by Nicole Casey
I frowned. Why had I ever kept that picture? It was supposed to be a reminder of how quickly things could turn, how you never really knew anyone. Instead, the damn photo had managed to alienate the one person I had wanted to keep close.
“You saw her…” I said, realizing the implication of what she was saying.
Ayla sighed.
“I was coming back to you that night. I hated how we left things too and I wanted to make it right.”
“Jesus,” I muttered, silently cursing Helena yet again but what was done was done. All that mattered was that Ayla was back now and I was going to be a father.
“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” I said, sliding my chair closer to her.
Slowly, I reached for her hand and she let me take it, her eyes meeting mine.
“We’ll figure this out,” I promised her. “For our son’s sake. For our sakes.”
I had hoped that the words would give her a semblance of comfort but if anything, she looked more distressed.
“How?” she muttered. “I’ve been thinking about this for six months, but I can’t think of one way to make this happen. Even less so now that you have a roommate.”
I smiled patiently.
“Then we’ll just have to get married and meet in the middle, won’t we?”
Her mouth gaped.
“What?” she sputtered, her face etched in shock. “Y-you’re…proposing?”
I think I was as shocked to hear the words come out of my own mouth as she was to hear them but I didn’t regret asking them at all.
“I guess I am,” I laughed, dropping to one knee before her, squeezing her hand gently. “Do you think your father will approve of me?”
She laughed.
“Nope,” she replied, leaning forward to kiss my lips. “But then again, he barely approves of me.”
She paused and smiled at me, her eyes searching mine.
“You don’t want to marry me,” she giggled but the hope in her eyes was unmistakable. “You hardly know me.”
She was giving me an out and I didn’t want to take it, not in the least. Instead, I doubled down.
“That is one of the many reasons I’m asking you,” I replied honestly. “I’m asking you because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the first time I saw your face at the Lakehouse. I’m asking you because I think, no matter what, you and I would have met somewhere down the line because when I look at you, I feel like I’ve known you before. I’m asking you because the day you walked away from me, I sat there for a long moment, willing you to come back. I’m asking you because I genuinely want to marry you, to provide a life for our child as a family. I’m asking you because, as odd as it sounds, I think I loved you from another life already, Ayla. So please, don’t question my motives. They are pure.”
I watched her face soften with each word and I felt my breath catch as her eyes filled with tears.
“I know they are,” she murmured, pressing her mouth to mine again. “How are we going to do this? Where would we live? What will— “
“Everything will come together, I promise. You’ll never have to worry about anything again, Ayla because I’m not letting you go again. I was a fool to do it in the first place.”
Her face flushed red and she stared at me imploringly. I could see she wanted to believe everything coming out of my mouth. To say I wasn’t nervous asking her was an understatement but the proposal had slipped naturally from my lips. All I had said to her was 100% true. There had not been a day where Ayla hadn’t crossed my mind, regret for how we’d parted weighing on me.
She was back, her child in my womb and that was not something I was about to take for granted.
“Well?” I breathed into her ear. “What do you say, Ayla? Will you marry me?”
She nodded, her fingers twining into the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling me closer again to lock my mouth against hers. I felt like she was clinging to me for dear life.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I will.”
Epilogue
AYLA
“You know, Gennifer is going to be pissed when she finds out you got married here,” Kennedy chuckled.
“You think so?” I answered but truthfully, I didn’t give a rat’s ass what Gennifer thought about anything. I was eight and a half months pregnant and bursting out of my off-white chignon dress. I had far more important matters on my mind than hurting Gennifer’s feelings.
I had a much deeper connection to the Mountainside Resort than she did, after all. She had had a bachelorette party there. I had found my entire life’s purpose.
I couldn’t believe that even after all these months, Laz still wanted to go through with this marriage. I had purposely waited unto the last possible moment to go through with it, sure he’d change his mind after all but each day had been filled with nothing but promise for the future.
I’d stayed in Tennessee, telling my parents I was laying low until the birth of my child. I hadn’t mentioned the part about getting married to the father of my child, mostly because I didn’t want to inflict them on Laz until after I knew it was really happening.
So much had changed in such a short time, I was overwhelmed by what the future was going to bring for both Laz and me.
I had, however, caved and told Kennedy all that had occurred, stemming from that lost night when I’d gone “missing.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Kennedy growled at me. “I would have told you to go claim what was yours. You could have saved yourself months of uncertainty if you’d just reached out to someone.”
I realized now that I’d let myself assume the worst by getting caught up in my own mind. Was I maturing?
I certainly hoped so for my son’s sake.
Spring had sprung in Gatlinburg and while the remnants of winter remained, sunshine braved its way to light the mountains with its golden kisses. It was a beautiful day for a wedding.
Even if my nerves were frayed.
It wasn’t only the wedding that had me on edge. There had been a fantastic showdown with Helena when Laz had told her his plans and informed her that he was getting remarried.
Ultimately, she packed her meager belongings and moved on but I couldn’t help but think we hadn’t seen the end of her.
