“Why?” She put her hand on his cheek and wiped a tear away. He turned his head and kissed her palm. “No man can promise me forever. Accidents happen. People die every day, whether they expect it or not. The best we can do is make each day special and tell the ones we love how we feel about them.”
“I can’t bear the idea of you suffering with me. I love you and I think you may love me too. If we were to stay together you’d watch me wither and dissolve into a helpless body, kept alive by machines until even they can’t do it anymore.”
“Isn’t that my decision to make?”
“I’ve lived with this for the past sixteen years. I’ve seen the toll it’s taken on my family. I can’t do that to you.”
She had to make him see she wouldn’t give up. “Liam seems pretty normal.”
Marcus’s bark of laughter held no humor. “Liam is paying three eminent circulatory system specialists millions of dollars a year to come up with a cure. He has every cardiologist in the English-speaking world on speed dial. He chases every new treatment and every whisper of progress like a starving bloodhound. Want to know something funny?”
“There’s something funny?” One of the things she loved the most about Marcus was his sense of humor. Over the past week they’d laughed and joked, teased and taunted each other until they were breathless. And all the time he’d had this death knell hanging over his head.
“I am so worried about Liam. After I go…” He paused for a second and her heart ripped apart a bit more. “I had planned to set Liam up with you. He’s going to need someone to love, someone to love him.”
“I like your brother…”
“I know and he likes you too, but he can’t have you. You’re mine.”
“Only as long as you’re on the island.”
Marcus closed his eyes and hung his head. “It’s for the best.”
Anger flared within her. He was deciding her life for her, without her input. “Whose best? Yours? Because I can sure as hell tell you it’s not for mine. You believe that because I won’t see you every day I won’t think about you? Won’t worry about how you’re doing? Won’t love you? Do I come across as some out of sight, out of mind woman?”
“No.” He looked up at her then, his eyes reflecting his torment.
“Do you realize what you’re asking of me? If we’re not together, I’ll spend every minute of every day wishing we were. My mother used to say she’d taken two weeks of extraordinary over a lifetime of what-ifs. I didn’t really understand her until this minute. Marcus, please, let me share what’s left of your time. Let’s make it extraordinary.”
A flicker of hope, of joy, entered his eyes. “What about when my health fails? It’s going to be ugly.”
“We’ll deal with that when it comes. I love the man you are inside, and no disease will ever change the way I see or feel about you.”
Tears were streaming down her face and she didn’t care. She had to make him believe they could be together, even if it was for a short time.
“Don’t cry, Crescy. It breaks my crappy, defective heart to see you sad.”
Wiping the tears away with the back of her hand, she gave him her most radiant, although slightly soggy smile. “We can’t have that then. I promise the only tears you’ll see will be tears of happiness, if you give us a chance.”
His hands gently cupped her face, his thumbs erasing the trace of her tears. “I love you, Crescentia St. Ives. If you think you can handle what’s to come, then I can’t deny myself the joy you give me with every smile. Will you marry me?”
Chapter 8
Marcus couldn’t believe he was doing this. And couldn’t be happier. He was standing on a pristine white beach, barefoot and wearing a white suit, waiting for the woman he loved to approach him and join her life to his. After Crescy’d agreed to marry him, the past three days had been a whirlwind of activity.
Liam hadn’t even grumbled at having to return to the Caribbean yet again, having only been back in California for twenty-four hours. His younger brother stood beside him, the biggest grin on his face Marcus had seen in a very long time. The single thing Liam had said when he’d invited him to the wedding was, “I told you so.”
The steel drum band began to play their version of the wedding march and Marcus strained his eyes trying to catch the first glimpse of Crescy. He’d barely seen her over the past two days she’d been so busy arranging everything. He hadn’t wanted to waste a minute of their time together, so insisted they marry as soon as legally possible. He was going to tie her to him with every promise and piece of paper available.
He scanned the sea of faces in the chairs set up on the sand. Crescy seemed to be related to half the island and every one had come to see her wed. And they’d embraced him and welcomed him to the family without a hint of reservation.
The photographer scooted out of the way and he caught sight of her. Her long, curly hair arranged in cascading curls around her face and down her back. The lacy white dress showed her gorgeous dark skin and abundant curves.
A flood of warmth invaded his chest and for a split second he panicked, thinking his heart had finally given up. Except it wasn’t pain; it was love that filled him. With her love to keep him going, he was determined to at least double the doctor’s expectations of how long he was going to live. After all, they hadn’t figured Crescentia St. Ives-Sullivan into their calculations.
As she got closer, he could see the radiant smile on her face and the love in her eyes. It was his intention to make sure she looked that way every single day of his life. The ceremony began and he mentally hit the record button on his brain. He wanted to remember this day, this feeling, when things got rough. Taking her hands, he gazed into her beautiful face. The audience hushed, only the lapping of the waves against the shore provided a backdrop for their vows.
