The Unexpected Choice

by Stephanie Taylor

  “No to Vegas,” she said. Then she shrugged. “What if we just had something simple here in my back yard?”

  “Perfect,” he whispered. She watched in horror as his hand rose and nudged her chin upward. Somewhere along the way she closed her eyes, unable and unwilling to look at him. His soft lips, a simple pressing of flesh together and the tender swipe of his thumb against her cheek, left her reeling. They had to set some ground rules before they pulled the trigger.

  Stacey opened her eyes and took a deep breath, ready to tell him what she was thinking.

  But he was already gone.

  ****

  Cold feet. Joey could explain away his thought process by telling everyone he had cold feet. His mother might have loved the idea of Stacey and him getting married, but the more he thought about it, the more real it became. He was going to have a wife in a matter of hours. And he was going to be a husband. With responsibility. And in a few weeks, he would add father to the growing list.

  He wasn’t ready. No amount of preparation, reading Mars and Venus, or even praying about it was going to help him.

  The fact was Stacey Ingram scared the wits out of him. Not because she was going to be his wife, but she seemed to reside in the little corner of his heart that hadn’t been wrapped in the chains he’d carefully constructed after Cameron. He didn’t love Stacey, doubted he ever would, but she made him feel.

  And feeling again terrified him, even if it was a feeling that wasn’t altogether unpleasant.

  Stacey didn’t expect anything from him, which was refreshing, but he sure did owe her a lot. He didn’t know another woman on the planet who would sacrifice her own happiness to help him get his baby. Except maybe his mom.

  And that was something he refused to dwell on.

  Inside the small room where he waited for the signal to go outside and meet his bride, he ran his fingers through his hair and paced. The room took exactly seven steps to get across. The ceiling had two water spots he’d need to take care of once they were back from their honeymoon. And there were thirty-nine books lining the shelves of the small bookcase, all romantic classics he knew Stacey favored.

  His heart pounded, and he could hear the steady whoosh of the blood in his ears. What a mess he’d gotten himself into.

  The last few weeks had blown by like a feather in hurricane winds. He’d worked, spent time with Stacey, paid bills he’d found statements for, and helped his mother plan a small ceremony in Stacey’s backyard. Which was currently underway.

  “It’s time,” his mother said softly from the cracked door. “You ready?”

  “Can one ever be ready for something so life changing?” he countered, straightening his tie and pulling at his jacket.

  “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out.” She entered the room and closed it with a quiet click. “Stacey is a beautiful girl. She’s loved you since you two were little.”

  Joey wanted to argue, say Stacey had better sense than to love someone like him. The truth was she barely knew him. But here she was, offering her entire life to him without anything in return. “I know, Mom. I just need to get through this without thinking too much. The last thing I want to do is hurt her. She deserves a lot more than what I can give her.”

  “Don’t sell yourself so short, Joseph. You two are going to be just fine.”

  He wished he had his mother’s confidence. He’d take a tenth of it, even.

  She walked to him and placed her palm on his cheek. “You’re all grown up now. You’re about to be a father. Remember yourself. I raised you to always do the right thing. Go out there, look Stacey in the eyes and promise her you’ll always be there and you’ll always love her. You might think love is this overpowering feeling, but the reality is, years down the road, feelings eventually go away, and you’re left with a choice. That’s where you do the right thing. You choose to love her. Even if she wakes up looking like Medusa and has dragon breath, you remember what she’s done for you and your baby today.”

  The lump in his throat dissolved as tears filled his eyes. “What about Cameron, Mom? As much as I never want to see her again, I can’t stop thinking I’m going to hurt her by taking the baby. I loved her. A part of me still loves her. But I don’t want to feel obligated anymore. I want to focus on Stacey, to try and make something of this, but Cameron keeps creeping back in when I least expect it.”

  His mother gave him a look he’d seen years ago when he’d cut his hair with a pair of school scissors. A mix between amusement and horror.

  “Cameron made her choice, and it wasn’t you,” she said. Her smile softened the blow her words should have caused.

  With a small nod, he walked to the door. She opened her arms, and he fell into them, leaning into the strength she gave him. He might have been a fool all these years to never listen to her, but he’d gotten his life all wrong because of it. Now, he was going to do what was right, make her proud and make Stacey proud to have him for a husband.

  “Your daddy is walking Stacey down the aisle,” his mother whispered. “And she looks beautiful.”

  Joey thought of her duct-taped glasses and gave a wry smile. “I can’t wait to see her.”

  Even if she was wearing her customary pajamas, there was no way she could ever be anything but beautiful to him.

  After walking down the aisle, he turned and looked out over the crowd. They’d both chosen not to have attendants in the wedding, so it was just him and the minister standing there. A crowd of about twenty-five people sat in the audience, all his family. Stacey had said she didn’t have anyone to invite. The thought tugged at his heart. He had so many people to call family and friends. Stacey only had him. Another responsibility he was acquiring. He would literally be everything to her.

  A moment later, his mother stood, as did the rest of the crowd. At the end, a girl in a white, modest dress stood on his father’s arm. As he looked at her, he realized she actually wore a wedding dress. He wasn’t sure how she’d come up with the money for it or where she’d gotten it, but she was a vision.

  The dress hugged her curves up top, but revealed nothing but her shape. At the waist, the white dressed flared and fell down to the ground. The light from the sunset glistened off diamond earrings and an elaborate necklace draped around her neck. He recognized them from his mother’s wedding photos.

  In her hand, she carried a simple bouquet. He didn’t know what kind of flowers were in it, but they were in typical fall colors. As his eyes rose to her face, she began to walk toward him. She tripped a little on her dress and shot his father an apologetic smile.

  Then their eyes met. It was then he realized her glasses weren’t on her face. Could she see him? The way she stared at him told him she could. Why didn’t she always wear contacts?

  Her hair was piled in loose curls on the top of her head, and little pearls were woven in. She was something, and at that moment, he felt like the luckiest man in the world.

  As his gaze settled once again on her, he saw the hesitation in her eyes in the way they darted just past him. A small blush pinked her cheeks, and finally her gaze fell to her bouquet and stayed there until she and her father reached him.

  “Who gives this woman?” the minister asked.

  “I do,” his father announced and placed Stacey’s hand in Joey’s. Ice-cold fingers gripped him.

  “Relax,” Joey whispered with a smile as his father walked away and the crowd seated themselves.

  “I can’t.”

  Joey locked eyes with her and refused to let her look away. He squeezed her hands and then rubbed them briskly with his thumb, trying to stimulate the blood flow again.

  Finally, just as the audience quieted, he said, “You look beautiful, Stacey.”

  “Thank you.”

  But he could tell she didn’t believe him. With another squeeze of her hand, he said it again, this time a little louder.

  She grinned, another pretty blush creeping up her cheeks.

  With a sigh, Joey resolved
he’d have to make sure she believed him later. The minister cleared his throat, and Joey nodded for him to begin.

  Within moments, a time frame Joey considered far too small to promise his life to someone, they were officially Mr. and Mrs.

  “You can kiss your bride now, Joey.”

  Stacey was already practically glowing red by the time he turned to her, intent on sealing their deal with a kiss she wouldn’t forget. But the terrified look in her eyes told him to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. With dignity and respect.

  So he pressed his lips against hers and stayed there only for a moment before pulling away.

  As he did so, she touched her mouth with her fingers in true diva fashion to make sure he hadn’t smeared her lipstick. He grinned. Her lips kicked upward, and she reached up to remove some of her lipstick from his mouth. Already acting like a wife.

  The thought caught him unaware, but the applauding crowd diverted his attention as the minister announced them.

  Joey couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face anymore than he could stop the joy spreading in his heart.

