by Lund, S. E.
I didn’t say no.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Alexa
Friday dawned bright and warm, perfect for our weekend wedding in Westhampton.
My stomach was even worse than usual, so Luke kept the drapes closed and let me sleep it off while he got everything ready in consultation with Candace, who he went to pick up and bring to the hotel before we left for Westhampton.
I finally felt the nausea and fatigue lift around eleven thirty and went right to the bathroom to have a shower and get dressed. When I emerged from the bedroom, everyone was already there, sitting in the living room, drinking coffee and going over the itinerary.
“There she is,” Candace said. “The Bride-to-Be. Looking refreshed. How are you, kiddo?”
I went to her and squeezed her shoulders, before giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m good,” I said and sat beside Luke, giving him a quick kiss. “What’s the plan?”
We went over the itinerary for the weekend and then packed up, leaving the hotel around three for the drive to Westhampton. We took the stretch limo so we could all go together. My brother wasn’t able to attend the wedding because he was deployed somewhere in Afghanistan, but we’d Skype as soon as he was able and try to catch up.
Once we arrived, I felt happy to be back at the beach house and remembered that weekend that we got back together again after I mistakenly left Luke, thinking that it was a huge mistake to become involved with someone with such a different background than mine. My memories of the place were now only happy, and I felt the way I did on The Phoenix – like I was in a happy place. I could imagine Luke and me and our baby living there once I was finished with my classes and could manage working from home on my dissertation.
The place had been cleaned before we arrived and the beds all set up, the refrigerator stocked, and the patio set up with a huge awning over the table for the al fresco dinner. My excitement grew as the caterers arrived for the rehearsal dinner. I didn’t have to lift a finger and so could spend my time with my mom and Candace, Jan, Mara and Dana, talking about the wedding and the eventual honeymoon once my morning sickness was over. We passed little James between us, each getting some baby time. I hadn’t been around a lot of babies, so James was my first and I felt a bit awkward, but it felt nice to imagine my own little baby in my arms one day if all went well.
Luke and my father spent the dinner talking about my father’s various deployments, and postings. He really enjoyed my father's military stories and was a rapt audience for a man who loved to tell them. Luke’s father talked with John and Felicia, and with Craig and his girlfriend, Sarah. It was an enjoyable evening with all the people Luke, and I loved and cared about.
When we went to bed that night, Luke joked about sleeping on the sofa in the living room, so we could keep the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride until the ceremony, but I said no.
“You’re sleeping with me,” I said and laughed. “Life has tried to throw a lot at us to keep us apart. It didn’t work and some silly tradition isn’t going to keep us apart tonight.”
He relented, not really being serious, and so we spent our last night together as an engaged couple before the wedding.
When we snuggled together into bed after Luke turned off the lights, he pulled me into his arms.
“Should we deprive ourselves of pleasure the night before our wedding, just to be on the safe side?”
I lay there for a moment, wondering if we should but I shook my head.
“I’m pregnant. You don’t have to use a condom anymore, so why should we?”
“I like the way your mind works,” Luke said and that was all the encouragement he needed.
When I woke the morning of my wedding, I found a tray beside me on the bed with my crackers and peppermint tea at the ready, organic honey in a tiny pot beside it. There was a note on the tray from Luke.
Good Morning My Love
See you at the ceremony.
Love, Me.
I smiled and took a Dramamine, ate some crackers and sipped the hot peppermint tea, hoping it would lessen my nausea and that I wouldn’t be too tired for the ceremony. I usually felt like a million dollars around five o’clock in the afternoon, so I hoped it would be the same today.
My mom wheeled Candace into my room before noon, after I’d had a shower and was lying in bed, waiting for the sickness to pass, the drapes closed and some soft meditative music playing in the background.
“How are you, kiddo?” Candace asked and used her crutches to hobble over to the bed. “Can I join you?”
“Be my guest,” I said and so she carefully positioned herself and laid on the bed beside me. “Don’t make the bed move too much or I’ll be throwing up all over you.”
“That’s not the way to treat your maid of honor,” Candace said and laid back, a pillow propped behind her head. “You that bad? Dramamine doesn’t work?”
“It makes me much better,” I said and kept my eyes closed. “I don’t puke anymore, but I still feel nauseated and exhausted, but I can’t sleep either.”
“Poor baby,” Candace said. “I’ll try to distract you with my rapier-like-wit.”
I laughed weakly but was glad to have her with me. We spent the morning talking in quiet voices and watching the news on the television while my mother made all the arrangements for the ceremony at five.
At around three o’clock, I was starting to feel like a normal human being. Candace and I sat on the patio off the master bedroom and drank more peppermint tea and talked about the future.
The stylist arrived and did our makeup, hair, and manicures for all six of us. By the time five o’clock came, my stomach was now all butterflies instead of nauseated, and we got ready for the walk down the aisle between the chairs set out for our family and friends on the patio.
Mara had picked up my dress and had it steam-pressed before I put it on.
It was lovely. Perfect for what I wanted. The antique lace said wedding dress without being overly princess-like. That wasn’t me, even if Luke and I had decided to get married in a more formal ceremony with a big wedding party.
My father waited for me in the living room, and finally, once everything was in place, I kissed my mom and waited while she and Candace made their way outside to take their seats. Finally, the music played to announce the start of the ceremony.
