“What was your favorite part?” I asked, excitedly.
“All of it!” she laughed. “The whole thing! That place was gorgeous! I mean seeing the ocean from the bedroom, living room, and the wrap-around terrace! And you were so sweet to give me the room with the fireplace, so thank you, future daughter-in-law. I appreciated that.”
“It was my pleasure, Siobhan. How cool was it that they put one in the bedroom and the living room? That was super well thought out.”
“Okay. Wait!” Siobhan suddenly blurted out. “What about that Colorado lamb loin at the Ocean House? My mouth is still watering. I wonder if Hazel can make a dish like that.”
“Hazel can make anything. You’ll see,” I told her. “She can make that, and I can make that Anacapa ginger cocktail. I’m a beast at mixed drinks,” I bragged, swiping my knuckles against my shoulder blade.
Siobhan laid her head back into the leather seat as we prepared to descend. “Home sweet home,” she announced.
“You okay, Siobhan?”
“I’m fine, sweetie. I was just thinking about how thankful and happy I am.”
“That’s good,” I responded, smiling. “I’m sure Rush will be extremely happy to hear that. You for sure deserve it.”
Seconds later, Siobhan turned to look at me with a quizzical look on her face. “Question for you…”
“Okay, shoot,” I said.
“What would you say if Hunter asked you to marry him, Alika?”
“Huh?”
“You heard me. What would you say if Hunter asked you to marry him?”
My body grew to a rising temperature, almost like it does when Rush is inside of me. The mere mention of him, in conjunction with being his wife, sent chills through my entire body. Before I knew it or could control it, I was a blushing idiot.
“I guess there’s my answer,” Siobhan responded, chuckling.
~*~*~
I was thankful for the time spent with Siobhan, but I was excited to be home. I hadn’t been away from Rush for any period of time since we’d been a couple and I was seriously jonesing for him. That king-size bed, and ocean view and fine dining was all spectacular, but I missed him and couldn’t wait to see his face and be in his arms.
On the ride home, I was excited to be going to an early dinner, but a large part of me wanted to get home, in some sweats, one of my Disney t-shirts, some crisp white footies, wrap my hair in my silk scarf, and chill in front of the fireplace to unwind…with Rush. But family duty called, and the moment this fancy dress came off, I was gonna do some major slumming.
“This place is gorgeous,” Siobhan stated when we arrived.
I hadn’t paid much attention once we pulled off from the hangar. I had only been indulging in the melodic sounds coming from the Sirius station that the driver was tuned in to. But when I looked out the tinted windows, my eyes brightened up when I realized that we were in front of the InterContinental!
“Oh my God!” I softly gasped. My excitement was contained as to not appear like a schoolgirl in front of Rush’s mother. She didn’t need to know that I was feeling melancholy because this was where we had spent an extremely magical night. Nope, she didn’t need to know that at all.
“What is this place?” she asked, innocently. “I mean I see the sign, of course. But what is it?”
The driver walked around to let us both out of the backseat, and shortly after we were escorted into the entrance—the beautifully grand entrance that I had been so entranced with the first time I visited.
Standing not too far away was a pretty Latina with curly hair pulled back into a slick ponytail, and a thick body, dressed in pearl-colored formal skirt set. “Hi and welcome to the InterContinental. Miss Collins, and Miss Cavanaugh, is it?” the woman queried, but with more assurance than expected.
“Yes,” I responded, curiously before turning a nervous gaze to Siobhan.
“My name is Olga. I’m here to take you to your destination. Follow me, please.”
“O…kay…” I responded before falling in line behind her.
She led us to glass elevator doors, and pressed lighted button bearing the number fifteen. After we exited the elevator, we proceeded to walk down a long marble corridor that had beautiful art along its walls. It was all really nice. I couldn’t believe that Rush had actually arranged dinner for us here. Thoughts I had a while back about going home, were now filled with curiosity. When we reached our destination, the woman slowly opened a set of cherry wood double doors and stood to the side.
“Here you are, ladies.”
I looked inside and my knees went weak as I took in the layout. We had entered a ballroom with décor so amazingly perfect that my jaw dropped. The room looked to stretch into forever and the ceilings had to be at least twenty feet high. My heart began to pound furiously. I tightened my grip on my clutch, and then took in more of the scenery. Instrumental jazz tunes were playing through a speaker system. The room was illuminated in a dimmed pink lighting, with hundreds of dangled chandelier lights hanging from the center of the room. Sheer white curtains draped the walls, There were tables set with silk napkins, and place settings that I was starting to believe were for more than just Rush, Siobhan, and myself. It was breathtaking.
I turned to our guide. “Olga, what’s…going…on?” I asked slowly, in a soft whisper. “Where is Rush?”
Olga’s response was non-verbal, as her face opened to a pretty smile. I looked from her to Siobhan and then back to Olga again, almost half laughing. “Olga…?”
