I looked up at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, this wasn’t exactly planned. You guys haven’t been together for a decade. Miles didn’t have ten years to come up with the perfect proposal. So maybe it wasn’t the perfect pitch, but guess what? You’re pregnant. With his child. And you guys are going to have to sort of feel your way from here. I know that’s hard for you, but life threw you a big fat curveball and you took a big hard swing.”
It was big and hard all right. “Yeah. We did.”
“So maybe you need to be a little flexible. Cut Miles some slack. Let your life take this new direction—it’s not what you planned, but maybe it’s meant to be.”
I bit my lip. “You think so?”
“Yes.” She reached across the table and put her hand over mine. “And you guys love each other. You’ve been friends for twenty years. Maybe it’s not the perfect love story, but it’s yours.”
Tears filled my eyes. “God, Jilly. I’m so fucking tired of crying.”
“It’s the hormones,” she said, coming around to hug me. “It will get better.”
“When?” I sobbed into her stomach.
“I don’t know. Eighteen years?”
I choked out a laugh. “Jesus. Eighteen years.”
“You won’t be alone, honey. You’ll have Mom and Dad, me, Sky and Sebastian. And you’ll have Miles, too, Nat. I feel it. I see it in the way he looks at you. How he’s always looked at you. He loves you—you just have to let him do it his way.”
I lay awake most of the night wondering if Jillian and Skylar and even Madam Psuka were right. Was everything I wanted right there in front of me and I just didn’t recognize it? Was I too stuck on the idea of what I thought the fairy tale would look like? After twenty years of being just friends, had a few days of crazy bound Miles and me for life?
Was this our story?
How did it end?
I sort of felt like the prince had come to rescue me, and I’d turned him away from the castle. But you know what? I didn’t want to be rescued by the right thing.
I wanted to be swept away.
I went to work the next morning, tired and emotional and still uncertain what would happen next.
We got busy fast, and again I looked up every time the door opened, hoping to see Miles walk in. Around ten, I was surprised to see Skylar come in, a big grin on her face.
“Hey,” I said, pouring coffee for someone from behind the counter. “What are you doing here? Not working today?”
“I’m going in late. Can you take a break? I have to show you something.” Her eyes twinkled, and I wondered what she was up to.
“OK. Sure, come in the back.”
She came around the counter and followed me through the kitchen into my little office. “Have your phone?”
“It’s right here.” I reached into my purse, which was sitting on the desk. “What’s going on?”
“Did you see Miles’s post today?”
At the mention of his name, my heart quickened. “No. Why?”
“Look at it.”
“Why?” I asked again, but I was already searching for it.
“Just look.”
I searched his name with trembling fingers and fidgeted impatiently while the results loaded. Scanning the top hits, I clicked on the right one and gasped when I saw the title.
It Happened. I’m in Love.
I know what you’re thinking.
It’s impossible. The only thing that guy loves more than his dick is…well, nothing.
And a couple months ago, you’d have been right.
But there’s this girl, see? Remember Cinnamon Buns? It’s her.
Her name is Natalie. I don’t remember not knowing her. We’ve been friends forever. But I’ve always wanted to be more.
I’m glad I had to wait, though. I needed to wait.
I don’t think I would have appreciated her enough five years ago, or one year ago, or even six months ago.
But now…
Now I can’t breathe when I see her.
Now I can’t sleep without her next to me.
Now I can’t be happy without her in my life.
Now I can’t believe I ever thought she wasn’t the one.
I once told her I wasn’t capable of loving someone completely and forever, but I was wrong.
I was so wrong.
Now I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to her.
I just hope she’ll let me.
Twenty-Nine
Natalie
My phone was shaking in my hand. “Oh my God.” I looked at Skylar. “Oh my God. He published this?”
She nodded.
“Hey, Natalie?” Hailey called from the kitchen. “Can you come out here? I need you.”
“Oh, shit.” I put a hand to my cheek. “Is my face flushed?”
“Yes.” She giggled and fanned it. “But you better get out there.”
I moved past her and went through the kitchen into the shop, my pulse skittering out of control.
Then I gasped. The entire place was silent, all eyes on me. On the wall opposite the counter, where the pictures of Skylar usually hung, were four huge new photos.
Of Miles.
He wore the same jeans and t-shirt in each one, as if they’d all been taken the same day, and in every photo he held up a different hand-painted sign.
I moved closer, my hands covering my mouth, as I read each sign.
The one on the left said WILL.
The next said YOU.
The third said MARRY.
The last one ME?
Heart pounding, I looked around the room. Was he here somewhere?
“Pssst.” Seated at a table near the door, a little old lady pointed outside. “I think that’s what you want.”
I turned, and sure enough, out on the sidewalk and framed in the window, was Miles. Down on one knee. Holding a ring box.
“Oh my God.” On wobbly legs, I walked to the door and pushed it open. “What are you doing?”
He smiled and took my hand. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m upending your life.”
I laughed as a few tears splashed down my cheeks.
“Did Skylar show you the post?”
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Did you mean it? What you said?”
“Of course I did. I love you, Natalie. Let me show you how much.”
