“Hey!” she said when she saw me approaching. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I smiled and hugged her quickly. Her cousin was still standing in front of us and I didn’t want to talk with her there.
“Mel,” Piper said. “This is Logan, Lilliana’s father.”
“Oh my God, so nice to finally meet you,” Mel said. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she extended her hand to me. I shook it and smiled widely. Suddenly, everything began to click into place.
Hearing Piper call me Lilliana’s father made everything seem clear. There wasn’t anything I wanted more than Piper and Lili. I couldn’t imagine my life without the two of them in it. In that moment, I knew that staying in Bradberry wasn’t an option. I knew exactly what I needed to do.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said to Mel before I turned my attention to Piper. “Piper, can we talk somewhere?”
“Sure,” she said. She waved at Mel and led the way over to the garage. We slipped inside and she turned to face me with a worried expression. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
“It’s more than okay,” I smiled. “I just realized something.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
I took a step forward and grabbed her hands. I held them tightly and stared into her face, memorizing the way her blue eyes looked in that moment.
“I want to come with you,” I said bluntly.
“Come with me?” She asked blankly.
“To New York,” I explained. “I want to go with you. You and Lili.”
“Logan…”
“Just listen, okay?” I said. “After everything that’s happened this week, I can’t stand to be away from either of you. We already agreed that I would be in Lili’s life, but that’s not enough. I don’t want to see her on weekends or holidays. I want to be with her every day. I want to watch her grow up. I want to help raise her.”
“I want that, too,” Piper said with a smile.
“And I want you,” I said quickly. “It’s not enough to just be Lili’s dad. I want to be with you, Piper. I’ve always wanted that. No matter what has happened these past few years, that’s always been true. You are the love of my life. You are the reason I’m here, the reason I’m still alive after everything I’ve been through. I can’t lose you again.”
“Logan,” she said. She stepped closer to me and smiled. “I was already going to ask you to come.”
I laughed and lunged forward. I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground.
She was mine.
Epilogue
Piper
One Year Later
“Lili, get a move on,” I yelled up the stairs. “You’ll be late for school!”
“I’m right here!” she yelled back as she bounded into view. Her backpack was thrown over her back and her hair was falling all over her face.
“Did you brush your hair?” I asked. Annoyance seeped into my voice.
“Um…”
“Come here,” I ordered. I grabbed her quickly and ran my fingers through her hair, forcing it to lie flat. It didn’t look much better, but it wasn’t in her face anymore. “Go on. Your dad is waiting.”
I followed her into the kitchen where Logan was making her lunch. He threw a bottle of juice into the lunchbox and zipped it up quickly.
“Morning, kid,” he said, tossing Lili her lunch. She caught it easily and grinned at him.
“Is it peanut butter?” she asked.
“What else would I pack?” he asked. “Let’s go. We’re late.”
“Okay, okay,” she rolled her eyes and gave me a quick hug. “Bye Mom!”
“Bye! Have a good day!”
Logan gave me a swift kiss and hurried out the front door with Lili following close behind. I waited until their footsteps faded completely before I let myself sink. My stomach was tied in knots as I checked the clock above the stove. I still had two hours before my first meeting of the day.
I walked back to the bathroom and dug underneath the sink for the pregnancy test I hid two days before. When I pulled it out, I felt my heart race wildly. I had a horrible sense of déjà vu, only this time, I wasn’t entirely dreading a positive result.
It had been over a year since Logan moved in with Lili and me. He moved to New York and took a private security job, which meant he was able to take Lili to school and pick her up. His job only kept him busy in the evenings and it paid great.
Things at the law firm were better than ever. I was working like crazy, but I with Logan’s help I was able to spend more time with Lili. We were a family. It was hard adding Logan to the mix at first, but he made Lili so happy that I couldn’t help but feel the same way. Having him around made me believe in the fairytale again
As I opened the box and pulled out the stick, my hands began to sweat. I sat down quickly before I talked myself out of it and took it. When I was done, I set it on the counter and waited. I paced back and forth in front of the counter, not knowing which result I was hoping for.
***
Logan
I dropped Lili off at school and hurried back home. For weeks, I’d been planning this moment. It was the anniversary of the day Piper and I met seven years earlier. There was no better day.
With my heart racing, I ran through the city. I hurried up our street and hurled myself into the apartment building. I took the stairs two at a time, not slowing down until I made it to our front door. Once outside, I paused for a second.
I took a deep breath and reached my hand into my pocket. I gripped the ring box tightly, turning it over and over in my hand. It felt heavy. Like the most important thing I’d ever held in my life. For weeks, I’d been picturing this moment. I wanted it to be perfect. Piper deserved for it to be perfect.
When I pushed open the door, I was barely breathing. My hand was still stuffed in my pocket, my fingers wrapped about the box. I walked through the apartment, quietly looking for Piper. I wanted it to be a surprise.
