by Lauren Wood
She hadn’t answered for a week and since I was about to make my way back to Watertown from the city, I knew that I was just going to have to track her down. I didn’t mind, though I knew that I wasn’t going to leave her side again until I had a promise that I needed to hear. I needed her to be mine and I had already thought about what I was going to do for the long term. I wasn’t joking when I said permanent. I was going to make her mine for good this time and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
I made the rest of the day go by pretty quickly because I was getting everything ready to go back home. I had talked to Aunt Dawn and she was in a rather chipper mood. I hadn’t told her about me and Mandy yet because I was still unsure what it was that we were doing. I wanted to get that yes answer before I went public with everything, but I was hoping by the end of the weekend I would be able to have her to hold forever.
***
I knocked a little harder and took out my phone to call her again. I had left another message on my way down, telling her that I was going to be there at eight and I was starting to think that it was a mistake to do so. Maybe instead of being there, she would stay away and I had just given her the time and date to hide from me. I didn’t like the idea of it and was about to dial her number again when the door opened.
She was beautiful and she was there. “Sorry I was in the bathroom and just heard you. I hope you weren’t out here long.”
I shook my head that I wasn’t. I would have waited hours out there to see her if that is what it would have taken. She invited me in and I was already smelling her shampoo again as she passed me. “What kind of shampoo do you use?”
Mandy giggled and told me that it was a queer question to ask.
“I just want to know. It is the same as before, isn’t it?”
She looked at me a little stranger and told me that it was. I knew that she was wondering what it was that made me know that, but there was so much that I knew about her that she would never know. I remembered everything.
“It’s Finelle.”
I repeated the name and knew that I would never forget it again. I shouldn’t need it though, not if I could convince her that it was time for us to be together in all ways.
“Is he home?”
“No, he is at a friend’s for the night. He will be back in the morning. I figured that we would need a little time to talk.”
I didn’t like the way she said it, but I was going to focus more on the fact that we were there alone. I wanted to see my son, but his mother was the one that I had to convince, Alfie was already a part of me. Now I just had to convince Mandy that she needed me as well.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Well you have called me all week, so I figured that you were the one that had some things to say.”
She was leaving the ball in my court, but I wasn’t sure how much more I should say? Should I just come right out and ask her, throwing all caution to the wind?
“You made love to me all night and then you didn’t really say much the next morning. I don’t know what to think and then you wouldn’t answer your phone Mandy.”
There was more to say, but the emotions were creeping back in and it was a bit more than I could handle. Why couldn’t she see that it was hard to go on without her? That I didn’t want to?
“I’m sorry about that Greg. Everything has been kind of crazy around here and it was a lot to process. Alfie is acting different although at least he is talking to me now. He said that you guys talked this week?”
She had walked into the kitchen and I knew that there was a good chance that she was trying to avoid me. I stopped her with a light hand on her arm, waiting for her to meet my gaze. It was like she didn’t want to and when she finally did I could see that she was upset.
“What is wrong?”
Mandy shrugged and tried to turn away, but the grip on her arm wouldn’t let her.
“I just, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what this is and it is just too much.”
I moved closer and pulled her to me, bending down to kiss her. She was shaking in my arms, but her lips responded to me like they always did. Soon I was the one that was losing my place and not sure anymore. Every time we were together lately I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her and this moment was no different. Her brown eyes were so big and she had a vulnerability that I hadn’t seen this time around.
“I want us to be more Mandy. I want what I wanted for us back then. Do you know that I was going to ask you to marry me on your birthday? If you would have waited another week or so, you would have seen that I wanted you as my wife and to have a family with you. It is what I always wanted Mandy. College was not the end of the world and even if I would have lost the scholarship, I would have figured something out.”
“You wanted to marry me?”
She was using past tense and I was going to let her for a time.
“I loved you Mandy. I wanted to marry you after the first date. I know that we were young, but I have always loved you Mandy and I still do.”
“How can you love me after all of this time?”
“Because I never stopped.”
I kissed her again and I could see that she was shocked by the turn of events. I was as well and the need to ask her was overpowering.
“I want you to marry me now Mandy.”
“You can’t mean that. We haven’t seen each other in years and a lot has changed. You don’t even know me anymore.”
I shook my head and didn’t agree. “There is nothing about you that has changed that I don’t love. You are still the same girl I fell in love with all of those years ago and now that I know what it is like to live without you, I am not letting you go again. I meant it Mandy. I want to make you my wife.”
I got the ring out and I saw her eyes go to it. I went down to my knees like all of the movies suggested and she covered her mouth as her eyes started to redden.
“Will you marry me Mandy and make me the happiest man in the world?”
She kind of giggled at the last part and while it was cliché, I knew that it was how I would feel if she would just give me the yes that I needed so much.