“Crescentia Joy St. Ives, in your eyes I have found hope. In your heart, I have found home. In your arms, I have found strength. You are my life, my breath, my love. I promise to love, encourage and cherish you each day and do everything possible to be worthy of you.”
“Marcus James Sullivan, in you I have found my champion. In you I have found love and inspiration. You have taught me to laugh again and trust in myself. You make me feel special and beautiful. I promise to love you and hold your hand. And I vow that every day I will remember how fortunate I am to have you in my life.”
Silence greeted the end of their vows and Marcus glanced around to find almost everyone wiping tears from their cheeks. Even his brother seemed to have something caught in his eye.
When the marriage registrant pronounced them man and wife a loud cheer went up on the beach from Crescy’s family. However, the loudest congratulations of all came from Liam.
Having been told of the media reaction to the case in New York, Crescy called her boss and resigned. They were going to divide their time between California, where he still had numerous health checks to undergo, and St. Lucia where she was going to study and apply for her license to practice law there. Although she’d said she had no intention of going back to work in the near future. Instead, being Mrs. Sullivan was going to be her full-time occupation. He’d questioned her at length about this decision, not wanting her to give up her life for him. But she’d been adamant she wasn’t going to waste precious time sorting out other people’s mistakes.
Four hours later Marcus pulled Crescy closer as they shuffled around the dance floor, molding her body to his.
“You are the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” he whispered into her ear.
“That’s because I’m so in love with the groom.” She pulled his head down and kissed him, sending another flood of warmth through his whole body.
“How soon can we leave?”
Her laugh filled the air around them. “Another hour then I’m all yours. You haven’t said where we’re going on honeymoon.”
“Anywhere you want. Liam has lent us his jet and pilot. Pick a destination and we’re off. Tomorrow,
though. I have definite plans for us tonight.”
She gazed up at him, the heat of desire reflected in her eyes. “There are a few wifely duties I feel the need to complete as well.”
Liam danced by with one of Crescy’s cousins. “You know, I still have to find someone for him,” Marcus said, nodding in his brother’s direction.
“He’s too focused on his business to fall in love. What you need to do is make him give it up for a while so a woman has a chance.” As they watched, Liam released his dance partner to answer a phone call.
“And how do you propose I do that?”
“You’re the writer. You’ll have to come up with a plot he can’t refuse.”
“I am good at plotting, even if it doesn’t always go entirely to plan. My last plot got me an armful of woman to love.”
“More than an armful.” She pulled his head down for another long, sensuous kiss.
“Really? Another whole hour?” he groaned as she finally released his lips.
“I’ll make it worth the wait,” she said.
The music came to a dramatic end and he swung her around and then dipped her over his arm. “That’s not going to be hard when I’d wait all day for one of your smiles.”
Her lips curled automatically and his heart flooded with love. His epitaph would read quality over quantity.
Life may not be fair, but it had its moments.
Will Liam ever find love? Find out in:
Played by the Billionaire
(A Guide to Love Novel)
Billionaire Liam Manning has been too busy building his internet security empire to care about romance. So when a death-bed promise to his brother forces him to prove he can properly seduce a woman, Liam relies on his strengths. Hacking into an online dating site to find a suitable “love tutor” is as easy as it is logical.
All Lorelei Torres wants is a family and an honest man to love. After falling for one-too-many Mr. Wrongs, Lorelei’s mother signs her up for an online dating site. Maybe it’s time to let an impartial computer chose a man for her—especially if that computer plans to match her with sexy men like Liam.
But Liam’s made a critical error. Lorelei has breached the firewall around his heart, and if he falls for her, he’ll have to reveal his real identity—and his deception—to the only woman who’s ever made him question why love isn’t on his to-do list.
More information: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/played-by-the-billionaire/
About the Author
Alexia Adams was born in British Columbia, Canada and travelled throughout North America as a child. After high school, she spent three months in Panama before moving to Dunedin, New Zealand for a year where she studied French and Russian at Otago University.
Back in Canada, she worked building fire engines until she’d saved enough for a round-the-world ticket. She travelled throughout Australasia before settling in London—the perfect place to indulge her love of history and travel. For four years she lived and travelled throughout Europe before returning to her homeland. On the way back to Canada she stopped in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, India, Nepal, and of course, Australia and New Zealand. She lived again in Canada for one year before the lure of Europe and easy travel was too great and she returned to the UK.
Marriage and the birth of two babies later, she moved back to Canada to raise her children with her British husband. Two more children were born in Canada and her travel wings were well and truly clipped. Firmly rooted in the life of a stay-at-home mom, or trophy wife as she prefers to be called, she turned to writing to exercise her mind, travelling vicariously through her romance novels.
