Assignment: Second Chances

by Honor James

  Nathan grabbed up her cup and sat back down on the coffee table to fiddle with it while he watched them both. He looked like a giddy little kid about to be unleashed to wreak havoc upon some poor unsuspecting fool given the energy he was exuding with his jostling leg.

  Sighing, Lee shifted a little so he was looking at her a little more dead on. “I had this all planned out, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. As I mentioned a moment ago, we’ve never exactly done everything in a normal fashion. On that note.” He brought the hand she hadn’t been able to see into view. In his palm rested a little black box.

  Olivia just looked at the little box and then to Lee once more. Her hands were shaking when she took the box from him. “Is this?” She had tears streaking down her face, but she didn’t care. Flipping open the box, she saw the simple platinum double infinity band with several fairly decent-sized diamonds inlaid. “Is there a question that goes with this?” She looked to Lee now, her focus laser complete.

  “Olivia Green, love of my life, will you marry me?” he asked, looking a mite nervous. He swallowed hard, opened his mouth to say something else, then shut it again with a sheepish look.

  Nathan was practically vibrating across the surface of the coffee table as he grinned at her in her periphery.

  “Yes,” she whispered with a grin. “Yes I will marry you.” She put the ring onto her finger and then wrapped her arms around Lee’s neck. “Always Lee, forever,” she told him against his ear very quietly.

  Nathan let out a hoot while Lee wrapped his arms around her. He held her close, rubbing his hand up and down her back slowly. She felt the breath he released ruffle her hair. “Thank God,” he muttered. Pulling back he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love you, Vi.”

  “That’s good because I love you too, Lee.” She looked up at Nathan once more and then back to Lee. “I’m feeling remarkably better. What do you think about us going and having a bit of a celebration?”

  “Damn right we’re going out to celebrate,” Nathan said. He leaned in to give them both a hug at the same time. Drawing back, he gave her a kiss on her lips. “Not every day a woman gets engaged to the guy that really should have done it a lot sooner. So, when’s the wedding?” he asked with a smirk.

  “As soon as we can get to Vegas?” she asked with a laugh. “I’m so good with that if you guys are.” She didn’t need a big wedding, she just needed her man—no, her men—with her. They were what was important, her men loving her.

  Lee was watching her closely and nodded slowly. “If that’s what the lady wants, that’s what the lady will get. You should get a dress at the very least though,” he said softly. “No point in not doing it right even if it is only a Vegas wedding. We’ll have to figure out when we can go, and who we want to go with us.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me.” She nuzzled in closer to Lee and closed her eyes. “I think a dress and one of the upscale places for our wedding. I don’t want to be married by Elvis but I don’t want a huge wedding either. So that’s why I voted for Vegas, unless you think Justice of the Peace and then a party afterwards?”

  “Olivia, sweetheart, we will do whatever you want to do. I’m a guy so asking me about this sort of thing is out of my zone of expertise. If you want a fancy wedding in Vegas we’ll make it happen. We have friends that can ensure anything we want can be made reality.”

  “I know that you will.” She took a deep breath. “I know that we will make all of our dreams come true. Not just mine, all of ours.” This was for all of them, not just her but all of them.

  “Okay, now that it’s been settled, where are we going for our celebration?” Nathan asked, stalling whatever Lee may have said. “Or do we want to order in and stay in comfortable clothes instead? I only suggest the second option because you still look a little pale, Olivia.”

  “I’m all for ordering in and staying home,” she assured them. “Especially when it means that I get to stay right here, curled up against Lee and staying nice and warm.” She winked at Nathan and added, “We will even move to the couch so both of you can cuddle and pamper me. It’s your jobs as the future daddy, right?”

  Snorting at that, Nathan shook his head. “Somehow I thought you’d say something like that. All right, I will put in the call. What are you craving tonight, babe? Pizza, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, name your poison and I’ll see it gets here in a timely manner.”

  “How about pizza? Oh with extra garlic butter on the breadsticks.” She nodded and let her hand move over Lee’s chest while talking to Nathan. “And sides of garlic butter as well. It sounds good now, so I want to eat it while I still can.”

  “Right, heavy on the garlic butter,” he said. Wrinkling his nose up he stood. “You better damn well brush your teeth, woman. I am not kissing your garlic-breathy self.” He gave an exaggerated shudder before he started out of the room. “That shit’s just nasty.”

  Olivia laughed and looked up at Lee. “You will kiss me no matter what though, won’t you? Since you are the one that introduced me to it, you should at least.” She laid her head back on Lee’s chest and sighed. This was a very good life, this was going to be the most amazing of lives and she knew it. Life was going to be very good.

