KNOTTED: The Manhattan Bound Series, Book Three

by Juliet Braddock

  “Changing the subject?” she teased as she unwrapped her last gift. “Ben, what are you going to do when I get pregnant?”

  “Pregnant? You’re not ever going to get pregnant, young lady,” Ben insisted. “Because that would involve Drew’s sperm meeting up with your egg somewhere deep inside your body. And I will not entertain that thought. Ever.”

  Everything stopped, and their banter fell silent when she opened the box. Inside she found two pins—platinum puzzle pieces that fit together. On the back, he’d had their nicknames inscribed with “The Captain” on one piece and “Uncle Benjy” on the other. One for her, and one for him.

  “Oh, my sweets,” Maxine kissed him on the cheek. “No matter what I do or where life takes us, you will always be my Uncle Benjy.”

  “And you, Mrs. Mack, will always be the Captain.”

  “I truly don’t know what to say, Ben. I am so deeply touched by the sentiments here.”

  “When we met in college, I found the missing puzzle piece in my life,” he said. “I gained the sister I always wanted.”

  “Me, too, Ben. You’ve been that perfect best friend I had always dreamed about—but never believed existed until you.”

  For once, there were no tears, and words weren’t necessary. Over the last five years, they had all they’d needed in each other...until a thing called love came along and caught them both in its riptide.

  However, Ben and Maxine refused to allow their relationships to get in the way of their deep and always growing bond. Time could always be made for each other. In fact, Maxine thought they’d found a new appreciation for their friendship now that they didn’t see each other quite so often.

  As much as he teased her about everything—from anal sex to having babies—Ben cherished every second of their silly discussions. They’d both had far too much emotional baggage to weed through over the years, and they’d remained true to their friendship as they figured out life.

  “Promise me that you’ll wear your pin everywhere?” Maxine asked him. “And I’ll always wear mine…”

  “I promise you, Cap—so that you’re never far away from me.”

  When at last Maxine pulled from their embrace, she reached for the remote on the nightstand, then tossed two pillows to the foot of the king-sized bed.

  “What are you doing, Cap?”

  “You said there’s a Housewives marathon on!” she said and patted the spot beside her, inviting Ben to join her. As he stretched out beside her and tucked a pillow under his chin, Maxine grinned. “And we’re going to watch….”

  “Captain?”

  “Uncle Benjy?”

  “I love you.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Stopping so quickly that he scuffed the tip of his loafer against the silk rug, Drew brought his hand to his lips, then sighed sweetly as his eyes caught the endearing sight before him. Curled up together under a blanket at the foot of the bed, Maxine and Ben slept so soundly, almost like two newborn babies peacefully slumbering the morning away.

  It wasn’t the first time he’d found them sleeping next to each other, and Drew knew it wouldn’t be the last…

  “Aww…” he whispered as he closed the bedroom door with his hip while he carried a huge tray filled with more food than Maxine could ever eat.

  As she tossed about under the duvet, Maxine knew her eyes were so much wider than her tummy. Scones, jams, jellies, fruits, bacon, eggs, juices and coffee filled the platter. However, breakfast in bed with Drew was always a sweet little surprise to wake up to—even with Ben sleeping beside her.

  “Morning, little one…”

  “Good morning, Love and Sex God of My World,” Ben answered back and then opened his eyes. “Oh…you meant the Captain here…sorry…”

  Crawling into bed with the whole lot of them, Drew had to maneuver around the kittens in his efforts to snuggle up with his fiancée. This had to be, Drew decided, what it must have been like inside the home of The Brady Bunch.

  “I should probably skedaddle out of here,” Ben muttered as he sat up. “Just wanted to visit with the Captain last night.”

  “Stay—have breakfast,” Drew insisted. “And thank you for staying with her and keeping an eye on her.”

  Two sleepy green eyes glared at him. “Did you send Ben in here last night to babysit me?”

  “No, I did not!” Drew shouted.

  “It’s true, Cap. Found my way in all on my own,” Ben yammered.

