by Robyn Thomas
“No more pointy beads.” He sounded rather dazed.
“None,” she agreed. “You’ll have plenty of time to get used to me being around while you’re on the road, and to decide if it’s what you really want. I think we should leave the public engagement in place, and if we’re happy together after a year then we’ll make it privately official.”
“Will that be as good as it sounds?”
“I hope so.” She couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll ask Brad and Skyla to help us plan a big wedding. It’d be nice to get married here in Melbourne around this time next year.
“Oh, and I’ll be keeping my house, so you might want to
budget for some security fees or maybe organize a caretaker.”
“Beth.” He blew out an unsteady breath as if there weren’t
adequate words for what he wanted to say. “I’ve got tour dates
booked. Another album. It’ll be three years at least until—”
That was hope in his voice. It was. She wasn’t imagining it.
He was telling her all the negatives up front, just as she’d thought she’d wanted him to, but all she really wanted was for him to say they’d work it out. Somehow. Together.
“Three years.” She waved her hand as if it were nothing. “The thing you need to know is that if you do decide to marry me, it’ll cost you. I won’t want designer clothes or thousand-dollar shoes, but in a few years I’ll probably need a nanny.”
Jake’s arms were around her, crushing her against him before she could even finish her sentence. “A baby,” he said, sounding as if she’d suggested something so miraculous he couldn’t wrap his head around it. He stepped back a fraction and studied her face, his eyes a deep caramel well of hope and doubt that was quite mesmerizing.
“It’s a lot to give up, Beth. The tour’s got ten months to run and we’d be traveling the whole time.” He hesitated, then kept going as if he couldn’t bear her not knowing everything. “The next few years will be like that, and there’ll be times we won’t be able to get back here. There are too many people depending on me.
The best I can offer—”
“Is yourself?”
That seemed to steal all of his thunder. She watched as he struggled to come up with a response, never doubting that he’d say the right thing. Eventually.
A slow smile chased away his worried expression. “We’ll be living in a fishbowl. Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Completely sure. If you’re there, I’ll love it because…I love you.” She smiled up at him, but her smile began to fade when he didn’t respond. He almost looked as if he were waiting for her to laugh and tell him she didn’t really care and she’d just been having him on. “Besides, I plan to wreak havoc with your schedule and retreat back here with you every chance I get.”
“There’s something I need to know before we go any further.”
The question should’ve alarmed her but it didn’t. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
“Those pictures on your toenails,” he said with a severe frown that he couldn’t quite hold, “what were they?”
His frown morphed into a grin and she returned it, her heart light. “They were little cupids.” She lifted her mouth closer to his, in invitation. “When I put them on I had no idea you’d be landing on my doorstep later that day, but maybe they lured you there?”
“Cupids? That might explain why I fell for you so fast.”
“You did?”
“I love you, Beth. I was half-gone before we climbed into your kitchen. I want you in my life every single day. I need you with me. I love everything about you, especially that chicken suit of yours.”
“You’re kidding?”
“It’s my favorite way to picture you. Of course sometimes bits of it are on the floor or the counter or the couch. It’s so much fun to take off.” His lips whispered over hers. “Oh, what the heck, you’ve got to fix your lipstick anyway.” He ravished her mouth.
A gentle but persistent tap on her shoulder demanded her attention and she reluctantly eased apart from Jake to see what could be so damned important it’d interrupt a life-changing moment such as this one.
And then she blushed deeply as Skyla’s wedding dress supplied the answer. She’d been so busy securing her own future, she’d forgotten all about Brad and Skyla’s. “Important stuff.” She gestured at Jake, finding it hard to sound apologetic. “My timing’s not great, I’ll grant you that, but Brad and I have always competed like siblings. He’s adding to our family today so I thought I would too.”
Skyla’s bright smile switched to high beam and she flung her arms around Jake. “You and I are already related, but now we can pretend our spouses brought us together.”
Beth’s eyes filled as Jake’s voice cracked. “You knew?”
Skyla nodded and shifted so that both she and Jake could put an arm around Beth. “I’ve known for six days and I didn’t come to Beth’s house to see you in the hope you’d come here instead.
Would you”—she hesitated and then blurted her request out in a rush—“do you think you might be able to walk me down the aisle? No pressure. Only if you want to.”
Beth gave up trying to blink back tears as Jake nodded. Skyla crushed them both close and squealed in delight. “I’m assuming your engagement is real now? I couldn’t be happier for the two of you. For all of us.”
All three of them were laughing when Brad’s family and friends spilled out onto the deck to join the pre-wedding celebration. Catching the bemusement on Jake’s face, Beth smiled at him and shrugged. “I know everyone Brad knows. Sorry about the lack of privacy. You’ll get used to it.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
Jake rolled over in bed and studied the peaceful lines of his new wife’s face as she slept. That lovely peace would be gone in— he checked his watch—thirty seconds, but there’d be joy and tears and laughter to replace it. Beth caught every surprise he threw at her, and he threw a lot.
