The UN Series Complete Box Set

by Shantel Tessier

“Come on,” I say laying my pool stick on the table. “Let’s go spy on the cake.”

  I hear Angel as I come to the top of the stairs. “My mother and I had talked about opening up a bakery one day together,” I come to a stop and slide my eyes over to Tate. That’s what he had been telling me about on our way to play golf the other day.

  “I thought you two didn’t get along?” Missy asks.

  “We had our mother-daughter disagreements. I was closer to my father but I loved my mother. She taught me how to cook.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “What happened?” Missy asks quietly. I don’t think she knows the full extent of what happened between Angel and her mother. She just knows that both Angel’s parents are dead.

  “Well, after my dad died things changed. I thought my mother didn’t want anything to do with me. So I packed up and left home—our plans forgotten.”

  “Why don’t you open one up yourself?”

  “It’s too late for that,” she answers quickly. Too quickly if you ask me.

  “How so? Is that no longer a dream of yours?” I hear Missy ask.

  Angel sighs. “I would like nothing more than to continue on with a dream that I once shared with my mother but that’s just not possible now.”

  “Why not?”

  I hear a noise of something hit the floor and then Angel hisses, “Shit.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be getting into your personal life,” Missy apologizes quickly.

  “No. You’re fine.” I hear her pick up whatever fell onto the floor before she speaks again. “Things change and you realize some things are more important than silly dreams you once had.”

  “I guess I’m confused.”

  “Running a bakery is hard work. You work crazy long hours. You open early and close late. You work weekends and holidays. It would have taken over my life and my mother’s. For me to do it now, alone, it would consume my life. Slade is more important to me than some silly dream I had as a kid.”

  I turn around and walk quietly down the stairs. I sit down on the couch and look up to see Tate staring down at me.

  “What are you thinking?” he asks eyeing me.

  “I’m thinking that I don’t know much about my fiancée,” I state, mad at myself.

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He sits down across from me.

  I lean up and place my elbows on my knees. “She never talks about her mother to me, or about Jack.”

  Tate frowns. “Why do you think that is?”

  “You heard her. She sounded like it pained her to talk about it.”

  “I did.”

  “You’re just like her,” I say comparing him to Angel. Neither one of them likes to talk about their pasts. My statement gets me a big smile.

  “That I am,” he agrees with a nod of his head.

  We sit quietly for a few seconds, and I try not to dwell on his past. I couldn’t imagine being a child and being so helpless. As an adult, you can fight back. But as a kid—you would have no escape.

  “I questioned Scott about you,” I say leaning back wanting to get something out of him without pissing him off.

  “He told me,” he says carelessly.

  “He told me that you gave me permission to marry Angel. We both know that isn’t true.”

  He chuckles and I raise an eyebrow. “Technically I did.”

  “How so?”

  “I told you that day I came up to your office I knew what your secret was…proposing. If I didn’t want you with her, it wouldn’t have happened,” he says as if he would have gotten rid of me.

  Maybe he would have. “Why didn’t you come to my parents’ for Thanksgiving when you knew I was planning on proposing?” I ask.

  He had made such a fuss about being in New York with all of us but wasn’t at my parents.

  He looks conflicted as if he should answer the question as he sits there quietly looking around the room. “I had to go up to Alaska.”

  “For what?”

  He sighs. “There was one good thing about Jonathan, he had contacts. And I use those to my advantage. To make my own dream come true.” I’m guessing, Jonathan is the man who raised him.

  “So he’s dead?” I ask curious.

  He shakes his head. “To my knowledge the son of a bitch is still very much alive,” he scowls.

  “Do you know where he is?”

  “Nope.” He smiles. “And I could care less.”

  I get up from the couch and pick up my pool stick. “Wanna play another game?” I ask trying to lighten the tension that has filled the room.

  “Ten bucks, I win.”

  I smile. “You’re on.”