“You look beautiful,” my father said, taking me in, squeezing my hand.
“Thank you, Daddy. You look handsome.”
He gave me a hug and then offered me his arm.
“Well, sweetheart,” he said, his voice sounding emotional. “This is it. Let’s go.”
We walked outside, down the aisle towards Mr. Cameron, the Justice of the Peace. A middle-aged man in a sober business suit, he was smiling as he watched us walk towards him.
Although we’d practiced the ceremony the night before, I felt nervous, and was afraid that I’d throw up in front of everyone but seeing Luke’s handsome and very calm face waiting for me, I grew more confident. I felt tears brim in my eyes. When I reached his side, he took me from my father’s arm and gripped my hand. He leaned in and kissed me, despite the fact we were supposed to wait until after we were pronounced husband and wife, but I didn’t care and neither did he.
What started less than a year earlier, with a mistaken email and a dare, was ending with so much happiness, and I felt my heart swell so much, that I couldn’t imagine being happier.
Epilogue
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Three Months Later
Alexa
I woke up when the room was still dark and glanced around the room where our bed was located in one of the corners of the cabin. We’d arrived the previous night, so I didn’t get a chance to see the cabin in daylight, but the brochure promised that we’d be alone on a private beach with nothing but the Pacific between us and civilization.
The first light of dawn peeped through the window and slowly brightened the room. I lay naked under the
covers, but Luke was already up, and the bed was cold beside me. I heard a splash and was surprised that he was swimming already, but he was excited about the calm crystal water in the bay where we were staying and the fact that we’d be alone. Our cabin was one of a dozen spread out around the private island, and so we had a stretch of white sand all to ourselves.
Luke came back in through the patio doors. He was wearing a pair of swimming trunks, water dripping off him onto the floor. My gaze moved over his body greedily as I remembered our lovemaking the night before. He grabbed a towel off the chair and quickly dried off, smiling at me from where he stood.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he said and came to the side of the bed and bent down to kiss me. "Here," he said and held out my bikini. "Put this on and come out to the deck. You have to see this place while the sun’s rising."
I rose from the bed, glad that my morning sickness had passed. I put my bikini top and bottom on hastily and followed him out the doors and onto the deck. The sky was clear after a weather system moved out of the region and in the west, there were still a few stars close to the horizon.
Luke stood on the deck and looked out at the bay spread out in front of us. Our cabin was actually perched above the water, with a small walkway leading to the beach. We’d fallen asleep to the sound of water lapping at the dock beneath us, and it was comforting, reminding us both of our time on The Phoenix.
I went to the railing in front of him and leaned against it, my gaze moving over the water, which was calm, the water shallow, and crystal clear. Off in the distance, I could see a shoal of corals that acted as a breakwater, protecting the bay.
"It's beautiful."
Luke came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, one hand covering my belly.
"Watch," he said and pointed to the east. “The sun’s rising.”
I glanced in the direction of his hand. In the distance, the sun cracked the horizon and warm orange and yellow rays spread out, slowly brightening the sky in the east.
"When I booked this place," he said, his face beside mine, "the agent told me that there’s no other cabin for half a mile around that cove. We’re alone in paradise."
I watched the sun fully breach the horizon, and a feeling of such happiness filled me that tears stung at the corners of my eyes.
Behind me, Luke buried his face in my neck, his hands on my belly.
“What do you think?” he murmured against my neck.
I sighed and leaned back against him, my eyes closed.
"It’s perfect."
It was.
THE END
MR. BIG DADDY, Book Three in the MR. BIG Series, will be released later in 2019!
Also by S. E. Lund
* * *
New Adult Romance
THE MACINTYRE BROTHERS SERIES
Tempt Me: Book 1
Tease Me: Book 2
Tame Me: Book 3
Tempting: The Collection
* * *
Contemporary Erotic Romance
THE UNRESTRAINED SERIES
The Agreement: Book 1
The Commitment: Book 2
Unrestrained: Book 3
Unbreakable: Book 4
Forever After: Book 5
Everlasting: Book 6
Drake Forever: Book 7
Endless: Book 8
The Unrestrained Series Collection
* * *
THE DRAKE SERIES (The Unrestrained Series from Drake’s Point of View)
Drake Restrained
Drake Unwound
Drake Unbound
The Drake Series Collection
* * *
Military Romance / Romantic Suspense
THE BAD BOY SERIES
Bad Boy Saint: Book 1
Bad Boy Sinner: Book 2
Bad Boy Soldier: Book 3
Bad Boy Savior: Book 4
The Bad Boy Series Collection
* * *
THE BLACK UNIT SERIES
The Identity: Part One
The Identity: Part Two
* * *
Standalone Romances:
Matched: Standalone Romantic Comedy
If You Fall: Military Romance
Paranormal Romance
THE DOMINION SERIES
Dominion: Book 1 in the Dominion Series
Ascension: Book 2 in the Dominion Series
Retribution: Book 3 in the Dominion Series
Resurrection: Book 4 in the Dominion Series
Redemption: Book 5 in the Dominion Series
* * *
About the Author
S. E. Lund writes new adult, contemporary, erotic and paranormal romance. She lives on the side of Burke Mountain in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, with her family of animals and humans. She dreams of living in a place where snow is just a word in a dictionary.
She also writes crime thrillers as Susan Lund.
For more information:
www.selund.net
[email protected]