  Chapter Six

  Stacey McCrary.

  Stacey McCrary.

  Stacey McCrary.

  Stacey stared at her reflection and tried to say the name out loud, but her mouth seemed full of cotton. How on earth was she going to face him?

  Upon arriving at the hotel an hour away for their weekend honeymoon, a plan she’d not been privy to, she’d promptly holed herself up in the bathroom. What did Joey expect from her? Was this going to be a real marriage? She realized too late those things hadn’t ever been discussed or challenged.

  She could hear Joey rustling around the room, and after a half hour, he’d turned on the TV. Her new mother-in-law had packed her belongings and apparently did a little shopping. Stacey didn’t own a single pair of sexy underwear or bras, but there were four new pairs of each. And she’d included some lingerie in the mix. One of them was so risqué Stacey couldn’t figure out back from front or up from down. Or how a woman of her age even knew where to find something like it.

  But she did keep eyeing the pretty white satin chemise peeking from the bag. It wasn’t overly sexy, but it was way less than she was accustomed to wearing.

  Treading to the bag, she lifted the spaghetti strap with one finger and eyed the lingerie again. The soft knock on the door caused her to jump a foot and throw the chemise back into the bag like it was on fire. Only the fear of the man on the other side of the door kept her from laughing at herself.

  “Yes?” she squeaked.

  “You’ve been in there a while. You okay?”

  Great. Now he thought she’d been using the bathroom or something. Way romantic. Stacey rolled her eyes at herself. What had she been thinking?

  “I’m okay.”

  He sighed and then chuckled. “You’re afraid to come out, aren’t you?”

  Stacey sounded so pathetic when he put it that way, but she still found herself smiling. “A little.”

  “I don’t bite.”

  “I know.” At least, she thought she knew. “I just need a little more time.”

  “Sure. I’ll be out here waiting.”

  And that was what Stacey feared most. He was out there. Waiting. For her.

  So they could…? She walked over to the satin chemise and pulled it up again, eyeing it carefully.

  “Hey, Stacey?”

  Stacey’s hand flew to her throat. She jumped away and dropped the fabric again. This time, she jumped back into the corner of the vanity and knocked over a cup and her toothbrush.

  “Stacey?” Joey’s voice called, urgent now.

  “I’m fine!” she shouted a little hysterically. Scrambling to put the stuff upright and making a bigger mess than she’d started with.

  “This is ridiculous. Open the door.” Joey wiggled the handle now.

  “Don’t come in, Joey!”

  “What on earth is taking so long? What’s that noise?”

  “I just…” She was being stupid. She flung open the door in an exasperated huff and faced him.

  “You just what?” he asked, worry erasing from his eyebrows and a casual grin lifting the corners of his lips.

  “We haven’t talk about… things.”

  “You mean sleeping together?”

  “Yes.” Stacey’s cheeks burned, and it infuriated her even more she couldn’t have an adult conversation without blushing like a schoolgirl. Of course, when Joey McCrary stood in front of her with an unbuttoned shirt and an undone belt, it was hard not to blush. She’d seen his six-pack before, but not since they had been married. In God’s eyes, his body was hers. And oh, what a gift she’d been given.

  “Well, we are married. But I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do. I was hoping you couldn’t resist my charm, but since you haven’t even changed out of your wedding dress, I’m thinking we might have a bust on that.”

  Stacey smiled. “It’s not that, and you know it.”

  “You don’t have to be scared of me, Stace.”

  “I’m not. This is just… awkward.”

  “Well, change out of your wedding dress and get comfy so we can talk or something. It won’t get less awkward with you shutting yourself in here. Do you need help getting out of this contraption?” His lecherous grin told her he was trying to lighten the mood between them, but all it did was make it worse.

  “No, thank you. I can manage.” Then she promptly shut — and locked — the door in his face.

  His chuckle didn’t do much to calm her nerves.

