My Father's Best Friend

by Ali Parker

  "We'll look at it when we get home." She moved out of the bathroom, leaving me standing there, staring at a pee-stick.

  "What? We're supposed to go all night and not know if you're pregnant?" I put it down, cursed the universe and walked out.

  "Yes. I'm not pregnant. I keep telling you that."

  "Damon said you probably are." I grabbed her purse. "Your tits are sore, you're barfing all the time, and you've not let me make love to you in three days!"

  "Three days." She put her hand on her hip and gave me a look. "You're being melodramatic."

  "It has been three days." I followed her out, trying hard to hide the smile lifting the side of my mouth. I secretly wanted her to be pregnant. Nothing turned me on more than knowing she might be carrying our baby.

  It horrified her because we weren’t married, but I was going to remedy that shit soon. I was waiting for the perfect time, and finally... it was here.

  “I forgot my lipstick. Get in the car, and I’ll be right there.”

  “Want me to grab it,” I asked.

  “No. Go get the car started.” She turned and walked back to the house. I couldn’t help but watch her go, loving the way she looked from any angle. I got into the car and buckled up, starting it and waiting on her.

  She got in and turned to me, the expression on her pretty face a serious one. "Alright, so Jonathan got all of the pieces set up where we wanted them, right?"

  "Yeah. I went by there yesterday to make sure everything was perfect. You're going to love it. He put my work on one side of the studio, yours on the other and our combo pieces down the middle."

  She let out a little squeal of joy and reached for my hand. "I'm so excited. Can you believe this, Matt? You and me, showing our art together?"

  "It's a dream come true, baby." I kissed her hand before pulling out of the driveway and heading down to De Luge. Our family had flown out for the showing, and all of our friends would be there. I was beyond excited, more for Erica than me. It was her first showing and my fifth. I wanted her to shine bright and would have done just about anything to make sure that happened.

  We drove toward the city and realization hit me. I would have done anything to let her feel the spotlight that night, to help her step into the fact that this was who she was born to be. An artist. A beloved painter that opened hearts and healed wounds.

  She'd done the same for me back in October at my first showing. She'd offered up her body to Mitch in order to spare me that one moment in time.

  "Hey. You okay?" She reached over and gripped my hand as I pulled up to the gallery a few minutes later.

  "Yeah. I just love you so much." I leaned over and kissed her long and hard, trying to push into the kiss everything she meant to me.

  "Wow. Have that thought again. I like those kisses." She smiled up at me as I cupped her face and let my eyes move around her beautiful face.

  "You can have those kisses and anything else you want from me. I'm all yours." I kissed her again and got out to find Damon and Jonathan waiting at the front of the gallery for us.

  "You got the centerpiece together, right?" She glanced over at me. "Your new painting of the city?"

  "Yep. All done. Now, go let Jonathan show you around. Check everything twice. I'm going to have a beer with Damon." I smiled at her as she gave me a look, but moved over to Jonathan, talking his ear off.

  "Hey, brother." Damon reached out and gave me a quick hug. "Beth's inside. So are mom and dad."

  "Good. Kendal and Dana?" I glanced around my brother and took a quick breath.

  "Yeah. You nervous?"

  "Hell yes. I want this to go right."

  "It will, Matt." He patted my chest. "You're so fucking cool for waiting. I know Erica has been on you to give her a ring, but this right here is the perfect time to do it."

  "I couldn't agree more." I ran my hand down my chest and let out a shaky sigh. "Alright. Let's do this."

  We walked in, and I took a few minutes to greet family and friends. There was almost an electricity in the air.

  "It's time." Jonathan moved up in front of me and reached out to fix my tie. "You're going to be great. I'll introduce you, and then we'll have Erica turn to look at the piece. You have the ring."

  "Check." I nodded, feeling like a scared ten-year-old boy. "Don't let me fuck this up."

  "Never. We all have your back, Matt. She's going to love this so much."

  "Good. Let's do it." I moved over to find her. "Erica, come over here, baby. Jonathan is about to open up the event and introduce the centerpiece for the evening."

  "Oh, my God. I'm so nervous." She moved up beside me and slid her arm around the back of my waist. "I hope everyone loves it."

  I chuckled. "If not, we have a new piece for the living room. It's all good."

  Jonathan clapped his hands. "Good Evening, Ladies and Gentleman. We have quite a treat for you tonight. Matthew Bryant and Erica Hall are our first and only artistic couple that work together to bring you these inspiring, breathtaking pieces. You've seen Matthew's work several times, but we're delighted to bring you Erica's as well."

  The room erupted in a round of applause, and Erica smiled up at me with tears in her eyes. "This is all because of you."

  "No, baby. It's all because of you." I leaned down and kissed her softly. "You believed in me first."

  "Alright, you two. Please come up here, and we'll prepare the reveal of the centerpiece."

  I moved up to the painting and faced it, pulling Erica in front of me and stepping back a little. My heart roared in my chest as I pulled out the small black box I had in my jacket pocket.

  The large black velvet cloth wavered just a little, and my heart almost stopped. I knew she would say yes, but I wanted the moment to forever be locked in her heart. She had to know how much she meant to me, how I adored her with every fiber of my being.

  "It's called, ’Once in a lifetime.’" Jonathan's voice rang out from behind the cloth, and it dropped down.

  Gasps filled the room, and I knelt behind her, lifting the ring. The painting wasn't of the city, but of us. Me in a tux and her in a tight black dress. She was standing with her back to me and I was kneeling on the floor.

  "Matt. What is this?" She turned and pressed her hands to her mouth as she let out a sweet scream. "No, you didn't."

  "I never in my wildest dreams expected a talented, beautiful, strong woman like you to fall for a man like me, but you did. I didn't ever think I would get to live a life true to my purpose in the art community, but you believed in me, and you pushed me, so now I am. I would be so much less than I am if you weren't standing beside me. Be my wife, Erica. Have my babies and share the rest of this life with me. Without you, all the color would be drained dry and black and white is all I would see. Don't deny me, baby." I lifted the ring higher as she cried into her hands.

  "Yes. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else but you."

  I stood and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her with the depths of my soul. The sound of hooting and hollering filled the space around us, but I let it all go and dove head first into a vision of our future together.

  "I love you." I kissed her again.

  "I love you more." She reached into her purse and pulled out the stick from the bathroom.

  "How did you-?" I glanced down to see that she was pregnant. "Holy shit! We're pregnant." I turned to the crowd and waved the stick around. "We're going to have a baby. We're pregnant."

  She reached up and grabbed the stick from me. "You're too much."

  "Am I?" I pulled her close and kissed her. "I told you that you were pregnant."

  "Three days of no sex. Ridiculous." She rolled her eyes and squeezed me in her arms.

  "Tell about it. I'm about to waste away." I brushed my nose against hers. "You're mine, Miss Erica Hall. Now and forever."

  And she was. My muse. My lover. My wife.

  The End

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  About the Author

  Ali Parker is a full-time contemporary and new adult romance writer with more than a hundred and twenty books behind her. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.

  She’s an entrepreneur at heart and loves coming up with more ideas than any one person should be allowed to access. She lives in Texas with her hubs and three kiddos and looks forward to traveling the world in a few years. Writing under eleven pen names keeps her busy and allows her to explore all genres and types of writing.

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  Copyright © 2018 by Ali Parker

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.

  Second Edition.

  Designer: Kellie Dennis, Book Cover By Design

  Editor: Eric Martinez

  Proofer: Mary Wolney