Chapter 1
Ramsey Reed~
I didn’t do nervous.
I didn’t do anxious.
And I stopped doing scared the day my father held me down and sliced my face open, gifting me with the scar I had running down my face.
But I couldn’t ignore the pounding in my chest as I stared at myself in the full-length mirror in front of me. It’s not the first time I’ve ever worn a tux, but it’s the first time the occasion mattered this much.
I thought about Emerson and my heart lurched like it always did when I stopped and thought about only her. The feeling of absolute obsession has never gone away or faded in the twenty years that we’ve been married. She’s no longer eighteen and has given me two beautiful children, but she’s still the same breathtaking, wild girl who turned her back on me the first night I met her.
Emerson will never be just my wife or the mother of my children. She is, and always has been, the very reason I breathe in life every second of every goddamn day.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved my children. Ramsey Jr. and Maddox were my world. But if they were my world, then Emerson was my universe.
“You look like you’re going to throw up,” Liam chuckled.
I turned from the mirror and flipped him off. “Fuck you, dude,” I replied.
“Uh, not to take sides, or anything-”
“Only because Ava’s not in the room,” Deke snorted.
Ace flipped him off. “Of course, I’ll always take her side, asshole,” he said dryly. Ace turned back to me. “As I was saying,” he continued, “not to take sides or anything, but you do look a little…off.”
“Yeah,” Deke agreed. “And we’re not used to a nervous Ramsey Reed.”
“Hell, even when Emerson had Junior and Mad, you hadn’t seemed nervous like you do now,” Liam added. We were all in my hotel room, all dressed in tuxes, and five minutes away from driving to Casa Romantica for my wedding to Emerson. “I mean, hell, Ramsey, it’s not like she’s not going to marry you.”
“Yeah, you know, on account that you’re already married,” Deke pointed out.
I flipped off my Best Man before telling them the truth. “I’m still not good enough for her,” I admitted.
Ace snorted. “Fuck, dude,” he huffed. “None of us are good enough for any of those women, if we’re sharing feelings here.”
“You guys really suck at this,” I pointed out.
“Well, then, you should have handed out a handbook along with these goddamn tuxedos when you made us your groomsmen, Ram,” Liam said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve never been a groomsman before. All I know is I’m supposed to stand up there next to Deke and Ace while you profess your love to Em.”
“Yeah, we’re not even walking down the aisle with the girls because it’s a surprise,” Deke added.
I looked over at Ace for some help and he just threw his hands up like a coward. “Don’t look at me, man,” he blanched. “I know shit about weddings. I’m lucky Ava married me to begin with.”
I shook my head at my idiot best friends. “You guys really do suck at this,” I repeated.
“Ramsey, Emerson is going to love it,” Deke replied, trying to be a good Best Man. “You’re not exactly the romantic type, so she’s going to really be surprised and really love it.”
“You know, it’s been twenty years and I still panic sometimes,” I said, confessing another dark fear. Liam and Deke nodded, understanding completely, while Ace had been fortunate enough to not have been a witness to mine and Emerson’s courtship.
Liam clapped my shoulder. “It’s going to be perfect, Ramsey,” he promised.
“Well, if it’s going to be perfect, we better get going,” Ace pointed out. “The girls are waiting.”
I gave them all a tight nod as they left to go pick up the girls. We had it all planned out, how Emerson would be pulled away from the group, so they could all get dressed and ready. There was a slight chance something could go wrong with our plan because Emerson was a spitfire, but we had to take our chances. It had been the best plan we could come up with.
I turned back towards the mirror and gave myself one last once-over. I meant what I had told the guys. After twenty years, I still wasn’t good enough for Emerson. I didn’t deserve her no matter how much time I spent on my knees in front of her.
Emerson Reed was unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and I was never going to let her go.
Ever.
Chapter 2
Emerson Reed~
“Jesus Christ, woman,” Ava exclaimed as she snatched my phone out of my hand. “You act like you’ve never been away from Ramsey or your kids for a day.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “Because Ace doesn’t blow up your phone if you’re away from him for longer and an hour?”
“She’s got you there,” Delaney chimed in.
Ava balked at Delaney. “Really? Because Deke doesn’t turn into a complete lunatic when you’re not around?”
Roselyn started laughing. “It’s a tie,” she chuckled. “You guys all married lunatics.” All three of our heads swiveled to gawk at Roselyn. Her brows furrowed. “What?”
I pointed my mom finger at her. “You are serious deluded if you think Liam’s not a lunatic, Roselyn.”
“Yeah, that dark blonde hair and those baby blue eyes aren’t fooling anyone,” Ava added.
“Fine,” she conceded, “but he’s the least lunaticy out of all of them.”
Okay.
I had to give her that.
“Maybe,” I relented. “But he’s still a lunatic.”
Ava kindly gave me back my phone, and I dutifully put it back in my purse before asking, “What time did you have to be there for the interview, Roz?”
“At eleven, but I want to get there around ten, or so,” she replied. “I’d like a tour of the grounds before the meeting. You know, get a feel for the place.”