“I’m right here, baby…”
I jerked around at the sound of his voice. But I still didn’t see him—until I did. He signaled to me from a space near one of the sheer curtains. I’d been so busy exploring that I had missed seeing him.
“Come all the way inside,” he instructed.
Siobhan reached into my hand and nudged my clutch from me, and then I watched as Olga escorted her to a seat. My nerves were attacking from every angle, but I had no idea what I was even nervous about. I was more anxious than anything. I walked toward, Rush, and it almost felt as though I was floating. When I made it to him, he stood before me looking the most beautiful I think I had ever seen him. His skin was aglow, the beard that I loved so much was perfectly aligned, his mustache was perfect, his hair was freshly tapered, and he was dressed in a black suit, with a silk platinum tie and leather dress shoes. I took him in and I was speechless.
“I see you and my mother got the dresses I sent to you,” he commented.
Indeed we had. Rush had evening gowns delivered to us before we left Santa Barbara and told us that we shouldn’t get too relaxed on the way back because we had an extravagant night planned. When we opened our respective boxes, we were elated. Both of our dresses were platinum, but Siobhan’s was a full-length Taffeta, slightly dipped at the chest, and with an accompanying bolero jacket. Mine was a dress I had seen before and fallen in love with. It was a sexy floor length v-neck halter-style gown with a sequin lace belt that fit tight at the waist. It also boasted a beautiful sheer covering flowed from beneath the belt, and that flowed out around the dress. I averted his eyes and looked down to admire my dress.
Rush grabbed my trembling hands into his. “You look beautiful, Alika.”
“You look beautiful too, baby.” I looked around in awe, and was still clueless. “What’s happening?” I asked, leaning in close to him. His cologne engulfed me. “You smell so good,” I said smiling, and closing my eyes for a few seconds.
“Everything is happening, baby.”
He turned around and nodded his head. I looked in the direction that he was gesturing toward, and as if I couldn’t be any more surprised, in walked everybody: Tracie, Gigi who was holding Michaela’s hand, Nikki, and Christina. Quinton, Marco, and Gavin. There were also about eight of my staff from Temptation who walked out as well. One by one, they all walked past smiling at me, and then went off to take seats that appeared to be pre-assigned. My eyes followed them to their seats after which I
turned my attention back to Rush. But this time, there were tears in my eyes, and I was trying my best to suppress the sniffles that were dying to come. I was just afraid that once they started, I’d be full on bawling in front of everyone. I couldn’t do that yet. I needed to know what this moment was all about.
“Don’t cry, baby,” Rush said, looking into my eyes, and dabbing at the corner. He had a little bit of wetness inside his as well.
I inhaled a deep breath and briefly looked up to the ceiling, then back at my guy. “I’ll try not to.”
The music stopped and Rush began to speak.
“You came crashing into my life, baby. And you made it all better. I was used to going through life and focusing solely on me and building me to where I needed to be. I was on a solo mission. But you appeared and took my heart hostage and made it so that I could care—in an intimate way—about life, about love, about everything. I knew what I was looking for in a woman, but I honestly didn’t think she existed. In you, I found the whole package. Not piece-meal, but the whole package. You make me happy. You make me whole. You make me want to be the better me, and I love you unconditionally.”
He stopped to catch his breath. He then inhaled and released the air between pursed lips. My baby was nervous. I’d never seen that before.
“So, all this kinda stuff is new to me, but all I knew was that I wanted it to be perfect. I had always heard that the groom—”
“Groom…?” I gasped. “Groom, baby?”
I hadn’t meant to interrupt him, but the urge was far beyond my control. Rush smiled at me and nodded his head in the affirmative.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“I always heard that the groom,” he continued, smiling. “…is not supposed to see the bride the night before, so I arranged for you to be gone. That was hard on me because since October the first, I’ve seen you every day. And each one of those days I’ve never felt more alive. I set this up today to see if you would take me as your husband and allow me the honor of calling you my wife.”
“Absolutely, baby. Absolutely,” I panted.
And that was when the river of tears I had been trying to suppress, came pouring down my face. I tried my best. I really tried. But I don’t think in that moment anything could’ve prevented it. Out of my peripheral, an older man approached, and took his place to the side of us and commenced to officiating:
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Rush Cambridge and Alika Collins, in holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate that is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly…”
FORTY-TWO
Rush
As soon as we finished reciting our vows, of course all the women rushed in with tears in their eyes. Christina was barely able to contain herself, and I watched her shoot Gavin a look like, ‘It’s your turn now!’ Tracie and Gigi were crying the most tears, and then my mother was a close second.
“I knew it was gonna happen!” Gigi shrieked, while throwing her arms around Alika’s neck.
“You guys make a beautiful couple,” Tracie complimented.
“Thank you, Tracie,” I responded on behalf of Alika and myself.
“Baby, how did you pull this off?” Alika inquired. “I’m just stunned beyond belief.”