  *****

  Several hours later I look down at my watch. “Shit. It’s past two o’clock.”

  “I need to get home,” Tate says laying his pool stick down.

  We make our way up the stairs once again and walk into the kitchen. I smile when I see both Angel and Missy with their heads down on the kitchen island sleeping. Our kitchen looking like a mess still.

  “Wow,” Tate says getting my attention. “That cake looks awesome,” he says walking over to it.

  I take a good look at the cake and smile. It’s a beautiful four-tier wedding cake with purple and blue flowers on it. And I know the middle has a cherry filling; Holly’s favorite. I can’t wait to taste it tomorrow. “It looks exactly like what Holly wanted,” I say picking up the picture that the girls were going off.

  “She really is talented,” Tate says looking over at Angel’s head laying on the kitchen island, her long dark hair covering most of it.

  “I know.”

  “If I was Holly I wouldn’t want to eat it.” He laughs. He then pulls his phone out of his pocket, and I watch as he takes a picture of it. He looks up at me as I give a little laugh. “What?”

  “Did you just take a picture of it?”

  He nods. “Of course. You heard her, this was once her and Marie’s dream. If I was her, I would want a picture of it.”

  I run my hand softly over her hair falling down her back. “Do you think she really gave up on that dream?” I ask Tate.

  “No,” he says honestly.

  “I don’t either,” I say more to myself than him. “Let’s get them to bed,” I say bending down to pick her up in my arms. “You can put Missy in the spare bedroom.”

  He looks from me to her with an expressionless look, but I can see the hesitation in his eyes.

  He finally makes his move to walk over to her and picks her up just as gently. I stand with Angel in my arms as I watch him walk down the hallway and to the back part of the house.

  I look down at Angel in my arms and smile. I want all of her dreams come true, and I’m going to make them happen for her.

  After placing her in bed, I make sure to put the cake in the fridge in the garage. I tell Tate goodbye, lock up the house, and then clean up the kitchen before making my way to bed as well.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  SAMANTHA

  I roll over and place my hand on Slade’s side of the bed. My eyes open slightly when I find the bed empty. I look over my shoulder, letting them look over the room to find myself alone. I get out of bed stretching my legs and arms. Walking over to the dresser I pull out a t-shirt of his and walk out of the bedroom. I hear his voice as I walk down the hallway.

  “Yes, we will be there.” Pause. “No, I’m not going to be late. You asked me to be there early.”

  I come to the kitchen and go sit at the kitchen island as he has his back to me cooking pancakes while he talks on his cell.

  “Calm down.” He flips a pancake. “It’s going to be great.”

  I smile, he must be talking to Micah, who else would be freaking out on his wedding day?

  “Okay, I love you too. I’ll be there after breakfast,” he reassures Micah before he hangs up.

  I place my elbows on the table and my chin in my hands as I watch him cook with his back to me. He reaches up above and grabs a plat
e out of the cabinet and starts to stack pancakes on it. I sit in silence as my eyes roam over him. The man looks so fucking amazing in his sweatpants that hang low on his hips with no shirt on. His back muscles flex with each movement.

  He bends down and picks up a tray. I smile; he was making me breakfast in bed on Valentine’s Day. I am the luckiest girl in the world.

  “You won’t need that tray,” I say sweetly.

  He turns around and smiles at me. “What are you doing in here? I wanted to make you breakfast in bed.”

  I stand up from my chair and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “We can eat here in the kitchen.” He leans down giving me a long sweet kiss, before we pull away. “Where’s Missy?” I ask.

  “She left about an hour ago.” I nod my head at him. “Oh, and I placed the cake in the fridge last night so no worries.”

  I smile. “Thank you.” I can’t believe I finally finished that damn thing, and it looks almost perfect.

  He places my plate on the countertop and hands me a fork. I dig in as I take a bite of the chocolate chip pancakes.

  “Hmm.” I nod my head in approval.

  “They’re not as good as yours.” He frowns.

