by Amelia Judd
“Why would you say that? You’re great!”
Claire gave a humorless chuckle. “Gemma, you really are the nicest new wife of an ex-husband that’s ever lived. While I really appreciate that you think I’m great, I know Jack doesn’t agree when it comes to being in a relationship.”
“OMG!” Gemma looked at her with an expression of mixed astonishment and pity. “Please do not tell me that you listened to anything Jack said about relationships. I love Jack with my whole heart, but the man is a complete idiot when it comes to how relationships work. He once said the reason we were good together was because I need him to take care of me.”
“That’s ridiculous! You don’t need him to take care of you. You have a college degree and a good job.” Claire felt her nostrils flare. “Didn’t that tick you off?”
“Not at all. I understand what he means even if he doesn’t completely get it. I like that Jack fills my tank with gas, does all the outside work, carries anything heavy in from the car, fixes stuff around the house, and rubs my back when my baby bump makes my muscles ache. Sure, I could do all that stuff myself, but he needs to feel needed, and I like to feel taken care of.” She shrugged. “It works for us. But you’re different. You don’t want a man to take care of you. That’s why you and Jack were so wrong for each other. You should be with a man who loves your strength and who, instead of needing to take care of you, just wants to care for you. Like Ethan.”
Claire’s nose started to burn as her eyes filled with tears. It was true. Ethan had told her he loved her strength and her independence. He’d never faulted her for either of those traits. Instead, he’d repeatedly tried to show her how much he cared through sweet, romantic gestures that filled her heart with happiness and her soul with love.
Gemma was right. She didn’t need Ethan to take care of her. She just needed him to care for her, to love her. Forever.
“Oh, God. I made a huge mistake,” she whispered, her chest constricting with panic.
Gemma took her hands and smiled knowingly. “That’s okay, sweetie. We can still fix this.”
Claire glanced at her watch. Ethan would be on the auction block any minute, and he was leaving town in the morning.
“How? The auction is about to start.”
Squeezing each of Claire’s hands at heart level between them, Gemma looked into her eyes with an intensity usually reserved for the final seconds in a World Cup match. “You’re going to grab your credit card, and I’m going to drive like the wind.”
Chapter 17
LESS than ten minutes later, Gemma angle parked in a not-so-legal spot near Fresh, and both women jumped from the car and dashed toward the crowd in the center of the Square.
When Claire reached the back of the group gathered there, she went up on tiptoes to get a view of the stage. Holy smokes. Microphone in hand, Kat stood center stage with Ethan beside her. She had to hurry!
“Wait! Wait! I need to say something!” She dove into the crowd. In a moment of blind panic and adrenaline-induced aggression, Claire began elbowing her way through the mass of auction attendees standing between her and the man she loved. “Excuse me. Coming through. Excuse me.” Fighting her way toward the stage, she weaved around the high school principal and then the bulky backside of the town’s veterinarian.
Finally reaching a clearing, she raced the last few feet and ran up the steps to the stage, leaving wide-eyed attendees and gasps of surprise in her wake. Claire grabbed the microphone from Kat’s hand. “I need to say something,” she whispered to her sister.
Claire shifted her gaze between Kat’s triumphant smirk and Ethan’s surprised expression. She felt dizzy, her breathing rapid-fire and her heart racing. She needed to get a grip before she either face-planted or puked.
Kat shrugged a shoulder and extended her arm toward the crowd with a be-my-guest expression.
Claire death-gripped the mic and looked back at Ethan. “Hey,” she mouthed, attempting a small, cautious smile.
While he didn’t return any sort of smile, his expression softened and a spark of emotion flashed through his bright-blue eyes. Hoping like crazy the emotion was forgiveness and undying love, she turned to face the jam-packed square.
She cleared her throat and licked her dry lips. Holy smokes, there were a lot of people staring at her. Nearly the entire town had shown up to support Kat’s fundraiser. She spotted childhood teachers, local business leaders, parents from Ty’s soccer team, old friends from high school, colleagues from Bennett Industries, and many more familiar faces.
