Lilliana Jones and the Temple of Groom

by Rich Amooi

  She had missed him.

  Loved him.

  Marco took another step and now they were inches apart. “I’m curious—”

  “First, let me tell you I’m sorry for what I did in Sorrento at the hotel, the way I treated you. The way I said goodbye. It was wrong and I regret it and I—”

  He pushed his index finger against her lips. “Shhhh. Let’s not talk about the past. Really. I came here to ask you a question. Just one question.”

  “Okay. I’m ready.”

  He grabbed both of her hands and massaged the tops of them with his thumbs. “Look me in the eyes and don’t look anywhere else until you answer the question. Got it?”

  Her heart was going to explode. “Got it.”

  “Do you love me?”

  Colette sighed. “Oh, this is the sweetest. I should be videotaping it.”

  Lilly wanted to melt right there. Her eyes burned even more and this time she couldn’t stop the tears flowing down her face. She couldn’t stop the emotions either and why should she?

  Like Madam Love said, she shouldn’t mess with nature. She wanted to kiss him all night long. Heck, there were plenty of other things she wanted to do to him. But most importantly, she wanted to be with him. And she wanted to tell him how much she loved him. But it felt like there was a golf ball in her throat and she couldn’t get the words out.

  Marco rubbed the tops of Lilly’s hands again with his thumbs. “I’m getting worried, Lilly. You’re not answering.”

  “Quit worrying the man,” said Colette, loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. “Answer the damn question.”

  “I love you, Marco.”

  Marco moved his hands to her hips, pulling her closer until their bodies touched. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I love you, too.”

  Then he kissed her.

  On the sidewalk in Berkeley.

  Thousands of miles away from Australia.

  And everything was good.

  No.

  Everything was perfect.

  Lilly pulled away from the kiss, curiosity getting the best of her. “What about Australia? What happened?”

  “I never went since I’m quitting my job. That was no way to live and how could I see my girlfriend Lilly if I was on the road all the time?”

  “Girlfriend . . .” said Lilly, loving the way it sounded.

  “Yes!” screamed Colette, jumping up from the planter. “Lilly’s got a boyfriend!”

  Lilly shook her head and laughed, gesturing to her best friend. “Marco, meet Colette. Colette, this is Marco.” She smiled. “My boyfriend.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Eight months later.

  Madam Love’s eyes grew wide. So did her smile. She leaned in to Marco and Lilly and whispered. “I see triplets in your future.”

  Lilly blinked. “That’s not funny.”

  She wanted to have kids. Maybe even two or three. Not at the same time!

  Marco furrowed his eyebrows. “If you upset Lilly you will not be getting a tip.”

  Madam Love frowned. “Hey, hey. Come on—loosen up. By the way, I can’t remember if I told you but cash tips are always preferred.” She winked. “But Uncle Sam doesn’t need to know about that.”

  “You mentioned that. Twice. Can we get on with this?”

  “Of course, of course, darling.”

  Lilly glanced across the San Francisco Bay toward Alcatraz and smiled, shaking her head. Having her wedding on a Hornblower yacht hadn’t been her original plan. The mansion on the peninsula they had secured for the big day had burned down just yesterday, so they’d had to improvise.

  Instead of stressing out over the two months of planning for that venue being flushed down the toilet, she took a deep breath and went in a different direction. Marco had suggested taking one of the most memorable events from Italy and incorporating that into the wedding. She’d thought of the boat ride out to the Faraglioni rocks and that kiss. That’s how they came up with the wedding on the water, floating near Alcatraz—also known as “The Rock.”

  Nothing could ruin this day.

  Madam Love pressed the button on her iPad and scrolled a little, searching. She looked up and smiled again. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love of Lilly and Marco . . . who may or may not be having triplets soon.”

  Marco cleared his throat.

  “Right. Anyway, this morning I took a few moments to search Webster’s Dictionary for the word love. My first thought was . . . who is Webster and how did he get a dictionary?”

  The guests laughed and Lilly let it go. Madam Love was improvising.

  “My second thought was . . . can you define love so easily? I don’t think you can. In fact, there are plenty of other four-letter words that are much easier to define. But we need not get into those right now. Come find me during the cocktail hour if you’d like to discuss them.” She winked and continued. “Marco and Lilly have written their own vows and will read them now.”

  Marco pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and unfolded it. He gazed up at Lilly, grinning that grin that always sent a tickle from her throat to her stomach, then back up to her heart.

  “Lilly. My love. This is the best day of my life because I’m marrying the girl who makes my heart sing. A little off key maybe, but still sing, nonetheless. There’s no doubt in my mind we were made for each other. They say relationships go through their ups and downs, which is great considering we’ve already had most of our downs. That means the future will be bright, beautiful, exciting. Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world.” He smiled, folded the piece of paper and stuck it back in his jacket pocket. “Oh, and thanks in advance for the triplets.”

  Lilly smirked. “I love you, but triplets are not happening.”

  Madam Love let out an evil laugh. “We’ll see about that now, won’t we?”

