Shaye kissed her cheek. “You’ve been planning this since the beginning of the year, Kez. Nothing will go wrong.”
***
Everything had gone wrong.
Ben stepped out of the shower and snagged a towel. A quick glance at the bathroom mirror revealed that two lots of shampoo hadn’t removed the flecks of green paint from his hair. Or his face.
Shit. Impulsive decision to paint the garden shed now biting him square in the butt.
He was already twenty minutes late to the damn party. He wouldn’t have tackled the shed today except that this morning, after Kezia had left to do last-minute-party-stuff, the blue screen of death had struck his laptop.
Normally, a quick phone call to his techie guy, AKA West, who had a knack for babying electronics that only baffled Ben, and he’d be sorted. But West proved impossible to track down this morning, as had his last resort, Piper, who he prayed had the booking sheets for the next week copied on her computer. Since catching up on paperwork was out of the question, he’d decided to earn points with Kez…and if he did a good job, he hoped to score another lap dance.
The thought made him grin as he tugged on pants and the shirt Kez had not-so-subtly left out. He glanced in the bathroom mirror again, running a hand down his prickly jaw. Shave? Nah, considering the kind of day he was having, best to stay away from sharp objects. And it wasn’t as if anyone going to Del and Bill’s welcome home party would worry if Ben Harland’s jaw hadn’t seen a razor for a few days.
He stepped into the hallway, his stomach giving a mighty rumble. Also, he hadn’t stopped for lunch. The lure of fridge leftovers too great, Ben dived into the kitchen. Two minutes was all he needed to scoff some of Kez’s rigatoni.
A minute later, he was back in the bathroom, cursing and dabbing a damp washcloth on his chest. Nope. A coin-sized drip of spicy tomato sauce wasn’t going to come out of his pale blue shirt. Ben yanked it off and headed to the bedroom. He found a clean tee shirt, tugged it on, then headed to the end of the hall for his dress shoes.
The remaining leather shoe on the shoe rack had tiny teeth marks and dog drool covering it.
“You’re kidding me, right?” he said to Sparky.
She whined, gave him the big-eyed-poor-doggy look, and piddled on the hall rug. Ben lunged for the dog and deposited her in the fenced-in backyard. He didn’t have time to clean the rug, so he chucked that out the door too.
Aaand…now he had dog pee on his jeans and no decent shoes. Ben stomped down the hallway and glared into their wardrobe. Right. Forget smart but casual; he was doing casual with a capital C. He changed into a pair of shorts and slid his feet into flip-flops. Why the damn dog hadn’t mauled his cheap rubber flip-flops instead of his one good pair of shoes…
Ben clenched his jaw and locked up, then hustled down the road to Due South. Better thirty minutes late than not at all, right? It wasn’t as if anyone—other than Kez—would care if he was a little late.
West pounced on him the moment Ben stepped inside the pub. “Where the hell have—?” His mate paused, narrowed his eyes, huffed out a sigh. “Tell me you’re not going for the Incredible Hulk look again, and that isn’t green paint all over your face?”
Ben shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced around. Ford was set up with his guitar in the corner, Bill and Del were parked at a nearby table, along with Claire and Mrs. Taylor—who winked at him when she caught his gaze. Everyone looked dressed up in their best. Well, dressed up by Stewart Island standards. Even Ford had on a collared shirt, for God’s sake. Ben’s ears heated.
Kez was gonna kill him.
He scratched his forehead, and a flake of green paint came away under his fingernail. “Um. Thought this was just a casual get together—” Sparkly lights strung above the bar, and hang on, around the whole room, snagged his attention. “Fairy lights? In Due South?”
West socked his arm and grinned. “You gonna stand there criticizing your woman’s good taste?”
Oh, yeah. Kez’d been part of the party planning. “It’s great. The sparkly lights and flowers and shit really say ‘Welcome home Bill and Del’ in a masculine way.”