Under normal circumstances this next one might be unforgivable, but normal was a fluid concept. He adjusted the super soft collar of her new white chicken suit, the one he’d slipped into her suitcase among the delicate lingerie she’d bought for their honeymoon. The outer door of their hotel suite eased open and he gave Ken the signal, indulging in a smile as he slipped his hand beneath the sheet to curl around Beth’s breast where it belonged.
He closed his eyes and waited for the commotion to begin.
The lengthy silence put him on edge. He cracked one eye open and saw that his careful plan had been relegated to the scrap heap.
Shifting gears, he kissed Beth awake, smiling against her neck as her pulse picked up pace beneath his mouth. The photographer’s presence forgotten, he touched his lips to Beth’s. “I love you, Mrs. Olsen.”
“A little louder.”
Startled by the intrusion, he glared at the photographer who was supposed to be capturing the excitement of Beth’s surprise party. Where was everyone?
“Louder…for Beth.” The photographer’s lips twitched in a suspicious manner. She tapped the camera she held, then pointed to him. “I’ve been instructed to capture your good-morning speech, so you’d best get on with it.”
Beth lay on her back, instantly awake, green eyes alight with mischief and her hair in wild disarray over the pillow. She accepted the new reality without blinking. “A speech, huh? Just what every newlywed hopes for the morning after their wedding.”
A speech, hell, how was he supposed to come up with something memorable without a moment’s notice? He looked at Beth and decided to just speak the truth. “I love you. I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together, and I want a lifetime of you by my side. I started to fall for you while we were on your front porch that first night. You told me I wasn’t welcome and I couldn’t accept it.”
“Want to know what I was thinking when I said that?”
He played his lips over Beth’s and smiled. “Probably not.”
&
nbsp; She laughed when pandemonium broke out in their room, and her joy was exponential as she recognized a host of familiar faces. “Welcome to our honeymoon,” she said.
Jake flicked a glance at the photographer and got a nod for his efforts. He never would’ve thought he’d want a photographer in his bedroom or video footage of the morning after his wedding, but Beth made the strangest things necessary.
She caught his eye and waved her hand to encompass everyone. “Can I ask why we’re sharing our honeymoon with an entire rock band and our favorite in-laws?”
“I put my father’s health scare ahead of everything else and made you miss our big wedding in Melbourne—”
She put her fingers to his lips, her eyes telling him that his father’s heart attack was reason enough for changing their plans.
“I’m sorry that my parents have refused to see us. I thought a near-death experience would have softened my old man’s attitude and that my mother would be grateful for our support, but they’re as stubborn and closed off as ever.” He set her hand aside, freeing his lips so he could share the good news. “My brothers both want to meet you, though. And you, Skyla.”
“Brothers,” Beth said in absolute delight. “I knew I married you for a reason.”
“And because you love me.”
“I do love you. I always have.”
He allowed his lips one second of contact with hers. “We have to leave straight after lunch today, but I’ve ramped up your morning schedule because I know how much you love that.” One of her eyebrows hiked, daring him to elaborate, and he noticed
that everyone was quiet while they waited for her verdict. “Photos are on your to-do list, along with wearing a pretty dress, and hosting a big family breakfast.”
“You forgot something. The very first thing on my list is”— she leaned closer and whispered in his ear—“to warn you that your glass slippers might not fit for a while. I’m pregnant.”
Amid a chorus of demands to know what was going on, Beth eased back and the sheer joy on her face would’ve brought him to his knees if he’d been standing.
His eyes never left Beth’s as he shared their news. “You’re here for a double celebration. Not only are we newlyweds, we’re going to have a baby.”
Beth’s fingers snapped quietly and he looked up to see Brad handing her a familiar bottle of cognac. And it was perfect, a final seal of approval from Beth’s parents as she married into rock royalty.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my wonderful editors, Erin and Ann, for their insight and guidance on this story. Thanks to Alethea who also played a role in getting this to publication. Everyone at Entangled rocks!
This story is very dear to my heart and has been around in various forms for a long time. I appreciate every set of eyes that have ever been cast over it, and there have been a lot: Maisey, Jilly, Jane, Jackie, Aideen, Barbara, Jo P, Bernie, and Muriel. And a special shout-out to the Romance on Toorak group, who were the first to see it. Your monthly critiques, way back when, taught me a great deal and made me believe that it had potential. Thank you!
About the Author
Robyn is a cheesecake connoisseur, caffeine addict, and mother of two boys. Happily married, she lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Writing romance helps her balance the effects of living in an all-male household. Robyn loves making up stories, watching movies, collecting art glass, and browsing in quirky gift shops. She loves to hear from readers.
Website: http://www.robynthomasromance.com/
Twitter: @robynsromance
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue