Meagan got a lump in her throat. Candy was more beautiful than she’d ever been, with her mermaid-style gown hugging her curves. She wore a single strand of pearls around her neck, and her hair was swept into an elegant twist and decorated with gilded combs. She carried a cascading white bouquet with a single blue rose in the center.
The vows Tanner and Candy took consisted of words they’d written themselves. During her oath Candy mentioned the unattainable dream that had come true, referencing the special roses she’d chosen for herself and the other women in her bridal party.
Meagan’s eyes misted. Someday, in the near future, this would be her and Garrett, standing at an altar, professing their love and devotion.
By the time the reception was underway, Meagan was seated next to her man, enjoying a delectable meal. Garrett’s foster brothers had been invited to the wedding, too, so they could meet Meagan’s family.
Jake and Carol brought their new daughter. She was exactly a month old today. They didn’t plan to stay long, considering how young she was, but they wanted to make an appearance and show her off. She was an adorable baby, all gussied up in pink.
Meagan was looking forward to having more children, not just for her and Garrett but for Ivy, too. So she could become a big sister. Already, she was crazy about little Nita. Earlier, she’d peered adoringly at the baby in her carrier.
At the moment, though, Ivy was chattering up a storm with Max. She’d grown quite fond of Max, or Maddy, as she called him.
After the meal, Garrett asked Meagan to dance and, as they swayed to the music, he said, “This is a wonderful gathering.”
“Yes, it is. Everyone we love is here.”
“Including each other.”
She looked into his eyes. Truer words had never been spoken. “You’re my heart, Garrett Snow.”
“And you’re mine, Meagan ‘Winter Time’ Quinn.” He spun her around. The song had changed to an up-tempo tune.
They glanced over and saw that Max was dancing with Ivy, lifting her high in the air and rocking her back and forth.
“Me, fun!” she said.
They laughed, charmed by her enthusiasm. She was enjoying herself on this merry occasion, and so were they. Life was good, Meagan thought.
Beautifully, magnificently good.
* * *
After Garrett and Meagan got home from the wedding, they put Ivy to bed. She conked out right away, exhausted from the festivities. Garrett loved that Meagan and Ivy were living with him now. He loved watching his little princess sleep, too. On nights like this, his house really had become a castle in the sky.
He tucked the blanket around Ivy. “She had a big day.”
Meagan nodded. “We all did.”
“Are you ready to turn in, too?”
“With you? Anytime.”
They went into his room—their room—and he unzipped her dress, a softly draped gold-tone gown with a jeweled neckline.
“You look gorgeous in this,” he said. “But you look just as ravishing out of it.” Her undergarments were sexy as sin. Wisps of silk and lace. If he wasn’t careful, they would tear apart in his hands.
She smiled. “You’re quite handsome yourself.”
Garrett removed his tie and draped it over a chair. He’d discarded his jacket earlier. “I’ve been thinking about our wedding.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, too, and how amazing it’s going to be. But I still want to wait until my parole ends and my restitution is paid.”
“I know.” He wasn’t going to hurry her. They’d made an agreement, and he was holding up his end of the bargain. He walked over to the dresser. “But I do have something to give you.” He opened the top drawer. “I bought it a few weeks ago, but I kept it hidden in a safe until today.”
She came closer to see what her gift was, and he handed her the ring-sized box. Then he said, “I want us to be officially engaged.”
She flipped open the velvet-lined box and gasped. He’d shopped specifically for the diamond, choosing it for its flawless clarity and vivid blue color, much like the flower she’d carried today.
“Oh, my goodness.” She looked as if she might cry. “I don’t know what to say.”
He’d designed the ring as a classic solitaire, simple in its elegance, assuming it was the timeless style she would prefer. But he’d still given her a piece of jewelry that spoke volumes. The diamond was as rare and beautiful as she was. “Just say that you’ll wear it.”
“Yes, of course, I will. It’s stunning. More perfect than I could have ever imagined.” She slipped it onto her finger, where the stone dazzled against her skin. “I’m going to have to use gloves when I’m at work to protect it.”
“My stable-hand bride. I’m so proud of who you are.”
“And I’m so honored to be your fiancée.”
“I have a diamond for Ivy, too. It’s a princess-cut pendant for her to wear on the day of our wedding. And anytime she wants to wear it after that, too.”
“You’re going to spoil us, Garrett.”
“I can’t help it. I’m excited about having you as my wife and Ivy as our daughter.”
“Me, too.” She kissed him, soft and sweet and slow.
He guided her to bed, and they finished removing their clothes. He caressed her bared body, and she arched and sighed. He knew just where to touch her, indulging in foreplay that pleased her.
