by LS Anders
A wicked smile turned up the corners of Vehn's lips.
It was… perfect!
Callie was cleaning up after her last client. She checked her watch again. This seemed to be the slowest day in the history since time began. But it was almost closing time, and that meant almost Vehn time. She knew he should be about done with his shoot, but she hadn’t received any texts from him yet.
It had been ten days since they had dropped the love bomb on each other, and they had been inseparable ever since. They took turns spending the night at each other’s places, trying to give Tegan a break from always seeing them together.
Callie's mind was running full speed ahead, ruminating on everything they had done and talked about since that time. Vehn had even gone with her to her latest session with Dr. Z. That gesture alone had made her fall that much more in love him. He had volunteered for couples' counseling to help her with her insecurities and to help strengthen the bond they had already formed.
She was in remission, as it were, for now, but knew once the media started really hounding her, she would need some help dealing with it all. Neither one of them wanted to leave New York, so that was out of the question.
Callie's heart sank a little as the bell over the door rang. Apparently, she wasn’t done with work yet. All the other artists were still busy their own clients and that meant she was the only one available to see a walk-in.
“Hey, Vehn.”
Avie’s voice was music to her ears! Poking her head out around her door, Callie peered down the hallway as Vehn came rushing towards her. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her gently on the lips and hugged her tightly to him. She took a moment to enjoy the contact before pulling back from him. That was when she noticed the unshed tears that had turned his eyes a bright green.
“Oh my God, what’s happened?”
He dropped suddenly to his knees, looking up at her. She didn’t know what to make of his actions. Fear shot through her at the thought that maybe he had done something so incredibly wrong he needed to beg for her forgiveness. That was when he reached inside his coat and pulled out a small black velvet box.
The shop had grown completely still, becoming so quiet her harsh breaths sounded loud to her own ears. Clients and staff had all gathered in the hall looking on, but she didn’t notice any of that. All she could see was this breathtaking man of her dreams kneeling before her. There could be no question as to what was in that little black box. She wished her mother was alive so she could share this moment with her.
“Callie, I know we originally said we were going to take it slow, and we succeeded… for about two days.” Vehn gave her a sheepish grin. “I know we’ve jumped back in where we left off and that we haven’t really known each other for very long, and that we’ve had some bumps in the road. But there is no one else on this planet that I would want to spend the rest of my life with other than you. I love you so much that it hurts my soul. We don’t have to get married right away, and we can take our time and be engaged for a while if you want. But I do want to marry you. Will you marry me, Callie?”
The swoosh of tissues being pulled from the box being passed around and varying degrees of sniffles were the only sounds being made in the studio as Callie stared down at him unblinking.
Vehn cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I know this is really, really early in our relationship, for me to be asking such an important question, but I know in my bones you’re the only girl I want for the rest of my life. Callie, please say yes.”
Vehn flipped open the lid to the little box. The perfectly cut 3-carat radiant diamond was brilliant nestled inside its platinum setting. You would think the diamond-studded band would have made the piece gaudy, but the designer had created it with such exquisite taste, it only accentuated the flawless centerpiece.
His words were intoxicating to her soul, healing her in a way that no amount of therapy could have done. When he opened the little box and the beautiful trinket winked at her, tears immediately flooded her eyes with the knowledge that he had picked this ring just for her, and it was absolutely the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
“If you don’t like it, we can take it back.”
“No.” After blinking back the deluge of tears, she noticed the overwhelming sadness that had fallen over his handsome features. That seemed to snap her out of her stupor.
Holy shit, she had said no!
“I meant no to taking the ring back, not no to you! Yes, to you! Always yes!” Callie rushed to explain, dropping to the floor with him. He pulled her into his lap, sliding the ring on her finger. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Various styles of shoes came into view as the shop gathered around the happy couple still cuddled together on the floor to congratulate them and get a closer look at the ring. They were bombarded with questions and comments as they kissed and held onto each other as if they needed the other to breathe.
“Congratulations!” Rayna sniffled.
“I'm so happy for you guys!” Evana added.
“Can we go to a male review for your bachelorette party, too?” Avie squealed.
“Whoa, that's huge, Vehn!” Cale commented. “Is there a security guard that comes with that shit?”
“Wow, I'll bet you can see that thing from space,” Gabriel remarked.
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Tegan drawled.
Vehn stood back watching as Avie and her bridesmaids were positioned and repositioned at the direction of the photographer.
Avie looked just like an angel fallen from the heavens in her beaded sweetheart gown and flowing chiffon skirting. She’d somehow managed to change her hair color from the bubble gum pink it had been the day before to a pale champagne that complimented her dress perfectly.
The girls were shuffled around again into new positions, this time with Avie in the middle.
How many pictures did this guy need to take?
Granted, that was a good-looking group of women he was photographing, and Vehn suspected the guy was prolonging the session because of that reason.
