“Come on, Carmen. We can’t be late to our own party!” Nick grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the door as my mother pushed me.
“All right, all right, lay off.” I laughed. “Call me if anything goes wrong, okay?”
“I will, I will. My goodness, you’re worse than I was.” She chuckled. “Have fun, kids!”
“Have fun, kids,” Nick repeated dazedly as he ushered me to the car. “I haven’t heard that in years.”
“You’ll be a kid for as long as she’s alive,” I said fondly. “She’s probably the most maternal person I know.”
“Passed that on to her daughter,” he said.
I blushed happily. As we drove, I fixed my hair and makeup in the mirror and fussed over my neckline. Six months of breastfeeding had left my clothes fitting differently, but Nick certainly seemed to approve.
“Eyes on the road, big guy.” I laughed, pushing lightly on his head. “Oh, look! The girls are already here!”
We pulled into a parking space in the alley beside a comfortable little building on 7th Street, and I was out of the car almost before it came to a full stop. I felt like it had been a million years since I’d seen all of my friends together; it had at least been since the baby shower. Even longer since we’d gone out and had fun like we used to.
“Carmen! Nick! Oh my gosh, I am so happy for you guys.” Tyra launched herself at me and squeezed me tight. “This is so exciting! How on earth did you manage it?”
“Well, Nick impressed the pants off of Orin, first of all,” I told her. “I swear he wanted to adopt him.”
Nick beamed with pride, and I squeezed his arm.
“Okay, but Orin didn’t give it to you for free,” Tyra said, rubbing a hand over her own baby bump—she and Donovan were now just a few short months away from welcoming their own baby to the world. “Come on, spill! A bartender and a clerk can’t afford a whole bar.”
“They can if the bartender had a nice, big, expensive condo to sell,” Nick said with an almost sheepish grin. “I didn’t exactly spend my escort money frugally.”
“It was an investment in the future, you just didn’t know it,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “We better get inside, there’s already a line of people.”
“Of course there is,” Staci said with a wave of her hand. “Do you have any idea how many people have been waiting for this place to reopen? Even without dollar drafts you’d have had a crowd.”
“A crowd,” Alana purred. “Of thirsty, thirsty men. How’s my dress?”
Staci helped her adjust to emphasize her assets to the maximum level, and we all went in by the side door. I hadn’t been inside the bar since Nick had started renovations, and I was a little nervous about it. I’d told him how much time the girls and I had spent there, but in retrospect, I hadn’t really emphasized how much the place meant to me. At least, I didn’t think I had.
But when the lights came on, every ounce of apprehension washed out of me in a delighted sigh. It was virtually identical; polished and painted, an upgrade here and there, but mostly the same. Except…
“Nick! Our table!” I rushed over to it, unable to believe what I was seeing. Where there had once been angel wings engraved on the wall, there was now a heart shape; inside, a beautiful minimalist-styled painting of a couple with a brilliant light glowing between them. Beneath, the words “Only the beginning” were engraved on the wall, shimmering with gold leaf.
“It’s beautiful,” I said as tears sprang to my eyes. “Oh, it must have cost a fortune!”
“Nah, not really,” he said flippantly. He couldn’t hide the tenderness in his tone, not from me.
I turned around to throw my arms around him, but stopped short and clapped my hands over my face. Nick was down on one knee in front of me, holding out a purple velvet box.
“Carmen Jones, you wonderful woman, you changed my life. You saved my life. Everything I ever needed—everything I ever wanted—lives in you. You’re sunshine. You’re my best friend. You are the mother of my child—and all my future children, if that’s what you want. I want to spend my life repaying you for the endless, infinite gifts you’ve given to me. Carmen, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whispered through tears of joy. Then, sobbing, “God, Nick, yes! All of the yesses!”
I did throw my arms around him then, and he lifted me up off the ground in his strong, glorious embrace. My friends were laughing and crying and whooping behind us, but I paid them no mind. His mouth was on mine, igniting my soul. But the cheering grew louder and louder around us until I was forced to open my eyes, and after I saw what was happening, I buried my burning face in Nick’s shoulder.
Someone had opened the door and let in the crowd, and half of Boston was cheering us on. Laughing, I thanked everybody for their congratulations and best wishes, then purred into Nick’s ear.
“We should dance.”
“You got it, darlin’! Hey, DJ. Let’s get this party started!”
The platform at the back of the bar lit up in bright green and purple lights. The upgraded light show was my favorite part of everything Nick had done; it washed the dance floor in undulating dark colors, pulling the crowd irresistibly toward it as the music swelled.
I dragged Nick to the dance floor the same way I had on our very first date and ran face-first into that same explosion of anticipation and excitement. It was somehow heightened now that he wasn’t an irresistibly attractive stranger, but my fiancé; the man I’d been sharing my home, child and life with for the past six months.
We danced and drank, celebrating what really felt like the first day of the rest of our lives. Engaged to be married, opening our own business…we were finally moving up in the world.
“You’re going to meet your goal,” Nick said, speaking close to my ear.
“What?”
“House, kids, business, and marriage before you’re thirty-five.”
I paused, then burst out laughing. “I guess I am,” I said. “I just had to take a few detours to get here.”
He grinned at me happily, then his expression softened into a sultry warmth. Pulling me close, he smothered my lips in his, igniting me from head to toe with his kiss. I couldn’t believe that he still had that effect on me, but I knew now that it would last forever.
“You’re everything I wanted,” I told him, kissing his jaw. “Everything I needed.”
He pulled me close as we rocked together on the dance floor. “There’s one place I didn’t show you yet,” he said, gesturing at the ceiling with his eyes.
“The roof?”
“The apartment.”
“There’s—” But before I could finish the question, he was pulling me through the crowd to the bar, then behind the bar into a long back room, then through the back room to a door. The door opened to a humble flight of wooden stairs; the old, solid kind of stairs which make you remember just how much history they’ve supported.
“I never knew the bar had the upstairs too.”
“Turns out, Orin was living up here. Saved a bundle. He’s king of Miami now.” Nick grinned over his shoulder, and I was so happy that he was happy for somebody I cared about that I just about burst.
“I changed this apartment a lot more than I changed the downstairs,” he said as he opened the door at the top of the stairs. “I’ll have this space as my office. That way I can leave all thoughts of work here and concentrate on you and Mia when I’m home.”
As Nick brought me into the private little space, I didn’t know what to expect. Nick had turned the loft into a stunning office. He had a modern desk, guest chairs, sitting area, and file cabinets. I watched him walk over to a wall of shelves, pull on something, and a Murphy bed folded down from the wall. Then I noticed that rose petals and candles decorated the floor and built-in shelves, making the whole room feel magical.
“I love you, Carmen,” Nick whispered, gazing down at me liquidly. “Be mine forever?”
“Forever and always, my love.�
��
With a groan of pleasure, Nick swept me off my feet in a bear hug and kissed my mouth. My legs were wrapped around his torso before he had begun to swing me around, to plant me square in the center of the bed, to crush me into the welcoming cloud of sensual softness with his hot, hard body.
“Oh, Nick.” I gazed up into his smoldering eyes. “I almost can’t believe it.”
“Believe it, baby,” he said as his hands trailed down my neck and over my breasts. “I couldn’t ask for better.”
Sighing happily, I let him take me, body, heart, and soul. Hot lips trailed over my skin as he tugged my dress up over my hips, kissing up my thighs and then stomach as he pulled the dress higher. When my dress was fully off and cast aside, his fingers caressed my skin along the edge of my bra before unclasping it. My ample breasts spilled out, his mouth and tongue teasing my sensitive skin and sending chills down my spine. His lips and hands moved lower, enjoying my body while the sensation created a desire and need for him stronger than I’d ever felt before.
Soon his fingers, dancing around my hot wetness, discovered the intensity of my need for him. Shaking and moaning, I arched into his touch as molten desire swirled through my veins. Like a magician, his fingers found their way inside of me without wasting time removing the thin silk barrier.
It always felt fresh and new and exciting, no matter how often we touched.
Crying out, tangling my fingers in his hair, I wordlessly begged for more. He answered with the heel of his hand, pressing against my desire as his fingers worked their magic deep inside of me. I sobbed his name as I came, crushing his fingers with wanton pulses.
“Yes, baby,” he growled, stripping out of his shirt and kicking off his pants. “God, you’re so sexy.”
I could only whimper as I wriggled out of my panties. There, in the office of the business he’d worked and saved diligently for, wrapped up in the relationship we’d both exchanged our plans and pride for, we entwined. Every bit of it had been worth it.
He brought me to screaming, shaking climax, again and again, whispering wedding vows and sweet promises in my ear as he gave himself to me, as he took me, playing both of our bodies until we were humming with pleasure and beyond satisfied.
As we lay tangled together in the afterglow, Nick kissed my forehead and winked at me.
“Happily ever after, darlin’.”
The End
Surprise Packages
Layla Valentine & Holly Rayner
Copyright 2019 by Layla Valentine & Holly Rayner
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author.
All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
“Cut!”
A cheer goes up at the sound of the director’s declaration. I jump down from my perch on the back of a wooden fence, where I’ve been clinging with my toes and fingertips, and the set crew comes rushing onto the soundstage. They strip away the world around us quickly and efficiently, rolling away the castle wall and the marble fountain that is the most visually recognizable centerpiece of the Redfall family lands. Soon all that’s left on the soundstage is the group of colleagues, shaking hands, high-fiving each other, and exchanging congratulations on another successful season of Royal Blue.
Gary Breyer, who plays my father, King Noah Redfall, on the show, already has a glass of champagne in his hands. I suppose I should be using the past tense. Gary played Noah Redfall. After today’s scene, of course, that’s all over. You don’t come back from being assassinated by your political rivals. The king is dead, and Royal Blue as we know it will never be the same.
It’s kind of exciting, actually. I accept the glass of champagne a crew hand offers, pondering the possibilities. With the king of Redfall dead, the question everyone is asking is, who will come into power?
