The Engagement Embargo

by Samantha Chase

  “My grandfather is getting ready to give a speech and he asked for everyone to be out there.”

  “I don’t think that includes the staff,” she murmured. “You should get out there so you don’t miss it.”

  Shaking his head, he stood his ground. “He specifically asked for you, so unless you want to ruin the moment for him, you need to come with me.”

  Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Somehow, I highly doubt that.”

  “Are you really willing to risk it?” he challenged.

  Her shoulders sagged and he knew she wasn’t going to argue with him. “Fine.” And before she could change her mind, Elliott took her hand in his and led her out to the dining room.

  And she only tried to pull away a few times, so he considered it a victory.

  Standing in the far corner of the room, he saw his grandfather smile in his direction. Elliott gently positioned Skye in front of him and gave his grandfather a thumbs-up.

  “I really don’t know why I’m out here,” she whispered, and he bent down until they were cheek to cheek.

  “Stop arguing and just listen. Please.”

  His grandfather walked up to the bandstand and took a microphone. “Does everyone have a glass of champagne?” he asked and then watched as the staff finished handing them out. “I want to start by thanking all of you for coming out today to celebrate this wonderful day.” He turned and smiled at his wife. “Sixty-five years ago, I was lucky enough to say ‘I do’ to this amazing woman, and she looks just as beautiful today as she did then.”

  There was a collective round of “aww” heard throughout the room, and Elliott stepped in close behind Skylar and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. She stiffened, but she didn’t move away either.

  “I never thought I’d be so lucky,” his grandfather was saying. “You see, a lot of marriages don’t last. We don’t have many friends who have lasted as long as we have, so every day we have together is a blessing. We’ve raised four beautiful children who blessed us with ten grandchildren.” Then he glanced around the room. “And it wouldn’t kill you kids to give us some great-grandchildren! We’re not getting any younger, you know!”

  Everyone laughed and Elliott smiled as Skye relaxed against him as she laughed.

  “So, what makes a marriage last this long? I’ll tell you,” he said with a wink. “We fight, we disagree, we talk, we laugh, and at the end of the day, we always say ‘I love you.’ Have we gone to bed angry? Of course! But I know, for me, when I wake up in the morning and look over at my beautiful Millie, that she is it for me. There isn’t another woman alive that I would have wanted to share these six-and-a-half decades with.” He looked over at his wife again. “You are my love, my angel. You taught me to follow my heart.” His voice caught with emotion and he took a moment to compose himself. “And it’s a good thing you did because it’s always belonged to you.” Turning, he picked up a glass of champagne and held it up to her. “You’re the best part of me and I love you. Thank you for loving me all these years.” And placing the microphone down, he walked away so he could kiss his bride.

  The whole room erupted in raised glasses and cheers and yet Elliott managed to keep one arm around Skye. When he glanced down, he saw she was crying and immediately took her glass from her hand and put it down right beside his.

  “Hey,” he said softly, turning her in his arms. “You okay?”

  She burrowed against his chest as she nodded. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Wrapping both arms around her, he held her close and simply reveled in the feel of her there. After a moment, she pulled back and wiped at her tears. “Sorry about that.”

  “No need to apologize. I thought it was an amazing toast, too.”

  She nodded and went to move from his arms, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Elliott…”

  “I want that,” he said gruffly, staring down at her beautiful, teary face. “I want what they have.”

  It looked like she was going to say something, but he continued on.

  “I honestly thought I was doing the right thing–embracing that ridiculous embargo and telling myself that I was happy being single. But I wasn’t.” He paused and reached up to caress her cheek and wipe away one wayward tear. “The only time I was happy–truly happy–was when I was with you.”

  “Elliott…”

  “I’m so sorry for what I did, Skye–for the way I treated you.” Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “Tell me I’m not too late. Tell me I didn’t ruin everything.”

  “It’s been a month,” she said with a slight tremble in her voice. “A whole month, Elliott, without a word from you.”

  “I know,” he said firmly. “Again, I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. Doing what everyone wanted me to do. And I thought I was doing what was best for you. I meant what I said that day, Skye. You deserve to have a life with a man who can make you happy and give you the future you want.” He swallowed hard. “I want to be that man.”

  She was crying softly as she shook her head. “I can’t do this with you again. I don’t know that I can trust you.”

  “Skye, I’m standing here telling you that I love you and that I want a life with you!” his words were quiet but fierce.

  “We’re standing here in a quiet corner in an otherwise noisy room, where no one can hear us,” she reminded him. “I don’t want to be your little secret, Elliott.”

  “You’re not, Skye. I swear!”

  “What about your family, huh? What about the embargo? What about…?”

  He instantly released her and took a step back. “You’re right.”

  Her look of confusion was utterly adorable, but he’d wait to tell her that later. “I…I am?”

  Nodding, he took another step back. “I never should have done this.”

  Skye’s expression went from confusion to fury, and he was pretty sure she called him a bastard as he turned and walked away, but…it was going to be worth it very soon.