  By this time, Nellie had awakened…and was quick to find Drew’s lap. “Think about it, little one. If I even asked Ben to mind you for the night, do you really believe—with his big mouth—that he wouldn’t tell you?”

  “Very true…”

  “Hey—after all the tender moments we shared last night…” Ben, however, lost his thought as he eyed the tray. “Oh, that bacon smells so good…”

  “Have some…” Drew offered as he picked up the white cap with Maxine’s name embroidered across the rim. “What…the hell…?”

  “It’s a captain’s hat, Drew,” Ben explained as Drew continued to mind the gift with confusion. “All this time, and you’re still having trouble with that joke…”

  “Ben, get your breakfast,” Maxine ordered.

  Scone in one hand and a fistful of bacon in the other, Ben backed his way toward the door. “Just remember, Cap…”

  “I love you!” Maxine finished his sentence for him. “I love you, Uncle Benjy.”

  “He didn’t have to go…” Drew said after Ben closed the door. “But I’m glad he came to you last night. You two needed some time alone.”

  “That Ben Worthington is a good guy,” she said, gently pinching Drew’s chin. “I think I’ll keep him around. And you, too.”

  “How’s he doing with all of this wedding stuff?” Drew wondered, his concern evident in his voice.

  “Slightly weirded out,” Maxine admitted and reached for his hand to thread her fingers through Drew’s, “but exceedingly happy for both of us.”

  As Nellie climbed into his lap and patted the shirt pocket where Drew carried a bag of cat treats, Drew acquiesced to his little furry princess. Made him feel like a father, carrying around snacks for the babies. “Regardless of what happens between Ben and Jeffrey, he’ll always be your best friend, and I want him to feel comfortable—even if we are about to turn into an old married couple…”

  Folding Drew and the kittens into the circle of her arms, Maxine chuckled. “According to Daddy, we already are that old married couple.”

  “I think he’s right sometimes,” then he paused with a trace of melancholy. “Last breakfast together before you officially become Mrs. Kirk-McKenzie…”

  “There's always tomorrow morning,” Maxine reminded him, but he covered her open lips with his finger.

  “Bad luck for the groom to see the bride before she walks down the aisle...” he warned.

  “We’re just steeped in tradition this week!”

  “Little one?”

  “Yes?”

  “Close your eyes for me,” he said. “I have a little surprise for you...”

  “Wait a minute here...” Maxine said, carefully scooting across the bed so as not to upset the tray. “Because I have one, too...”

  They’d pledged to each other that they wouldn‘t exchange gifts, but Maxine knew that was one promise Drew would never keep. Somehow, Maxine had managed to keep her own little secret hidden away from Drew.

  When she’d rejoined him in bed, she waited patiently as she passed the present to him.

  “Maxine, didn't we say...”

  “You have something for me, too,” she countered. “Wanna pick a fight, Mack?”

  “You know I hate it when you’re right,” he teased. “Close your eyes.”

  As she did just as she was told, Maxine could hear him rustling through his pocket for something.

  Taking her hand, he opened her fingers and placed a small, velvet box in her hands. He loved the thrill of making her wait on all fronts�
��but he also enjoyed the delay of his own gratification—so he paused just a few moments before saying, “Open...”

  Maxine already recognized the packaging from her collar and earrings. Yeah...he went to Jacob...again.

  “Oh...!” After lifting the lid, her breath truly caught, and her hand trembled just as it did the night he slipped that ring on her finger. She could feel her tears dripping over her cheeks as she covered her mouth with both hands. “Drew!”

  “Oh, fuck, little one...” he panicked as he pulled the tail of his shirt from his jeans to dab her face. “I hate to see you cry—even if it's in happiness...”

  Again, Maxine felt as if she were living some other young woman's life. Even with the ring she'd been wearing for nearly four months, she still felt so terribly guilty for accepting such lavish gifts.

  “Maxine,” he circled her in his arms, “get used to this already, will you?”