Her parents were standing off to one side with three couples Claire had known her whole life. Hannah stood nearby looking at her like she’d lost her mind—which, hell, maybe she had. Hannah’s date for the night, an effervescent looking Mrs. D stood, hands clasped, beside Hannah in a blinding shade of pink.
“I’m sorry I know this isn’t how auctions work, but I couldn’t stand the thought of Ethan with anyone else.” Claire handed her credit card to Kat. “Charge me any amount you want to buy the date with Ethan tonight. It doesn’t matter. Whatever you decide, it will still be a bargain.”
Claire took a shaky breath and listened to a murmur run through the crowd. She pressed her fingertips to her belly and drew more air into her lungs, desperately trying to ignore the nausea swirling through her. “Last time I was this nervous on stage was during my fourth-grade production of A Christmas Carol.” She gulped. “It didn’t end well.”
Laughter rippled through the friends and neighbors directly in front of her. Some even took a step back to what they must’ve assumed a safe distance from possible puke.
“I see a few of you remember as well. Since then, I’ve avoided drawing public attention. Well,” she said, pausing to clear her throat and wipe a sweaty palm down the side of her blue jeans, “except for right now, of course.”
Everywhere she looked people stared back with keen interest as the telltale pings of countless smartphone video cameras being simultaneously activated filled the night air. Her stomach rolled. She crossed her fingers that the footage wouldn’t forever document how Claire Bennett lost the man she loved at her sister’s fundraiser.
“Originally, my enthusiastic sister Kat registered me to be auctioned off as one of tonight’s eligible bachelorettes. The only out-clause was being in a committed relationship by the night of the event.” Claire braced herself, unsure how the crowd would react to her next admission. “So I asked Ethan to pretend to be my boyfriend until the event was over.”
She clutched the mic to her chest, waiting for the gasps of shock, boos, or even roars of laughter to hit her. She held every muscle rigid, ready to accept whatever form of public humiliation she deserved for trying to lie her way out of a flipping charity event.
The only thing to hit her, however, was a near deathly silence. Claire glanced down at the mic pressed tightly to her chest. It was on, right? She blew into it and heard the resulting rumble of noise come from the speakers.
“We heard you, pumpkin,” Mrs. D yelled. “We were just hoping for a little more exciting news than something we’d already figured out.”
Claire startled in surprise. “How?”
“We know you, pumpkin,” Mrs. D said. “Since ol’ Jackass left you—”
“I’m right here,” Jack groused from off to one side.
“Sorry. Since ol’ dumbass left you,” Mrs. D corrected, her voice going up a few levels, “you’ve been hiding away from dating like an albino vampire hides his white butt from the sun. When you started seeing Mr. Sexy Soccer Man days after he got to town, we figured something was up.”
A murmur of agreement sounded through the square.
“Okay. Fine.” Claire raised a hand and dipped her head in concession. “So maybe you figured that out. I bet you didn’t know that somewhere along the way the emotion I was supposed to be faking become very real.” She paused, waiting for the shocked reaction she’d been expecting before.
Crickets.
Seriously? Not
hing? “Tough crowd,” Claire muttered, looking around at the familiar, utterly unsurprised, and slightly apologetic faces staring back at her. “I’m trying to say that I love him,” she snapped. Okay, she sounded more irritated than loving, but really, what the heck did it take to surprise these people?
Mrs. D looked around waiting to see if anyone else planned to speak up. When no one did, she shrugged a bony shoulder and turned back to Claire. “We sorta figured that out too, seeing as you got engaged and unengaged a few days back.”
Claire’s eyebrows hit her hairline. Gemma! She shot the younger woman a what-the-hell look.
“Sorry,” Gemma mouthed, wringing her hands and looking so damn anxious, apologetic, and adorably pregnant, Claire’s anger slipped away on a tired sigh.
“I panicked.” Claire shook her head at the painful memory of watching Ethan’s heart break in front of her. “I ended the engagement out of fear, but I was a wrong. Love is infinite. The more we give and receive it, the happier we’ll be.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She swallowed at the thickness in her throat and turned to see Ethan’s response.