  With purpose, she strode to her bag and grabbed the chemise. She managed to wiggle out of the wedding dress and pulled the chemise over her head, not stopping to look at herself or think about her decisions.

  Slinging the door open wide, she took Joey by surprise when his eyes rounded and he sat up from his casual sprawl on the bed.

  “I need to stop thinking,” Stacey admitted. “Otherwise, I’ll think this to death, and we’ll be walking on eggshells for months. Let’s get this over with.” There, she’d said it.

  Without taking his eyes from her breasts, he clicked the TV off. He stood slowly and walked to her, each step causing her heart to trip a little more into overdrive.

  “I wasn’t planning on this tonight.” His fingertip traced the path the spaghetti strap took over her shoulder. A shudder claimed her.

  “You planned a honeymoon, a one-bed hotel room, and you didn’t plan to sleep with me?” Stacey arched an eyebrow and stared at him in disbelief. He could have mentioned that sooner.

  “Well, I planned to sleep in the same bed with you, yes. I thought it might be nice if we just got to know each other this weekend.”

  Stacey nodded. “Nice. Nice? Nice!” she shouted, smacking him in the shoulder. “You let me stay in there for an hour and a half, and you didn’t think to mention maybe we’d just get to know each other instead of jumping each other’s bones? Nice, Joey?” Yeah, hysteria ran through her veins.

  And Joey had the nerve to throw his head back and laugh.

  Glowering, Stacey tried to stop the angry, emotional tears stored up from the day from flowing, but they fell too fast, too hot, for her to gain control. “Is it me?” Stacey sobbed. “Did you see me in this thing your mother bought for me and decide you’d made a mistake?”

  She wasn’t making sense. She wished she could stop her diarrhea mouth and just go back to the bathroom for another forty-five minutes.

  “No, Stace. I took one look at you, and my carefully laid plans to treat you the way you deserve to be treated went out the window. You’re beautiful. I don’t care if you wore a potato sack to bed, I’d still want you.”

  Looking into his eyes, Stacey saw he told the truth. At least, right now. He had a half-naked woman in his hotel room he just happened to be on his honeymoon with. Cameron wouldn’t have shut herself in the bathroom for over an hour to pep talk herself into having sex with her husband. They would h
ave burst through the door, arms and legs straining, clothes flying in every direction. He would’ve had her on her back and screaming in less than thirty seconds.

  But no, instead he was here with her. Mousy, dainty little Stacey who was still a virgin. Might stay that way if she didn’t shape up and be a wife.

  “Can we make a deal?” she asked.

  He eyed her skeptically.

  “You stop calling me beautiful, and I’ll stop being such a baby.”

  Joey seemed to mull over the information then caustically agreed. “Okay?”

  “I mean it. I don’t want lies between us. We both know I’m a virgin, and this is terrifying for me. I didn’t even know we were going on a honeymoon, much less going to be sleeping in the same bed. And your mom forgot to mention she’d packed this.” She gestured toward the lingerie.

  “My mama raised me to have good taste, that’s for sure,” he agreed.

  “What are we doing, Joey? Can we just air things out right now?”

  “I thought we were about to make love.”

  “We don’t love each other,” she argued.

  “No,” he said slowly, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. We’re attracted, and we have a marriage license. Last time I checked, it meant it was okay to get naked.”

  With a deep breath, Stacey said, “It is. But I’m not like… her.”

  “Who?”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him, and his eyes rounded incredulously.

  “Cameron? You’re talking about Cameron.”

  “Mmm.”

  “Stacey, I don’t want you to be like her. And right now, Cameron is the furthest thing from my mind. I just want it to be you and me tonight. No talk about the future, no talk about ex-girlfriends or babies. I just want you.”

  She swallowed hard. Joey’s eyes had fallen to her lips, and she knew the second he claimed them, she’d be lost.

  Shoving at his chest, and taking a step back, she said, “I don’t want either of us to regret this come morning. And we said this was going to be in name only.”