Mandy shook her head and whispered yes very low before I kissed her. It was not loud enough that I really heard it that well, but it was good enough. My heart soared and my body was shaking as I pulled her to me. Mandy melted against my chest and I knew that she was going to be mine forever. Now that I had a second chance with her, I was never going to let her go again.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER: GREG
“Just don’t tell your mom that I told you. She will never let me hear the end of it.”
“I was starting to wonder why she has been acting that way. I have never seen my mom cry like that before. I thought that there was something going on with you two.”
I shook my head. “No, it is nothing like that. She is just going to have another baby and Mandy seems to be hit hard with the emotional part of it.”
Alfie rolled his eyes and shook his head in agreement. Mandy hadn’t been herself for weeks and I think both of us were relieved when we found it was a baby making her crazy.
“I am never going to have kids if that is how girls get.”
I just kind of shook my head and laughed at my son. He was still so clueless and didn’t even know. I had so much to teach him.
“You will find the right girl Alfie and there won’t be anything that you wouldn’t do for her. That is what I want for you. I want you to find love like me and your mom have.
THE END
MORE STEAMY ROMANCE BY LAUREN WOOD
CHARMED BY SEAL
Chapter 1
India stands in front of her mirror, looking at this god awful green dress and wondering how she got herself into this. There is nothing that she won’t do for her friends, regardless of the sacrifice that comes from doing such a deed. She’s never been able to say no and that has gotten her into some insane situations.
“I
have to say that that dress is very fetching on you. You’re going to be one of my bridesmaids. I’m just worried that you’re going to take the attention away from me. I don’t need every guy panting after you. They’ll be undressing you with their eyes.”
“I don’t think that you’re going to have any problem with the guys keeping their attention on you. Everybody is going to be amazingly mesmerized by your presence. That white dress is a stunner. It was lucky that we were able to find it in the madhouse. That sale was one for the record books. It was lucky that we had some kind of plan before going into that 50% off sale.” “I sometimes wonder why I get myself into things that I wouldn’t normally do for my own family. Julia is my best friend from high school. I was guilted into being one of her bridesmaids. This dress will keep me celibate for the duration of the wedding and reception.”
“I hope so and you know how Bryan has a wandering eye. I’ll tell you a secret and it wasn’t him that I was most interested in. His brother has this charm that makes me want to drop my panties in his presence. This guy has everything going for him. He was recently shipped overseas and I haven’t seen him since the moment that he disembarked. I guess he’s going to be at the wedding. I just hope that I can keep it in my pants, long enough to say my vows.” India had heard Julia talk about the groom’s brother on occasion, but she never believed or took much stock in the rumors.
She finally was able to take off the dress, feeling a little bit better and know that when she got into her customary black leather jacket that she would feel like herself again.
“I know that I told you that it’s perfectly fine for you to come stag. I just wonder if you couldn’t wrangle up some kind of date. It will look strange for you to be there alone. Don’t worry; I’m not going to put any pressure on you. You did an amazing job on my bachelorette party. I can’t even tell you how impressed I was by that stripper. He could dance, but it wasn’t his moves that I was most interested in. I’m sure that everybody, including you noticed what he was packing in those tight little black briefs of his.
“I did see what that stripper was equipped with. He was swinging it around like a baseball bat and then he disappeared with the bride to be into the other room. When they emerged, she was smiling, her hair ruffled and there was no doubt in my mind that something untoward had happened between the two of them. She never did speak of it, but maybe that was her final hurrah before attaching the old ball and chain.
“I don’t think that we need to talk about that night. Let’s just say that things happened and we’ll leave it at that. I’m just glad that I finally found the man of my dreams and I only wish that everybody could be, as happy as I am. I’ve been looking for you, but your tastes are a little bit different than my other friends. You always seem to find fault with everybody that I set you up with. I’m beginning to think that it’s a lost cause.” Julia had just taken off the dress, feeling like a princess in it, but now getting back to reality.
Tomorrow was the big day and they were having it on a beach overlooking a cliff and the ocean. It was where they first met and she was going to enjoy that moment of complete wedded bliss.
“I’ll be sure to be there early to pick you up tomorrow morning. We need to get you to the wedding on time. I’ve arranged for the hairstylist to meet us on the beach. Your favorite band from that pub crawl that you did with Brian is going to be playing your favorite song. It took a lot of convincing to get them to relinquish their hold on their own lyrics. I think we both know that money talks.” India had Raven black hair, stood at only 5’5, 110 pounds with most of that weight on her oversized melons.