I finally found her sitting on our bed staring at the wall. She looked lost in thought, her face pale and her eyes round. I sat down beside her and took her hand in mine. She jumped and looked around at me. She hadn’t noticed me come in.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good,” she said with a determined nod. “Just about to get ready for work.”
“Before you do,” I said. My hands began to shake as I stood up in front of her. I slipped my hand back inside my pocket and held tightly to the ring box. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Okay,” Piper said uncertainly. “What is it?”
I pulled the ring from my pocket and slowly lowered myself down onto one knee. When I opened the box, Piper’s eyes flew open even wider. She stared at the ring like she’d never seen one before. Her eye flicked back up to mine.
“Piper,” I said slowly. “This past year with you and Lili has been the best year of my life. I never want to lose either of you. Ever. I love you so much. I can’t even tell you how much. Will you marry me?”
The question hung between us for a few seconds. Everything was silent. We were both frozen in that moment. Even the air felt stiff, as if the world itself was suspended just waiting for Piper’s answer.
Tears filled her eyes slowly as she pushed herself away from me. She stood up and paced around the room, not looking at me. Fear flooded my veins as I watched her.
“Piper?” I asked. “Piper?”
“I’m pregnant,” she said, spinning around to face me. “I just found out this morning. I was going to tell you tonight, but after you proposed I thought…”
I didn’t let her finish her sentence. I skipped over to her and picked her up. I kissed her fiercely, laughing and spinning her around in circles.
“A baby?!” I asked.
“Yes,” she chuckled. “Does this mean you’re happy?”
“Does this mean you’re saying yes?” I asked quickly.
Piper didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Of course. Yes.”
My child, my fiancée, and now a baby.
My mission was finally complete.
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Doctor’s Fake Proposal
A Bad Boy Fake Marriage Doctor Romance
By Nicole Elliot
One
Cole
“I can't believe you did it again,” my uncle said, his hands trembling from all of his pent-up rage. He was pacing again, I fucking hated when he paced. Reminded me of my father, all those years ago.
“It wasn't that big of a deal.”
He turned on me, I could see the veins pulsing in his temple. “It wasn't that big of a deal? Are you kidding me? You stole a boat! Not just any boat but the prized yacht of one of our biggest investors! And then you spent a night in jail when you got caught. Have you learned anything? Have I taught you anything? I have failed your parents Cole. I failed them! And there's nothing that I can do to stop you this downward spiral of yours.”
I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t a downward spiral, don’t you treat me like I'm one of those Hollywood harlots on some drug addiction. I don't need to go to rehab.”
“Are you sure? Because I'm not anymore. I should've left you in jail this time. See how you liked it.”
“Fine leave me there. And no, I don't need fucking rehab. I don't do drugs.” Okay so that wasn't completely true, but a few recreational activities here or there didn’t make me an addict. I wasn't about to explain that to him, especially when he was in this state. There was no hope in him. And there was no stopping the amount of complaints running straight at me.
“What does that girl of yours say about all this? Was she with you last night?”
Girl? Shit. That's right. At the last family dinner, something my uncle insists that we do every other week, I had lied and told him that I had gotten serious with a girl that I met in college. Totally bought into all the second chance shit. That we dated way back then and now we had rekindled our relationship. I have no idea how he bought that. It was the only way for me to get him to shut up about the fact that I refuse to settle down. And now here it was, biting me in the ass. Why did my lies always catch up with me?
“No, she wasn't there. She doesn’t know anything about this.” Wasn’t that the truth, because didn’t fucking exist.
“How doesn’t she know anything about this? Didn't you call her?”
“No. You are my one phone call, so in prison that's a real thing. It wasn’t like I was playing Candy Crush on my phone while I was sitting there waiting for six hours for you to come pick me up.”
I watched as a small smile crossed his face. Of course, he had made me wait, that bastard. And there I was sitting in the drunk tank with some guy who was singing 80s ballads like it was his job. Not exactly my idea of a good Friday night. Sure the first half of been fun. I walked down to the dock with a bottle of Petron and I got myself drunk. And then I decided to drive a boat, one where I knew where the keys were. So what if he was an investor? I'm sure that he had done things in his youth that he could see that I needed a release, a moment away from it all.
Hell, didn't I need a release.
I hadn’t fucked a girl for at least two weeks, I think that was a new record for me. It was time to move on, Sasha, my real ex-girlfriend had come to me because she didn't think our relationship was “going anywhere”. I don't know what kind of bullshit that was but I was over her real fast. Except I hadn’t gotten a pussy since. So instead I stole a yacht. It wasn't like I even really stole it. I knew the keys were, I only took a few miles out from the dock, and it wasn't like I could get anywhere anyway without a crew.
Word of advice don't ride around on a 64-foot Catamaran by yourself. Everybody got their panties all up in a bunch about it, and the freaking Maritime police had to go and put me in the slammer for the night. I never did find out why rock ballad dude was in there, I'm guessing because the singing was that horrible.