She knew what he liked, too. She used her hands and her mouth, giving him wicked thrills.
Her hair was fixed in a long, wavy style, leftover from the wedding, with little crystals pinned into it. While she did wild things to him, he toyed with her ladylike coiffure, scattering the pins.
Finally, when he couldn’t wait any longer, Garrett reached for a condom. Someday, when they were ready for more children, they wouldn’t be using protection. But for now this was part of the process.
Once he was inside her, he pulled her tight against him, savoring the naked intimacy. He’d been waiting a long time to feel this way, to care about someone this much.
The sex overflowed with heat and passion. But so did the love. Garrett and Meagan were right where they belonged.
Together in every way.
* * * * *
Don’t miss the first BILLIONAIRE BROTHERS CLUB book from Sheri WhiteFeather!
WAKING UP WITH THE BOSS
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And Max’s story is next!
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The Best Man’s Baby
by Karen Booth
One
Julia Keys ducked out of the cab in front of her childhood home amid a hailstorm of camera flashes and shouts from reporters.
Where’s Derek, Julia? Is he flying in from LA for your sister’s wedding?
Is it true you and Derek are shopping for a house together?
Any chance you and Derek will tie the knot?
Ludicrous questions, and yet they kept coming. She wouldn’t date Derek, her current costar, if her life depended on it. The idea made her queasier than her first trimester morning sickness, and that was saying a lot.
Dodging reporters and lugging a week’s worth of designer clothes in a roller bag, she marched up the walk, past the rhododendron that had been in full bloom at the beginning of summer, the last time she’d been back in Wilmington. That was also the last time Logan Brandt had stomped on her heart. The very last time. Or at least that was the plan.
Her father raced down the stairs of the wraparound porch and folded her into his arms. “Y’all need to learn some manners,” he yelled to the media militia assembled at the curb.
At least the local press had enough respect to stay off private property. The same could not be said for the paparazzi in a big city like New York or Los Angeles. A film career spanning nearly a decade had left Julia a reluctant pro. Judging by the frantic phone call from her publicist that morning, when the story of her nonexistent romance first broke, the press would be arriving in waves over the next several hours.
“Sorry about that, Daddy. Don’t talk to them. They’ll go away if we don’t say anything.” She pressed a kiss to her father’s clean-shaven face. It was framed by thick, chocolate-brown hair—the same color as Julia’s, except his had gone salt-and-pepper at the temples. The few wrinkles he had showed deep concern. Of course he was worried—one daughter was getting married, and the other, according to the strangers still yammering at them, had questionable taste in men. When her real predicament—the one that would make her father a granddad—finally came to light, she could only hope he’d stay as relatively calm as he was now.
Her father ushered her inside, which was only about ten degrees cooler than the eighty-degree day. She knew better than to ask her dad to adjust the thermostat. As far as he was concerned, it was September, and therefore autumn, which meant air-conditioning was no longer needed. Never mind that summer in coastal North Carolina could stretch on until Halloween.
Her mother strolled into the living room wearing a pink sleeveless blouse and white capri pants, auburn hair back in a ponytail, pearls completing the look, as always. She wiped her hands with a checkered kitchen towel. Julia’s younger sister, Tracy, brought up the rear. Spitting image of their mother and the bride-to-be, Tracy was a fresh-faced vision in a turquoise sundress, staring down Julia as if she were evil incarnate. Julia was now liking her chances with the school of piranha masquerading as the media outside.
Mom offered a hug and a kiss. “It’s good to see you, hon. I feel so spoiled having you home for the second time in three months.”
Three months. Just enough time to get pregnant. “The high school reunion was one thing. It’s not every day my baby sister gets married.” Julia went in for a hug from her sister.
Tracy was having none of that, planting her hands on her hips. “How long are we going to pretend that Jules isn’t ruining my wedding? If y’all are going to stand around and chitchat like nothing is wrong, I’m asking Carter to fix me a stiff drink.”
It physically hurt to know that her arrival didn’t warrant a hug, but Julia couldn’t blame her sister. If the roles had been reversed, she’d be mad as a hornet about the frenzy in the front yard. “I’m sorry about the mess outside, but it’s all a stupid lie. The press has been hinting at something between Derek and me since before we even started filming. Trust me, I’m not involved with him.”
“I saw the photos. You’re practically kissing him.” Her mother’s sweet drawl teetered on practically. “Are you denying it because you’re not proud of the way he’s behaved? They said he’s been arrested for public intoxication seven times. Why would you want to be with a man like that?”
Julia shook her head, sweat already beading up on her skin. If the press could sell this contrivance of a story to her own mother, they could convince anyone. “Mom. Listen to me.” She grasped her shoulders. “I swear there’s nothing going on with Derek. Yes, it looks like a kiss. We were rehearsing a scene. I have zero interest in him. And he has no interest in me.” And he has the world’s worst breath.