I’m not sure if I want the role or not. It would definitely be an exciting challenge to play a ruling monarch. But my character, Aeryn Redfall, is developing into a warrior. In spite of her noble upbringing and the expectations placed on her by her family, she’s spent season two of the show learning skills like hunting, fighting and living off the land. If she has to assume the throne now, that whole subplot will be over. I can’t imagine a queen having much time for combat training.
Gary climbs up onto a stepladder. He’s still wearing his heavy fur cape, a signature piece of his wardrobe. It’s drenched now with fake blood, matting the fur down on one side. He raises his glass.
“Can I have everyone’s attention please?”
We all turn and look at him. We’re used to that deep, booming voice, the voice of the king, issuing commands. We’re used to obeying Noah Redfall.
“I want to thank everyone for two amazing seasons,” Gary says. “This show has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve found true friends here.” He reaches over and squeezes the shoulder of the man who plays his royal advisor. “And I’ve been able to step into the fantasy of a lifetime, of course: being the boss of everyone.”
We all laugh. I’m going to miss having Gary around, that’s for sure. He’s been a kind of father figure to me since I was cast on the show.
Leaving my family in Ohio and moving to LA has been the greatest challenge of my life, and it’s often hard to feel at home here. Sometimes, of course, I feel like it’s paid off better than I could ever have dreamed—I’m a star on a critically acclaimed TV show, so no one could say my dreams of acting haven’t been met with success. But other times I feel desperately, confusingly alone. I have no family in California and no close friends outside of the show.
Of course, there’s always my best friend on the show. Lizzie plays my sister, the well-mannered Princess Mirabella Redfall. On the show, Mirabella and Aeryn can’t stand each other, but Lizzie’s probably the person I’m closest to in the whole state of California. I know the tabloids and the internet bloggers enjoy our friendship, catching us on camera in moments of fun together, smiling at each other. And now she’s at my shoulder, throwing an arm around me, with her other arm flung wide so the glass of champagne in her hand doesn’t spill on my costume.
“Erica, you were amazing!” she cries. “I was watching you during Gary’s death scene, and you looked like you were going to cry.”
“I was going to cry,” I tell her, laughing. “I think I have a splinter in my toe from that fence. I don’t know why I had to be barefoot for the scene.”
“At least you don’t have to wear a corset,” Lizzie groans. “Why can’t Mirabella throw off the patriarchy? You get to have all the fun.”
“Let’s get to wardrobe,” I say, linking my elbow through hers. “We can get out of these clothes, and maybe someone can take a look at my foot.”
“And I can get my hair taken down,” Lizzie says. “These styles are pretty and everything, but good Lord do they hurt.” She looks enviously at my hair, which hangs in loose waves around my shoulders, the same way it has all season. “Some people really do have all the luck.”
I laugh. “Aeryn’s hair would never look like this in real life. It would be a knotted, frazzled mess. There are about seventeen products and forty-five minutes of work making this look happen. And I haven’t been in any sword fights.”
“You haven’t even been outdoors,” Lizzie laughs. “We’d all be much uglier if this were real.”
The assistant director passes us, moving in the opposite direction. “Nice work today, ladies,” he says. “A very impressive performance.”
Lizzie waits until he’s out of earshot and then clutches at my arm. “Did you hear that? He was watching
my performance!”
“That’s not…exactly what I heard,” I say.
She ignores me. “I’m going for it tonight. I’m going to make a move on him. Tonight’s the night for sure. He’s been watching me. He wants it. Do you think he’ll be at the wrap party?”
“I think it’s at his hotel, isn’t it?” I ask. Lizzie, God love her, isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to detail.
She laughs. “Right! Obviously! Okay. So I need to go home and change first, because this”—she gives the pajama pants and tank top she wore to the shoot this morning a shake—“isn’t going to get me anywhere.”
I laugh. “Just make sure you take care of yourself, will you? Let’s not make this a repeat of the Christmas party.”
“That was one time,” Lizzie protests.
Her wardrobe attendant finishes unlacing her dress, and she shrugs it to the floor and steps out of it, unembarrassed in nothing but her corset and panties.
“Besides,” she goes on, “you’ll be there. You won’t let me overdo it.”
I don’t answer. The truth is that I’m seriously considering blowing off the wrap party. I love my job more than anything I’ve ever done. I love playing Aeryn, dressing up in these fabulous costumes and stepping into the role of the warrior princess. I love learning to fight. And most of all, I love my castmates. Being part of Royal Blue is like being part of a family—not a vindictive, warring family, the way we’re depicted on the show, but a kind family. A family that really cares about each other.
At least, that’s what I tell myself.
But the truth is that my Royal Blue family is no substitute for a real family. I know they like me. I know they think I’m good at my job. They always include me in everything, from parties to random adventures, like the time two months ago when the entire cast decided to visit a children’s hospital nearby. But there’s still something formal about these relationships. Everything we do together is an event. It’s always a big deal.
Baby Surprises 7 Book Box Set Page 89