by Force, Marie
She stopped right inside the door. “Paul… What… What’s all this?”
“Come in, and I’ll tell you.” He helped her out of his tuxedo coat that she’d worn home and tossed it over a chair.
Though she curled her hand around his, he felt her reluctance in every step she took to the sofa, where they sat next to each other.
He turned to face her, and the wariness he saw in her expression had him aching for the suffering that had made it so difficult for her to trust him. Here goes…
Linking their fingers, he gazed into her eyes. “Remember when we talked about you and Ethan staying here, and I said I’d take care of you?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I remember.”
“It occurred to me afterward that I’d left out a few important details.”
“What details?”
His heart pounded double time as he dropped to his knees before her.
She gasped. “Paul…”
“The most important detail that I forgot to mention is that I love you, Hope. I love you and I love Ethan, and I want you both in my life to stay. When I said I wanted to take care of you, I meant it, but I also understand how important it is to you to be independent financially and professionally. And that’s why I think you should go forward with your plans to get a job on the mainland, but maybe a part-time job one or two days a week? We’ll rent an apartment over there for when you have to work, as long as you come home to Ethan and me when your shift ends. I want to make this our home—and you can do anything you want to the house to make it your own. I want to raise Ethan as if he were my own. I want to have more babies with you. I want everything with you, and I swear to you—on my life and the lives of everyone I love—I will never be untrue to you. Will you marry me, Hope?”
Tears slid down her cheeks, and for the life of him, he couldn’t tell if they were happy tears or sad tears.
“Hope?”
“You… You love me?”
He laughed softly. “Did you hear anything else I said after that?”
“I heard all of it.” She wiped away the tears that continued to come.
From his pocket, he produced the ring he’d carried around all day like a talisman, hoping it would bring him luck.
“That’s your mother’s,” she whispered.
“Alex gave it to me and told me to give it to you. He said our mom, the mom we knew and loved for so long, would want you to have it because she’d love you for me. She’d love us together.”
Hope covered her mouth and shook her head.
Did that mean she was saying no? He honestly didn’t know how he would cope if she turned him down. Gambling on the fact that he suspected she loved him as much as he loved her, he took hold of her left hand and slid the ring on her finger. “Well, look at that,” he said reverently. “It fits like it was meant for you. My father gave my mother this ring on their twentieth anniversary. She loved it almost as much as she loved him. I want what they had, Hope. I want what Alex has with Jenny. And I want it with you. So will you please marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, so softly that he thought for a second he was hearing things.
“You want to say that one more time so I can be sure I heard you right?”
“Yes, Paul,” she said, smiling as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. “I’ll marry you.”
Only then was he able to indulge in the first truly deep breath he’d taken all day. He gathered her into his arms and held on tight, thanking God and his father and anyone else who might’ve played even a small part in making sure this went his way—that it went their way.
“I love you, too,” she said, breaking the silence. “And what you said…”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “What did I say?”
“About me working and how you’ll never be untrue… You can’t possibly know what that means to me.”
“I do know. I know you, and I know what matters to you, and I want to be what you want and need.”
“You are. You already are.”
He kissed her then the way he’d been dying to during the lonely nights when she’d been so close to him but so far away.
Her arms came around him as she returned the kiss, matching his desperation. They ended up on the sofa, him on top of her as the agony faded away, leaving only a lifetime of joy to look forward to. “Here we are again on the sofa where you first kissed me.”
“You’re never going to forget that, are you?”
Smiling, he said, “Nope.” He stared at her gorgeous face because he could. “I’ll always be thankful that you lost your mind and kissed me. It saved us a ton of time that we might’ve wasted pretending this wasn’t happening.”
“The first day we met, I thought, wow… He’s going to be my boss?”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I had to remind myself to keep it professional. Until I forgot.”
“Thank God for that.” He kissed her again. “Alex said we’ve been eye-fucking each other since the day we met.”
She dissolved into helpless laughter. “Your brother certainly has a way with words.”
“That he does, but he’s not wrong about how long I’ve wanted you, even if I tried to pretend otherwise because you worked for us.” He tugged at her bodice. “How do we get this sexy dress off you?”
“Right over the top.”
He pulled back to find the hem and pushed it up and over her head, leaving her in only a black strapless bra and skimpy panties. “Are you really going to marry me?”
“I really am.”
“You said you’d never get married again.”
“You’ve changed my mind about a lot of things.” She got to work undoing the studs on his tuxedo shirt. “I’ve thought about this sexy body nonstop.”
“Not being able to touch you was the purest form of torture I’ve ever experienced.”
“Touch me now, Paul. Touch me every day for the rest of our lives.”
“There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
Epilogue
Hope woke in Paul’s arms at the stroke of six, as she did every day whether she needed to or not. Today she most definitely did not need to. Ethan was safe and happy with his friends, and she was engaged to Paul Martinez, who had kept her up half the night celebrating.