  Walking across the room, he strode up to the bandstand and picked up the microphone his grandfather just used and waited as the band slowly faded out.

  “Excuse me,” Elliott said to the room. “Can I have everyone’s attention please?” He waited a moment until all eyes were on him.

  Especially Skye’s.

  “Some of you may remember that a little less than a year ago, I was supposed to get married.” He waited for all the murmurs to die down before he continued. “You also probably remember how that all played out and how after being left at the altar, I was told that I–a grown man–wasn’t allowed to date or get involved with anyone for at least a year.”

  There were some murmurs and a few laughs, but he expected it.

  “Anyway, I hated the way things happened that day, but it turned out to be the best day of my life.”

  And cue the gasps…

  “You see, it was a wake-up call for me. I’ve always been in love with being in love, but apparently, I wasn’t always great at recognizing love in others–hence the four failed engagements.”

  A few more laughs.

  “I was heading home that day, totally intent on being alone for a long time, when something incredible happened. Skylar Jennings broke my phone,” he said, staring right at her and grinning. “She was snooping and I caught her, and she dropped my phone. Like I wasn’t already having a crappy day.”

  Even from where he was standing, he saw her roll her eyes.

  “Now here’s where the second wake-up call of the day happened–Skye drove me home. She was the designated babysitter for me, I guess, and we ate some of the food from the canceled reception and just sat and talked for hours. For those of you who don’t know Skye, she’s one of Josie’s best friends and also her business partner. She’s been in our lives for almost twenty years and it wasn’t until that day that I really got to know her.”

  No one laughed. There were no murmurs. Suddenly everyone was hangin
g on to his every word.

  “Skye has a degree in psychology and I really thought she could help me figure out what was wrong with me–like why did I keep making such bad decisions? She reluctantly agreed to help, but…” He shrugged. “Things didn’t exactly go as planned.”

  Stepping down from the stage, he walked to the middle of the dance floor.

  “Friends and family, I broke the embargo,” he stated firmly. “What started out as two friends hanging out together turned into so much more. I tried to tell myself it was casual and that it didn’t mean anything, but I was lying to myself.” He turned and faced Skye. “But mostly, I lied to and hurt Skylar.”

  Slowly, he made his way over to her and saw there were still some tears flowing, but she was smiling.

  “So, I’m standing here in front of my entire family to tell you, Skylar Jennings, that I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry that I didn’t trust what we had. And if I learned anything from my extremely wise grandparents today, I learned that I should have followed my heart. I love you. I want us to be together. I want that four-bedroom house with the yard big enough for a jungle gym for our kids. I want the SUV so we can take everyone to little league and soccer practice.”

  Skye was crying in earnest now, so he knew he needed to wrap this up.

  Looking over his shoulder, he asked, “Am I supposed to wait out the rest of this ridiculous embargo or am I allowed to publicly declare my love for this woman right here and now so we can start planning our lives together?”

  The entire room cheered them on and he smiled as he turned back to face her.

  “I don’t want to wait,” he told her. “I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I want to be the man who makes all your dreams come true. Will you let me?”

  And before he knew it, someone took the mic from his hands so he could finally reach out and take Skye in his arms and kiss her like he had been dying to for a month.

  Chapter 16

  True love is when you put someone on a pedestal, and they fall–but you are there to catch them.

  Unknown

  As much as Skye loved and adored the Sullivan family, right now she couldn’t wait to be away from them. Even as Elliott continued to kiss her, she was planning a way to get them out of there.

  Fast.

  They finally broke apart and everyone in the room was on their feet and clapping and her face felt like it was on fire. “Oh my goodness…”

  Elliott’s big, strong hands cupped her face as he smiled at her. “I think my family’s okay with all of it. What do you think?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “It does seem that way.” Glancing around, she saw nothing but smiling faces. “I kind of feel like we totally upstaged the guests of honor.”

  “Don’t worry about it. They were the ones who convinced me to stop waiting, and considering how long they’ve been together, I figured it was okay to take relationship advice from them.” He put a little space between them and reached for her hand. “How about a little dessert, maybe a dance or two, and then we get out of here?”

  “Can we take the dessert to go and dance at my place? Or yours?”

  His laugh was loud and hearty and the greatest sound in the world to her right now. “I don’t think we can be that lucky. There’s more than a few people looking anxious to talk to us so…let’s get that over with and I promise to get us out of here as soon as I can.”

  “And where did we land on the dessert?”

  He kissed her thoroughly. “That’s my girl. I promise to get as much cake with icing as I can get my hands on.” He kissed her again. “After we mingle for a few minutes.”

  She sighed dramatically. “I guess that will have to do.”

  They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when Josie practically tackled them both to the ground. “That was amazing! Oh my goodness, Elliott…my heart nearly burst listening to you! And that was after Pop gave the most perfect romantic speech in the history of the world! How did I end up being related to such hopeless romantics?”

  “We all ask ourselves the same thing,” Elliott teased, and Josie simply rolled her eyes at him.