  The elegantly understated emerald and pearl earrings that dangled from a sleek platinum setting glittered before her bewildered eyes. While Maxine didn’t quite yet understand the inspiration behind this gift, Drew knew her tastes impeccably well. She simply had no words for the beauty she held in her hands.

  Tickling her earlobes with his thumbs, he whispered, “Try them on...”

  As Drew held her hair back, Maxine carefully removed the small emeralds from her ears, then placed them on the nightstand. She affixed one, then the other, and shook her head about so gleefully before bouncing off the bed to the floor-length mirror with Drew right behind her.

  “I-I honestly don't even know what to say right now,” she murmured. “Exquisite even seems like an understatement...”

  “You make everything look lovely, little one,” he said, his arms finding their way around her waist to hold her so tightly against him.

  “I can't wait to wear them with my collar tomorrow...”

  “Well, looks like you've got something new,” he teased. “What about old, borrowed and blue?”

  As liberal-minded as they both were, one of the many things Maxine adored about Drew was that sense of custom that he instilled in their romance.

  “You'll see tomorrow,” Maxine said with a mischievous grin. “Thought you wanted everything to be a surprise?”

  “I do, little one...”

  Turning in his arms to steal a quick kiss, Maxine whispered against his lips, “Say those words again...?”

  “Tomorrow, I'll repeat them.”

  “Will you open this now?” Maxine said, reaching for her gift for Drew.

  Running his fingers over the package, he looked at Maxine, his gaze overflowing with emotion. “Sure will...”

  With great caution, Drew unfolded each corner and peeled away every strand of tape that held the wrapping together—even taking the time to fold the paper after he'd removed it from the box. One thing that would never leave him from his childhood was his appreciation of gifts.

  After lifting the lid and easing back the flaps of tissue paper, he looked up once again at Maxine...and this time she knew she saw a tear or two in those enigmatic blue eyes. He took a deep breath as he opened the leather bound book and just shook his head as if he couldn't believe his own fate in falling in love with her.

  “You have the most beautiful heart in in the world, Maxine,” he whispered.

  The scrapbook, embossed with their initials and their wedding date, cost Maxine nearly half her entire paycheck. She purchased the gift from Smythson of Bond Street, personal stationer to none other than Queen Elizabeth II.

  Over the last few months, she'd been saving little souvenirs from their courtship—ticket stubs, items in the gossip and society pages, selfies, pictures of Nellie and Emile, their wedding announcement in the Times. So skillfully, she arranged everything on the gilt-edged black pages.

  “Now, you’ve got me speechless, little one,” he said, caressing her cheek. “This is our history together so far...” He placed his hand over her chest, covering her heart. “Such a sentimental soul you are.”

  “Many more pages to fill, Drew,” Maxine said and reached for his hand while he continued to pour over each and every last clip and photo. “Have a feeling that we’ll need a few more of those albums over the years.”

  “I know we will,” he said, as his mouth found hers. As he deepened their union of the lips, Maxine realized that this self-imposed, pre-wedding celibacy was indeed taking its toll on him. “Maxine, this is perfect. You're perfect. And every day you make me realize again why I fell in love with you.”

  “You do the same for me, Drew,” Maxine assured him. “Nothing makes me happier than knowing I’ll be marrying you tomorrow…”

  However, before she had the chance to say anything more, his lips joined hers once again, seeking to find her soul in their connection.

  There was that old adage that noted one learned something new each day. And on that morning, Maxine discovered that sometimes, Drew needed kisses, too.

  # # #

  Maxine squeezed Drew's hand just a little tighter as she stepped outside on that breezy spring afternoon. The salty scent of the ocean tickled her nose while they surveyed the transformation of the grand gardens from the patio.

  At that point, all that was missing were the floral displays which would be installed the following morning. Just seeing all of the pristine white wooden chairs lined up before the Gazebo where they would say their vows offered her final affirmation that they were about to make their undying love for each other official.

  “Going to be an exquisite affair, little one,” Drew murmured. “I cannot wait until tomorrow.”

