by Virna DePaul
Kenny, Marissa’s brother, is slouched in a chair across from us. I didn’t really want him as one of my groomsmen, but I thought I’d be nice and ask him. Luckily, he’s been too preoccupied with not getting kicked out of school—again—that he hasn’t been much trouble. Right now, he’s messing around on his phone, completely oblivious to anything else around him.
“What time is it?” I ask Declan.
He glances at his watch. “1:30. So about a half hour to go.”
I know a lot of guys get cold feet at this point. They think commitment is terrifying, and that the last thing they want to do is become a husband.
Me, though? I can’t wait. Ever since I realized that I could be a boyfriend, then fiancé, then husband to Marissa? I’ve only wanted to do more and become more. I can’t wait to put that ring on her finger and I can’t wait for her to put the ring on mine.
Dana pokes her head in. “You guys ready?” She’s wearing a strapless red gown along with the rest of the bridesmaids, her hair up in some complicated bun thing. I’m so happy my sister and my bride-to-be hit it off so well.
“Ready as ever. How’s Marissa?”
Dana smiles. “She’s good. Actually, you can ask her yourself…” She motions, and then Marissa—in her bright white wedding dress—comes into our dressing room.
I gape at her. She’s absolutely stunning. Her dress is some kind of lacy chiffon number and her dark hair cascades down her back in ringlets. She smiles at me.
“What are you doing here? If your mum finds out you’re in here…”
She laughs. “What, she’s going to call off the wedding? Unlikely. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”
Silence descends. Declan goes over to Kenny, saying, “Let’s give these two some privacy.”
Kenny looks at us, his brow furrowed. But then Declan won’t let go of his arm, so he’s forced to get up.
After everyone leaves, Marissa comes toward me. She looks radiant. There’s no other word for it. For the first time, I’m afraid that I’m going to be crying before the wedding even starts.
“You look beautiful.” I lean down to kiss her, but she turns so I kiss her cheek.
“Sorry!” She laughs. “Lipstick.”
I nod sagely. “Of course. We can’t have you looking smudged going down the aisle.”
“Besides, we have to save something for the ceremony.” She reaches into her sleeve and pulls out a folded piece of paper. As she unfolds it, I realize it’s a glossy magazine page. “Look. I’m famous. Well, at least Marissa with one ‘s’ is.”
There is a small picture of the two of us, taken while we were out visiting wedding venues. We’re both in jeans and sunglasses, looking very relaxed, and so very happy. A small caption underneath says, “Females of the world weep! Droolworthy Borg of Alien Love and now the Oscar-contending star of Perfect Union Simon Dale prepares to wed his long-time girlfriend, Marisa Woodcrest.”
I wince, but when I look at her, she’s laughing. “Never in my life did I think I would be in a tabloid magazine. Even though my name is spelled incorrectly.”
I laugh at her. “How does it feel?” I ask. “Dreadfully dull, right?”
She nods. “Compared to some things, most definitely.”
We gaze at each other. Her engagement ring sparkles on her left hand, and the sight makes my heart fill with happiness.
“Are you ready for this?” she asks me.
I wonder if she’s testing me, or maybe she’s getting cold feet. But her expression is excited, even calm, and so I exhale.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” But I say it with a smile. “I’m completely ready. I’ve been ready. You know I would’ve married you ages ago.”
“I know. I feel the same. But you know my mom would never have wanted me to get married down at the courthouse. This was the least I could do for her, now that she’s welcomed you into our family.”
“So if you didn’t come here to let me kiss you,” I say as I lead her to sit down on a small couch, “why did you? To make sure I wasn’t going to be a runaway groom?”
She seems nervous all of a sudden. She wipes her hands on the couch cushions. Maybe she does have concerns about this next step in our lives? I wait, hoping she’ll tell me before we sign our marriage license.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for the past few days, but there never seemed to be time.” She bites her lip, which I tap, because she’s smudging her lipstick.
“And you keep falling asleep before 9:00.”
I know she’s been tired lately, from the wedding planning and festivities. We’d get home and she would collapse before I could kiss her goodnight.
“Well, there’s a reason for that.” She looks away, but she seems to force herself to catch my gaze again. “Is there a good way to say this?” She takes a breath. “I’m pregnant.”
I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting those words. I was expecting something about how she’s worried about our future, or maybe she’s not sure about where we’ll end up living. But this? This is shocking.
This is amazing.
“You are?” I look at her abdomen, which is still flat. “How long have you known?”
“Only for a week. I wanted to tell you on Sunday, but then we had our fittings…”
“God, darling. Oh my God.”
She looks up at me through her lashes. “Are you happy?”
I stare at her, astonished. “Happy? Marissa, I’m bloody ecstatic.”
I don’t care about the lipstick: I kiss her. She laughs against my mouth, and I kiss her so hard that I’m sure her lipstick is ruined, but neither of us cares.
“I’m going to be a father.” I lean my forehead against hers. “You’re going to be a mother. A baby. Jesus!”
