InHap*pily Ever After

by Kim Desalvo

  “Wow doesn’t even begin to describe it,” he croaked back, his voice thick as honey. “I think I need to do it again just to make sure I believe it.”

  She smiled, and straddled the log so she could press closer into him, moving in to kiss him again. As their bodies pressed together, she could feel the strong pull of desire and anticipation coursing through her veins. She’d wanted this, she admitted to herself. A part of her had wanted it all along.

  When they broke the kiss, she rested her head against his chest and heard the pounding of his heart against her cheek. He enveloped her completely in his huge arms, and rested his lips on the top of her head.

  “Damn, woman, talk about some mad skills!” he joked softly. “Why didn’t you tell me you were such an incredible kisser? It’s even better than I imagined, kissing you.”

  “Well, you never asked…wait a minute, better than you imagined? You mean you’ve imagined kissing me before?” She tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

  “You want to know what happened in California?” He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “You were sitting there, looking so damn sexy in that little leopard outfit, and images that had no right being there started playing in mind. I lost my head for a minute, and almost kissed you. Just the thought of it got me…well, overstimulated.”

  Lexi put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. It explained everything—and to think, she had thought all this time that he put the distance between them because he didn’t want to be close to her…

  “Yeah, yeah, laugh at it now; but at the time, you were an engaged woman.”

  “So when you didn’t hug me goodbye…”

  Bo chuckled. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten close enough to you to hug you goodbye. Not with my…well, you know…getting in the way.”

  Lexi laughed out loud. “Totally the opposite of what’s been going through my head over the past few months. Oh my.”

  “Hell, if you want to know the truth, I’ve had it bad for you since the first time we met,” he admitted. “When I saw you backstage and asked if you were my birthday present, I kept hoping you would be. And the more I got to know you, the more I liked you.”

  “But you never…”

  “Again, you were an engaged woman,” he reminded her, “and I never go there. I’ve got more class than that.”

  “You are the epitome of style and grace,” she teased. “And I respect you for that,” she added more seriously. She paused, letting her breathing return to normal. “Oh my God,” she said, “what does this mean? I mean, what are we…”

  “It means,” he said with a smile, “and correct me if I’m wrong here, but I like you and you like me, and we’re going to spend some more time together, see if we can make a go of things.”

  “A go of things?” she giggled, and he knew that he could listen to the sound of her laughter forever. “What are we, in high school?”

  “Well, I guess I am asking for permission to be your boyfriend,” he smiled slyly, cocking his head to one side and shooting her a crooked grin.

  “Oh, I’ll have to think about that,” she teased, tilting her own head and sizing him up with her eyes. “I have some pretty high standards when it comes to boyfriends.” She loved this about Bo from the start—they could go right from an intimate moment to their usual teasing, and both felt as comfortable as a favorite pair of slippers.

  “Try me,” he smirked. “I am the epitome of high standards, as well as style and grace, as you so eloquently aforementioned.”

  “Well,” she began, touching her index fingers together to begin a counted list. “First of all, any boyfriend of mine has to be honest and trustworthy at all times.”

  “Ah hell, that’s easy! Give me something harder than that!”

  “OK, here’s a good one. He has to be emotionally available and talk about his feelings.”

  “I wear ‘em on my sleeve, sweetheart. Try again.”

  “That’s about it,” she said. “Oh, except for one other thing.”

  “Shoot.”

  “He has to treat me like the goddess I am and love all my quirky attributes.”

  “Now that’s the easy part! And, the part I’m going to enjoy the most,” he said, taking her hand in his.

  She looked down at their joined hands, loving the blend of cocoa, cream, and moonlight she saw there. She looked back up at Bo and whispered, “I guess you pass, then,” and tilted her chin up to meet his lips once again.

  After a long and smoldering kiss, Bo held her face and looked her in the eye. “Well, since I’m your boyfriend and all,” he smiled, “I got an invitation to the wedding of the freaking century. Will you be my date?”

