Bet on Love
Page 11
“But I thought…”
When he trailed off, I reached out and took his face in my hands, forcing him to hold my gaze. “Yes, our marriage was an impulse decision, but I don’t regret it for a second. Out of all my many, many bad ideas, marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done. I love you, Luci. Even when you do stupid shit like sacrificing yourself because you think that will somehow make me happy.” He chuckled at that. “But what could ever make me happier than being with you?”
I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his. When he didn’t pull away, I kissed him with all my love for him. As he wrapped his arms around me to hold me closer, I knew that everything would be okay between us.
Even though I could kiss him forever, I stopped. The flash of uncertainty in Luci’s expressive blue eyes pained me, but I knew what I was about to do would help. I pulled a ring box out of my pocket and got onto one knee on the floor. “You’ve been my entire world since we were kids. I’m sorry I was too stupid to understand back then I loved you, but I love you more than life itself now. Will you still be my husband?”
I opened the blue velvet box, revealing the engagement ring I’d picked up on my way over from the airport. While we were in Greece, I had arranged with Cathy at the jewelry store to have it custom made. I wanted him to have his own ring and not just Olivia’s. The platinum band held a solitaire in the center of the tension setting. On either side of it were alternating round brilliants and baguette diamonds that matched the design of his original one.
He asked in disbelief, “You want to stay married to me?”
“Not only do I want to stay married, I want to have a proper wedding so that our family and all of our friends can come. I want everyone to see how happy and in love we are.”
“I want that, too.” He leaned down to kiss me, sending my heart soaring with joy. “Yes, I’ll marry you again, Rhys.”
With a trembling hand, I slid the engagement ring on his finger. I was pleased it fit perfectly this time. Unable to resist, I teased, “Good, because I already invited Cathy since she helped me with the rings. She was very excited to find out I married the right person.”
Luci’s laughter healed the hurt of him leaving. “Wait, rings?” His gaze dropped to my hand, which was missing my wedding band.
“We deserve matching bands. Cathy is having new custom ones made for us,” I explained. “Before she gets started, she wants you to come in and sign off on the design, though. I didn’t want to make all the decisions without your input.”
He grinned, chasing away all the dark clouds in his eyes. “Great, now I can apologize in person for laughing so hard at her thinking we were the ones getting married.”
“Something tells me she’ll get a kick out of that.” I stood up, holding my hand out to him. “Let me show you how much I love you, Luci.”
We walked with our fingers interlaced into his bedroom. As I stripped him bare, it thrilled me to know that he was mine forever.
I wasted no time in casting off my own clothes so I could pin him down on his bed. With great pleasure, I showed him with my lips, tongue, and fingertips how much I wanted him. I didn’t want there to be a single doubt in his mind about how much I loved and adored him.
It was a heady feeling having him surrender himself to me. The love and trust he had in me made my heart swell with pride. I intended to treasure him for the rest of my days.
Once I finished preparing him, I slid my slicked cock into him. I built up to a steady rhythm, telling him with my body and words how much I cherished him. His moans of satisfaction sent my desire spiraling higher. Nothing was more beautiful than the sight of him arching up and sighing under me as I pleasured him. It was the best feeling in the world knowing every day of the rest of our lives would be like this.
After almost forty-eight hours of a very stressful period without sleep, I couldn’t hold out as long as I wanted to. I came after he did, overwhelmed by my emotions for the incredible man who had been by my side for my entire life. “Luci, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.” He moaned as we kissed, his body still intimately embracing me. There was nowhere else I would rather be than right there with him forever.
ONE YEAR LATER
Since waking up married to Rhys in Las Vegas, life had never been better. To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we held a “proper” wedding for everyone to be there when we renewed our vows. The ceremony had been beautiful. Now, in front of all our family and friends, we had our first dance together at our reception to Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat’s “Lucky.”
He joked, “I still think we should have had Elvis’s ‘Burning Love’ be our first dance.”
I chuckled at the memory of him walking down the aisle to that song when we eloped. “That’s not something you slow dance to.”
“As you will recall, I also suggested that we could wow everyone with our sexy Argentine tango, but somebody said no.”
“Trust me, nobody wants to watch us doing the ballroom equivalent of sex on the dance floor.”
He sighed in mock defeat. “It’s probably for the best. Your sister would have scored us an eight just to piss me off.” Rhys and Lucretia had a longstanding habit of competitively watching celebrity ballroom dancing shows together. Most amusingly, they commented on everything as if they were the foremost experts, despite never having taken a single dance lesson in their lives. “We totally would deserve a ten.”
“I’m sure she would cut us some slack since it's our wedding day.”
Rhys arched an eyebrow at me as he sarcastically asked, “I’m sorry, have you met Lucretia? At her most generous, she’s stricter than any judge.”
“And you’re different how?” I retorted. They both took their reality shows way too seriously, which was as true now as it had been when we were teenagers. I loved listening to their snarky digs.
“Fair enough.” He grinned. “Do you know what’s my favorite part of having an official wedding?”
I guessed, “We get cake this time?”
“Okay, besides the cake.”
“Our family is here for it?” Much to our surprise, Rhys’s mother had helped persuade his father to come around to our marriage. The fact that his family was here—and happy for us—was huge.