West snorted and shoved his shoulder, propelling him farther into the bar. After shaking hands with Bill and Del, and dutifully kissing his mother’s cheek as she rushed by, Ben signaled Kip behind the bar for a beer. He’d more than earned one.
Strange…
Kip didn’t move to grab his usual from the fridge. Instead, he gave Ben a thumbs up and what could only be described as a smirk. Huh. Was his mate seriously enforcing some sort of dress code? Something against a hard-working guy who just happened to have a few specks of paint on his face? He shot a cool look at Kip, whose smirk transformed into a full-blown grin.
Ford played a few opening chords on his guitar and started singing.
Oh, ha ha, mate. Ben glowered at Ford as he crooned the opening few lines of one of Elton John’s classics.
“Something about the way you look tonight…”
Ben frowned. What a comedian.
The rumble of voices silenced almost immediately, the whole of Due South staring at him with big goofy smiles. No—wait—every single person was staring at a spot behind him. His shoulder blades hunching forward, Ben turned toward the door.
Whoa! Three dark-eyed, dark-haired, suit-wearing guys stood three abreast. Bloody hell—was the mafia onto him? Then, oh, light bulb moment when they moved to one side, revealing Zoe and Jade in the doorway. Dressed in matching green dresses, the girls began tossing flower petals on the floor. Matching dresses? Flower petals? Three Italian men in suits? His heart stuttered then raced.
Behind the girls appeared Piper, followed closely by Shaye. His sisters also wore green dresses and carried flowers, and they were smiling at him as if they’d just pulled off the biggest, bazinga! practical joke ever.
His ears fired hotter, and his lungs went on strike. Starting to see the obvious connections now…
Piper and Shaye split to flank the open doorway, and suddenly, she was there.
Kezia.
In a silky dress that clung to every one of her lush curves, with white flowers pinned in her dark curls, and her arm looped through her older brother Nick’s, she looked like a princess from one of the girls’ damn Disney movies.
So many thoughts and emotions tumbled through his frazzled brain that it felt as if he stood in the middle of a tornado. In the whirling chaos, he could only label one emotion, and refine one thought.
The emotion? Pure, undiluted happiness.
And the thought? Looked as if the Incredible Hulk was marrying the woman he loved today.
***
Kezia’s soon-to-be husband’s normally stoic expression shifted to a wide, wicked smile. From somewhere behind her, soft clicks of a camera captured every second. Perfect—she wanted to remember every moment of this day forever.
Nick led her to stand in front of Ben, and she looked up, way up, into his warm brown eyes. She didn’t need to glance at her older brother to know Nick was giving Ben the Italian male, you better treat my sister right eyeball stare.
But Ben’s gaze never swerved from her.
“You sure know how to throw a surprise party,” he said, and the heat in his eyes went from warm to hot enough to boil her blood stream. “Love the dress.” Then his eyebrows knotted together. “But I look like sh—”
His gaze shot off to the side, where Zoe and Jade were positioned. He coughed, ears glowing redder. “I mean I look like something Sparky coughed up.”
Kezia laid her hand on Ben’s arm, the hairs and tiny paint chips caught on his skin tickling her palm. “You look like my Ben. Amore mio.”
Muscles twitched under her hands, but she didn’t let go. He was big, warm, beautiful, and hers. “I don’t care what you’ve done to the shirt I picked or why you’re covered in paint. I want to marry you here, now, in front of all our friends and family.”
His larger hand covered her fingers. “Never could sa
y no to you, baby. Especially not with the mafia breathing down my neck.”
Grunts of amusement from her three big brothers came from behind her, and Kezia grinned. “So, how about it, Ben Harland? Are you going to make an honest woman out of me?”
“Not looking like that, he isn’t,” Glenna said, popping up on Ben’s other side. “West, you’re his best man, do something.”