  “I’ll have to check my schedule,” she smiled, “but I think I just might be able to squeeze you in.”

  He pulled her in and held her for a moment, whispering, “Best birthday ever!”

  Lexi jumped. “Oh my God! It is your birthday! Today!”

  Bo smiled. “Yep. And I finally got the present I’ve been wanting since my last birthday.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered, “Definitely worth the wait.”

  “I didn’t forget, Bo—I got you a card and a present and everything! It’s in my bag on the beach.”

  “I just told you, beautiful,” he said sweetly. “You have given me the very best present I could ever wish for. Did wish for.”

  She pulled him up. “Come on—we’ve got to go celebrate! We can’t just let something like that go!”

  “I’m fine with a little private celebration right here,” he smiled, trying to pull her back down into his lap.

  She shook her head with determination. “Let’s go, birthday boy,” she insisted. “All our friends are here, and it’s your special day. I insist we sing to you. You love birthdays!”

  “Don’t worry,” he smirked. “Dylan’s got it all planned out. I overheard Jessa talking about it to Tony yesterday—they’ve got a big cake and everything.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, and actually, I think they’ll be looking for me right about now. I guess we’d best head back.” He got up almost reluctantly—at the moment he wanted to just stay right here, where he could have Lexi all to himself, but it was true—he was a kid at heart when it came to birthdays, and he had been looking forward to the attention all day. “Oh, alright,” he moaned, allowing her to pull him up and wrapping his arms around her for one more lip lock before they made their way back to the bonfire.

  When they rejoined the crowd, as Bo had predicted, Dylan was looking for him. Dylan’s old band from England, Slingshot, had been playing, and as soon as he spotted Bo and Lexi, he curved his index finger toward them and gestured to Max. When the song ended, Max snapped a note while Dylan brought everyone to attention.

  “Hey, everyone,” he began. “This has already been the best weekend of my life, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet!” He pulled Tia close and smacked a loud kiss on her cheek. “But Tia and I aren’t the only ones with something big to celebrate this weekend, and I’d be remiss—plus I’d never live it down—if I didn’t call attention to that fact…” He looked toward the portico, motioned with his hand, and a trio of staff members walked onto the beach, holding an enormous cake covered with sparklers and lugging a gigantic tub of ice cream. Two more people balancing plates and bowls on giant platters followed, hustling to a massive table that had been erected for the occasion. “Ladies and gentlemen—and in some cases I use the term lightly,” a murmur of laughter and some good-natured punches on the shoulder moved through the crowd, “today is Bo Collins’s birthday. He’s my best man in every sense of the word, and I’m thrilled to be celebrating yet another milestone with him—especially when it isn’t on the road; and we can actually share it with our family and friends. This day last year was my and Tia’s first date, and he knew even more than I did that night just how much she’d come to mean to me.” he glanced over at his best man, who had his arm firmly around Lexi’s hip and smiled. “He’s really
a big baby when it comes to birthdays—he loves the limelight and the singing—so get your voices tuned up, and help me wish Bo a happy day!” Max jumped into a rousing rendition of the birthday song, and the entire group joined in. Bo hopped up on the stage, pulling Lexi with him to bathe in the adoration, a huge grin on his face. When the song ended, and the cheering fell to a dull roar, Dylan exclaimed, “Make a wish, and blow out your candles!”

  “My wish,” he said with fanfare, “already came true.” He smiled, pulling Lexi to him, lowered her into a dip, and kissed her enthusiastically. The crowd cheered louder, and he let her up, smiled, and made a big spectacle of extinguishing the candles. “Let’s have cake, and eat it, too!” he proclaimed, planting another kiss on Lexi’s cheek and handing her the first slice.

  Tia and Dylan stared at each other for a moment, a look of pleased surprise on both their faces. “About damn time,” they said in unison.

  “Oh, they’ll be so good together!” Tia exclaimed. “God knows no one else can keep up with her, or put her in her place.”