Her stories reflect her love of travel and feature locations as diverse as the wind-swept prairies of Canada to hot and humid cities in Asia. To discover other books written by Alexia or read her blog on inspirational destinations, Journey to Love at http://Alexia-Adams.com or follow on Twitter @AlexiaAdamsAuth
Other Books by Alexia:
Singapore Fling
Lalita Evans has always instinctively sensed that she is not the biological child of John and Julia Evans. So she has done everything she can to be the perfect daughter, the perfect future CEO of the family business. Her focus only slipped once in the past five years, when she met Jeremy Lakewood. Now her father has appointed Jeremy as Director of Marketing, and the one man who can melt her mind with a single kiss is to accompany her on a tour of the Asian offices. But before she can listen to her heart, Lalita needs to discover her true identity and learn to put personal desires ahead of corporate profits.
Jeremy Lakewood is not afraid of a challenge. Rising from an impoverished childhood to the upper echelons of the corporate world has allowed him to live up to his vow to support his widowed mother and disabled sister. The one crater in his road to success is Lalita Evans, the one that got away and the only woman who has ever turned his blood to molten lava. She’s not only the woman he can’t forget, but also his boss’s daughter. Sent to Asia with her on business, her father’s warning echoes in his ears—seduce Lalita and his career is over. Will he risk his livelihood and all the success he’s achieved to win the woman who haunts his dreams?
Eight countries in three weeks, a quest to find a birth mother, and a mutual attraction as intense as it is inconvenient, leaves both Lalita and Jeremy questioning what they really want in life—love or their careers?
To read an excerpt or buy now:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/12MtNK9
Amazon Canada: http://amzn.to/1xqPWTU
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/15rfPTq
Amazon AUS: http://bit.ly/1rQp8rF
An Inconvenient Love
Neither wanted love in their marriage. But you don’t always get what you want.
Sophia Stevens is tired of struggling to pay the rent and help her brother through college. After seven years on her own, she is no farther ahead than the day she walked out on her old life and started again. So when super-sexy Italian property developer Luca Castellioni proposes a marriage of convenience, she’s intrigued. Financial security and life in a beautiful Italian villa in exchange for attending a few business functions and typing some letters seems very convenient. Until she breaks the most definite term of their arrangement: she falls in love with her husband.
Luca Castellioni lives for his job restoring beautiful buildings to their former glory. When his business expansion plans are hampered by the need for an English-speaking secretary and a wife, he does what any efficient businessman would do and combines his requirements. But when his fascination with his wife distracts him from business, he wishes there was more marriage and not so much convenience in their agreement. Too bad his wife has reconstructed her own life, without him.
When their respective lives pull them in opposite directions, they must decide: will they continue to put their businesses first, or allow love to overcome the obstacles between them?
To read an excerpt or buy now:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1CDcd0N
Amazon Canada: http://amzn.to/1qq0nlX
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1pBWhBJ
Amazon AUS: http://bit.ly/1ua7j7J
Coming October 13, 2014:
An Inconvenient Desire
Investment banker Jonathan Davis has spent the last ten months renovating his Italian villa and getting over a nasty divorce from his supermodel wife. As a favor to a friend, he escorts Olivia Chapman to a medieval festival and can’t help but fall for the gorgeous woman. When he discovers she’s a model, however, his innate sense of risk analysis tells him to bail. Then his ex-wife abandons his previously unknown daughter at his door, and it’s Olivia who steps in to help. But does Jonathan dare capitalize on his desire and venture his heart again?
Olivia Chapman has hidden her ugly childhood scars under the glamour of her modeling career. She thinks her pretty face is her only asset, until she discovers a talent for motherhood when a frightened toddler literally arrives on the doorstep. Olivia can’t bear to see another child go unloved. But ca
ring for Hannah means staying with Jonathan, a man she finds almost impossible to resist.
When a big surprise leaves both Olivia and Jonathan reeling, their mutual attraction could end up destroying their futures … or healing the past once and for all.
For more information, please visit: http://alexia-adams.com
Other Books You Might Enjoy:
Her Temporary Hero
By Jennifer Apodaca
Former beauty queen Becky Holmes and her baby are on the run from her dangerous ex. With her dreams of love and marriage destroyed, she’ll do anything to protect her child…even agree to hide out in her boss’s cousin’s house while he’s away.
Wealthy, sexy, and emotionally haunted Logan Knight needs a temporary wife to get his land, per his dad’s rules. No wife, no inheritance. But when that wife lands on his doorstep and comes with a baby, his darkest memories are triggered. He tries to keep his distance, but his efforts are shattered when he starts to have real feelings for his fake wife and child.
Just as Logan begins to think he may have a future with Becky, his attempt to have it all backfires into a betrayal that forces Becky into a heart-wrenching choice no woman should ever have to make.
For more info: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/her-temporary-hero/
The Tycoon’s Convenient Bride… and Baby
By Shoshanna Evers
After her brother and his wife go missing and are presumed dead, Lauren Peters plans to raise their infant daughter. Her brother’s will, however, stipulates that baby Callie can only be raised by a married couple. Lauren’s as single as they come.
Miss Guided: a Guide to Love novella Page 8