“As much as I’m not happy to lose my best client, I do actually like your idea. It’s gonna be a business adventure, that’s for sure.”
“Well, I was hoping to get my best agent on board,” I say with a grin, which I know she can hear in my voice. She’s used to my grinning pleads.
“You know I can’t say no to you, asshole.”
“That’s the attitude I love.”
We finish hashing out some details, but I don’t want to get too much into right now. Not when I have more important plans. I schedule a business meeting with her for another time and hang up.
I walk down the hallway to find Ceci in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. She gracefully walks from the fridge to the counter and back again, putting the creamer away. I watch as she grabs a spoon and stirs the creamer in, her body so relaxed and flawless.
I walk quietly behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, resting my chin on her shoulder.
“Glad to see you finally got out of bed.” I kiss under her ear, feeling a shiver run down her body.
“At least someone is,” she teases. “I’m going to have to call my boss and see if I still have a job,” she groans.
“Why wouldn’t you have a job?”
“Because, after two weeks, I up and left. Doesn’t make me look very good for an employee of the year award.”
“I’d give you an employee of the year award…”
“Shut up.” She laughs, spinning around to face me with her cup of coffee in hand. “I’m serious.”
“All right, all right.” I hold my hands up in protest. “I told you I called him and made arrangements. It’s fine. He just said to have you call when you got back.”
She narrows her brows at me, suspiciously. “How’d you get him to agree to giving me the time off anyway?”
“I told him the truth—that I was taking you for a surprise getaway.” She puts a hand on her hip, not believing me. “And I might’ve promised him some promotional shoots.” I begin walking backward, ready for her to come at me at any moment.
“Bentley!” she squeals. “I told you not to get involved in my work.”
“Technically, I didn’t. I asked him what it would take to get you some time off. And I wasn’t about to say no when that’s what he asked for.”
Her scowl turns into a smirk as she fights to show that she’s mad at me. “Fine,” she breathes out. “Last time!” she warns, pointing a finger at me.
We eat our late lunch and finish drinking our coffee before we head out to the courthouse. In order to officially elope, we’ll need to get our marriage license and plan a date with her friends to go down there to make it legal. I don’t care what a piece of paper says—to me, she’s my wife. But for legal reasons, I want to make sure it’s official.
“Ready?” I ask, handing her the pen. She nods with a huge smile on her face.
“I think it’s a little late to back out now, Mr. Leighton.” She forcefully grabs the pen from me, ready to sign the document the woman prepared for us.
“Technically, you could back out,” I tease. “But I wouldn’t let you get very far.”
She signs her name, dramatically signing ‘West’ for the last time. “I think that’d be an understatement,” she mocks.
Since there isn’t a waiting period for Nebraska, we can get married right away. Fortunately, when I called to make an appointment, they had one free timeslot this afternoon after someone apparently canceled.
“Cora knows it’s at four, right? It’s quarter till and she’s not here,” I ask, worried.
“Yeah, she knows. She likes being fashionably late.”
“Should I be worried?” She turns and gives me a questioning look. “That she’ll murder me for taking you to elope?” I clarify.
“No.” She laughs. “Once I told her, she said it was very romantic.” She smiles. “Plus, her and Simon eloped, so she’s just glad she doesn’t have to be a fat bridesmaid.” I pull my brows together, wondering what the hell that means. “Oh, shit.” She covers her mouth. “She was keeping that a secret.” I pull back slightly, pretending to be upset she’s keeping a secret from me. “Secrets from my best friend don’t count as keeping secrets,” she says matter-of-factly.
I let out a light laugh, not really minding she let that information slip. “Well, I’ll expect a thank you from her then.”
Cora comes barreling in, squealing and running with her arms wide open. It’s one of those overly dramatic slow motion affects where two people run in toward each other.
“I can’t believe you!” Cora wraps her arms around Ceci tightly, swinging her side to side. “God, I’m so excited.”
“What about me?” I put a hand to my chest, pretending to be mad I’m being ignored.
“All right, fine. You did good—so I heard.” She gives me a quick hug before releasing. “Plus, now I can scratch that diet.” She grins in all seriousness.
Simon and I exchange quick hellos before we rush to the elevator and make it to the courtroom just in time.
The ceremony is quick and a lot less romantic than our first one, but I don’t care. All I want is for everyone to know she’s mine.
As soon as the judge announces us as husband and wife, I grab her face and pull her in for a long, passionate kiss.