  “Funny,” Dylan smirked, “I was just thinking the same thing about her for Bo. They just may be able to keep each other in line.”

  Tia grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the couple. “Well come on, let’s go find out!” she exclaimed.

  Dylan conceded, laughing. “OK, my bride. I’m with you.”

  They made their way to the table, where Bo and Lexi were happily handing out pieces of cake and scooping enormous globs of ice cream into bowls. Bo started up before they even reached them.

  “Oh, here come the nosey neighbors,” he joked. “I know, I know, you want to know why I planted a big juicy one on her in front of all your company, right?” He punched Dylan playfully on the arm. “Don’t worry, Strummer Boy, I’m not trying to steal your limelight or anything—I just couldn’t help myself.”

  Tia turned to Lexi, who couldn’t keep the blush out of her cheeks or the smile off her face. “I couldn’t help myself either,” she giggled. “Seems Bo’s got this idea that we should…” she made air quotes with her fingers, “…make a go of things, and since I didn’t have a proper date for this shindig, I figured, what the hell?”

  Tia shrieked in excitement and ran up to hug them both. “Seriously?! You two are a couple?”

  Lexi shrugged. “Seems I just might have it in me to give him a shot,” she said solemnly, holding the look for only a second before a huge grin split her face.

  “I’m so excited!” Tia yelled, grabbing Lexi’s hands and spinning with her around the beach while Dylan pulled Bo into a rough hug.

  “It’s about bloody time,” Dylan joked. “I couldn’t stand seeing the tension between the two of you for another minute!”

  Bo shot him the finger. “Screw you, Miller,” he said. “As if your mind has been anywhere but on your girl here for the past…oh, I don’t know, months?”

  “Still hard to miss you moping around like a little lost puppy, Bobo,” he joked back. “I’m glad I figured out that Lexi was the one who was ‘on your mind all the time.’”

  Bo nodded, grinning slyly.

  “What?” Lexi asked, looking back and forth between them.

  Dylan looked at her and smiled. “When I asked Bo if he was bringing a date for the wedding and he told me no, I asked if he even had anyone in mind.”

  “I’ll finish this little story, thank you very much,” he said, turning to Lexi. “I told him there was someone on my mind all the time, but that she was spoken for, so I had to keep my hands off. It didn’t take Mr. Genius here long to figure it out.”

  “Aww!” Lexi said, putting her arm around him and stretching up on her toes to kiss him. Then she took a step back and put her hands on her hips. “Wait a minute,” she scolded, grinning. “You meant me, right?”

  “Of course I meant you, you crazy woman!” he laughed, pulling her into his arms and spinning her around, kissing her full on the lips.

  Tia clapped her hands together and jumped in place. “Yay!” she said, truly thrilled for her friends. “Now we have even more to celebrate! Love is in the air, and I think we all need some champagne!”

  “We can definitely make that happen,” Dylan said, pulling Tia back to his side and calling over one of the staff members.

  “Oh, your present!” Lexi exclaimed, running off to find her bag and returning with the package, wrapped in gold foil. Bo handed her a glass of champagne, and they touched the rims of their glasses together.

  “I told you, you’ve already given me the very best present.” He grinned, though, as he peeled off the paper. “We’ll always have London,” he said, reading the inscription and remembering when she’d said those words to him as they watched her TV debut. “Oh, princess, we’re gonna have a lot more than that,” he smiled.

  “I certainly hope so,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “Happy Birthday, Bo.”

  “Best birthday ever,” he whispered.

  They had their cake and then strolled back to the bonfire, the couples arm in arm, and Tia holding Lexi’s hand affectionately, swinging their arms between them. In the distance, they saw Sean and Gina, hand in hand, walking along the water’s edge. Love was definitely in the air, and it was a beautiful thing.