“We’re going to have to do something about your early hours,” he muttered without opening his eyes.
“Blame Ethan. It’s all his fault.”
“Speaking of Ethan, how early can we go over there and tell him the news?”
“We can’t go there at six in the morning.”
“Bet they’re up.”
“Too early.”
“Eight?”
“That’s more civilized.”
“Whatever shall we do until then?” he asked, rolling onto his back and bringing her with him.
“Is this the kind of husband you’re going to be?”
“What kind is that?”
“Insatiable.”
He moved his hands from her hips to cup her breasts, running his thumbs over her nipples, which tightened instantly. “Is that going to be a problem for my wife?”
She shook her head. “I have no problems. Not anymore.” Shifting her hips, she took him in slowly because that made him crazy, and she loved him that way. She loved knowing she did that to him.
“What’re you thinking right now?”
“Other than how in the world am I going to keep up with this guy?”
Smiling, he said, “Other than that.”
“I love knowing that if I go slow, it makes you crazy. I love knowing that if I do this,” she said, squeezing her internal muscles, “you’ll do that.” Predictably, he gasped and got even harder inside her.
“And I love knowing if I do this,” he said, stroking her clit, “you’ll do that.”
She came instantly, screaming from the pleasure that overtook her, leaving her trembling in his arms afterward.
“And I love the
hell out of that.”
Hope laughed at the dirty way he said the words. “I love the hell out of you, and I’m so glad I can finally tell you that.”
“So am I, sweetheart.”
Hope kept him well occupied until eight, when they took a shower together, laughing and teasing and kissing. He would’ve said he was fully sated until her sexy, naked body proved otherwise.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me in this condition on the first day we’re engaged,” he said as he drove them to Seamus and Carolina’s house.
“Sorry, but you broke me last night.”
“I’ll fix you later.”
She smiled over at him, and the peaceful happy glow on her face filled him with the kind of contentment he’d never expected to find. Then she reached across the center console for his hand and made it even better. “I can’t wait to tell Ethan.”
“Neither can I.”
They pulled into Seamus and Carolina’s driveway, where Ethan was in the yard with Jackson, Kyle and their dog, playing with a soccer ball. When Ethan saw them, he let out a happy cry and ran for his mother. She scooped him up and peppered his face with kisses. “Are you guys having fun?”
“So much fun.”
She put Ethan down and reached for Kyle and Jackson, who ran to her, too.
Her sweetness to the boys hit Paul right in the chest.
“I don’t hafta go home yet, do I?” Ethan asked.
“Not quite, but Paul and I wanted to talk to you.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, baby.” Hope gathered him into her arms again. “It’s really good news. At least we hope you’ll think so.”
While Kyle and Jackson looked on, Paul squatted down so he could look Ethan in the eye. “How’d you like to stay here on Gansett?”
Ethan’s big eyes widened with glee. “Really?” He looked up at his mom, who nodded. “So we don’t hafta move away?”
“Last night, I asked your mom to marry me, and she said yes. Now I’m hoping you’ll say yes, too, so you guys will get to stay here with me.”
Ethan hurled himself at Paul, who managed to keep his balance as he hugged him.
“Should I take that as a yes?” Paul said, thrilled by Ethan’s reaction.
“We really get to stay forever?” Ethan asked his mother.
“Yes, honey.”
“And will you be my new dad?” he asked Paul.
The question hit him with the force of a gut punch. “If that’s what you want,” he said gruffly.
“It is.” Ethan broke free of Paul’s embrace. “Hey, you guys,” he said to Jackson and Kyle, “me and my mom are gettin’ married!”
Paul exchanged glances with Hope, her smile as wide as his. He held out his hand to help her up. As the boys ran inside to tell Seamus and Carolina the news, Paul hugged her. “I guess it’s official now.”
“No getting out of it.”
He kissed her and then kept his arm around her as they followed the boys into the house. “No worries about that, sweetheart. I’m in.” He stole one more kiss while he could. “I’m all-in.”
* * *
Keep Reading for Celebration After Dark, a novella featuring Big Mac and Linda McCarthy’s 40th Anniversary!
Chapter 1
Mac McCarthy Senior, known to all as Big Mac, woke on the morning of December twentieth to the distinctive sounds of winter on Gansett Island—howling wind, icy snow pinging against the windows and groaning beams in the house he’d called home for nearly four decades. But today was not any average winter day. On this day forty years ago, he married the love of his life. Today was a day for celebration.
The kids were throwing a party later that Mac and Linda weren’t supposed to know about. “Voodoo Mama,” as the kids called Linda, knew everything they were up to. She’d picked up on the scent of a party months ago, which was why they hadn’t planned one for themselves. He had a few surprises of his own to mark the occasion that he couldn’t wait to give her.