“Hells yeah!” Cora cheers from behind, causing Ceci to laugh mid-kiss. I shake my head, giving her lips one last peck.
As soon as we get back to the car, I pull Ceci’s hand to my chest. “Time to put those rumors to rest.”
I grab my cell phone and take a selfie of us holding our hands up with our rings on full display. I upload it to my Instagram with the caption, “This happened!”
* * *
It takes my mother all of forty-two minutes before she calls and begins screaming at me. Apparently, I’ve ruined her life and I owe her the wedding she’s planned.
The picture went viral in less than three hours. Tabloids captioned, “Our favorite couple finally wed!” and “Bentley Leighton, officially off the market!” First, they trash our relationship with speculated rumors and now, they were sending their congratulation wishes.
Chapter Eighteen
Cecilia
The honeymoon is over
ONCE NEWS GOES live, both of our phones begin blowing up with calls and texts. My mom and Tony are actually very happy for us. She knew I was stressing out with the planning, so she’s glad I won’t have to worry about that. Katelynn was a bit jealous she wasn’t there, but now she says I can put all my focus into helping plan hers instead. It was hard to argue with that so I agreed. Casey said she was taking the next flight out of L.A. to come yell at me, which I laughed it off at first until she showed up at my door.
“How could you not invite your big sister?” she yells at me, once again. She crosses her arms over her chest as she leans back in the office chair across from me. “I mean, I’m supposed to be there next to you, watching my baby sister give herself away and all that.” She continues to ramble keeping me from working on my second day back.
I roll my eyes at her, not even sure how to explain my decision. It obviously wasn’t planned, but I’m beyond grateful that Bentley knows me well enough to know that it was exactly what I wanted.
“I guess I have many reasons. First, I really wasn’t even getting a say in the planning. It took a lot of the fun out of it. Second, I didn’t want something big and over the top—yet again, I wasn’t getting a say in that. And even if I had been able to do all that, imagine planning the perfect wedding, Casey,” I pause briefly. “Imagine the flowers, the music, the bright, gorgeous colors. Imagine the perfect dress. The veil and shoes. I mean, it’s stunning, right?” She nods, agreeing with everything I’m saying, but not understanding where I’m going with this. “Imagine that perfect scenario and having no one to walk you down the aisle,” I breathe out. Thinking of my dad brings up emotions I’ve tried to push back so I’m not constantly dwelling on them. “I didn’t bring it up to Bentley, but imagin
e that perfect moment until you realize your dad isn’t there to give his little girl away. Imagine that moment and how you should feel happy but all you can feel is sadness because he’s not there. Through all the planning and appointments, it was all I could think about. And then, when Bentley surprised me, it felt like a sign. I could be happy on my wedding day. I could enjoy saying my vows to the man standing in front of me without the feeling that something was missing, that I was empty. It allowed me to focus on just me and him.”
I don’t stop until I get it all out of my system. If anyone could understand, it should be her.
“Wow, sis,” she breathes out. “I guess I didn’t think about it that way. I just saw all the great advantages you were getting with Mrs. Leighton helping plan and thought you were just being a little brat.” She giggles lightly.
“Trust me, that is not an advantage.”
“All right, all right. I get it.” She grins. “So are you having a reception or anything?”
I shrug because we haven’t really talked about it. Bentley’s been dodging his mother as much as possible, but I know we’ll have to give her some answers soon.
“If we do, we’ll plan it, but for another date. I want something small and intimate, not something big and extravagant, and that’s the only thing Mrs. Leighton knows how to do.”
“Well, will you please send me an invite to that one at least?” she mocks in all seriousness.
“Yes.” I laugh. “Now leave. I’m supposed to be working.”
“All right. But we should talk later.”
My brows rise in curiosity. “Bad?”
“No, not bad. Just some changes I’m thinking of making,” she says slyly.
I tilt my head to get a better look at her stomach, wondering if that’s part of the change she’s making.
“Stop it. I’m not pregnant.” She scowls.
I put a hand up. “Just checking.”
We make plans to meet up later that night over dinner so we can talk before she finally heads out. I make a check list of everything I need to get done. One including speaking to Mrs. Leighton and apologizing for the email I sent her—we still haven’t spoken since then. And now, making her cancel all the plans she made for the wedding. Now that I think of it, she might not want to talk to me ever again.
* * *
It’s almost lunch time when I hear Jason’s voice out in the locker room. I’m catching up on training materials so I haven’t done much of anything else. I was surprised to see that Coach Tanner had an office ready for me when I returned. As soon as I was done, I’d be back to working with the players in strengthening and conditioning in preparation for their upcoming games.