Tears shimmer in her eyes. “A baby.” She kisses me again. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I know the timing isn’t great, plus we aren’t married yet, so I’m sure my mom will comment on that. Heck, I’m sure the world will comment on that. Did you realize there are dozens of reporters outside?”
“Bugger your mum. I don’t care when this baby is born. Because it’s ours. Ours alone. Your mum—and the whole damn world— can keep their opinions to themselves.”
Marissa laughs. “I do so love when you get irritated.”
I kiss her again because I can. I can feel myself trembling, I’m so happy.
I know I don’t deserve this kind of happiness. I never thought I’d find it. But meeting Marissa that day out at the country club was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me. It’s humbling.
When she looks up at me, she wipes tears from my cheeks. “You can’t cry yet!”
“I can bloody well cry whenever I want.”
She just laughs again.
Realizing that it’s almost time for the ceremony, Marissa hurries out. I hear a squawking sound outside the door, and then I hear her mum demanding to know if she’s been inside my dressing room. When I hear her say that she has, I can only imagine her mum’s expression. She’s probably going to have a stroke.
I can’t imagine June’s face when she finds out Marissa’s pregnant. Oh God, she’ll be insufferable. Just thinking about it makes me want to drink.
But ten minutes later I forget all of that when Marissa walks down the aisle toward me. No matter what happens from here, my life can only be amazing going forward, because she’ll be a part of it.
After we’re pronounced husband and wife, I kiss her so hard that once again I smudge her lipstick. She just throws her arms around my neck and kisses me harder.
A few hours later we’re sitting at our reception underneath a tent with the stars sparkling, and it’s like a fairy tale. Even with the helicopters circling overhead and the news crews waiting outside to snap the first picture of man and bride, it’s perfect. I squeeze her hand underneath the table, and she does the same. That’s when people start giving toasts.
Declan, as my best man, starts off. He’s tipsy at this point b
ut his toast is heartfelt and funny. Larissa, as Marissa’s matron of honor, then gives a speech she probably found online and memorized. I have to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Marissa just pokes me while she also tries to keep a straight face.
That’s when I stand up. Marissa’s eyes widen. I didn’t tell her I was going to do this, but she doesn’t try to stop me.
I clear my throat. “Thank you everyone for coming tonight,” I begin. “I first wanted to toast to our families, who have helped us plan this wedding and been there for us since the beginning.” I look specifically at Raul at this point, who is sitting with Noble and Spires. Next to Raul, Marissa’s mum sighs and cuddles closer to her husband.
“But most importantly, I want to toast my wife, Marissa Richards.” I gaze down at her, and I see tears in her eyes. “To the most beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman I’ve ever met. I know I don’t deserve you, but I’ll work every day to prove how much you mean to me.”
She smiles through her tears.
The crowd cheers as they toast to us.
I only care about the woman beside me. “I love you. Thank you for agreeing to fake date me.”
She smiles and then laughs. “I love you, Simon. I’m so glad we ended up being real.”
Thank you for reading Lip Action. If you enjoyed spending time with these characters, be sure to check out Book 2 in the series, Locking Lips, as well as my other sexy romances!
Sign up for my monthly newsletter for updates and contests:
www.virnadepaul.com
Books by Virna
KISS TALENT AGENCY
Book 1: Lip Action (Simon)
Book 2: Locking Lips (Caleb): Click here to purchase
THE BEDDING THE BACHELORS SERIES
Book 1: Bedding The Wrong Brother (Rhys): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Bedding The Bad Boy (Max): Click here to purchase
Book 3: Bedding The Billionaire (Jamie): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Bedding The Best Friend (Ryan): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Bedding The Biker Next Door (Cole): Click here to purchase
Book 6: Bedding The Bodyguard (Luke): Click here to purchase
Book 7: Bedding The Best Man (Gabe): Click here to purchase
Book 8: Bedding The Boss (Eric)**
HOME TO GREEN VALLEY SERIES
Book 1: What Love Can Do (Quinn): Click here to purchase
Book 2: The Way Love Goes (Conor): Click here to purchase
Book 3: I’m Gonna Love You (Brady): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Best Of My Love (Riley): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Because You Love Me (Sean): Click here to purchase
HARD AS NAILS
Book 1: Hard Time (Street): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Hard Case (Slate): Click here to purchase
Book 3: Hard Core (Axel): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Hard Place (Jericho): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Hard Act (Davis)**
GOING DEEP SERIES
Book 1: Down Deep (Heath): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Royally Deep (Kyle): Click here to purchase
SAY YOU LOVE ME SERIES
Book 1: Say It Sexy: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Say It Sweet: Click here to purchase
ROCK CANDY SERIES
Book 1: Rock Strong: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Rock Dirty: Click here to purchase
Book 3: Rock Wild: Click here to purchase
Book 4: Rock Free**
PARA-OPS PARANORMAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE SERIES
Book 1: Knox: Chosen by Blood: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Wraith: Chosen by Fate: Click here to purchase
Book 3: Dex: Chosen by Sin: Click here to purchase
**Coming Soon
Kiss Talent Agency
Locking Lips
(Kiss Talent Agency Book 2)
Caleb
As a photographer, I appreciate contrasts. The stiff, snobby brat on the flight from New York turns out to be a scared, vulnerable woman who warms my heart. The icy cold soda she dumps in my lap leads to the hottest sex of my life in an LA dressing room.