She slept curled up to him, the way she did every night. Even on the few occasions when they’d been at odds, she always reached for him in her sleep. Their marriage had been filled with love and joy and five incredible kids who’d been the light of their lives. Each of them had found their soul mate in the last few years, which was the only thing he and Linda had ever truly wanted for them.
Nothing made Big Mac more content than seeing his kids happy and in love with people he would’ve hand-chosen for each of them. Mac with Maddie, Grant with Stephanie, Adam with Abby, Evan with Grace and Janey with Joe. All of them perfect matches in every way that mattered.
In addition to his own five, he’d been like a father to Luke Harris, the young man who’d worked for him at the marina since he was fourteen, and who was now happily married to his first love, Sydney Donovan Harris, with a baby on the way.
A few years ago, Big Mac had made Mac and Luke his partners in the marina, which was one of the best things he’d ever done. It freed him up to relax a little while the two young guys put their considerable energy into steering the business into the modern era. Big Mac was more than happy to take a backseat to them. He had grandchildren to coddle, bullshit to shoot, fish to catch and a wife to take traveling as he’d promised her he would once the kids were launched and the businesses were in good hands.
And then there was Mallory Vaughn, the woman who’d appeared earlier in the year with the life-changing news that she was the daughter he’d never known he had, the product of a brief relationship that ended before he met Linda. Talk about shocking! But Linda had set the tone, accepting Mallory into their family and making sure her arrival didn’t turn into a crisis for them. He’d never loved his gorgeous wife more than he had watching her welcome his daughter into their home and family.
The bedside clock read 6:20, which was far too early to wake Linda to begin the celebration. With nowhere to be for hours, they had the day to themselves before the party. That was plenty of time to shower her with the gifts he’d spent months organizing, among other things he wanted to do today.
He was kind of glad it was snowing. The men of the family had been spending every possible minute helping his son Mac and nephew Shane with the addition to the home of their friends Seamus and Carolina O’Grady, who’d recently taken in two young boys after their mother’s tragic death. Everyone wanted to see the new family settled as soon as possible, and they were down to finish work on the addition. With the storm raging outside, Big Mac could justify a day off to spend with his wife.
In the meantime, he found his thoughts wandering back in time to the summer day when he first laid eyes on the woman who would become the center of his life. He’d been home in Providence to close on the ramshackle marina that several people had told him not to buy. His dad had been particularly vociferous in his objections.
“Your grandmother left you that money so you could make something of yourself, Mac,” his father had said. “She’d be very disappointed to see you pissing it away on a hunk of junk in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m sorry you think so, Dad, but I’ve got a feeling about this place. With a little love and a lot of work, I think I can turn it into a gold mine.”
“And how do you plan to eat while you’re waiting to strike gold?”
“I’ve got my charter captain’s license and feelers out all over the place. I’ll find work. Don’t worry.” As long as he was near the water in some way or another, Mac was confident he could make a living somehow.
Frank McCarthy Senior shook his head with disgust and dismay over the plans his middle son had made for his little corner of Gansett Island.
“Let him be, Frank,” Mac’s mother, Jane, had said. “He’s got to make his own way the same way you made yours. Harping on him isn’t going to change his mind, especially when he’s signing the papers tomorrow.”
Despite his mother’s support, Mac had left his parents’ home that day feeling dejected and scared for the first time since he’d
fallen in love with the marina. What if his dad was right? What if he pissed away the nest egg his grandmother had left him on something that would never pay off?
As he drove the truck he’d bought in high school that was now on its last legs to his brother Frank’s place, he blasted Bruce Springsteen’s new album Born to Run in the tape deck. His chest tightened with anxiety and panic. He’d wagered everything he had and then some on the marina, knowing it needed a load of work to make it presentable. He’d never been afraid of hard work and had been looking forward to getting on with it before his dad filled his head with doubts.
Mac found a parking space two blocks from Frank’s house, and after he shut off the engine, he sat there for a minute thinking it through from every angle. One of the lawyers Frank had interned with over the summer had been good enough to look over the contracts for the purchase of the marina and declared them sound. Mac had had the place surveyed, and even though it looked a little rough around the edges to the naked eye, it was structurally sound. He had financing in place for the portion not covered by his inheritance and had money built into the loan for renovations.
It would take years to own the place free and clear, but he still had faith that eventually the investment of his time and money would pay off. And if it didn’t? Well, he was a young guy with plenty of time to recover and find something else to do with his life.
He got out of the truck and walked to Frank’s apartment, which occupied the first floor of a three-story Victorian. Frank was heading to law school at Brown in the fall and lived there with two other guys. The three of them were hosting this afternoon’s party in their backyard. Mac was in bad need of some time with his big brother—not to mention a couple of cold ones.
Mac let himself into the apartment with the key Frank had given him so he could crash on the sofa rather than stay at home where his mother would want him home by midnight and then sniff him, looking for telltale signs that he’d been drinking. It was easier to stay with Frank, who expected him to smell like beer because they usually drank it together.