He leaned closer, his breath tickling my ear as he murmured, “We get a second honeymoon. Three full weeks of sex and sunshine with the love of my life.” Rhys had been most insistent on a three-week honeymoon; two weeks for a “normal” one, and an extra week to make up for the one we lost when I left him in Greece last year. “When we reach the Maldives, I’m going to—”
The spark of lust that burned bright in Rhys’s eyes set my whole soul on fire. It took incredible willpower not to ravage his mouth and drown in the taste and feel of him. I interrupted him. “Stop that thought right there. I have no desire to get a hard-on in front of the almost three hundred people staring at us.”
His grin turned impish. “For all you know, I could have finished that sentence by saying, ‘I’m going to pass out face-first on the bed and sleep forever after the insanely long flight there.’”
“I know you better than that.”
“Yeah, you do.” He smiled at me with so much affection that it stole my breath away. “I love you, Luci.”
He snuggled against me, making me smile when he reflexively kissed the small mole on my neck, then laid his head on my shoulder as we continued moving to the music. I rested my chin on top of him, loving how he fit against me. He was my missing puzzle piece that had finally made me whole. “I love you just as much, sweetheart.”
“Eloping was the best bad idea ever, huh?”
“Only you could turn a terrible idea into a happy ever after.”
He laughed. “Does that make you my Prince Charming?”
“It makes me your loving and devoted husband forever.”
Rhys’s smile was beautiful as he gazed at me like I was his entire world. “That’s even better.”
Thank you for reading Bet on Love. I love hearing from readers, so if you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review and letting everyone know how much you enjoyed it.
I’m still trying to establish myself in the publishing world and reviews are crucial to helping new readers discover me and decide whether or not they want to take a chance on my books. It truly does mean the world to me to have your support. I’m forever grateful for your generous kindness.
Thank you to everyone for going on this little detour with me. It was really fun to do something new and I hope you enjoyed the cuteness of Luci and Rhys.
This Good Bad Idea series features characters that are interconnected, but the books can still be read in any order. That means this isn’t the last we’ll see Luci and Rhys!
Love Means More will be the second book in the series. The couple will be Rhys’s groomsmen from Chapter 8, Ambrose O’Rourke and August Murphy. Their story begins immediately after the conclusion of that chapter when they leave Luci and Rhys’s honeymoon suite. It’s available now for pre-order and will be released on May 21, 2020.
Rhys’s personal assistant, Xander Dandridge, who also appeared in Chapter 8, will be the focus of the fourth book in the series.
At this point, there are nine volumes in the series, with a potential tenth one brewing in the back of my mind. My goal is to release a new one every two to three months.
To stay up to date on the latest series news, please be sure to subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
I look forward to meeting you again in the next volume!
PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE NOW
OUT MAY 21, 2020
AMBROSE O’ROURKE
I’ve only met one person I couldn’t seduce. It’s my bad luck it’s the one person I want to be with most: Augie Murphy. When an opportunity presents itself to pretend to be his boyfriend, it’s too much temptation to resist. It turns out that’s literally true, since I get a little carried away with a kiss. He thinks it’s just a game, but it’s so much more than that.
Can I convince my best friend that I want to be his boyfriend for real?
AUGUST “AUGIE” MURPHY
Ambrose is handsome, irresistible, and completely off-limits. That didn’t stop my stupid heart from falling in love with my best friend the first day we met. When he suggests we pretend to be boyfriends on a double date, my curiosity defeats my common sense. Even if we’re only pretending for one night, I want to know what it’s like.
Is it possible to turn my fake boyfriend for a night into my real one forever?
Love Means More is the second book in the Good Bad Idea series. This novella features fake boyfriends in a friends to lovers romance. Full of cute sweetness and sexy fun, every story ends with a satisfying HEA and no cliffhangers. Each book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series in order.
Good Bad Idea Series
Bet on Love
Love Means More (May 21, 2020)
Love Fancy (July/August 2020)
Illicit Illusions Series
Alluring Attraction
Developing Desires
Embracing Euphoria
Love Forte Series
Madrigal of Stars (Late 2020)
I can’t thank my friends enough for putting up with my insane schedule of late. It’s been a challenge trying to balance all of my responsibilities, so I’m very grateful for everyone being understanding that my life has not been my own for quite some time now.
An extra special thank you goes out to all of my readers who have been willing to go on this lighthearted novella adventure with me. It’s been a fun change of pace, as well as the most fun writing I’ve had in a while. I fully intend to get back to Madrigal of Stars and finish that up, but it’s shaping up to be a summer project at this point with a late 2020 release. The delay is frustrating, but it’s a good story that I want to do justice to. I promise it’ll be worth the wait.
This Good Bad Idea series started on a whim in January, so I’m eternally thankful that Adrijus, Pam, and Sandra were kind enough to accommodate my schedule on such short notice in making this book happen so fast. It’s been very exciting working with them, and I really appreciate how they helped polish this into something amazing.
This may end up being a year of great change, but I will continue to do my best to keep writing at the forefront of my priorities. Thank you to everyone for being part of my journey. I can’t wait to meet again in Love Means More.
A lifelong storyteller, writing has always been A.F. Zoelle’s greatest passion. When she’s not writing about gorgeous men being sexy and in love, she enjoys procrastinating on her studies and numerous side hustles to indulge in Japanese musical theatre. She looks forward to renouncing her nomadic scholarly life someday soon so she can have Ragdoll cats to come home to instead of just dust bunnies.
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You can visit her website at www.afzoelle.com and also follow her on Facebook at ExtraAFZoelle and Twitter at @af_zoelle for the latest news.