“But—”
“Just listen. I know I’m not what you planned on,” he said, his expression turning serious. “And believe me, I never thought I’d be down here on one knee, begging to love someone forever. But this is not a mistake.” He squeezed my hand, his eyes filling. “I feel it in my bones, Natalie. You’ve always been in my heart. You’ve always been the one I couldn’t forget. And all last night I kept thinking that this—you and me and this baby—it wasn’t an accident. It was exactly what was supposed to happen all along.”
“Miles,” I said, a sob breaking lose.
“You told me you were lost that first night we spent together,” he went on, rising to his feet. “And do you remember what I said?”
I nodded. “You said, ‘You’re not lost. You’re right here with me.’”
He opened the box, spoke low and soft. “You always have been. Stay with me?”
The sunlight winked off the big round diamond at the center of the ring’s setting, and I gasped.
“Is that a yes?”
I burst out laughing. “Yes!” Holding out my hand, I watched through tears as he slid the beautiful ring on my finger. It was a little big.
He looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry. I guessed at the size. It almost fits.”
I smiled. “Almost.”
He kissed me deeply, stealing my breath, our arms twining around each other. From inside the coffee shop and on the street, cheers and applause erupted. Miles lifted me right off my feet and swung me around, and I squealed in dizzy delight.
“This is crazy,” I said in his ear. “Are we really engaged?”
/> He set me down. “Well, I’m not too familiar with the concept, but I believe when you give a girl a ring and ask the question ‘Will you marry me?’ and then she says ‘Yes,’ that means you’re engaged.”
I lay my head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe it.”
“Told you your buns were worth matrimony.”
I picked up my head. “This was all a ploy for my buns, wasn’t it?”
“It was, and you said yes, so now I get to glaze those buns as much as I like. And also butter your muffin and polish your fine china.”
Skylar opened the door poked her head out. “We’re dying in here! You guys coming in or what?”
I turned to her, arms flailing. “Sorry! Yes, we’re coming.”
“Hard and often,” murmured Miles from behind me as he steered me through the door.
Giggling, I looked at him over my shoulder. “Promise me you’ll always make dirty jokes in my ear.”
He spanked me lightly. “With pleasure. Easiest promise I’ve ever made.”
The entire day, I floated around on a cloud, happier than I’d ever been, giddy every time I looked down at my hand. The feeling actually reminded me of being a kid and seeing a car in the Haas’s driveway for the first time each June. I’d know that my summer fun was about to start, and I’d go running across the orchard to play. We weren’t playing anymore, and we had a lot of important decisions to make, but for once it didn’t drive me nuts not knowing exactly what the next step was. Or the next ten steps. I had Miles. He had me.
That’s all I needed to know.
I knocked on the door, and when he pulled it open, I prayed those butterflies at seeing his face would never go away. “Honey, I’m home.”
He grinned. “Took you long enough.”
Before I could say another word, he pulled me inside, shut the door, and pushed me back against it, crushing his mouth to mine. Dropping my bag at my feet, I threw my arms around his neck and held him tight, reveling in the feel of our bodies pressed together, our hearts beating closely, our uncertainty gone.
“God, Natalie,” he murmured, taking my face in his hands. “I missed you so much. I missed you every fucking minute we were apart, and I hated myself for it.”
“It wasn’t all your fault.” I kissed his chin and his cheek and his lips. “Just mostly.”
“Hey.” He caught my bottom lip between his teeth, biting down gently. “Be careful, little girl. Just because I asked you to marry me doesn’t mean you’re off the naughty list.”
“What’s this? An overly amorous husband already?”
“Yeah. What’s your advice book say to do about that?”
I smiled. “Run.” Ducking beneath his arm, I took off running through the living room, squealing as I raced through the dining room and kitchen, Miles hot on my heels. Breathless with laughter, I looped back through the front hall and bolted up the stairs. Miles took them at least two at a time, grabbing me just as we reached the top.
“That’s it, little girl. You’re in trouble with me.” He threw me over his shoulder and I pounded my fists against his butt.
“Let me go!” I howled, kicking my legs.
“Never.” He went into his room and tossed me onto the bed, set his glasses on the table, then crawled on top of me, kissing my chest and throat and lips. “Do you hear me? I will never let you go.”
I dug my heels into his ass, pinning his erection between my legs. Desire swept through me. “But will you let me come?”
He gave me a wicked smile. “First and often.”
“Oh God, Miles,” I murmured as he kissed his way down my body. “I missed you. I missed this. I missed everything.”
“Then let me take care of you.” Getting to his knees at my side, he pulled off my shorts and panties, and pushed up my shirt. “Poor baby,” he said, low and sweet, moving aside the white lace cups of my bra to expose my breasts. He kissed each hard, tingling nipple as his hand moved up the inside of one leg, hitching up my knee. “All this time and no attention. Let me make you feel good.”
I arched my back and closed my eyes, bringing one arm over my head. His fingers trailed up my inner thigh, making my core muscles clench. “Did you wait for me to make you come? Or were you a bad girl? Did you do it yourself?”