  I hold up a finger as I put down my fork. I walk over to the fridge and pull out the whip cream.

  “It needs some cream.” I walk back over to the island and spread some whip cream over my pancakes.

  He grabs my arm and spins me around. “That is a wonderful idea.”

  “What is?”

  “We do need some cream.” He reaches down grabbing the hem of his shirt and pull it up over my head as I lift my arms.

  He bites his lip when he lets out a little laugh. “Of course,” he whispers, “nothing on underneath.”

  “Oh, I’ll go throw something on,” I tease as I start to walk away. He grabs me and places me on top of the counter as he comes to stand between my legs.

  “I would prefer you to stay naked whenever you are at home,” he says seriously.

  I frown. “Sometimes half the fun is dressing up for you. Don’t you enjoy taking it off?”

  He runs a hand over my cheek. “I love it when I come home to you dressed in something sexy,” he cocks an eyebrow, “but I also love you naked.”

  He leans down and kisses me as the house phone rings. It’s as if I’m having Deja vu. Just like his birthday.

  “Just let it ring,” he says wrapping his arms around me tighter.

  It rings several more times before I can shove him off of me to answer it. “Hello?” I say picking up the phone. Slade plops down at the table and scowls as he takes a bite of pancakes.

  “Good morning, dear,” Vivian says on the other end of the line. “I was just calling to see if you were ready.” For some crazy reason she has decided that her and I need to ride together to the wedding. I do realize that it will take Holly a lot longer to get ready than Micah, so we decided for her to pick me up on the way.

  “Yeah. I will be ready in thirty minutes,” I say smiling over to Slade as he narrows his eyes on me.

  “Okay. I will be there shortly,” she tells me before hanging up.

  I hang up and walk over to him. I wrap my arms around his chest as I stand behind him. “Sorry, baby.” I lean down and kiss the side of his face. “I have to get ready. Your mother will be here to pick me up soon. We have all night to have sex,” I remind him.

  He nods his head but sulks like a little boy as he takes another bite of his pancakes.

  *****

  SLADE

  I pull up to the church and walk in after parking the truck. As soon as I walk in I run into Josh.

  “Where have you been?” he hisses. “Micah has been calling you.”

  Shit, my phone is on silent. “It’s on silent. Why was he calling me, he knew I was coming.” It’s not like I would miss my brother’s wedding.

  “Well he saw Sam walk in but not you, and when you didn’t answer, he started freaking out,” he explains, dragging me by my sleeve down the hall.

  “Where are the girls?” I ask looking around for Angel.

  He turns his head back to look at me with an angry look on his face, and I have to ask, “What the fuck happened with the girls now?”

  “Holly and her mom got in a fight. Well, if that’s what you want to call it. Her mother just screamed and threw her arms around as Holly quietly cried.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she saw the cake that Sam made. She’s pissed and refused to serve it!”

  “What?” I snap. That cake looked fucking fantastic. Fuck, Angel spent the last two weeks working on that fucking cake.

  “I don’t know all the details, just what Courtney has texted me.” We come to a door, and he shoves me through it.

  “Thank God, Slade,” Micah says seeing me. He walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. I blink a few times as I pat his back softly.

  “Are you okay?” I ask as I pull back and look at him.

  “I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”

  I slap his back. “You know I would never miss your wedding,” I say with a frown.

  “I know.” He shakes out his arms. “Just nervous I guess.” He laughs at himself.

  We all visit in the room while everyone finishes getting ready for the pre-wedding photos. Once done with all that we make our way back into the room. It’s not ten minutes later when someone opens the door. “You need to line up at the front of the church,” a man with an earpiece says before he closes the door.

  I walk over to the counter and pour us all a shot of Dad’s scotch. “Let’s have a drink, boys,” I say handing everyone a shot glass.

  “Micah.” I turn to face him with my drink in my hand. “Congratulations brother. I couldn’t be happier for you and Holly.”

