by Adele Niles
I gasped excitedly. “Do I get you another week every month?”
Colton chuckled and shook his head. “No.”
“No?”
“You get me every week.”
Every week?
I gasped. “Colton! You’re moving?”
“Yeah. I just figured I’d rather be here. I’ve already got a great team in Miami. They don’t need me to guide them anymore.”
I laughed, pressing both hands to my mouth. “Colton, oh, my God! I’m so happy!”
“Wait, wait! There’s more!”
“What else can you possibly—”
He lifted his other hand to the table. In it was a blue velvet box, already open.
And inside the box was a ring—a square-cut diamond, surrounded by little chips, set into a white gold band.
My jaw dropped.
I had no idea what to say.
But Colton clearly did.
“Emma. I know this is soon, and we don’t have to rush after this, but… I’m sure about you.”
I felt tears in my eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
I rose and rounded the table, throwing my arms around his neck. And I kissed him, as hard as I could.
When we broke apart, he grinned. “That’s a yes, right?”
I nodded.
He slid the ring on my finger.
It was a perfect fit.
Epilogue
Colton
Two Years Later
“Do you know how hard it was to find All Dressed chips on this side of New York?” I asked, coming into the apartment.
Emma looked up, grinning. “But you found them?”
“Yeah, I found them. Took me seven different stores, but I found them.”
I tossed her the bag. She caught them, immediately tearing it open.
Marilyn, sitting on the couch beside Emma, laughed. “You two are perfect for each other. I guess that’s why you got married, huh?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t think I was marrying such a pest, but…”
“Watch it.” Emma smiled, a chip held in one hand. “I’m only a pest because I’m pregnant. And you know how moody I’ve been. Don’t tempt fate.”
“All right, all right.” I moved to sit in the armchair. “How’s the party-planning going?”
Marilyn shot me a look. “It’s not a party, it’s a shower. Big difference.”
“Okay, then, how’s the shower planning?”
“Great!” Marilyn was immediately all smiles. “I’ve already got the cake on order, and my florist is sending me final proofs of the arrangements today. And we got all kinds of food catered, so Miss Emma here can eat whatever she wants.”
Emma nodded. “There’s a Chipotle burrito bar, and a breakfast station, and a crazy dessert buffet.”
I chuckled. “I know I told you two to go crazy, but isn’t this excessive?”
“Not at all!” Marilyn laughed. “Emma deserves the best. Especially since it’s her first baby.”
“Fair enough,” I replied, nodding. “And obviously, I don’t need to ask about the venue. Just make sure it’s all cleaned up before we have to open.”
“Oh, we’ll be done by five, don’t worry.” Marilyn smiled. “And you’ll be there, too, of course.”
“Oh, will I? Do you need a DJ?”
Emma laughed, shaking her head. “No, but I need my husband. And the baby needs their father.”
That made my chest feel warm. “Well. I think I can rearrange my schedule and pencil you in. Saturday at two?”
“Yeah.” Emma nodded. “Saturday at two.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. And hey, you know what? I’m feeling generous. I’ll provide the champagne. And the really good sparkling grape juice for Em.”
“So kind of you to contribute.” Marilyn grinned. She knew I was footing the bill but never missed a chance to tease me.
It was fine. I loved it. I loved seeing Emma happy.
And we could only get happier from here.
Wrecked
The Slippery Curves Series
One
Alex
“You owe me one,” I say.
“I know, I know,” Jackson says. “But look at it this way, man, you get to go back and visit your home town.”
He chuckles in to the phone. He knows how much I dislike Cartersville.
I don’t have many good memories of the place and I haven’t been back since I left for college.
Shit.
Has it really been almost fifteen years?
All of a sudden, I feel old.
I’ve been on the road since six a.m. Court’s at eleven. It’s supposed to be an open and shut case. Show up, make a plea, and leave. Then I’m off to enjoy the mountains and get out of C-ville.
I would be in town for two hours, tops.
“I won’t be there that long. You know you should be the one doing this?” I joke, knowing good and well there’s no way that would happen.
“Stace would kill me. She’s due any day and it would be my luck that I’m three hours away in that Podunk town when she goes in to labor. Alex, seriously. I’m really thankful you’re doing this.”
Jackson and I had been roommates and were in law school, and we started our small firm right after we passed the bar exam. We had planned on saving the world, but we’d ended up taking on wills, estates, and divorces instead. Nothing super exciting, definitely not saving the world, but it pays the bills.
He’d taken on this case for a friend, not knowing it was going to be out of town, let alone in the middle of nowhere.
A divorce case. This one is supposed to be cut and dry and I’m just showing up to present some documents, get a continuance, and leave. A three-hour drive for ten minutes of work.
“So, you’ve talked to your friend?” I say to him. “She knows I’m coming, and not you?”
The phone goes silent and I look at the display on the dashboard. It still says connected. I grab the phone from my seat and glance at it. It says connected, too.
“Jackson? You there?”
Still nothing. Then the dreaded three-beeps before the disconnect.
Dropped call.
Another reason why I hated Cartersville and being out in the middle of nowhere.
I scroll through my recent calls and try to reconnect with Jackson. I-90 is long and straight, and boring as hell. I glance up every second as I continue, until it’s too late.
“Fuck!” I swerve, trying to avoid the big pile of scrap metal sitting in the middle of the road.
Swerving doesn’t help. Instantly I can feel the metal under the car as the explosion of the tire popping jerks the car toward the left. I try to counter it by jerking the wheel to the right, overcorrecting.
My Mercedes hits the edge of the road, the tires now digging into the dirt. I slam on the breaks. The engine clanks and the car shuts off on its own. The dashboard lights up like a video game.
Low Tire Pressure.
“No shit. How about no tire pressure.” Above the tire warning is a bright red alert to check the engine. “Double fuck.”
I grab my phone and climb out of the car, but not before checking my watch. I don’t have time for this. Court is in two hours. I’m not far from Cartersville, but it’s too far to walk.
The tire is shredded and barely hanging on the rim. I kneel beside the car and look underneath. Nothing. I glance back down the road and see the twisted piece of metal about a hundred yards back.
I curse Jackson under my breath as I walk toward the culprit and try to call Jackson back.
No Service.
I kick the metal off toward the side of the road in a huff, and it grabs my leg, clinging to me like some sort of cruel-ass joke. I flail my leg, finally freeing the sharp piece of aluminum.
“Come on.” I hold my phone up toward the sky. Somehow, I think this is actually going to return my cell service.
Nothing.
Run-flat tires are supposed to run when they’re fl
at. Expensive replacements for having a spare., they probably don’t work when they’re shredded, though. For the hell of it, I try to start the car. It doesn’t work.
I pop the hood and look under it. I was never handy with cars, but maybe it would be something obvious I could fix, even with a flat tire.
“Yeah, not a chance,” I say to myself as I walk over toward the trunk of the car and lean against it.
To make matters worse, it looks like it’s about to rain and in the fifteen minutes since I’d been sitting on the side of the road, not a single car has passed.
Jackson, you owe me a hell of a lot more than one.
Get Wrecked Now
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