Like a prince.
Elliot was my fairy tale prince, my dream come true, and I wanted nothing more than to be in his arms forever.
“Oh, Elliot,” I gasped as we broke apart. I was panting and filled with desire. The scent of the roses in my arms and Elliot’s musky cologne were almost overwhelming and I felt almost faint.
“Annie,” Elliot said in a husky voice. He took the flowers from my arms and set them down on the coffee table, then took both of my hands in his and laced our fingers together. He gave both of my hands a gentle squeeze and then, just like that, dropped to one knee.
I gasped out loud. “Oh my god!” I said under my breath, not sure that I was really seeing what I was seeing. “You’re not!”
“I quit my job, Annie,” Elliot said. “But that doesn’t matter. The job isn’t the most important part of my life. You are. I want to do everything right by you, my love. I know that I’ve made mistakes before – with my ex-wife, with you, but I’m not going to do that anymore. I’m not going to hurt you, and I want you to know that.”
Tears came to my eyes and a huge lump, the size of a baseball, formed in my throat.
“You’re the only woman for me, Annie, and I want to make sure that you know it,” Elliot continued. I was speechless as he gently untangled one of his hands from mine and reached into his pocket. When his hand emerged with a velvet ring box, I gasped again. A hot tear rolled down my cheek and I sniffled as my cheeks burned.
Elliot popped open the ring box to reveal a stunning, huge marquise-shaped diamond set in sparkling platinum. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my life, even more lovely than my mother’s, and I began to full on ugly-cry as he gently plucked it from its velvet bed.
“Annie, will you marry me?”
Epilogue
Annie – Six Months Later
“Oh my goodness, Annie, you look so beautiful!”
“Really?”
I stood in front of a mirror, staring at myself in disbelief. There I was, laced and zipped tightly into a white satin dress – Beth and I had found it at a vintage shop and with the help of her sister, Meg, who was a wizard seamstress, we’d pinned and tucked and transformed it into a beautiful gown that fit me perfectly.
All the same, I blushed at the compliment. I was standing with my matron of honor, Meg, in a private room that had been reserved just for us. As soon as Elliot had proposed, I hadn’t wanted to wait to marry. I had thrown myself into his arms and kissed him all over and accepted almost before the question was out of his mouth. As soon as he had asked me to marry him, my life had transformed. It had taken all of the effort in the world to not run upstairs and wake Lilah to tell her the good news: that her daddy was home from work and he would be here forever, with both of us, loving us and taking care of us.
Until the day we died.
“I’m a little nervous,” I admitted.
Beth laughed. “I was nervous at my wedding, too,” she said. She wagged a finger in my face. “Don’t hate me for saying this, but you’re probably not going to remember a single moment of the day. I was so busy during my wedding that the whole thing feels like a complete blur!”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m going to remember this day for the rest of my life,” I declared. “This day and the day I had Lilah – those are going to be the two best days of my life.”
Meg gave me a saucy smirk and I flushed hotly.
“Don’t say that, not just yet,” she said. “You haven’t had your honeymoon yet!”
“Oh my god,” I cried, clapping a hand over my eyes. “Meg! Honestly! I don’t want to talk about sex with you right now! I’m about to get married! I have to be pure, like a real bride!”
Meg burst out laughing. “You already have a kid with the guy, hon,” she said. When she saw my expression of mock-hurt, she softened and reached out to put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m only teasing you,” she said. “You look beautiful. And pure. Elliot isn’t going to know what hit him.”
I twirled slowly. It was Elliot who had wanted a real wedding – Elliot who had talked me out of going to the courthouse and booking a justice of the peace. I hadn’t been sure. I was always so shy that the idea of being in the spotlight, even on my wedding day, made me a little nervous.
And Elliot had been married before. I’d always heard that a second marriage should be much more low-key than a first one, but Elliot had insisted.
“Annie,” he’d said, dropping to one knee just like he’d done before he’d proposed. “It might be my second wedding, but it’s your first. I want you to have everything that you want.”
“All I want is you,” I’d insisted. “I don’t need a big wedding. And weddings are so expensive!”
But, in the end, I gave in. I realized that I really did want nothing more than to stand up in front of my family and friends in a big poofy dress and say my vows and tear up at the altar and have Elliot kiss me and make me his wife, officially.
Besides, he was my fairy tale prince, after all.
So, it was only fitting that we were having a fairy tale wedding.
Just then, the door opened and my mom came in, carrying Lilah. Mom was wearing a lilac suit that looked beautiful and elegant on her narrow frame and Lilah wore a miniature version of my dress – Meg had sewn it from a pattern she’d found. The mini-me idea had been Elliot’s, and while I had been skeptical at first, I had to admit that actually seeing her now was cute enough to make me tear up.
“You look so beautiful,” my mom said. She set Lilah down on the ground and walked over to me, giving me a gentle hug so as not to wrinkle me.
“I feel so surreal,” I admitted. “I never imagined that I’d be wearing anything like this.”
“Honey, it’s almost time,” Mom said. “Do you have your bouquet?”