Laz told me she had gone to stay with Gary who had apparently left his wife to stay with Helena but who knew?
“You shouldn’t look so freaked out,” Kennedy instructed me. “Everyone gets nervous before they say, ‘I do’ but it’s natural.”
I eyed her skeptically.
“Is this coming from someone who doesn’t even remember getting married?” I teased her.
“I remembered the second time we did our vows,” Kennedy retorted, apparently annoyed at the reminder. “And I was nervous then, even though I was already married.”
I didn’t press the issue. Kennedy was only trying to help after all and I was grateful to her for being there for me.
There was a knock on the door and I jumped at the sound. Kennedy shot me a look which told me to calm down.
“Come in!”
The door opened and a maid smiled warmly at us.
“The groom is ready for you, Ms. Winter,” she explained.
“I’ll be right out,” I promised, turning to stare at myself in the mirror one last time.
The pregnancy had been kind to me, undoubtedly. There was a slight more fullness to my face but all the weight I’d gained was in my belly. I looked beautiful, my hair pinned into a chignon at the back of my head, releasing a few stray strands to embrace my face.
The gown was simple but dainty and I wore a crown of roses about my head instead of a veil. I didn’t feel the need to hide my face from Laz. He was the only one whom I wanted to see me every minute of every day.
“Ready, sister?”
I cast Kennedy a lopsided smile.
“You are my sister,” I told her earnestly. “Thank you for being there for me.”
“You’re cert
ainly a pain in the ass like a sister,” Kennedy joked and I snorted. I knew I’d been insufferable at times but in the end, Kennedy had never given up on me. I owed her a debt of gratitude.
“Let’s do this,” I said, accepting her arm and we moved toward the cottage door. It wasn’t really necessary but because of the slush that had not quite dried and given my state of impregnation, Laz had acquired a limo for me to ride to the main hall where we would be married.
The driver held open the door and I slid inside, gasping in shock when I saw who was inside.
Before I could turn around to hurry out, Helena’s hand reached out and pulled my arm back.
“Just wait,” she hissed and I looked desperately behind me. Kennedy slipped inside, her eyes widening with surprise to see the shapely redhead. My friend had no frame of reference to realize that I was sitting with Laz’s ex-wife.
“W-what are you doing?” I squealed, wrenching my arm away from her. “You can’t stop this from happening, Helena!”
The woman scowled at me and rolled her luminous eyes like I was annoying her.
“Honey, if I wanted to stop your wedding, I wouldn’t kidnap you to do it,” she grunted at me.
“Wait, this is— “Kennedy demanded as the door slammed behind us and the driver moved away.
“Yes, yes, I’m the batshit crazy ex-wife,” Helena interrupted, her face darkening with anger. “I’m sure you’ve heard all the stories.”
I didn’t know what to say about that but I stared at her, waiting for Helena to tell me what she wanted.
“I came here to say something and then I’ll be out of your lives forever,” Helena continued. I was barely breathing, mostly because I didn’t believe her but I found my eyes darting over her, looking for a weapon.
“I made a lot of mistakes,” Helena muttered. “Marrying Laz was the biggest one.”
I bristled. Did she think I was going to change my mind because she was talking shit about my husband-to-be? She was more delusional than I’d thought.
“Thanks for the warning,” I snapped angrily. “Now go.”
“No, you fool,” Helena barked at me. “I made a mistake marrying Laz because I almost broke the only decent man I’ve ever known in my life. I think that’s why I married him. There’s a goodness in him that I wanted in my life. He had this way of making me feel like I was always protected, even when I was at my hellfire worst. He never gave up on me, even though I gave him so many reasons to walk away. Shit, I had to divorce him, even after everything I did.”
Kennedy and I exchanged looks of confusion.
“The best thing I could have ever done for Laz was leave him alone but he was so good and he wanted to fix me so desperately,” Helena continued, a look of sadness clouding her features. “I didn’t want to lose that, Ayla. That’s why I dug my claws so deeply into him but it was wrong. He didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”
The limo rolled toward the main lodge but we were fixed on Helena’s every word.
“I came here to tell you that I’m going to do what I should have done the first time I ever looked at him. I’m going far away. You can stay here in Gatlinburg. I’m going north, maybe Montana.”
I didn’t bother to ask what was in Montana. I just wanted to believe her.
“I wanted to tell you, woman to woman, Ayla, that you’ll never find as good a man as Laz. I hope you can make him happy. He deserves it. And he always wanted to be a father.”
The vehicle stopped and Helena reached for the door handle on her side.
“Good luck and congratulations, Ayla.”
“Helena!” I heard myself call out. She looked at me and Kennedy muttered something about letting her go in my ear but I couldn’t.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked. Her eyes grew wide and a wry smile formed on her lips.
“It’s time I started to take care of myself for once,” she said and I could hear the sincerity in her words.
She raised a hand in departure and disappeared, leaving me alone with my friend.