Body tense and jaw pulsing, he stared back at her with a piercing focus she’d only seen in video clips from some of his biggest games. A chill uncurled through her. Though she didn’t read hatred in his eyes, she didn’t exactly see forgiveness either. Cautious intensity would be the term she’d use if she had to label his scrutiny.
She licked her lips, fighting to ignore the butterflies brawling in her belly. Time for one last push before the final whistle.
“Ethan, I’d given up on fairy-tale endings until you came into my life and turned my world and my way of thinking upside down. You showed me what it’s like to be loved for who I am, flaws and all. My life is fuller, happier, more everything with you in it. You taught me that every victory is sweeter and every loss is easier when you’re part of a team. You made me realize that I don’t want to go through life alone. I want to be on a team. With you.” She heard the crowd suck in air, but Claire kept her teary gaze locked on Ethan. “I love you.”
Her face scrunched, sending tears streaming down her cheeks. “Even though it happened between us so fast my head is still spinning, I’m not going to walk away from a dream because I’m afraid of what could go wrong. If your offer still stands, I’ll marry you, Ethan. I need you by my side now and forever.” She repeated his words with a hesitant, hopeful smile and clung to the mic with shaking hands, willing to give the man she loved control over her fate.
Intense emotion flashed across Ethan’s face, making him look older and fiercer than she’d ever seen him. He ground his jaw and shook his head. “No.”
The low, raw one-word response slashed pain through her chest and choked her throat nearly closed. She’d lost him. He’d offered her his heart, and she’d been too weak to accept that precious gift before the clock ran out.
Claire locked her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut, desperate to brace herself against the god-awful anguish ripping her apart. The microphone slipped from her numb grip and landed on the stage, the speaker screeching in response. She felt the crowd jolt and could hear a grumble of disappointment but couldn’t move. The crushing certainty that she’d just lost her once-in-a-lifetime love immobilized her under its overwhelming weight.
Before she crumbled to the ground, two strong hands gripped her shoulders and held firm. “No, Claire. God, I didn’t mean it like that.” Ethan cursed under his breath. “I meant that I won’t rush you into marrying me. I’ve always been focused, aggressive, and even self-centered when pursuing a goal. I’m not going to do that to you. I love you too much to pressure you into marriage.”
Still holding her shoulders, he leaned down so they were eye to eye and inches apart. “I want to live every day of my life with you more than anything in the world. And someday—when your head stops spinning and your feet are firmly planted on the ground and you know every single one of my annoying habits and still love me and want to be with me—we’ll get married. Until then”—he shrugged a shoulder—“I’m fine taking it slow.”
“I want to marry you,” Claire insisted. “I know it’s fast, but I’m sure—”
“So am I,” Ethan interrupted with a gentle smile, taking her hands in his and dropping to one knee.
The crowd gasped, then went so quiet Claire figured the entire place could hear her heart slamming against her ribs.
“Claire Bennett, will you go out with me—for real? Forever?”
Euphoria exploded through her, swelling her heart and spreading an uncontrollable smile across her face. “Absolutely.”
In an instant, Ethan was on his feet and wrapping her in his arms. “I love you.” His husky voice broke with emotion.
Claire smiled up at him. “I love you too.” She threw her arms around his neck, popped to her toes, and poured all of the love and happiness flowing through her into a huge, very public kiss.
The town exploded in thunderous applause and whoops of joy.
A rumble of laughter shook Ethan’s chest. Claire grinned against his lips then pulled back a fraction to look into his loving blue eyes. “Is this how it feels to score the game-winning goal?”
“Nope.” He beamed his megawatt smile down on her. “This is better,” he murmured, pulling her closer and brushing his lips to hers again. “So much better.”
Epilogue
CLAIRE slipped her hand into Ethan’s, rested her head back against the cushioned headrest of the luxurious ivory leather seats, and sighed in pleasure as the pointy-nosed, long-distance private jet soared high over Latin America. The early-December weekend flight was carrying the Bennett clan to Costa Rica. They were all headed to La Vida, her brother Pax’s eco-resort, for the week-long celebration leading up to Pax and Sage’s wedding on Saturday night.