  He smiles a big smile like he did when we were kids, and it makes me feel like the big brother I was to him. He always wanted to hang out with me and my friends, and we always let him.

  Parker laughs pulling me from my thoughts. “I remember that first night you started talking to Holly.” He takes a sip of his drink. “It was the night before Josh lost that bet and had to get his dick pierced.”

  I chuckle.

  “Do you still have that?” Parker asks.

  “Of course I do.” He snorts. “Women love it.” He shrugs. “Well, now just one woman.”

  I slap my brother on the back. I never thought that we would all be getting married. Hell, I never even thought I would love someone.

  “Thanks guys. I’m so very lucky, not only to be marrying Holly, but to have you guys here with me.”

  We all drink back our shots and walk out one at a time to take our place at the front of the church.

  “I can’t fucking believe you are getting married.” Parker shakes his head.

  “Dude, we’re in a church,” Josh says quietly.

  “Whatever man. I just can’t get over it. Micah is getting married. Slade is engaged. I mean, fuck, that alone has proved to me hell has frozen over.” Josh shakes his head at Parker. “And you, Josh, what the fuck is up with you?” He punches Josh in the arm. “You’re married and have a kid on the way.”

  “What can I say? I’m just another lucky son of a bitch.” He laughs at himself.

  “Lucky is not the word I would use for it,” Parker frowns, “but there is one thing about weddings that I love.” He rubs his hands together.

  “What’s that?”

  “The women.” Parker licks his lips. “The single bridesmaids.”

  “None of them are single so stay away from them,” Micah warns, and Parker looks at Tate with an evil grin.

  “Missy is.” He arches a brow as if him to say otherwise.

  We all watch, waiting for Tate to turn around and deck him. Instead, he shrugs casually. “As far as I know, your brother is dating her.”

  Parker looks at me with a surprised look on his face, and I nod. Ever since that one date he took her on, they have been on several in the
last couple of weeks.

  “Oh.” My brother raises a finger. “Holly’s cousin is single. She’s a bridesmaid.”

  Parker rubs his hands together. “That’ll do,” he says with a smile obviously not even caring what she looks like.

  The music starts and the ladies start to walk down the aisle. Angel is first, and fuck, does she look beautiful. Her purple dress shows off her tan skin and dark hair that she has pulled back from her face. Her eyes lock on mine, and she smiles that smile that has always made me feel more than I could ever explain.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SAMANTHA

  The wedding was beautiful. Courtney cried a lot along with Vivian. I swear those are the two most sensitive women I know. The entire time I stood up there I could feel Holly’s mother shooting daggers at me. I’m pretty sure she could have set the church on fire with her hatred for me. I had just stood there earlier while she spoke of my cake like it was trash. I know it’s not professionally perfect but it’s not trash. When she started getting in Holly’s face I made a few comments that had her storming out the room.

  “Are you going to change?” Courtney asks as we walk back into the bridal room after our last photo.

  “Yes.” Holly told us we could wear whatever we wanted to wear for the reception. I’m pretty sure it is to piss her mom off, since she is also changing into the dress that her mom said she could not have.

  “Me too,” she says as she turns her back to me and takes her blond hair in one hand. “Will you unzip me?”

  I reach up and unzip her dress then give her my back so she can do the same.

  I take a deep breath as I unzip the garment bag. I don’t know why I decided to wear this dress for their reception. It just felt right when it caught my eye this morning. I pull it out of the garment bag and turn around to Courtney standing there in her bra and panties wide-eyed.

  “Uh,” she mumbles. “That dress…”

  “You don’t think I should?” I question tilting my head to the side.

  She smiles softly as she walks up to me. “I think it’s a great idea.”

  I look over the baby pink dress that I hold in my hands. The dress my dad bought my mother for their first Valentine’s Day together. It’s off the shoulders and tight fitting at the chest then flows out coming down to my mid-thigh.