“Do you believe that?” Kennedy scoffed and I smiled slightly.
“Yes,” I replied. “I actually do.”
“I guess anyone can mature,” Kennedy offered dubiously.
“Let’s hope so,” I agreed but I was talking about myself, not Helena. Suddenly, I felt a whoosh of relief overwhelm me.
I was truly free to marry Laz and stay in Gatlinburg now, to raise my son in the snow of the mountains, to leave behind my insipid life without the threat of Helena resurfacing. I could be a mountain woman, tucked away, making love by a fireplace with my husband and our son.
“A-are you smiling?” Kennedy gaped in shock. “Now you’re smiling?”
“Now I’m free,” I replied.
* * *
The minister handled the service quickly and sweetly but I barely remembered any of it. All I could do was stare hopelessly into Laz’s eyes and wonder what had made him the man he was.
Helena was right—he is a good man.
“Do you take this man, Lazaro Payne, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do.”
“Then by the power vested in me, by the State of Tennessee, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may— “
I doubled over, gasping in pain, cutting off the minister in midsentence.
“Oh my God, Ayla, what’s wrong?” Laz demanded, grabbing my arm to steady me. “Is it the baby?”
I groaned as a contraction took me again and I nodded.
“H-he’s coming!” I gasped.
Kennedy squeaked with joy.
“I’ll call the hospital to prepare them,” she promised, waving at Julian and the twins who sat on chairs behind them. “The baby’s coming!”
She was more excited than me but that was because I had never expected the pain to feel like that.
“Laz go get the Jeep,” Kennedy instructed but I yelled out.
“No!” I cried. “No, not yet!”
Everyone looked at me in surprise.
“Honey, you’re having a human person trying to come out of you. You need to go to the hospital,” Kennedy told me, trying to keep the annoyance from her tone. “Prolonging it won’t make it any less of a fact.”
“I’m…” I inhaled sharply. “Not going yet.”
“Ayla,” Laz said sweetly, looking into my eyes. “I know it’s scary but— “
“I’m not going until you kiss me,” I managed to choke out. “I-I don’t want to have this baby without being married!”
Understanding filled his eyes and without hesitation, he leaned forward to kiss me sweetly.
“There,” he breathed. “Is that better?”
My body sagged against him and I nodded.
“Much,” I rasped. “Now let’s have this baby!
THE END
Author’s Note
Dear reader, I want to take a moment to personally thank you for taking the time to read my book.
We’ve read so many stories about billionaire alpha males and not so many about rich girls. So I thought that would be a good story to end the Baby Fever series. Did you enjoy it?
Sometimes we might not realize that wealthy people got their own problems too. In Ayla’s case, she has to live up to her parents’ expectations, and she’s not able to live her life freely. Fortunately, everything changed when she met this down-to-earth and caring man, Laz.
I personally find people who act important or proud difficult to deal with. I had a bf who was just like that, and he would always show off his language skills or his knowledge, and of course, we broke up when I couldn’t stand it anymore. And after him I only dated down-to-earth and understanding guys.
Speaking of down-to-earth people, if you haven’t met Kennedy yet, you would probably want to read her story, Accidental Soulmates.
She was struggling financially, before going on a trip to Vegas and meeting an extremely wealthy and gorg
eous man, Julian. They had an amazing night before they both went on with their own lives. But an unexpected marriage forced both of them to get together again. How will they overcome all the obstacles and make this accidental marriage work? If you’re not familiar with Kennedy and are interested in a nice sultry afternoon read, click here. (It’s free in KU too)
If you were happy about the HEA Ayla and Laz found, please do a girl a favor and leave a short review. Your reviews serve as an encouragement and I will be really happy to read them. It doesn’t have to be long. Even just one word or one sentence, it’d be a big help!
By the way, don’t miss the Sneak Peek from Accidental Soulmates that I have included for you. Just turn to the next page to enjoy a few chapters. Take care, and I will talk to you soon!
Love,
Nicole
Read an Excerpt from Accidental Soulmates - A Vegas Accidental Marriage Romance
Prologue
THE DREAM
From somewhere behind him, a blast of raucous laughter caused him to start, distracting him from the blazing machines inside the casino.
Julian turned his head slightly to the side, toward the noise and eyed the overweight, bleached blonde who couldn’t have been from anywhere other than Texas. The machine screeched and winnings poured out the lip in a waterfall of coins.
“Lookie, Patrick! I dun won four hundred smackeroos!” she chortled in a voice which fit her obnoxious appearance perfectly. Naturally, it was wrought with a deep Texan drawl.
Patrick, who apparently stood at her side, nodded approvingly and grinned a toothless smile.
“Ya sure did, Colleen! I knew you’d make our rent this time!”
Even as he thought it, a voice echoed his sentiments perfectly.
“Charming,” someone muttered from his left, her low, sultry tone laced with contempt. Julian’s eyes traveled toward the woman at his side who watched the scene with a full mouth twisted in a fusion of disdain and something he couldn’t quite decipher.