“Right here,” Meg chimed in. She handed it over and I took it, practiced holding it in front of me and closed my eyes, imagining how it would feel to finally stand at the altar with Elliot after almost six years of being involved in each other’s lives.
All of my life, I had been moving towards this. Moving towards Elliot. He was the love of my life, my soulmate.
And now, in just a few short moments, he was about to become my husband.
After handing Lilah her flower girl basket, the four of us trooped out of the dressing room and out into the bright sunshine. Elliot and I had picked a vineyard for our wedding – the vineyard that grew the grapes of our favorite wine – and the weather couldn’t have been better. It was a perfect fall day, crisp and clear, with a nice breeze that rustled the leaves and the grapes on their vines. I closed my eyes and tilted my face up to the sun, soaking it all in and taking everything to heart.
This is the happiest day of my life, I thought. Despite what Meg had teased me about, I knew that no matter what, I would remember every detail. Every second. Every perfect moment.
“It’s time!” Meg hissed. She grabbed my elbow and I straightened up and opened my eyes. We were standing at the end of an aisle that had been laid over the grass. Seated around us were dozens of friends and my entire extended family. Meg went first as soon as the music started, holding her bouquet and keeping her head high as she went down to the end of the aisle. Lilah followed, scattering rose petals and drawing cries of adoration from the guests.
And then, it was my turn. I was walking, striding, moving towards Elliot. He stood at the altar with his dark brown hair brushed back over his forehead. He looked as handsome as I’d ever seen him in his black tuxedo and in the sunlight, his eyes were glittering like emeralds. As I began to move forward, everything else in the world fell away. The vineyard. The guests. Even the priest and the altar itself.
There was nothing in front of me but Elliot. It was like I had tunnel vision. I had worried about feeling self-conscious on my wedding day, but now it was like Elliot and I were the only two people in the world.
“I love you,” I mouthed as I reached the end of the aisle. Elliot took m
y hands in his and lifted them to his mouth. As he kissed the backs of my hands, a shiver of desire ran down my spine.
I have to give Meg credit – I barely remembered saying my vows.
The only thing I remembered from the ceremony was Elliot kissing me, after we were officially pronounced husband and wife.
And then, we began the start of our new life together.
After the photos, we were walking to the reception when Elliot caught my hand.
“Come with me for a moment,” he said. “You’re going to belong to everyone else for a few hours, but right now I want you to be mine,” he added teasingly.
I flushed hotly, then followed him behind a row of grapes. The sun was sinking low in the sky and I sighed with happiness as Elliot pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
“I have something to tell you,” I whispered in his ear.
“Oh?” Elliot asked. He pulled away for a moment and looked at me, then pressed his forehead to mine before giving me a deep kiss. As we moved together and wrapped our arms around each other, I had never felt more loved in my entire life. Now that I had Elliot, my life was perfect. Lilah had the perfect father and now, I had the perfect husband. I had been dreaming of this moment for so long that it was almost surreal. I couldn’t believe that I was standing in a vineyard, wearing a gorgeous wedding gown, in the arms of my beloved husband while our family and friends and daughter waited for us.
“Yes,” I said, blushing and smiling against his lips. We broke apart and I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers with his.
“So?” Elliot asked. “What is it, my love?”
I bit my lower lip and fluttered my eyes at him from below my lashes.
“I know that it was wrong of me to keep Lilah from you for so long,” I said softly, lifting Elliot’s hand to my mouth and kissing the back of his hand, then turning it over and kissing his palm and the tips of his fingers. “And I know that you’ve forgiven me, which so many people wouldn’t have done.”
Elliot’s smile faded a bit. “Love, please don’t tell me that you’re still concerned about that,” he said. “You know it’s water under the bridge for me. For you. For both of us,” he emphasized. “I only missed a few short years ... I’ll have the rest of my life with Lilah now. And with you, of course.” He smiled again and kissed me gently on the forehead. “Marrying you was a package deal, babe.”
I blushed slightly.
“Well, that’s not everything,” I said. “I ... I’m pregnant, Elliot. With another one of your babies. I can’t wait to have another one of your children and raise them together. From the beginning, this time. The right way. Like we should’ve done with Lilah.”
I nervously gazed into Elliot’s gorgeous emerald eyes as he drank in the information and processed it. A wide range of emotions flickered over his face – shock, surprise, happiness, utter joy – and he let out a loud whoop and pulled me into his arms, lifting me into the air as if I weighed nothing at all and swinging me around until both of my feet were off the ground.
“Baby!” Elliot exclaimed, pulling me close and covering me in kisses. “I had no idea!”
I gasped and giggled with happiness as he spun me around again and again, until I was dizzy, finally setting me down with my feet on the ground and holding me tightly in his arms.
“Are you happy?” I asked. “I ... I was almost afraid to tell you. I thought that you’d want some time with just the three of us, you know, to get used to being a real family after so long.”
Elliot covered my face in kisses. He kissed my forehead and cheeks and chin and lips and neck, all while moving his hands down my body and squeezing my ass. A tremendous blend of feelings was growing in me: arousal, happiness, relief, joy, disbelief that I was so lucky.