  Without hesitation, Maxine simply couldn't resist rising on her toes and kissing him rather passionately on the lips—even though the entire wedding party fluttered about them on the patio, waiting for instruction. Her emotions were wildly on overload that day, as were his, and it took only that kiss to stir his arousal.

  “Throwing up in my mouth...” Adam whispered to Jillian.

  “Oh, but they're so damn cute...”

  With a suddenness Jillian hadn't anticipated, Adam wrapped his arms around her. But he didn't kiss her. “So are you, Miss Jillian,” he whispered. “So...are...you...”

  “Watching you, Adam...” Tom warned from behind with a wink.

  “I am behaving!” Adam said as he removed his hands from Jillian and tossed them in the air. “Better than your son-in-law over there, I must say.”

  “See no evil, hear no evil,” Tom said, purposely ignoring his daughter’s open display of her affection for the man she was about to marry.

  However, it was the interruption of Maggie and Declan, with Father McCarron from St. Patrick's Cathedral, that brought all frivolities to a rather quick pause.

  “Fuck,” Drew said directly into Maxine's ear, making her tingle. “We're all in assloads of trouble now!”

  Maggie and Declan were indeed rather strong supporters of Catholicism but did put their own liberal spin on the religion. In fact, they both adored the new Pope, who supported gay rights and strived to make the faith more accessible to those who might have been hesitant before.

  Maxine was essentially raised without religion but was open to all faiths. For the sake of the McKenzie family, she did agree to a Catholic ceremony. And both Maxine and Drew knew they had to be on their best behavior—although Drew had assured himself that he could work around the clergy.

  “Um...little one?”

  “Yeah?” Maxine murmured.

  “Just stand in front of me. For the time being. And not too close...okay?”

  Shaking that little heart-shaped bottom...right...against him, she teased, knowing he'd punish her later. Oh, she’d never let him live this one down—kissing her until he was hard, then having to face the family priest.

  After searching his pockets, he pulled out his iPhone. “Just take note that my Naughty Sassy Maxine app is readily available and at my disposal at all times.”

  She smacked her lips together, contemplating the
delicious thought. “Can't wait!”

  Just as the Worthingtons hustled in, a few minutes tardy from their somewhat chaotic drive from Manhattan, Drew whispered, “Don’t worry about my erection now. It’s gone.”

  “Buzzkill...” Maxine stretched her neck to look up at him.

  “Well, here she is—Miss America and her groom,” Mike said through those always gritted teeth with a pat on Drew's back.

  Both Maxine and Drew felt their lips freeze in the stoniest, fake smiles. However, they had to be kind for Ben’s sake. The Worthingtons were just those crazy relatives they only had to see upon selected holidays.

  No one was happier than Drew that they wouldn’t be staying beyond the rehearsal dinner. In fact, he’d personally found them a hotel in town. He wanted everyone to enjoy this weekend—especially Ben. Keeping Mike and Mandy at bay was a key detail in the planning of this wedding.

  “So I see things are...getting underway,” Mandy observed, surveying all with a critical eye. Complaints, for once, though, couldn’t find her. From what she could see so far, Maxine and Maggie were about to pull off a stunning affair. “Guess you’ve got it all under control.”

  Maxine nodded. “Maggie has been tireless with her help,” she said, placing a perfunctory kiss upon Mandy’s cheek. “So glad you guys made it—thank you for coming.”

  “Well, we would have been here sooner, but I had a major deal to close this afternoon. Major...” Mike bragged.

  Drew pondered the truth behind those words, but he did note that Maxine was right: Mike’s mouth barely moved when he spoke. “Good for you!”

  “Well, hello, Parents,” Ben stepped into the conversation and gave his mother a kiss without letting Jeffrey’s hand go. At the moment, they all had to muster civility for the sake of Maxine and Drew.

  “You’re all set for tomorrow?” Mandy asked. “How about you, Drew?”

  “I’ve never been so ready for anything in my life,” he said with a genuine smile.

  There was, however, no more time for chitchat, once the twins burst through the French doors. Arms filled with a kicking Lyle, Zoe struggled across the patio with the screaming little boy in her arms. “Where do you want me to put him?”