by Tessa Bailey
“Go home and spend the day with your family,” I whispered to her, knowing Andrew might blow a gasket when he woke up and figured out I’d sent her home.
Apparently, she figured the same thing because she shook her head no and looked over at his sleeping form with a furrowed brow. “Oh, I really shouldn’t,” she said wistfully.
“Don’t worry about him. We’ll be fine for today, and I promise to call your cell if I have any problems the two of us can’t handle on our own,” I reassured her. “Besides, we both know your being here around the clock is overkill on his part. I don’t need twenty-four-seven care anymore or they wouldn’t have discharged me in the first place.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes lit with excitement.
“Absolutely,” I confirmed. “Call me this evening and we’ll figure out what time we need you back. And don’t worry about your pay since I’m the one who wants us to have the house to ourselves. It’s our first Christmas together.”
“Thank you,” she gushed as she turned to leave.
Andrew began to stir in the bed. “Morning,” he said huskily after he awoke fully and stretched. “How’re you doing? Did you get enough sleep?”
“Merry Christmas,” I whispered back. “I’m good, and yes, I got plenty of sleep. I’m glad you finally did, too.”
A huge grin spread across his face as he jumped out of bed. “It Christmas!”
I giggled at him as he leaned down to give me a gentle kiss on my lips. “That it is, sleepyhead. And odds are you won’t be able to sleep this late again on a Christmas morning for many, many years to come.”
“Sounds perfect to me,” he replied as he rubbed his hands together in an excited motion. “But first, I get to enjoy my first Christmas with you.”
“I’m not too sure how exciting it will be,” I reminded him. “I didn’t finish my shopping and all my presents for you are at my place. Unwrapped, even.”
“Not to worry,” he reassured me. “Cee-Cee took care of wrapping everything she could find and brought it over. She told me she knew all your hiding places and could figure out which present went to who, but she left a folded-over Post-it note on each one so you’d know what’s inside.”
That certainly sounded like something my super-organized friend would do. Tears welled in my eyes at the relief that she’d saved Christmas for me. She really was an amazing best friend.
“Awesome,” I sighed.
“I’ll go make you breakfast in bed and ask the nurse if it’s okay to move you into the living room for part of the afternoon. I bought a reclining lift chair, so that should help a lot,” he told me.
“Yes, I definitely want you to help me into the living room later. I want to enjoy the Christmas decorations with you instead of feeling all cooped up in here,” I said.
“As long as she agrees, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“You can’t ask her because I let her go home for the day,” I admitted.
“Jocelyn,” he groaned. “I really wish you hadn’t done that.”
“My vitals are fine and I can certainly make sure you transfer me properly since it’s part of what I do for a living,” I argued. “Besides which, I really wanted to enjoy our first Christmas together alone.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “But if I think for even a second that anything’s wrong, I’m taking you to the emergency room.”
I rolled my eyes at his exaggeration before simply nodding my head. There wasn’t going to be any reason for us to make a trip back to the hospital, but I knew he worried. He stomped out of the room, grumbling to himself about how stubborn I was, and eventually, I could smell bacon frying. I enjoyed my breakfast, chatting with Andrew as he ate his in bed too.
The rest of the morning was quiet, and I took a nap for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I called for Andrew, and he finally agreed to let me out of bed and into the living room. The reclining lift chair he’d picked out for me was perfect—super comfortable and even had heat and massage settings. We spent several hours watching holiday movies. Andrew had gotten the Home Alone series on DVD since I had mentioned that it was my favorite.
When evening rolled around, Andrew turned off all the lamps and the room was lit by the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. With the village set up nearby, it was a beautiful sight to see. He changed the channel on the television so we were tuned into the holiday music station before sitting on the end of the couch closest to my chair.
“Present time,” he told me, holding out a small, brightly wrapped box. “Here’s your first one.”
I took the present he handed to me and looked to the tree. “I only have a couple of yours ready,” I worried aloud.
“How about we agree to limit the gift-opening to two presents each today and then we can wait for everything else until you’ve had a chance to finish your shopping?” he suggested.
“That’s a wonderful plan,” I agreed before pointing towards his presents. “But I want you to go first.”
He grabbed both of his gifts from under the tree and sat back down before opening the smaller one. A receipt for season tickets to the Cubs’ next season rested inside. “Jocelyn, you shouldn’t have,” he gasped. “How did you even manage it? There’s a waiting list.”
“It turns out my dad kept his tickets all these years. We got to talking about how you and I met during one of his visits and I mentioned how impressed I’d been by our date at the game. I wanted to be able to make it a tradition for us as we build our life together, so he offered to give me his tickets,” I explained. “They aren’t quite as good as the ones your friend loaned us, but they aren’t bad either.”
“I love them,” he told me. “Not just because I’m looking forward to going to as many games as possible, but also because of the reason you chose to give them to me.”
He gestured to the box I had clasped in my hands. Removing the bow off the top, I carefully removed the wrapping paper. I pulled the lid off the box and there was a car key with the Cadillac emblem on it inside.