“I've had enough of this Cole, your antics, your lawlessness.”
“What is this the Wild West? I made one mistake!”
He raised an eyebrow at me and I watched as his arms crossed his chest. He was in the navy suit, like always. Navy suit, red tie. My father always wore navy suits and robin's egg blue tie.
And then there was me, I hated suits. It was one of the reasons I joined the Army. So I could get away from all of this, from the life that they wanted to build for me. I guess that's what happens when you're sixteen and your parents die in a helicopter crash. Find ways to move on. People to move on with.
“You act like it is! Listen this is the last chance I'm giving you. While you use some of that military background you invested so much time into. You gave them ten years Cole, why don’t you utilize some of your skills?”
“What the hell does that mean? Is there somebody that you need shot?”
Truth was, I was a good shot. But that wasn't what I was trained for.
“No. I have a better idea. You use your medic skills. Aren’t you a doctor?”
I sighed heavily. “You know that I am. I finished med school as part of my training. Why?”
“Because that's what you're going to do. You have one month, one month that you will completely dedicate yourself to the children's hospital downtown. For free, and you have one month to get that girlfriend of yours to agree to marry you. If you don't, I’m cutting you off.”
My mouth dropped open. Could he even do that? All that money was willed to me in my parents’ estate. Sure I had been spending a little bit since getting out of the service, but it wasn't his to take away. “What are you talking about?”
“I'm going to put it in a trust. All of the money that was willed to you is shares within this pharmaceutical company. It was one of the reasons that your parents wanted you to become a doctor. At least that part of what they wished for you came true, even if you went about it in different means than they were planning.” He was referring to the fact that I didn't end up at some Ivy League school. Again, they died, I needed a new family. The military provided me that.
“So you want me to donate my medical knowledge? That doesn't just happen. I'm not just going to get some random free job for a month at the Children's Hospital.”
“Sure you are. I'm on the board, I can get you any job I want to. Maybe I should have you start as a nurse, clean bedpans for your indiscretions?”
My blood was boiling underneath my skin. How dare he do this to me? “And my girlfriend? You think I can just make this happen out of thin air?”
“According to you at our last dinner, it's quite serious. She may actually like it if you propose, show her and me that you’re ready to settle down and start acting like an adult.”
Fuck. Not only did I just get assigned the job that I would never want, but now I had to find a girlfriend, hell a fiancé. And as I sat in that gray office as the rain slid down the window outside I looked over the city and thought how the hell was I going to make it through the next thirty days?
Two
Addison
I curled my hair around my index finger just as I did every time I was nervous. It wasn't something I noticed in myself, but my sister, Elizabeth, always noticed and pointed it out.
“What's wrong?”
“What do you mean? Nothing is wrong.”
“Well, you're sweating for one. Two you've got the curlyhaired thing going on, and three you are pounding on that keyboard so loud that I'm sure neighbors upstairs can hear you. So again, what's wrong?”
Stupid big sisters, they always called you out on your shit. “Fine, you know the new security system for the law firm? I want to make sure that our client's files are as secure as possible. I mean without that why would they come to u
s? You know that discretion is our biggest attribute of the company. But I keep getting denied access to some of my codes. It doesn’t make any sense because I built the system, I have access to everything! I just don't understand why I'm getting locked out.”
Elizabeth stood from the kitchen table and walked around behind me staring at the screen. Sure indiscretion was big of a law firm, but when you and your sister are both coders, you help each other out.
“What about this line here?” She pointed at the screen. The line of code that she was referring to I hadn't written. “I've no idea. I didn’t put that in there.”
She made a face and took the three tiny steps that she needed to take to be into the kitchen of our small apartment.
“You made a face. Why did you make a face?”
She shrugged as she poked her head into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of wine. “I mean it's probably nothing.”
“What is nothing, Elizabeth?”
“Well the last time I had one of my codes changed, it meant that I was getting the boot. Somebody was double checking my work and they didn't like what they saw. I'm really sorry Addison. But I think you're getting fired.”
My mouth dropped open. I couldn't get fired. We were barely affording this apartment with the two of our incomes combined. Manhattan was expensive as hell. If I got fired, I don't know what we would do. I don't know how we would make it.
“Are you sure? Elizabeth focus. Are you sure that's what happened?”
She brought a glass of red over to me and sat down across us at the table and began seriously typing. She turned the laptop screen around so that I could see it and pointed to the screen. There was a picture of a guy younger than us, with black framed glasses and a big dopey smile. “See this kid? And he is a kid. He's fresh out of college, ten years younger than me. He does a great job. He can code faster than I could. Faster and cheaper is what a company is always looking for. That software is being recoded, it's because they consider you antiquated. So instead of trying to update their security system tonight, you should start looking for jobs.”
Commando (Rogue Rebels MC Book 1) Page 43