“That sounds good,” I told her. Right now, we were all gathered in my hotel room since I was the last to get ready because, Ava was right, I had been texting Ramsey and the kids all morning.
Before anyone could agree or disagree, the phone to my suite rang. If it was Ramsey, I’d never hear the end of it. I walked over and answered it. “Hello?”
“Emerson Reed?” asked a polite, professional female voice.
“Yes, this is she,” I answered.
“Oh, yes. Good Morning, Mrs. Reed. This is Clarissa from the hotel Guest Services, and I was hoping you could come down for a few moments, please.”
“Uh, su…sure,” I stuttered. “Is there a problem?”
“Oh, nothing that cannot be resolved quickly, I’m sure,” she replied. “But it seems as if there’s an issue with your credit card, ma’am.”
I laughed.
Not to come off like a rich, entitled bitch, or anything, but there was no way something was wrong with my credit card. “Are you sure?”
I could hear the smile in her voice, so that eased the tension a bit. “Are you aware of any…odd transactions lately that may have caused your credit card company to put a security hold on your card? You’d be surprised how often things that that happen.”
She was right. Ramsey traveled some, so he could have made a purchase somewhere that the credit card company was leery about. “I haven’t,” I told her, “but my husband travels some. Maybe he did.”
“That’s probably it,” she agreed. “Do you mind coming down to the Guest Services area so we can clear this up?”
“Sure. No problem,” I assured her. “I’ll be down right now.”
I hung up as Roselyn asked, “Is everything okay?”
I turned towards my friends. “There’s an issue with my credit card, go figure,” I told them. “Uhm…”
“Hey, why don’t we head on over, so Roselyn’s not late, and then one of us can come back and get-”
I waved away Delaney’s suggestion. “Don’t be silly,” I scoffed. “No one needs to come back and get me. I’m a big girl, and
that’s what car service is for. I’m sure the hotel provides it.”
“Are you sure?” Roselyn asked.
“Of course, I’m sure, Roz,” I answered. “I’m not going to have you late for this.”
The girls mumbled in agreement and we all filed out of my room and headed towards the lobby. Once I found Guest Services, the girls all waved goodbye and told me to take my time.
This should be fun.
Chapter 3
Liam McCellan~
I walked into my hotel room and couldn’t stop the curses stringing together.
Roselyn was standing in front of the mirror, and I walked in the room just in time to see her silver/blue dress drape down her body, covering up everything that got my dick hard.
She turned back over her shoulder and then did a full turnabout. “How do I look?”
Was she serious?
“Is that a serious question?” I asked, walking towards her, ready to rip her dress off.
Roselyn grinned. “Hey, it’s legit,” she claimed. “We’re all getting ready on the fly here. You guys got to get ready this morning without having to ditch Ramsey.”
I wrapped one arm around her waist and started planting kisses on her bare shoulder. The dresses were all thin-strapped contraptions. “It could be worse,” I reminded her. “We could be your mom and Joseph with all eleven of the kids.”
She laughed, and it was still my most favorite sound in the world. “Who would have ever guessed that Joseph would agree to watch all our damn children?”
I chuckled. “Well, to be fair, Gideon and Brantley are probably the only ones who need real watching. The other kids are old enough to take care of themselves.”
We had eleven children between us four couples and we had started out young; still teenagers while the girls were still in college. But we had made it all work.
Ramsey and Emerson had Ramsey Jr. who was eighteen now, and Maddox who was seventeen. Ram and Emerson had wasted no time in between popping out babies.
Deke ended up putting Delaney through hell four times with Dash who was eighteen also, Crew who was sixteen, Zane who was fourteen, and finally the little girl he always wanted, Brantley who was ten.
Ace and Ava had given us all two precious little girls where, except for the recently added Brantley, there had been nothing but boys. They had DJ who was sixteen and named after Delaney, and Maggie who was fourteen.
Roselyn had ended up giving me three kids, and I would have made her give me a million more if she hadn’t put a limit to how many kids she wanted. We had Chance who was seventeen, Neo who was fifteen, and Gideon who was twelve.
All in all, Brantley, DJ, and Maggie were not short any big brothers.
“Well, your mom called me earlier to tell me they were all ready and heading to Casa Romantica. They’ll probably be there before we get there.” I stopped kissing on her and gave her some freedom to finish getting ready. “Did Emerson suspect anything?”
Roselyn’s entire face lit up. “Oh, my God, Liam,” she rushed out. “Keeping a straight face as the service desk called her to tell her about her credit card was one of the hardest things I ever had to do.” I grinned back at her enthusiasm. “She doesn’t suspect a thing.”
I stared at the woman I’ve loved since I was seventeen and blurted the first thing that popped in my head. “I could totally go down on you right now and not mess up your hair or your makeup, baby.” Her sweet blue eyes blinked at me, and I knew she was processing what I just said.
After a few seconds, she planted her hands on her hips, and said, “You know, not even twenty minutes ago, I defended you to a room full of my best friends, insisting that you weren’t a lunatic.”
Okay.
I guess she’s not going to let me eat her pussy before the wedding.
