“I think I have the cure for what ails you,” he said, running his fingertips along her hips.
Batting his hands away, Trish stepped out of his reach. “Behave,” she ordered, wagging a finger at him. “We need to get Hunter to bed first.”
Just then, the little boy in question bounded out of the bathroom, still holding his little red toothbrush. “Two stories!” he shouted as he darted past them.
“Leave your toothbrush in the bathroom!” Trish called after him.
Hunter raced back to the bathroom to put his toothbrush away. This time, he caught Trish’s hand as he passed by, dragging her to his newly decorated bedroom. It wasn’t nearly as extravagant as she’d expected when agreeing to let Hunter pick out the theme for his room. She’d envisioned cowboys or cars all over. Hunter wanted a blue room with a table for his blocks. He was easy to please.
“Two stories,” Hunter said again as he climbed into bed.
“You want me to read two whole stories?” Trish asked, pretending to be horribly put out.
Hunter rolled his eyes, an adorably grown up habit he had. “Don’t be silly. Alek has to read one too.”
“Mine will be the best story,” Alek promised, lying down beside Hunter on the bed.
“Only because you always cheat,” Trish accused. “You can’t just make up your own ending to each story.”
“Make up the whole story!” Hunter practically shouted.
“Yes, Alek, go ahead and make up the whole story,” Trish said with a teasing grin.
“Once upon a time, there was a brave knight,” Alek began.
“Can he be a robot knight?” Hunter asked excitedly.
“Once upon a time, there was a robot knight who was sent to slay an evil dragon,” Alek continued.
“What does slay mean,” Hunter asked, looking confused. “He’s not going to hurt the poor dragon, is he?”
“No, he won’t hurt the dragon,” Trish assured Hunter. “The knight just wants to put the dragon in timeout for being very bad.”
“Who’s telling this story?” Alek asked.
“Go right ahead,” Trish said. “Just make sure the brave robot knight isn’t mean to the dragon.”
“Fine,” Alek said with an exaggerated sigh. “The brave robot knight planned to put the dragon in a long timeout.”
“What was the dragon doing?” Hunter asked.
Trish covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. This happened every time Alek agreed to make up a story. Luckily, Alek was getting much better at responding to the many questions Hunter threw his way.
“The dragon was biting people,” Alek explained.
“Biting is bad,” Hunter said with a nod.
“Yes, it is bad. That’s why the brave robot knight was going to put the dragon in timeout for a long time. Then the robot knight met the most beautiful princess in the world,” Alek continued.
“I hope he doesn’t kiss her,” Hunter grumbled. “I don’t like the stories where there’s kissing.”
Trish leaned forward and kissed Hunter’s cheek. As expected, he made a face as he wiped his cheek with his blanket. “Ugh! No kissing!”
“Let Alek finish the story,” she said. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work. You can’t stay up extra late by making Alek’s story last a really long time.”
Alek’s eyes lit with realization. “Is that what you’re doing?” he asked Hunter, as if the thought had never occurred to him.
Hunter gave him a sweet smile. “I like story time.”
Alek chuckled. “Let’s see if we can get through the rest of this story with no more interruptions, okay?”
“I’ll try,” Hunter said with a precocious grin that reminded Trish a little of Drew.
“Where was I?” Alek asked.
“I believe the robot knight was going to put that naughty dragon in timeout for biting, when he suddenly came across a princess,” Trish said helpfully.
“Not just any princess,” Alek continued. “She was beautiful and kind. The robot knight had never met a princess like her. He fell instantly in love with her, but robot knights cannot marry princesses.”
“Why not?” Hunter asked, and Trish was impressed that he’d let Alek get this far into the story without asking a question.
“Because it’s not allowed,” Alek said.
“That’s a dumb reason,” Hunter countered.
“I agree,” Trish added.
“Fine,” Alek conceded. “He knew he could never be with the princess because she was too good to fall in love with someone like him. The princess, however, was much smarter than the robot knight.”
“What about the dragon?” Hunter asked.
“I imagine the dragon was smarter than the robot knight too,” Trish said.
“Probably,” Hunter agreed.
“Now you’re all taking the dragon’s side?” Alek asked. “That dragon is out biting people and needs a long timeout!”
“Yes, but the knight is too busy looking at the princess to put the dragon in timeout,” Hunter said. “This story isn’t very good, is it?”
Alek chuckled. “Fine. The robot knight put the dragon in a long timeout, and the dragon felt bad for biting people and promised to never do it again. The robot knight was very sad without the princess, so he decided to find her.”
Alek suddenly stood and walked around the bed, as if searching. “The sad robot knight searched the entire kingdom until he finally found his beautiful princess. When he saw her, he immediately dropped to one knee.” Following along with the story, Alek dropped to one knee, as well, and reached into his pocket. “Then he asked her to marry him.”
Holding out a box with a simple, but beautiful ring, Alek smiled nervously at Trish. “Will you marry me?”
Trish stared at the ring for several moments. Still sitting on Hunter’s bed, she was shocked speechless.
“This is the part where you say you’ll marry Alek,” Hunter whispered in her ear. “We practiced all day while you were at work, and you gotta say yes.”
“Yes,” Trish breathed out.
Alek jumped to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “Good God, woman! I was beginning to think you were going to turn me down.”
Trish laughed. “It’s already been established that I never turn you down.”
“I love you,” Alek said.
“I love you too,” Trish replied.
“And me?” Hunter asked as he jumped up and down on his bed.
Alek scooped him up in one arm and held them both. “How could we not love you?”
Trish smiled, happier than she’d ever imagined she could be.
Author’s Note
This is a story I never expected to write. When I began this series, I did not intend for Trish to be more than a supporting character. It wasn’t until I was writing The Vampire Will See You Now that I realized Trish needed her own happily ever after. I hope you enjoyed reading Trish and Alek’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. For those of you who are wondering, yes, I do plan to write more about the hunters in Isaiah’s story, which will be released in 2016.
If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to write a review. I truly appreciate the extra few minutes readers take to write reviews of my books.
To keep posted on the details of my next book, or just to see what I’m up to, you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
About The Author
Cassandra Lawson lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and her two youngest children. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, or curling up with a good book.
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