“Just be sure that you wrap those up tomorrow nice and tight. Your natural wonders are not exactly easy to ignore.” This was a contention between the two of them for some time. Julia was not, as blessed and even through augmentation, she was only comfortable with getting another cup size. She had her one feature that drew most men to her like a moth to a flame. Her legs went straight to heaven and there wasn’t a moment that went by that Brian didn’t continually express how lovely her legs were.
“I’ll make sure that they are well concealed. I would hate to think that I was going to take away from your big day.” India had never been in the position of having a man down on his knees about to propose. She had them in that position, but only for going down on her.
Julia was talking to the counter attendant. She took every opportunity to tell everybody that she was getting married, flashing that huge ring and lording it over others. India was happy for her, but she was also jealous and that green streak was causing her to feel like she wanted to lash out at someone. She was tempted to go to a bar and just get laid, but she didn’t think that that was the answer to her troubles.
She climbed into her Jeep Renegade, a black shining piece of metal that she had given herself, as a gift when she became one of the most sought after wedding planners. She felt like Julia was taking advantage of her, but this was not uncommon in their relationship. It wasn’t just Julia and all of her friends seemed to see her, as somebody that they could walk over like a doormat.
Perhaps they thought because of her Indian descent that she would bend over backwards and not ask for anything in return. What they didn’t know was that her Indian background was only in her dark features and her raven black hair.
“I really don’t want to go to this thing. It’s bad enough that I have to see her happy, but to stand there and witness it is just going to be like putting the knife in just a little bit deeper. I always thought that I would be the one to find happiness. She was mean, she liked to put people down and for Brian to even consider her to be worthy of marriage is beyond me.” She gunned the engine, feeling the weight of the world fall from her shoulders with the wind blowing through her hair.
India had never been to her namesake, from which she was named after. She was born right here in Chicago and your parents had adopted her when she was just a baby. She was never much into her own culture, until she was old enough to start to research it on her own. Her primarily white parents did their best to raise her with a set of values, but they also made her feel that she was different.
As she was driving away, she knew that the escape onto the road was just a momentary reprieve. The circus that was going to occur tomorrow was making her head spin. The bride had, so many requests that it was almost hard to keep up with them. On any given day in the last nine months, there were changes to be made at a drop of a dime. She hardly had any time to herself, except for when she was working on other people’s happy days. She still didn’t understand how she got caught up in this profession, but it seemed to follow her wherever she went.
India had a sense of style, knew that she could make that perfect day into something that would last forever. After her first one, as a gift to one of her friends, word of mouth got out pretty quickly and she was soon inundated with, so much work that she had no problem quitting her day job at a call center.
“I’m always around people that are finding that one true love, but I’m left out in the cold looking in. I just don’t think I can take this much longer. I like the money and I like the people, but this is weighing me down like an anchor around my neck. I just want to find a good guy that takes my breath away. I don’t think that’s, so hard or unreasonable.”
Chapter 2
The big day had arrived and everybody had smiles on their faces, even though they probably really didn’t want to be here.
“Get away from me. You’re making it worse. If you don’t stop touching me, then I’m going to hurt you.” India was standing here watching Amber perform her magic on her highness. “You’re not doing it right. I told you exactly what I wanted.” This girl was really getting on India’s nerves and she had no desire to stand there and watch this verbal abuse take place.
Slipping out, she found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She knew that it was only short lived and that she would be called upon once again to put out a fire that was made by Julia. They were
like sisters, but like sisters they had this rivalry that continued to follow them around like a dark cloud.
“I know that she can be a handful, India. We’ve all been friends with her for long enough to know how she is. This will be the last one that you have to do for any of your friends. We’re all married now and I’m expecting my second one.” Lacy had always seen India, as the black sheep of this little group.
“Don’t remind me. I’ve seen you marry the man of your dreams, and then find that family that you’ve been looking for. In must be nice, considering that you came from a broken home.” “I don’t want to be a bitch, but if she was going to take off the gloves and make me feel smaller than an ant, then I wasn’t just going to stand here and let her do that to me. I was never one to speak up, but I was getting a little sick and tired of playing second fiddle.”
“I never meant anything by it, India. There’s no reason to get angry with me.” India was happy that she had finally taken a stand, but it did make her hand shake. Everybody had their breaking point and apparently hers was this wedding. Looking around, India knew that today was the last day. She still had to contend with those that were her clients, but at the very least all of her friends would never ask her of this favor again. That is of course if they were able to keep their marriages alive. She had seen Lucy and she did not look happy and there was no sign of Nicholas.
She found out through the Grapevine that Nicholas was a bit of a cheater. He liked to find those little Asian girls that were old enough for consent. He had this sickness that grabbed him by the throat and wouldn’t let go. At first, she was forgiving, but after several times of falling off the wagon, she finally called it quits. They were separated and India was about to go over and talk to her, when she spied on a young man with this look in his eyes.
