “So when are you two going to get married?”
She asked them that every time we saw them. It didn’t seem to make Cain uncomfortable but Sophie always got annoyed with her sister. I waited for the usual “it’s none of your damn business” but this time the response was different.
“As a matter of fact, we’re getting married in three months,” Sophie said, totally deadpan.
“What?” Bella shrieked so loudly Lucky fussed at her breast in protest. “Shut your face.”
“Dude, is she for real?” I asked Cain.
He gave me a grin. “Yep. Doing it, man. Getting married to the girl of my dreams.”
“Damn, congratulations, both of you.” Life was pretty freaking perfect. “That’s awesome. I’m happy for you.”
“I can’t wait to plan this wedding!” Bella said.
“No.” Sophie actually held up her hand. “I love you, but no. I am not wearing a cupcake dress and inviting five hundred people. We’re getting married at the harbor in Boston and it’s going to be very chill.”
“Whatever,” Bella said in a singsong voice. It was a tone that worked on me but I doubted would with her sister.
It didn’t seem to matter. My brother and Sophie were gazing into each other’s eyes. Cain cupped her cheek and gave her a soft kiss.
It made me glance back at my wife and daughter. I ran my hand over the soft wispy blond hair on Lucky’s head as she nursed. “Just remember, those belong to Daddy. They’re just on loan to you.”
Bella gave a soft laugh and rolled her eyes at me. “You’re disgusting.”
“Disgustingly in love.”
“Nice save.”
I took a sip of my beer. “I’m all about the save, princess bride. Don’t you know that?”
The look she gave me made my gut clench. The way she looked at me was my everything.
“Yeah,” she said. “I know.”
BY ERIN MCCARTHY
The Jordan Brothers
The Hookup
The Breakup
Nashville Nights
Heart Breaker
Dream Maker
Love Taker
Blurred Lines
You Make Me
Live for Me
Let Me In
Meant for Me
Breathe Me In
Fast Track
Flat Out Sexy
Hard and Fast
Hot Finish
The Chase
Slow Ride
Jacked Up
Full Throttle
Final Lap
From Every Angle
Double Exposure
Close Up
Deep Focus
True Believers
True
Sweet
Believe
Shatter
Sexy in NYC
The Pregnancy Test
You Don’t Know Jack
How to Get Lucky
PHOTO: © SAVIDGE PHOTOGRAPHY
New York Times bestselling author ERIN MCCARTHY sold her first book in 2002 and has gone on to pen more than seventy novels and novellas in the paranormal, contemporary romance, and young adult genres. A RITA award finalist and an American Library Association winner of the Reluctant Young Reader award, McCarthy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Horror Writers Association, and Ohioana.
erinmccarthy.net
Facebook.com/ErinMcCarthyBooks
Twitter: @authorerin
Love stories you’ll never forget
By authors you’ll always remember
eOriginal Romance from Random House
randomhousebooks.com
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
* * *
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
The Breakup Page 22