When I watch her walk away, I feel something I’ve never felt before. A twinge of regret that I’ll never see her again. Except we do meet again. And she’s driving me insane.
Heather
Clearly, I’ve lost my mind.
Turns out the owner of the deep, sensual voice that kept me from needing the airline barf bag, who lured me completely out of character to indulge in anonymous, semi-public sex, is the photographer for my designs’ first photo spread in Bella fashion magazine.
Worse, our artistic visions clash. And every time we butt heads, our butts somehow get naked.
I can’t let my hormones cloud my judgment. I tried having it all, and it didn’t work out. I have to stop envisioning a life with him, and get my head back in the game…before I lose everything.
Bedding The Bachelors Series
Bedding The Wrong Brother
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 1)
Determined to find her inner sex diva, Melina Parker enlists her childhood friend, Max Dalton, to tutor her after hours. Instead, she ends up in the wrong bed and gets a lesson in passion from Max’s twin brother, Rhys Dalton, a man Melina’s always secretly wanted but never thought she could have.
This #1 Bestselling Contemporary Romance is rated HHH ("Heat, Heart & HEA") and involves a bed mix-up, hot identical twins, sex lessons, naughty word games, light restraint, a shy sex bomb who's afraid she's boring and a playboy hero determined to prove she's got everything he'll ever need.
Bedding The Bad Boy
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 2)
This bad boy is ready to work some magic...
Identical twin and Las Vegas performer Max Dalton has always been the number one bad boy in his family, and he's appreciated the women and fame that comes along with his reputation.
Grace Sinclair is on a mission when she comes to Vegas, one that involves asking Max, her best friend's brother-in-law, to give her the pleasure no man's ever been able to. She suspects Max has more layers than he lets people see, but she's determined to keep her heart safe even as she offers him her body.
What neither of them plan on is love--or the triangle the media stirs up with Max's blonde bombshell actress friend.
Will Grace see beyond Max's bad boy façade long enough to trust him with her heart? And will Max figure out what he really wants before he loses the one woman who makes him believe in love again?
Bedding The Billionaire
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 3)
Free-spirited Lucy Conrad enjoys her friends but keeps others at a distance, especially her affluent and judgmental family...and the billionaire she once dated, Jamie Whitcomb. Despite their explosive chemistry, experience has proven she'll never fit into his world.
Charismatic Jamie enjoys work, women, and wealth. When duty demands he take over running the family business, he jumps in full-throttle; his only regret is Lucy's refusal to take the ride with him.
Then tragedy strikes and Lucy realizes that in order to gain custody of her orphaned niece, she must prove she can fit back into the high-society world she once rejected. The solution? Accept Jamie's make-believe marriage proposal, and be seen as the type of mother her niece deserves. Respectable. Controlled. Willing to play the game.
With her faux-fiancé by her side, Lucy exchanges dirty martinis and leather for champagne and silk. But when the passion between Lucy and Jamie only grows greater, they have to make a choice: back away from each other and not get hurt...or risk everything for the kind of love money can't buy.
Bedding The Best Friend
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 4)
As the new year approaches, nice girl Annie O’Roarke finds herself bored and lonely. She wants more excitement. More adventure. And more sex…even if it won’t be with her secret crush, her best friend, Ryan
Hennessey. Annie’s determined to be “bad” for once in her life, and that includes completing her “naughty” list in a city where being bad is just an ordinary day: Vegas.
Ryan Hennessey is a firefighter who relishes his time off with Annie. Annie’s the only person he can count on and he’d never jeopardize their friendship. Then Ryan discovers Annie’s “naughty” list. Although he’s stunned Annie is raring to explore her wilder side, he doesn’t trust anyone else to keep her safe.
So long as he’s there to protect her, Ryan’s going to teach Annie the true key to being a bad girl.
A bad girl takes what she wants.
Will Annie be brave enough to act on the passion that sizzles between her and Ryan? And will Ryan convince himself and Annie that love is worth gambling for?
Bedding The Biker Next Door
(Bedding The Bachelors Book 5)
Jill Jones has good friends, a great job, and a steady amount of dates. What she doesn’t have is a kinky or wild bone in her body—or so she thinks. Then she meets a handsome tattooed biker who lights her on fire. Suddenly she’s saying yes to all sorts of things, starting with a night in bed, no strings attached.
A security expert, Cole Novak protects others for a living, but he’s weighed down by grief that he couldn’t save the most important person in his life. Then he meets Jill, and for one night she brings color back into his world…only to walk away, plunging him back into the now-familiar darkness.