Standing just behind Ben, West chuckled and loosened the charcoal-colored tie from around his neck. He yanked it over his head, then jammed it down over Ben’s, adjusting it so it hung in a straight line down the front of Ben’s white tee shirt.
“There. Better, Mum?” he said.
Glenna huffed but smiled at Kezia. “Ben’ll never be in a GQ magazine, dear. But he truly does love you.”
Kezia moved to Ben’s side as Wally Nolan, their local Justice of the Peace and convenient marriage celebrant, got up from a nearby table.
“You on board with all this, son?” Wally asked Ben.
“Completely on board. Let’s do it,” Ben replied.
As Wally opened his folder and began to speak, Ben threaded his fingers through Kezia’s. A shiver worked its way down her spine at the touch of his work-roughed skin.
Over nine years ago she’d stood in the cold halls of a registry office with Zoe’s father, Callum. She’d repeated her vows, fumbling through some of the words, but dreamy-eyed and certain that she and Callum would have a wonderful life together. Even if she didn’t have the support of her family…or his.
Now, as she stood with Ben, her big brothers willing witnesses, their friends gathered with the warmth of their good wishes and love flowing all around them, a different kind of certainty filled her heart. Refined and molded by her first marriage, which had ended leaving her a widow, she wasn’t the same young girl who’d fought back doubts and replaced them with fairy tales. Now, she didn’t have doubts, and she didn’t want a fairy tale. She wanted what she’d already tasted—the ups and downs of making a life with one man, her man.
When it came time to exchange vows, she kept hers simple, because Ben had shown her the kind of love that lasted forever couldn’t be expressed in mere words. It was simply something you lived out day to day, in lots of little ways.
Kezia took Ben’s hand and slipped on the simple gold band she’d chosen. “I love you, Benjamin Michael Harland, and I promise to love you, care for you, make you smile, and feed you, every day for the rest of my life. Thank you for being a wonderful dad to Zoe and bringing a new daughter, Jade, into my heart.”
Ben’s fingers tightened on hers, and if she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes were shinier than usual.
West nudged Ben’s elbow and held out a matching plain gold band. Ben took it from his friend and raised an eyebrow at her. “You bought your own wedding ring?”
She chuckled. “Did you really want to spend three hours in a jeweler’s shop with me?”
“You know me too well.”
Ben extended his hand, and Kezia placed her palm in his. He slid the ring onto her finger.
“I know you’ll kill me if I quote ‘ditto’ from that Patrick Swayze movie you love, so I’ll try to be a little more original, even though you’ve completely blown my freaking mind.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd, but the love and tenderness shining in Ben’s gaze faded the background noise to a low buzz. Nothing else mattered but the way he was looking at her now.
“I love you, Kezia Marie Murphy,” he said. “The kind of love Westley had for Buttercup.” He glanced away from her to wink at Zoe and Jade.
Hot tears stung her eyes, and her chest constricted, leaving her breathing with tiny gasps. For so long he’d struggled to say the words, but she had no doubt—none at all—that he meant it. His hot gaze switched back to her, and he captured her other hand.
“I love you with the kind of love Mr. Darcy has for Elizabeth, and even the kind poor, dead Patrick Swayze had for Demi Moore. But more than the people in those books and sappy movies you insist on watching, I’ll love you with everything I am, with everything I’ve got, and I’ll never stop. I also promise to love you, care for you, make you smile—and probably cringe at times—and although my lasagne is almost inedible, I promise to pick twigs out of your hair when you’ve been gardening, and buy you chocolate whenever you need a fix.”
More laughter from their guests and a loud round of applause.
Ben twisted to glare behind him. “Hey! Keep it down; I haven’t finished.”
“Most I’ve heard you say since your mum made you apologize to me for stealing a chocolate cake out of my kitchen when you were nine,” Mrs. Taylor shouted and rapped her walking stick on the floor. “Shut up, you lot. The boy’s not done.”