“Then go outside and tell those buzzards precisely that.” Julia’s father teased back the drapes, peering outside. “We spent an awful lot of money on this wedding. I’m not about to see it ruined.”
If only her father knew the lengths to which Julia was already going to not ruin her sister’s wedding—namely keeping a pregnancy under her hat, which was absolutely killing her. Why couldn’t things be normal? Just once? If her life were normal, she’d walk into this room and tell her parents she was pregnant. Her mother would probably burst with excitement, then sport the start of a nine-month-long smile and ask a million questions. Her father would sidle up to Julia’s loving, handsome husband and congratulate him with a firm handshake and a clap on the back. But of course, things couldn’t be normal. No husband had materialized in Julia’s twenty-nine years on earth, and that was of little consequence compared to not knowing whether her ex or Logan Brandt was the baby’s father. Oops.
“You have to trust me,” Julia said. “If we say anything, they’ll just ask more questions. We should ignore them and focus on Tracy.” Please. Anything so I can stop fixating on wanting to blurt out that I have a tiny top-secret bundle of joy in my belly.
Tracy snorted and shook her head. “Focus on me.” Plopping down on the end of the couch, she broadcast her anger by aggressively flipping through a bridal magazine. “That’s rich coming from you right now.” Tracy had never been much for mincing words. Why start now?
Their father sat in his wingback chair. “Jules, I know you think you know what you’re doing, but I’ve had my own experience with the media.” Julia’s father had been a state senator for two decades. Twenty-one squeaky-clean, scandal-free years. “If they’ve fabricated this much, they’ll speculate until the cows come home. Who knows what they’ll come up with next.”
A heavy sigh came from her mother. “I can’t even think about this anymore. I need to keep myself busy in the kitchen. Maybe open a bottle of chardonnay.”
“See? Now your mother is upset. I didn’t pay all this money for a scandal and an unhappy wife.”
“Is that all you care about?” Tracy blurted. “The money? What people will say?”
“I have a reelection campaign to run next year. My family should be an asset, not a political liability.”
Tracy tossed the magazine aside. “I swear to God, it’s like I’m not even getting married. Julia and money and Dad’s job are obviously far more important.”
“We’ve never had a family scandal before, Trace. I intend to keep it that way.”
Family scandal. If only they knew. Julia took a deep breath, but it made her head swim. A smooth start to Tracy’s wedding was out the window, and it was all her fault. The guilt of that alone was overwhelming. Tracy had played second fiddle in the Keys family for the last decade, simply because of Julia’s success. People were always making a fuss, as much as Julia tried to deflect. It was time for her sister to have center stage. Then Julia could avoid the family microscope and find the perfect time to break the baby new
s, only after the wedding was over and the happy couple was on a cruise ship to the Bahamas.
Tracy’s fiancé, Carter, came downstairs. “Logan just pulled up.”
Logan. There was that to deal with as well. Her stomach sank, adding an entirely new and unpleasant aspect to pregnancy queasiness. His hundred-watt smile painfully flashed in her memory. Then came the visions from their last time together. They’d spent nearly the entire weekend in bed. His bare chest, naked shoulders...and other glorious stretches of his tawny brown skin were all that wanted to cycle through her mind. Damn pregnancy hormones. Her pulse raced, stirring emotion—anger over the way Logan had ended things after the reunion, frustration over once again being the girl who never managed to do anything the right way. In between all of that was a churning sea of uncertainty. And some churning of her stomach as well. She was going to be a mom. And Logan might be the father. Or he might not. Either way, she had no choice other than to tell him, deal with his reaction and move on. There was nothing more than moving on between them, and that was to be done as two separate parties. Logan had seen to that.
But first she had to find the right time to tell him. Maybe she’d take the approach her mother did when she had potentially upsetting news to break to her father—she’d tell him while he was driving. A man could only freak out so much with two hands on the wheel.
* * *
Parked on the narrow tree-lined street, several houses down from the grand Victorian the Keys family had lived in since he could remember, Logan Brandt bided his time in his rental car. Sunglasses on, flipping the keys on his finger, he studied the reporters milling about, consulting their phones. Waiting.
“What a mess,” he mumbled. The buzz of activity was normal when it came to Julia. Even if she’d never become a box office hit or had her stunning face land on the cover of countless magazines, drama still would’ve found her. As to the cause, Logan was so tired of this scenario he could hardly see straight. Julia was once again romantically entangled with a disastrous guy. One of her projects, no doubt, as he referred to them.
Single Mom, Billionaire Boss Page 17