“Granted, I conceded that you were. However, I still defended that you weren’t as warped in the head as Ramsey, Deke, or Ace. But you know, Liam,” she tsked, “it looks like I might have to recant my defense of you, if you really think I’m going to let you violate me before this wedding.”
Violate?
How dare she?
“Hey, I wasn’t going to violate anything you didn’t beg me to,” I said, defending myself. “I was just going to taste you, baby.”
Roselyn rolled her eyes. “Since when do you ever just taste me, Liam?”
She had a point. “So, no...?”
“No,” she confirmed, dashing all my pre-wedding dreams.
“Well, that sucks.”
Chapter 4
Roselyn McCellan~
It’s not that I didn’t want Liam to go down on me.
Not at all.
I just didn’t want to be the reason Ramsey killed him on his wedding day for messing things up. The man has, admittedly, turned out to be a great husband and father. It’d be a shame to lose him now.
Twenty years later, and Liam was still the light of my life. Oh, I loved my children like any mother would, and I’d give my life for them, but Liam was my safe haven. Liam was my peace. He was my solace at the end of the day. After work, the kids, the friends, the home…after all of it, Liam was my quiet. He was my calm after any storm.
Liam dropped on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. “Ah, hell,” he muttered. “You’re probably right to tell me no. Ramsey’s already nervous as it is. He’d probably kill me if everything didn’t go off perfectly, including your makeup.”
A nervous Ramsey Reed was something to consider. “Is he really nervous?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah,” he answered. “You’d think he hasn’t already been married to Em for the past twenty years.”
I clasped my hands together over my heart. “Awwwwwe,” I cooed. “That’s so sweet.”
Liam snorted. “Oh, when Ramsey’s obsessed, it’s sweet. When I’m obsessed, it’s annoying,” he complained.
I turned back to the mirror to check for final touches. “It’s not annoying, per se,” I teased.
“Watch your words, woman,” he growled from the bed, and I laughed.
I shrugged a shoulder. “I just wouldn’t expect nervous from Ramsey, is all,” I said before deciding that this was about as good as I was going to get without a professional or time on my side.
Long gone were my rainbow-colored strands, and now my light blonde hair shined in a messy bun on the top of my head. The nose ring and loud makeup were gone too. Not because I didn’t like the look anymore, but because I was working with an age-appropriate image now.
All us girls decided to wear our hair and makeup the same so Emerson would truly stand out. Granted, she would look beautiful no matter what, but this day was really all about her.
The guys all had silver/blue tuxes to match our dresses, while Ramsey was going to be fitted in a black tux with deep, royal blue accents. It was going to be a hell of a sight to walk down that aisle towards that tux-wearing quartet.
Ramsey Reed, Deke Marlow, Liam McCellan, and Ace McIntire standing together dressed in tuxes was going to garner so many goddamn likes, the photos were bound to go viral.
And we were the lucky bitches who had the claim to them.
I turned back towards Liam and offered him a deal. “How about during the reception, we sneak off and I’ll make the wait up to you?”
Liam’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. “No way?” he said excitedly. “You’re going to let me in that ass during the reception?”
Jesus Christ.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “No, Liam,” I replied, shaking my head. “I was thinking of a blowjob. A nice, simple, uncomplicated blowjob until we got back to our hotel room.”
“Oh,” he let out softly, super disappointed.
I quit pinching my nose and looked over at the man I promised to love forever. “You are so extreme, Liam.”
“Me?” His eyes bugged out. “I’m the least extreme out of all of us,” he insisted.
“Really?” I deadpanned. “Then how do you go fro
m making it up to you right to anal sex?”
Liam narrowed his eyes at me. “Because that would make it up to me,” he reasoned.
I could only laugh at my husband and his logic. “Seriously, Liam,” I whined, “how do I look?”
Liam stood up, walked towards me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He nuzzled my neck as he said, “Baby, you know the answer I’m always going to give to that question. I think you always look beautiful.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and let the peace he brought me settle all around me. Some guys said pretty words just for the hell of it, but not Liam. “I love you, Liam.”
“You better, Roz,” he replied. “Because I wouldn’t be able to breathe if you didn’t.”
Chapter 5
Deke Marlow~
I was going to kill Ramsey.
When I walked into my hotel room to see if Delaney was ready, she had been in the restroom putting her hair up, and the sight of her had left me dumber than a motherfucker.
She looked absolutely breathtaking.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Over the years, we’ve attended a shitload of formal events where she had to dress up and look her best, but this was different.
We weren’t attending a formal engagement we couldn’t care less about. We were attending, and participating, in Ramsey’s dream wedding for Emerson, and somehow, the love put into this wedding was radiating off my wife.
She looked beautiful and like she was glowing in love. And the reason I wanted to murder Ramsey was because I was going to have to go hours-count them-hours before I could touch her
“You look incredible, Lamb,” I told her from the bathroom doorway.
She turned towards me, her hair finished, and smirked. “You’re the one who looks incredible.” She walked up to me and placed her palm on my chest. “I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to keep my hands off you.”
I snorted. “Eleven kids running around should probably do it.”
Delaney laughed and then leaned up to place a kiss on my cheek. “I missed you,” she murmured against my skin.
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