Muffled snickers and the squeak of people shifting in their seats finally tapered off. Ben turned back to her again, and her stomach went all light and floaty.
“You’re an amazing woman, Kezia. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, and I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have you and our two lovely girls in my life. Thank you, amore mio, for everything you are, and for making us a family.”
Overcome with emotion, she continued to gaze at him, his fingers gently squeezing hers.
Wally cleared his throat. “Well, I guess that concludes the vows part. I can see young Ben here is keen to get on with it, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re now husband and wife, and you can kiss your bride.”
The crowd hooted and hollered as Ben dragged her flush against him. Sliding her hands up over the soft knit of his tee shirt into his paint-speckled hair, Kezia fought the equal urge to laugh and cry, bubbles of joy exploding in her stomach.
“One minute, remember,” Ben whispered against her lips as he dipped her over his arm.
“Maledizione, that’s not long enough! Let’s be scandalous and go for two.”
Then Kezia kissed her man until everyone in Due South was well and truly scandalized.
###
Read Kezia & Ben’s full story…
Melting Into You (Due South Book 2)
Big, sexy men who don’t relate well to kids need not apply…
Kezia Murphy plays her widow card well. When you don’t trust people not to let you down, it’s easier to not get involved—and getting involved with a man who makes her skin sizzle just by looking at him would be una pazzia—crazy! Four years ago while Kezia’s daughter, Zoe, battled leukaemia, a tragic accident stole her husband’s life. Starting over in the little town of Oban where she’s adopted into the close knit community on Stewart Island, Kezia and her daughter are all the family the other needs. Except Zoe yearns for more.
New Zealand’s worst candidate for instant fatherhood…
Ben doesn’t do gooey emotional stuff. He doesn’t do cosy home and family. And he sure isn’t the big teddy-bear Kezia Murphy, the woman he secretly fantasises about, thinks he is. So when Jade, his surprise eight-year-old daughter arrives on his doorstep, he’s a D-minus student struggling to pass a crash-course in parenting.
They’ll either melt or raze their lives to the ground…
When the sparks of attraction between Kezia and Ben fan into an inferno, Ben doesn’t know how much longer the layers of resistance around his heart can resist melting into the gooey mess he fears. The more he fights it the harder it is to make the choice that will destroy the family he now longs to claim.
Click here to buy Melting Into You!
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Other Series by this Author
/> Far North Series
Imagine an endless stretch of azure blue water and clean, unspoiled beaches.
Imagine a small town surrounded by ancient native forest.
Imagine neighbors who look after their own, who consider them whānau - family.
Imagine the secret lives, the hidden passions simmering under New Zealand’s sultry, subtropical Far North.
Welcome to Bounty Bay, where the reward of true love is a price only some are willing to pay.
Book #1 Hide Your Heart
Book #2 Know Your Heart (Coming June 2015 – Pre-Order now!)
About the Author
Tracey Alvarez lives in the Coolest Little Capital in the World (a.k.a Wellington, New Zealand) where she’s yet to be buried under her to-be-read book pile by Wellington’s infamous wind—her Kindle’s a lifesaver! Married to a wonderfully supportive IT guy, she has two teens who would love to be surgically linked to their electronic devices.
Fuelled by copious amounts of coffee, she’s the author of contemporary romantic fiction set predominantly in New Zealand. Small-towns, close communities, and families are a big part of the heart-warming stories she writes. Oh, and hot, down-to-earth heroes—Kiwi men, in other words.
When she’s not writing, thinking about writing, or procrastinating about writing, Tracey can be found reading sexy books of all romance genres, nibbling on smuggled chocolate bars, or bribing her kids to take over the housework.
Questions or comments? E-mail Tracey at [email protected] or find her on the following social networks:
Website: www.traceyalvarez.com
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My Forever Valentine: New Zealand Happy-Ever-After Romance (Due South: A Sexy New Zealand Romance Book 5) Page 5