“You aren’t just renting the Escalade?” I asked, and my jaw dropped when he shook his head. “You bought me a car for Christmas!”
“Yours was totaled in the accident and I wanted to make sure you had something safe for you and the baby once you’re able to drive again,” he told me. “No more small cars for you ever again.”
After I calmed down about the SUV, Andrew opened the larger of the two wrapped boxes holding his gifts and pulled out the blue dress shirt that lay inside. “It’s perfect.”
“It’s not a car, but it should be a good shirt for you because I had it custom tailored. I wanted something that matched your gorgeous, blue eyes,” I explained.
“I don’t know,” he teased. “I think the shade might be a closer match to your eyes instead.”
“Well, then, I wanted one that would make sure you thought of me every time you wore it,” I said, changing my story.
He laughed before looking at me seriously. “I wonder if our baby’s eyes will be closer to the blue of yours or mine. I hope I get to see eyes just like yours staring up at me from our baby’s face.”
My heart melted at his words and I gasped out his name as he got down on one knee in front of me. He reached into his pocket and removed another small box. This one wasn’t wrapped, so he flipped the lid open and held it out to me. I blinked at the sight of the fabulous platinum diamond ring nestled inside.
“Jocelyn, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” he began. “You’ve been mine for longer than either of us knew and I want to make it official. I want you to wear my ring on your finger as a symbol of my love for you. I want to go to bed each night with you tucked safely against my side and wake up to your beautiful face. I want to watch your belly grow round as you carry this baby and any others we decide to have together in the future. And I want to grow old knowing I’m the luckiest man on the planet because I get to call you mine.”
With tears streaming down my face, I gave him
the only possible answer I could. The one that bubbled out from the depths of my soul. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Andrew
As I watched everyone mingle with each other at The Box, I was struck by the irony. Things had come full circle from the night I first saw Jocelyn here during that fake bachelorette party. If I’d realized back then how much she would come to mean to me, I never would have let her leave my club without me. And now we were here, surrounded by all of our friends and family, celebrating our upcoming wedding with a co-ed bachelorette party. A real one this time.
I only had one more week to wait until I officially made her mine next Saturday. Once she’d agreed to marry me, I hadn’t wasted much time pinning her down for a date. She’d wanted to wait until after the baby came because she wanted to be able to walk down the aisle to me and wear a wedding dress without a baby bump. I told her that she could have one or the other, but I wasn’t going to wait until the baby was born to slide a wedding ring on her finger and give her my name. She relented and agreed to marry me in eight weeks.
It was going to be a Valentine’s Day wedding. Jocelyn didn’t want it to be huge, so we’d kept the numbers down by inviting only family and close friends. Cee-Cee was going to be her maid of honor and Alec was my best man. It had been a hard decision for me, but Mark understood why I’d felt the need to ask my brother. Alec had been responsible for my second chance to make Jocelyn mine, after all.
“Seven more days,” I whispered into Jocelyn’s ear as I joined her on one of the red loveseats I’d had brought in for our party. Although she was getting around now in a walking boot, I still felt the need to ensure that she was as comfortable as possible.
She leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder. “I know. I’m so glad you talked me into marrying you sooner rather than later. I can’t wait to be Mrs. Andrew Rourke.”
“Did you just admit I was right about something?” I teased.
“Yeah. Mark it down on your calendar because I’m not sure it’s going to happen again anytime soon,” she quipped back.
“I don’t know. I think I have a pretty good track record,” I argued before listing off examples of times I’d been right. “I knew you were supposed to be mine from the moment I met you. I could have told you not to bother signing a one-year lease on your apartment if you’d asked. I was right about you needing to drive a safer car. And I was already working with a jeweler to design your engagement ring weeks before I needed it.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe you’re pretty good at this relationship stuff,” she conceded.
I captured her lips with mine and swept my tongue inside her mouth when they parted. Our tongues clashed as I struggled to control the impulse to pick her up and carry her into my office so I could fuck her blind. I’d have to save that plan for a night when my parents and her dad weren’t all here with us. Reluctantly, I pulled away from the kiss and rested my forehead against hers.
“I hope there’s one more thing I’m right about,” I said, feeling nervous about how she was going to react to my surprise.
“What’s that?” she asked dazedly, her eyes still hazy from our kiss.
“Your engagement present,” I told her.
“I thought we said we weren’t doing the gift thing,” she hissed before glaring at me with a frown on her face.
“I know, but an opportunity came up that was too good to pass up, so I took it,” I began as I waved Mark over since I’d asked him to bring the paperwork to the party tonight. “I know you’ve been worried about how to juggle your job and the baby, especially since the Cavs had to hire a temporary replacement because you were out too long.”
“Yeah,” she said suspiciously. “I’m not sure what to do when it’s time to go back because I won’t be able to travel at the end of my pregnancy, and I really don’t want to go on road trips with the team once the baby gets here.”
“Your career has been an important part of your life for so long, something you’ve worked hard to achieve ever since you decided you wanted to be a physical therapist in high school,” I said. “And I don’t want you to miss out on helping athletes because you’ve agreed to become my wife and are having my baby.”