“That would be Olga who worked to pull all this together,” I bragged. “I knew I wanted to do it here at the InterContinental and so I contacted them and found out that they had their own wedding planner. I jumped right on that. All I had to do was get you out of the way for a while, and then find some kind of slick way to get you dressed for your own wedding without letting on.”
“Yeah, would’ve been funny if she’d said no! Then what?” Gavin yelled out, sending all the guys into a fit of laughter.
“Nah, I would’ve never turned him down,” Alika said, looking at me lovingly.
I couldn’t wait to get her to our suite and consummate all over that damn thing.
Alika held her left hand out before her. First she stretched it out as far as she could, then brought it back up close. I smiled the entire time watching her. I was excited that I’d made a choice that she obviously approved of.
“Baby!” she cried, as if having a delayed reaction. “What kind of ring is this?! It’s stunning!”
“It’s a Sheridan’s princess shaped diamond set in platinum.”
“Daaamnn! I may never take this off to cook, clean, swim or nothin’!”
“It’s beautiful, right y’all?” Alika queried to everyone.
“Beyond beautiful,” Siobhan responded.
“You like it, Michaela?” I asked her, to which she nodded her approval, and smiled shyly.
When we were alone and dancing in the center of the ballroom, I held my new wife close and asked her, “Are you really okay with all this? I just wanted to make it as special as possible with you not having to lift a finger. But if you want to renew our vows at some point and plan a huge shindig, I’m down with that.”
“I know you are baby, but trust me. This is perfect,” she said, brushing her hand across my cheek. “This is perfect. Santa Barbara was perfect, this dress is perfect, this wedding…all perfect. And have I told you that I love you?”
“Yes, you have. But I can’t ever hear it enough.”
“I love you. I love you. I love you. Hold me tight and don’t ever let go, okay?”
“Your husband is never letting go, Mrs. Alika Cambridge. Not ever.”
~EPILOGUE~
January 3, 2015
“I’m doing a wellness check on you, baby,” Alika sang, as she returned from the restroom. Plopping down into the cushion of her seat, she picked up where she left off—sifting through her Thai chicken salad, while awaiting a response from Rush. Moments later she looked up from her food when she realized that Rush hadn’t answered, and gently placed her fork onto the plate. “Earth to Rush; your wife is speaking to you,” she announced, while snapping her fingers to grab his attention.”
Rush blinked quickly reconnecting with the present, and releasing his trance that was fixated on the view outside of the private jet’s window. “You need music to snap to, baby?” he kidded. “Because you know we can crank up some sounds.”
“Ha ha ha, you’re sooo not funny. I want to make sure my husband is okay.”
His smile lit up wide, and his eye bore into Alika with a mixture of admiration and lust. “Husband…wow. I love hearing that. I love hearing wife even better.”
Alika’s dimpled smile stretched as far as it could go. “And do you know there would be so many people on the attack if they knew how long we were actually together before we took that beautiful plunge?”
“I don’t give a fuck what anybody would have to say. I’m a grown ass man who knew what I wanted and set out to have it. What the fuck is the purpose of a long ass, drawn out engagement when I already knew that I wanted you as my better half? Do you regret missing out on the whole fiancée phase?”
“Not at all. I’m happy right here with you, as Mrs. Cambridge. Don’t you see that I can’t stop cheesing?”
“Good, because there’s no turning back now.”
“And I don’t want to—ever.”
They quieted temporarily while the pilot alerted them that they would be descending into their hangar at Magellan Aviation soon.
“Almost there. And not a moment too soon because I’m dying for that meal that I know Siobhan cooked for us!” Alika exclaimed. “That’s why I’ve been picking over this salad! I can’t wait to get to her house. And you know what, babe? She’s loving it there! Every time I talk to her she’s raving about her ocean view from this window or her city view from that one. She’s truly happy. And she’s doing well in therapy also, which I think is awesome.”
“I know,” Rush gushed in acknowledgement. I’m happy that I could be instrumental in providing that peaceful place for her. She’s been through enough, so good therapy and a fresh start were the two things she needed the most. Even
though for now she still needs to live under Gia Olivette, I hope to get all that rectified soon.”
“Well, I think the name Gia is hot!” Alika laughed. “But I can imagine that she wants to live with the name she was born with.”
“And she will after all the dust has settled. It’s just that right now it’s too soon after everything. And even though the coast is clear as far as evidence is concerned, it would look too suspect for Siobhan Cavanaugh to resurrect right on the heels of my father’s death.”
“I understand baby. I’m sure your mother does too. What ever happened with their case anyway? I was so scared for a while that just when you found your mom that you’d lose her all over again.”
Rush briefly turned his gaze back to the window as he spoke to Alika. “I guess the evidence just kind of went away. That was the meeting I had to take the other day. The chief of police wanted to let the family know that due to unforeseen circumstances, they’d have to cold-case because everything they had gathered was gone.”
“Oh boy,” Alika sighed. “How did your sister take that? Were you guys in the same meeting together?”
Rapture 2: a BWWM, Alpha Male Romance Page 22