Callie beamed over at him before the photographer refocused her attention back to the camera. Vehn could tell the guy favored her over the other girls. Well, that fucker could look all he wanted. Callie was all his, and damn, she looked gorgeous swathed in that gunmetal grey silk, too!
As he allowed himself to daydream about their future wedding day, images of the two of them at the altar flashed through his mind. He wondered what Callie’s wedding dress would look like, but he knew she would be beautiful in whatever she chose. They hadn’t picked a date yet, but he couldn’t wait for the day. He would marry her tomorrow, or hell, even today for that matter, but he knew she needed more time.
In the past months, they had continued their weekly appointments with Dr. Zigamonty, and Vehn knew she was making great progress.
The case against Regina and her lover, Freda, was far from over, and Callie was proving to herself she was tougher than she had given herself credit.
Cale swaggered over, shaking Vehn’s hand. “Thanks for standing up with me, even though you had me scared shitless with you and Callie running late.”
“No problem, but you had nothing to worry about. We had at least fifteen minutes to spare.”
“Traffic can be a bitch,” Cale said knowingly.
“No. Not traffic. Callie was naked-modeling the leopard print stilettos I got her for her birthday. It’s our thing.” At Cale’s raised brow, Vehn went on to add, “Callie loves shoes, and I love the private shows I always get when she gets a new pair. One thing always leads to another and—”
Cale held up his hand. “TMI, bro. Callie is like my sister, so please don’t take offense when I say, ew, gross.”
“Looks like we’re up.” Vehn laughed as the photographer waved them over.
Vehn’s suspicions about the photographer were confirmed when he didn’t take anywhere near as many shots of the guys.
Vehn was glad to be done with all the usual
business that came with being part of a wedding party. It was time for some slow dancing with his girl. He could hardly keep his hands from roaming over places where they shouldn’t, but given the fact that her luscious curves were swathed in silky softness, it was impossible to keep from it.
“Is that Evana and Cale’s brother, Jake, dancing together?” Callie asked, surprised.
“Looks like it,” Vehn answered, smoothing his hands down lower on her hips to pull her tighter against him.
“I’m surprised he came to the wedding. Cale so rarely talks about him that I almost forgot he had a brother, and when he does mention him, it’s to say something nasty.”
“Maybe they set their differences aside for this special occasion,” Vehn murmured, clearly distracted.
“If you don’t stop rubbing your dick on me, I’m gonna rip your pants off and have my way with you on this dance floor.” Vehn shivered as Callie breathed her words into his ear.
“Promise?” Vehn said before capturing her mouth with his.
“Go cool off somewhere,” Tegan bitched before pulling Vehn away from Callie. “I wanna dance with your girl.”
“Ever heard of asking?”
Vehn watched as his best friend twirled his Callie into the crowd of dancing couples.
He looked around, feeling lost without her. Everybody he knew seemed to be coupled up and on the dance floor. Even Dylan had somehow talked a reluctant Gabriel into a slow dance. The one guy who swore he wasn’t going to go anywhere near the dance floor.
Wandering over to the open bar, Vehn spotted Rayna sitting alone at a table, looking as out of place as he now felt. Guess she wasn’t the only one without a partner. Wandering over to join her, he pulled up a seat.
“Why aren’t you dancing with Callie?” she asked, smiling up at him sweetly.
“Your man stole her away,” Vehn accused.
“He’s not my man,” Rayna immediately countered.
Vehn just smiled at her denial. He wasn’t sure which one of them was holding back. Maybe it was both, but he wished the two of them would stop circling each other and get on with it. Vehn liked Rayna. She was everything Tracy wasn’t, and he knew without a doubt that she would be good for his friend.
“Would you like to dance?” Vehn held his hand out to her.
She took it, but shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m not really in the mood to celebrate.”
“Wanna talk about it?” Vehn watched Rayna’s expression turn to one of longing as she took in Tegan when he and Callie danced into view.
“I’m in love with Tegan,” Rayna admitted shyly, “and, I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“I have it on good authority that he feels exactly the same way about you.” Vehn gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“Really?” Rayna’s eye’s widened with hope as she searched his face for the answer she sought.
“Really,” Vehn said definitively.
Following the new direction of her dove grey gaze, they watched as Callie and Tegan finished their dance. Callie laughed at something Tegan had said as they made their way off the dance floor and over to the table.
“Time for an intervention, asshole!” Vehn snickered to himself.
Note from the author.
Hello fellow romance-aholics!
As many of us do, I read to give myself a break from the daily grind and there’s no better way to do that than to get lost inside a juicy romance novel when you’re feeling overworked or overstressed.
I’m a wearer of many hats. I’m a wife, a mother, a female firefighter, a reader and lover of all things romance, an avid daydreamer, and a new author to the contemporary romance genre.
Vehn is the first in the Exotic Ink Book Series. Books to soon follow will be Tegan and Jake.
I hope you enjoy reading my series as much as I’ve enjoyed bring these characters to life.
L.S. Anders
Follow me! I would love to hear from you.
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