  “I’ll always kiss you, my love. Order a bucket of the garlic butter, Gordon,” he called out. “Then at least we’ll all have garlic breath.” Brushing a kiss to her forehead, he gave her a squeeze. “Don’t eat too much of it though, otherwise you might end up with heartburn again like the last time you overindulged and practically drank it from the containers.”

  “Good point.” She smirked and then began to giggle. “Seriously don’t want to heartburn again because I hope to get you guys naked later. As long as my stomach holds up that is.”

  “Naked later would be good, so don’t overdo the garlic butter.” Tipping her chin up, he dropped a kiss to her lips. “Gordon, order some wings too, damn it. The mild ones for the mom-to-be, but order some of the spicy ones too.”

  “I got this, geez. You’d think I’ve never order in this house before,” he said in a loud grumbly tone.

  “Well I’m far hungrier now than I have been before,” Olivia answered. “Okay, enough.” She looked to Lee and shook her head. “He will order everything. Nathan knows what we need pretty much before we do. I still swear that man is psychic or something.”

  “He’s not, I tested it a few times and he didn’t pick up a damn thing. Shame too, they were pretty damn creative.” Shaking his head, Lee let out a sigh. “He’s good with the details though. And he never forgets anything. He says no, but I’m pretty sure he has a photographic memory.”

  “Well whatever it is, I’m happy to have it.” She was grinning and rubbing against him as she did so. “So, my future husband, how long have you been waiting to ask me to marry you?”

  “Since the night I walked out,” he whispered. “I’d planned to bring the idea up with you then. I’d even been saving to buy the ring I knew you liked. Since I couldn’t find the exact one, I thought this was a good substitute with a minor upgrade in quality.”

  “It’s perfect.” She looked at the ring on her hand and then looked at him. She smiled and nodded. “It took a long time but I’m happy. I’m happy that we are back where we belong once more. I’m happy, Lee.”

  “Me too, Vi. I’m happy that Nathan seems to be taking this all so well. Not that I didn’t figure he would given he’s been prodding me to pop the question since the doctor’s appointment.”

  “You damn well needed it, and you know it. Geez man you were dragging your feet.”

  “I was not dragging my feet, you buffoon, I was trying to plan something nice for Vi so she’d know how much she meant to me, and so she might be able to ignore how nervous I was when I finally did the asking.”

  “Stalling,” Nathan said firmly as he rejoined them.

  “You just told me how much I mean to you,” Olivia told Lee with a smile. “And Nathan, I’m happy that you are good with us being marr
ied and having babies. Although I still really do want to have you to plan a commitment ceremony for the two of us, please?”

  “Absolutely, sweetheart. Whenever you want to do it, we’ll arrange for it to happen,” he told her. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m very happy for the two of you, this has been a long fucking time coming. On the plus side he’s looking a lot happier too.”

  “He is isn’t he? I think that we can keep him looking happier for a long time in coming, don’t you think?” She was happy, very happy. Knowing that these men were in her life and would remain in their lives forever. “I couldn’t think of a better happily ever after than the two of you in my life.”

  Laughing, Nathan threw her a wink. “You say that now, but wait until you realize all the bad habits we have, or rather I have and Jacobs has picked up over the years. Might have you second guessing ever saying that, babe.”

  “Nah.” Olivia looked to Lee and winked. “I know how to help break him of his bad habits.” In a way at least. “Did he ever tell you about the time that he tried to start smoking? How I—” Her words were cut off when Lee silenced her with a kiss, something she was more than happy to accept.

  “Wait, no! I want to hear the story. Son of a bitch,” Nathan said. Lee kept kissing her, sliding his tongue over hers slowly as he made love to her mouth. “Now I’m never going to know how the fuck it ends,” he grumbled.

  THE END

  WWW.HONORJAMES.COM

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Born in the mid-seventies, Honor has always had a love for the written word. Whether she is reading a book from another author or writing a story of her own, she is always letting her mind expand and delve into possibilities. It all started off as scribbles for her, then a phase of poetry before she found her true calling in the erotic paranormal genre where her imagination is only limit.

  Since beginning her journey as a published author in 2011, Honor says she has learned a great deal about herself and writing. She believes that it’s a never-ending journey, the mind always wanting to learn and to grow. With that comes a better skill and smoothness to her writing, she’s discovered and begun to enjoy more with each story she creates.

  Thankfully, as she puts it, she has a job that gives her plenty of opportunity to write whatever comes to mind with very few interruptions. Her biggest supporters are, as always, her family. Her two children and her husband are continuously providing her with laughter and joy, making the time she takes to write a little bit easier. Without them and their support, she knows she wouldn’t be half the author she is today.

  For all titles by Honor James, please visit

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