Claire sat next to Ethan on a small couch running along the back of the plane. At the front of the jet, her parents and Ty and Grace had swiveled four oversized chairs to face each other and were playing a lively game of euchre. Mid-plane, Logan and Kat—with eight-month-old Bennett asleep on her chest—faced each other in a cozy section of plush chairs. Kat’s feet were kicked onto her husband’s lap for him to massage as they carried on what looked like a very entertaining conversation. Kat shot Logan a smile and a wink, and he responded with a bark of laughter. Next to them, in a single seat turned to face the back of the jet, Hannah lifted her gaze from a brick-sized, stern-looking book and rolled her eyes as if annoyed by their lovey-dovey antics.
“Whatcha reading? A love story?” Claire teased.
Hannah snorted. “No way. I’m reading about an ex-government assassin whose family was murdered by the CIA when he tried to get out of the killing business.”
“Sounds heartwarming,” Claire deadpanned.
Hannah shrugged. “I’m already surrounded by an unnaturally high number of lovestruck couples. Just trying to balance things out.”
Claire cocked her head. “You can’t believe there’s too much love in the world?”
“I didn’t say that.” Hannah drew in a deep breath. “I’m thrilled that you and Kat and Pax have found your happily-ever-afters. But not everyone is meant to be paired off in life, and that’s okay.”
“Speaking of paired off … ” Kat glanced at their parents as if checking to see if they were still busy playing cards. “I should warn you, Hannah, Mom encouraged Sage to sit a particular someone beside you at the reception.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “She better not be trying to set me up with one of Pax’s old high school friends again.”
“It’s not one of Pax’s old friends. In fact, you’ve never met this guy,” Kat said, clearly enjoying herself. “But you do know who he is.”
Hannah wrinkled her brow in confusion. “Who?”
“Carter O’Reilly.” Kat’s voice purred with satisfaction.
Hannah shot forward in her seat, knocking the massive novel on her lap to the floor with a muffled thud. “The bad-boy Hollywood actor?”<
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“I heard that Pax and Sage knew him,” Claire said, keeping her voice low. “I didn’t realize they liked him well enough to invite him to their wedding.”
“He’s a good bloke,” Logan interjected.
“Mom must think so too,” Kat responded, her voice low and her amusement level high. “After her successful matchmaking with Pax, me, and now Claire, she’s turned her attention to Hannah.”
“Wait. What?” Claire shook her head and stared at Kat. “Mom didn’t play matchmaker with us.” She dropped her hand to Ethan’s thigh.
“Pfft, right.” Kat rolled her eyes. “Who do you think made sure Ethan was Ty’s coach?”
Claire straightened. “Dad called the club and requested Ethan for the team.”
“And who do you think was behind the scenes making sure Dad made that call?” Kat imitated twisting someone’s arm and nodded toward their mom’s chair.
“No way,” Claire breathed, but she realized Kat could be right. Their mom had looked agitated or maybe even a little guilty at lunch the day she’d mentioned the unexpected soccer meeting she had to attend that night. “Holy smokes. It’s true, isn’t it?” She looked around the group.
“Don’t ask me,” Ethan said. “I just coached the team they told me to coach.” He shrugged. “If it is true, we’re going to have to get your mom one hell of a Christmas present this year.”
“Oh, it’s true.” Kat nodded her head in large, exaggerated movements. “She’s successfully hooked up three of her four kids. Guess who’s next?” She grinned at Hannah.
Hannah flopped back in her seat and tossed an arm over her eyes. “This is ridiculous,” she grumbled under her breath. “Why would she try to set me up with a guy who’s splashed across the tabloids with a different woman each week? Carter O’Reilly lacks any sort of sexual self-restraint. From what I’ve read, he’ll sleep with anything sporting a pair of breasts. Does she really think I’m that desperate?”