“Oh, Andrew,” she sighed. “You can’t control this. Either I’ll be able to work it out with the team or I won’t. I’ll figure it out in the end.”
“I once told you I wanted to be the person you came to with your problems so I can fix them. I meant it when I said that, and I want you to keep that in mind as you read this,” I told her as I handed her the documents that would make her a partner in a local sports medicine clinic. “A business associate mentioned that the clinic was looking for investors so it could expand. I reached out to the doctor who owns it and spoke to him about what he hopes to accomplish with the expansion. It sounded like a good investment, and you don’t have to agree to be his partner if you don’t want to. He’ll get the money he needs anyway because I believe in what he’s doing for people in the community.”
Jocelyn looked at the papers with a stunned expression on her face. “You bought me a business as an engagement present?”
“Technically, it’s not yours, but yeah. I guess you could put it that way,” I answered.
“I’ve heard of this place, Andrew. It has an amazing reputation.”
“I would never suggest you put your name on something that didn’t. I know your work means too much to you for to risk destroying it by linking yourself to the wrong doctor,” I explained.
“And he knows about the accident, my rehab, and the baby?” she wanted to know.
“Yes, he’s aware of everything. He checked into your track record with the Cavs players and said he’d be thrilled to have you on his team. He even mentioned that some of the guys he spoke with said they’d use the clinic if you were there. So what do you say? Want to be a business owner?” I asked.
“I say the same thing I always end up saying to you,” she answered. “Yes!”
“Thank fuck you aren’t mad at me. Mark thought I was crazy for agreeing to the investment without talking to you first. I was worried you’d be pissed as hell at my ‘high-handedness,’ as he put it.”
“I’m not angry at all. How could I be when you were just doing what you’ve always done?” Jocelyn said.
“And what’s that?” I wondered.
“Looking out for me in your crazy alpha-male way,” she replied.
“I’d like to show you how alpha I can be right about now, but I don’t think everyone would appreciate what I want to do to you,” I told her.
“Then how about we make our excuses and head home so I can show you my appreciation properly,” Jocelyn murmured.
My cock jumped at the sensual promise in her tone. After I helped her up from the loveseat, I guided her around the room so we could say goodbye to our guests.
As I was helping Jocelyn into her coat, my attention was drawn away when Jason swore loudly and stormed over to the bar. He grabbed Cee-Cee’s arm to move her away from her stool, where she had been leaning forward and flirting with one of my bartenders. He practically dragged her to a corner of the room, and she glared up at him while they argued. I couldn’t overhear what they were saying, but it certainly seemed like there was an interesting story there.
* * *
The week before our wedding flew by in a flurry of activity. The final fitting to make sure Jocelyn’s dress fitted her. What felt like a million work appointments because I needed to clear my calendar for our two-week European honeymoon. Another ultrasound to ease my fears about Jocelyn traveling abroad. A last-minute trip to the passport office when Jocelyn realized that hers had expired six months ago. Picking up tuxedos. The dress rehearsal and dinner. The list of things to do before Jocelyn became my wife seemed practically endless. But finally our big day was here.
When I woke up to an empty bed this morning, I swore to myself that it would be a rare occurrence in our marriage. Jocelyn had insisted we follow traditio
n and wouldn’t let me see her until she walked down the aisle. Her recovery had progressed well enough that she was going to be able to do so without crutches, although she was disappointed that she had to wear ballet flats instead of sexy heels. So I’d promised we could renew our wedding vows on one of our anniversaries to give her the chance. She’d been so excited that she’d gone out and bought a pair of Louboutins, which she placed in their box on the shelf in the closet just waiting for that day.
In contrast, as quickly as the week had passed, this morning crept by. My parents took me out to breakfast so the event planner could have free rein of their house to make sure everything was perfect for the ceremony we were holding in their backyard. My mom wanted to make sure I ate something even though I barely spoke a word the whole time. Alec met us there and stuck to me like glue for the rest of the day.
“It’s time,” Alec whispered to me before Cee-Cee stepped through the doors. He stood with me now at the altar as I waited for Jocelyn. Music drifted towards us as the wedding march began to play.
Then there she was—my Jocelyn. Although she wasn’t really showing yet, her boobs were slightly bigger already and looked amazing in her wedding gown. Of course, being a guy, that’s what I focused on first. But when my gaze moved upwards, I was awed by how gorgeous she looked with her caramel locks swept up in a fancy style and a short veil masking her blue eyes from me. Holding on to her father’s elbow, she carefully made her way to me.
Everything else faded away as she stepped next to me, and I lifted her veil before taking her hands in mine. As I stared into her eyes, I knew that the moment we said our vows was going to be one of the best of my life. The only other thing that would fill me with an equal amount of excitement was the day six months from now when I would be able to hold our beautiful baby boy in my arms.
* * *
Want more of the Bachelorette Party series? Checked Into Love (Cee-Cee and Jason’s book) is available now.