  Colette reached over to hand Lilly the three-by-five cards that had her vows but Lilly waved her off. “I don’t need those. I will try to be spontaneous here.”

  Marco grinned. “That’s my girl.”

  Lilly smiled and took a deep breath. “Marco. My love. I have been to hell and back with you.”

  The guests laughed and Marco shrugged. “This is true.”

  “And I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Thank you for making me the happiest woman in the world.” She eyed his lips. “Can we kiss now?”

  Marco perked up. “Sounds good.”

  Madam Love’s hand came up and kept them separated. “Not yet. You two keep it in your pants.”

  “Hurry,” Lilly said.

  “Yeah,” Marco added. “Hurry.”

  Not long after that Lilly and Marco were married and kissed.

  Since the reservation for the yacht was last minute, they couldn’t get a private room on the yacht and shared the buffet line with eight hundred other people: tourists, locals, other couples in love. And Lilly wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Because when it came down to it, it wasn’t about the place or the food or how many flowers were in each centerpiece. It was about love. It was about being together. They could have gotten married anywhere and she would still have had that same special feeling in her heart.

  Marco kissed Lilly again and smiled. He couldn't believe that just a little over eight months ago he had been single, not even thinking about relationships.

  His life had transformed in less than a year. Marco had quit his job and gone into business with his best friend. Stefano had stock options in his startup company and cashed out after it went public. He put up all the money to get started and they were now winemakers. And since Lilly had worked in sales and marketing before she went into human resources, the plan was for her to join the company in six months. Everything was falling into place and life couldn’t be better.

  After the buffet meal, Marco held out his hand to Lilly. “Join me on the deck for a few minutes?”

  Lilly took his hand and stood. “Of course.”

/>   They made their way to the top deck of the yacht and walked toward the back. Marco smiled and pulled her close. “Hello, Mrs. Santini.”

  “Hello Mr. Santini.”

  Marco pointed toward Angel Island as the Hornblower yacht got closer. “Did you know it’s good luck to kiss here?”

  Lilly stared out at Angel Island and smiled. “Is that right?”

  Marco nodded. “Very good luck.”

  Lilly bent forward to look over the rail down to the water. “I don’t want to fall over and repeat what happened with the jellyfish.”

  “I don’t think there’s a chance of that. First, the water is much colder here than in Italy, so you would die of hypothermia or get eaten by a great white shark long before the jellyfish did any serious damage.”

  “That’s comforting to know.” Lilly reached for the rail and tried to shake it. “Seems sturdy.”

  Marco grabbed the rail and squeezed it. “I think you’re safe. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  He leaned forward and kissed Lilly, pulling her closer.

  “Lilly! Marco!” Madam Love rushed toward them, a desperate look on her face. “I know you were in the middle of a little smoochy smoochy but I had to find you and tell you I was wrong about my prediction. You’re not going to have triplets.”

  Marco chuckled. “It’s okay. We were skeptical, so don’t worry about it. I’m sure a psychic can have an off day and—”

  “You’re going to have quadruplets!”

  THE END

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  Acknowledgments

  Dear Reader,

  I truly hope you enjoyed Marco and Lilly’s story. I must say, I had fun torturing Lilly. LOL. I know, I’m bad, but I still gave her a happy-ever-after!

  I would like to give a HUGE shout-out to my fans around the world. Thank you! It means the world to me that you read my books, and it still blows me away I can do this for a living. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews on Amazon and Goodreads! Your letters and messages motivate me and help me write faster, so keep them coming. Please send me an email to say hello. I personally reply to everyone. My email address is rich@richamooi.com.

  So many people helped to make this book possible, and I’d like to take a moment to say thank you and acknowledge them here.

  Thanks to the amazing Sue Traynor for drawing the perfect book cover for this story. You’re the best!

  To Mary Yakovets. Editing is a crucial part of the publishing process and I thank you for making me look better. And to Paula Bothwell for your amazing proofreading skills to catch things that slip through!

  It would have been impossible to write and publish this book without help from Michael Hauge, Cathy Yardley, Becky Monson, Deb Julienne, Whitney Dineen, Christina Britton, Julie Carver, Hannah Jayne, Debbie Mekler, Romance Writers of America, Silicon Valley RWA, Indie Author Collective, Chick Lit Chat, and the top-secret Facebook Group, AC. Thank you for your feedback and support.

  Special thanks to my alpha reader and hot Spanish wife, Silvi Martin, who gives me the best feedback. She also writes contemporary romance.

  Find her here: http://www.silvimartin.com.

  My beta readers help me improve the story and I’m forever grateful for their awesome feedback. A big thanks going out to Maché, Isabel, Robert, Deb, Julita, and Krasimir.

  Until next time . . . Be happy. Be grateful.

  About the Author

  Rich Amooi is a former Silicon Valley radio personality and wedding DJ who now writes romantic comedies full-time. He is happily married to a kiss monster imported from Spain. Rich believes in public displays of affection, silliness, infinite possibilities, donuts, gratitude, laughter, and happily ever after.

  Connect with Rich!

  www.richamooi.com

  rich@richamooi.com