“I can’t believe it, Annie,” Elliot said in a low, husky voice that sent a shiver down my spine. “This is perfect. This is the perfect wedding gift. You are perfect to me, you know?”
As I closed my eyes and leaned in for a gentle kiss, my mind wandered to all of the places I had been over the last several years. The uncertainness and the unhappiness and finally, reconnecting. Everything – all of the pain and strife and struggle – had been worth it.
Elliot gently broke the kiss. “Well,” he said. “Shall we, Mrs. Pritzker?” He offered me his arm, like a gentleman in a Victorian story, and I giggled before accepting.
And then, arm in arm, we walked into our future together.
The Temptation
Description
I’ve been through this before.
I’ve been accused of sleeping with a student before.
And it was false.
But I’m not about to actually make that mistake with someone else.
Eden is my student.
She’s tempting, forbidden, everything I shouldn’t crave.
But I still want her.
Her recklessness will get us into trouble.
She’s too young.
And the way I want to touch her will complicate things.
This relationship cannot and should not happen.
It will destroy my career.
Everything I’ve worked for.
And it will ultimately destroy the two of us.
But will we go for it, anyway?
1
Eden – Tuesday
My eyes flew and I launched myself up to a sitting position in bed, breathing hard. My room was still dark but I was somehow panicked that I’d already screwed up – that it was the first day of the second semester of my senior year in college and somehow, I’d managed to oversleep.
Then, the alarm on my phone began to buzz and shriek and I groaned with relief as I reached for it and began to fumble in hopes of turning it off. The alarm screeched louder and louder until finally, my fingers found the right button and pushed. From the other side of my bedroom wall, I heard a thumping.
“Sorry!” I yelled as a smile spread over my face.
Petra, my roommate and best friend, only responded with a muffled groan. I heard the creak and whine of her bedsprings as she threw herself down on her mattress and I smiled again as I thought of how she’d no doubt be lying right now: tangled up in the covers with a pillow smashed over her face.
Petra wasn’t a morning person. For the record, neither was I.
At least, not usually.
Today was different, though. You know those motivational posters that have been hanging in every high school guidance counselor’s office since the dawn of time? Those ones with the cute little kittens hanging from tree branches, or puppies with mortarboard caps on?
Those ones that say: This is the first day of the rest of your life!
I’d always thought they were kind of cheesy. Maybe they still are – deep down, I can be a total cornball. But this morning, I felt like those posters had been speaking to me and finally, I was ready to hear the message.
Fifteen weeks – only fifteen weeks! – stood between me and graduation. I was twenty-one years old, and I couldn’t believe the moment was finally here. Back when I was a kid, it had seemed like I would be in school forever. I remembered being in elementary school and counting on my fingers, losing hope as I went along, the years that would pass before I was out in the real world, being a real adult with a car and a credit card and a fabulous closet.
A wry smile crossed my face as I climbed out of bed and stretched, remembering how naïve I had been as a kid. Now, I’d grown up to the point where I knew being an adult wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I knew people in their twenties and thirties and even forties weren’t incapable of screwing up.
But I was ready for my chance, and all I had to do was get through one measly semester before it was my turn to prove myself to the world.
I’d set out my outfit for my first day of classes the night before: another childish ritual that persisted from my childhood because my mom somehow had thought it would make me more excited to roll out of bed and take on the world. Back then, we’d gone shop
ping for nice clothes from Penney’s or Sears in the middle of July, after the holiday sale, and I’d waited not-so-patiently for another month and a half to wear them into school, fashionable as could be.
Now, though, I’d chosen comfort over fashion. As I peeled the oversized t-shirt that I wore as a nightie over my head and tossed it to the floor, I pulled on a pair of fleece-lined dark leggings and a cozy t-shirt before topping it off with my favorite navy-blue hoodie. My room was chilly and I looked outside to see a fresh coat of white snow lining the grass outside of the apartment I shared with Petra.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. As warm and cozy as my bed had been, for once I wasn’t dreaming about going back to it. I wanted to get on with the day, cross it off the calendar, and march forward.
After I got dressed, I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then tied my hair back in a messy bun that somehow managed to look perfectly undone on the first try. A good omen, I thought as I looked at myself. Maybe today will be even better than I expected.
Petra was in the kitchen, making coffee and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“Hey, you,” I said as I sat down at the breakfast bar and reached for a muffin. “Sleep okay?”
Petra groaned again. “I can’t believe you let me sign up for nine-thirty classes again,” she said. “I promised myself after freshman year that I wouldn’t be caught dead on campus before noon.”
“But this way, we’ll be done right after lunch,” I said. “Isn’t that better? Getting out of class while it’s still light outside?”
Petra rolled her eyes at me. “If I had more energy, I’d smack you right now,” she said.
I giggled. “Sorry,” I said. “I know you’re not exactly a morning person.”
Petra poured herself a cup of coffee, blew on the oily surface, then took a cautious sip and wrinkled her nose.
Forbidden First Times: A Contemporary Romance Collection Page 102