  Chapter 46

  The day of the wedding dawned bright and clear. Tia watched the glorious colors of the Caribbean sunrise spill over the turquoise waters of the sea, and hugged herself. Today she would marry Dylan! She’d barely slept a wink all night, but nonetheless, she felt wide awake and invigorated. She couldn’t imagine a better setting for her wedding, and she could still hardly believe that the soundtrack of her life had turned into the man of her dreams.

  “I know you’re happy for me, Nick,” she whispered on the cool morning breeze. “I know I have your blessing.” She did know, too. If Nick could have hand-picked the man she’d eventually marry, it would have been Dylan Miller. They’d both idolized him when Nick was alive, and she could almost feel him smiling down on her.

  Tia inhaled the salty air and went over the past year in her mind. She never even imagined that the night, so long ago, when she was going to be a fly on the wall at a little dumpy bar and try to figure out how to ease back into life again, could lead to this perfect, beautiful day. There had been more than a few bumps in the road along their journey, but she wouldn’t trade any of it; because it led her here. As she looked out over the inexplicable blues of the Caribbean, colors that reminded her of Dylan’s eyes, she took the calm sea as a sign that they’d have smooth sailing for the rest of their amazing journey. Today she would pledge her love to Dylan in front of the people they loved most, and they would begin the next adventure of their lives—their InHappily ever after. Everything was as it should be, and all was right with the world.

  She and Dylan had agreed to follow tradition and not see each other on the day of their wedding, but they had lingered on the beach the night before after the last of their guests had retired for the evening to steal a few private moments together. The next time they’d see each other would be when Tia was walking down the aisle—combed beach lined with tropical flowers—on her way to become his wife. They came together and he held her tightly, neither of them speaking for several moments. Finally, Dylan broke the silence.

  “Any cold feet?” he whispered.

  She looked down at her bare toes, buried in the cool sand. “Nope. Nice and toasty,” she replied. “You?”

  “Not even a little chill,” he smiled. “All I can think about is tomorrow, and you walking down that aisle and into my arms. About you being my wife. Finally.”

  Tia smiled and snuggled into his embrace. “Me, too,” she said. “This is the last day I’ll be Tia Hastings.”

  “Tomorrow, it’s Tia Miller. Always and forever.”

  “You know, hanging with your mom and cousins and Gina—I kept wishing I’d met you sooner. I just don’t know if the rest of our lives will be long enough to spend with you.”

  “The kind of lo
ve we have, baby girl, goes on for eternity.”

  “I could do eternity,” she whispered. “I could easily do eternity.”

  “Plus one more day.”

  They walked the beach for a bit, stopping in front of the completely secluded bungalow where they’d spend their first night together as man and wife. As they’d been in separate housing since they got to the island, it was going to be a much anticipated reunion for them both.

  “I wonder if we should go in—check out the bed and make sure it’s…comfortable,” Dylan whispered, raising one eyebrow at her.

  She punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Mr. Miller,” she began. “As much as that idea entices me—and believe me, it does, I think we should wait until we can christen it as husband and wife.”

  “Wow,” he said. “We really will be christening it. We’ll be the very first couple to spend the night there—that’s kind of crazy.”

  Tia leaned into him and sighed. “We’ll give it good luck,” she said. “Just think of all the other couples who’ll spend their wedding nights or honeymoons here.”

  “Tony told me that there’s a guest book in there that he wants us to sign—so every couple who does come here will know that true love was the first guest.”

  They held each other for a long while before Dylan walked her back to her building, kissing her long and slow before sending her inside. “Until tomorrow, Mrs. Miller,” he said softly.

  “I can’t wait,” she whispered in reply as he turned to go.

  And now the day was here. In just a few short hours, her wedding day would begin. The girls would have breakfast together in the grand dining room of the main house, and then the spa crew was coming in to provide some incredible pampering at eleven. They’d have a light lunch around three, and then, at six, to capture the start of the sunset, she’d be stepping out of the main house for the last time as Tia Hastings. She’d be walking toward her future as Mrs. Dylan Miller.