  “And you!” she said to Skye. “You are the luckiest girl in the world because my brother is amazing. He’s a bit of a doofus at times, but I know you’ll keep him in check.” Then she hugged her and whispered in her ear, “Just know that I am going to want to know all the details over coffee and bagels Monday morning.”

  “Consider it done,” Skye whispered back before they pulled apart.

  Grinning at her brother, Josie wagged a finger at him. “Thank God you finally did something. I don’t know how many more single guys I could’ve thrown at Skye to dance with her!”

  “You…um…what?” he asked.

  “Yeah, what?” Skye repeated.

  “Oh, please,” Josie huffed. “You’re welcome. Mission accomplished. Anyway, I’m sure the two of you don’t want to hang around much longer so I’ll make sure to keep an eye on things here.”

  “Jos, no. I promised I’d be here so you could enjoy the party and I meant it.”

  “Oh, please! Like I’m going to be the reason the two of you don’t get to have makeup sex? Hell no!” Then she paused and shuddered dramatically. “Ew. I cannot even believe I said that knowing full-well that included my brother. Ick!” And then she was gone.

  “She’d going to be a handful. You know that, right?” Elliott asked.

  “I think we can handle her.”

  Together they made their way over to Elliott’s grandparents, who both jumped up to hug and congratulate them.

  “This was the best present we could ask for!” his nana said as she hugged Skye. “Although I do need you to promise me something, Skylar.”

  “Anything,” she replied.

  “Make him shave that beard off as soon as possible! I miss his handsome face!”

  Looking up at Elliott, Skye grinned. “I completely agree. I miss his handsome face too.”

  “Then go, you two! What are you still doing here?”

  “Nana,” Elliott chimed in. “We wouldn’t leave in the middle of your party. That would be rude.”

  “Well, you have our permission to be rude,” she told him. “Grab some cupcakes and get out of here and go be happy.” She smiled at them both.

  “I’m sure my folks still want to talk to us…”

  “We’ll handle them,” his grandfather said. “Seriously, go.” He hugged Elliott and then Skye.

  “And I hope someday the two of you are standing here doing the same thing we are–celebrating decades of love.”

  It almost made her cry again, but Skye hugged them both one last time before Elliott took her by the hand and carefully led her through the crowd and back to the kitchen. “Wait, what are we doing back here?”

  “Snagging us some cupcakes to go and your secret stash of icing for later.” He gave her an exaggerated wink and she couldn’t help but laugh. And it felt so damn good. For the last month she hadn’t laughed at anything and felt so sad and hopeless and now…

  “Oh, Skye! There you are!” Patricia said as she walked over with a big smile on her face. “Leanna told me to give this to you if you came back here with Elliott.” She handed her a large takeout bag. “It’s dessert to go.”

  “Are we that predictable?” Elliott teased.

  “No,” Patricia responded with a small laugh. “We were all just hopeful. So…go and have a wonderful night!”

  You didn’t have to tell her twice…

  Now it was Skye’s turn to lead Elliott out of the kitchen and out to the parking lot. Pausing, she looked around. “Where’s your car at?”

  “I’ll pick it up tomorrow, so…”

  “Perfect! Come on!” They ran like two little kids to her car, laughing the whole way. She tossed him her keys so he could drive, and when they were pulling away, she let out a sigh of relief.

  “Your place or mine?”

  “Yours,” she told him. “Definitely yours.”<
br />
  Taking her hand, he kissed her palm. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  There were so many things she wanted to say–to ask about how they had finally gotten here–but there was going to be plenty of time for that later. So instead, they made small talk about the party. Luckily, Elliott’s house was less than fifteen minutes away, and when they pulled into the driveway, she suddenly felt nervous.

  “So, um…”

  Turning to her, he caressed her cheek. “I know we have so much to talk about, but…” Then he gave her a bashful and sexy-as-hell smile.

  “Maybe we could save the Q&A for after?”

  His laugh was low and gruff. “After, huh?”

  She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah. After.”

  “You know, this all sounds very familiar to me. It’s a little like déjà vu.”

  “Why mess with a proven thing?” she teased, leaning in and kissing him.

  Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her back, and it was wild and frantic and as much as she hated to stop because she missed this so much, Skye knew they’d be much happier if they took things inside.

  Fast.

  Like now.

  “Elliott…”

  “One step ahead of you,” he said as he placed a hard kiss on her lips before climbing from the car. Skye grabbed their dessert bag and quickly followed him to the front door. And once they were inside, it was pure chaos.

  The dessert bag was the only thing handled with care. Skye placed it on the entryway table right before Elliott scooped her up in his arms, strode through the living room, and didn’t stop until they were in his bedroom. She let out a small giggle as they each tried to get her out of her dress. There was a small hook at the back of her neck and it was too much for four hands to deal with.

  “I got this. You work on you,” she told him, and then they both laughed during the least sexy stripteases ever.

  Sprawled across his bed, Skye knew she was smiling from ear to ear. Elliott was about to climb over her when he stopped.

  “What’s the matter?”