“I waited for you.” I reached down with my other hand and rubbed his cock through his jeans. “And I wanted you so badly.”
He teased me open and rubbed my clit with one fingertip, making my whole body twitch. “Does that feel better?”
“Yes,” I panted as all the angst and tension and misery I’d felt over the last few weeks centered beneath his nimble fingers. “Yes.”
Dipping one fingertip inside me, he spread my wetness over my clit in tight little circles that made my stomach quiver with desire. His other hand whispered across my chest, barely brushing my nipples, trailing between my breasts. I kept my palm over the bulge in his jeans, torn between begging him to fuck me right now and letting him get me off with his hand. He was just so fucking good at this! The thought that I got him to myself for the rest of my life was nearly enough to push me right over the edge.
My breaths came faster and louder, turning to moans and sighs as he took one nipple between his fingers and gave it a series of little pinches before holding it firmly. “Yes,” he whispered as I began to writhe under his hands. “That’s it. Let me watch you lose control.” He switched to the other nipple and increased the pace and pressure of his fingers on my clit, and my entire body seized up.
“Oh God—yes…” I dropped my head to the side, my hips moving involuntarily, my cries loud and unabashed.
“Fuck yes. Come for me,” he growled, and his voice sent me soaring over the peak, exploding beneath his fingertips in hot, frantic pulses.
Within seconds after the climax the pressure was too much, and I grabbed his wrist, curling onto one side. “Miles.” I couldn’t catch my breath. I could barely open my eyes.
“You. Are so. Fucking. Beautiful.” Eyes on me, he tore off his clothes while I watched, my insatiable body shivering with want. When he was naked, he stood next to the bed, grabbed my legs and turned my body ninety degrees. Hooking his hands behind my knees, he hitched them up alongside his hips, my heels resting on the edge of the bed.
“I want you inside me,” I panted. “Now.”
“Shhhhh.” He lowered his mouth to my mine, and I grabbed his head, holding him to me. Our tongues tangled and tasted and teased. Slowly he kissed his way down my chest to my stomach then my thighs, kissing one and then the other. “I’m making my way inside you, believe me.” He brought his mouth between my legs, teasing me with warm breath and soft lips brushing gently back and forth. I moaned as he stroked up through my pussy with a firm, flat tongue that felt like velvet against my skin, once, twice, three times. Finally he lingered at the top, kissing and sucking gently on my clit, his hands pressing my thighs open.
“Oh, God,” I murmured, grabbing handfuls of my hair. “That feels so good, soft like that. I love it.”
“I like hearing what you want,” he said, his breath on my wet pussy making my toes curl. “I want to give it to you.”
“Just like that,” I said as he swirled his tongue over the sensitive little bud. It tingled and throbbed, bringing me closer to another orgasm. “Yes, yes, yes. Now more. Harder.”
He did exactly as I directed, and within seconds I came again, my hands yanking my hair, his name falling from my lips.
“Please.” My voice was weak as he straightened up, kissing a path up the inside of one leg and setting my heel on his shoulder. “I want everything. Give me everything.”
“Always,” he said, his eyes dark with desire as he pushed inside me. “Everything I have, everything I am.” He brought the other leg up and kissed my calf and ankle and instep before putting it on his shoulder. I touched my knees together as he gripped my hips. Holding me still, he thrust in and out with steady, rhythmic strokes. “I love watching my cock slide inside you, nice
and slow. I love how wet and warm and tight you feel. I love that I can make you come with my fingers and my tongue first, then fuck you so hard you’ll come again.” Each time, he pushed a little harder, reached a little deeper, until finally he buried himself completely and leaned into me, bracing his hands on the bed and crushing the tops of my legs to my breasts.
At that point, something about the angle and depth made my insides start to contract and I lost the ability to string words into a coherent thought. My entire being was reduced to just my physical self, every nerve ending on fire, every muscle tense, every inch of my skin humming. Breathless and near delirious with want, I waited, suspended on the moregasm plateau, in that sublime marriage of ecstasy and frustration, desperate for that moment of release. Our eyes met.
“Oh, fuck,” he breathed, rocking his hips a little faster. “It’s been too long, and you feel so good, and you’re so fucking beautiful. I can’t stop.”
“No! Don’t stop!” I cried, feeling myself begin to tip. “I want you to do it. I want to feel you throb inside me. It makes me come so hard.”
My words sent him over, and he cursed and growled and gasped as he lost himself to me, my insides gripping his driving cock like my body couldn’t get enough. When he’d regained control, he slipped my legs off his shoulders and slid an arm under my back, moving me further onto the bed so he could lie next to me. Tears dripped from my eyes as we clung to each other, arms and legs tangled, my head buried in the crook of his neck.
“God, I love you,” Miles said, kissing my head. “I fucking love you so much. Now I get it.”
“Get what?” I pressed my lips to his collarbone, breathed in his scent.
“Being in love. Why people like it. When I first realized I was in love with you, I felt sick. I thought I was having a heart attack. It was terrible.”
I had to laugh as I wiped away the tears. “And now that you know I love you back?”
Happy Crazy Love Boxed Set Page 46