“Hey, Cecilia,” Jason greets, popping his head in.
“Hey!” I smile wide. “What brings you here?”
“Just stopping in to see my uncle. He wanted to meet for lunch.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” I say genuinely. “Any luck on the job hunt?”
“Yeah, I think my uncle’s going to hire me as an assistant coach.”
“Oh, awesome!”
“Yeah, it’s not much, but I’ll take it for now.”
“Hey, it’s something. Can’t complain about that.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” I hear Bentley’s voice from behind Jason suddenly. I do a double take as I he comes up directly behind him.
Jason turns around, intimidated by Bentley’s size. “Hi, Jason, right?” Bentley asks, a tint of harshness in his tone.
“Right.” Jason bows out, nodding at me. “Well, see ya later.”
“Later,” Bentley calls out, not letting me get a word in.
Bentley comes in and grabs my face, kissing me deeply. “I brought you lunch.”
“You did?” I ask surprised.
“I thought you’d like the company. You know, lunch with your husband is what you do when you’re married,” he states matter-of-factly.
“Oh.” I laugh. “If you say so.” I grin. “What did you bring me?”
“Tuna fish on rye and a pickle.”
“Ohh, thank you.” I grab the bag from his hand and empty the contents on my desk. “Aren’t you going to eat?” I ask, noticing he didn’t bring anything for himself.
“No, I’m heading to the gym this afternoon. I’ll have a protein shake afterward, instead.”
I narrow my brows at him. “So, you came to watch me eat?”
He shrugs, grinning. “Yeah. I missed you.”
“Aw, husband points.”
“I don’t need points, sweetheart. I already won the prize.”
* * *
Our work lunches continue like this for a couple weeks. Jason and I end up sharing an office since there really wasn’t an open position, but his uncle gave him one anyway. It really doesn’t matter because I’m hardly in my office anymore unless one of the players has set up an appointment with me to discuss nutritional habits.
Bentley has been quite vocal on his feelings regarding Jason and me sharing an office. He has no reason to be concerned, but I understand his discomfort for it.
“Hey, Jason!” I call out, running up to meet him. “Wait up. I’ll walk with you.” I nudge him in the arm when I finally catch up to him. “Thanks for waiting, punk.”
“Sorry.” He laughs. “I’ve been training with the team lately, so I can’t afford to slow down.”
I give him a questioning look. “Training for what?”
“I want to run a marathon in the near future, but I needed some motivation. So coming in early helps.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. Good for you.”
“So how are things with you? Any news?”
“News?” I narrow my brows. “I see you every day. If there were news, you’d know.”
“Okay, just checking.” He smiles.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Just ask me, Jason. We’re friends. You can ask me anything.”
His shoulders relax as he finally comes clean. “Okay, fine. I wanted to ask about Casey, but without sounding like a creeper.”
“Casey? My sister, Casey?” I squeal, giddily. She’s been coming to visit me at work a few times ever since she dropped the bomb that she was moving back to Omaha. Apparently, she caught her boyfriend cheating on her with her roommate and her roommate is a guy. So that was quite the surprise.
“See? I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
I step in front of him, making him stop. “No, tell me. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” He finally stops walking and starts talking.
“Okay, I think I might, well, she’s pretty attractive,” he stumbles.
I try to conceal my laughter, but I can’t. It’s just too cute seeing him all flustered.
“Shit, Jason. You like her, a lot.”
“I hate you.” He pushes around me and starts walking again.
I chase after him, laughing. His cheeks are tinted pink as I’ve clearly embarrassed him.
“Okay, I’m done. I’m sorry. You want me to set you up? I can give her your number? Oh, my god, you two would be the cutest couple.”
“I don’t do…girl, Cecilia,” he pouts as we make our way to our office. “I don’t girl talk, so just stop it.”
I smirk, finding it entirely sweet he likes Casey. I was worried he wasn’t taking the news of the sudden wedding well. After I returned to work and it got around, he began acting weird around me. Although I always said we were just friends, I truly never knew if he had different feelings than I did.
“Well, I’ll invite her for lunch today. You can do the rest and I’ll stay out of it.” I lift my hands up in promise. He contemplated it for a moment before nodding his head in approval. “Great!” I clap my hands dramatically. “It’s a date.” I wink, making him shake his head at me.
Bentley
I’ve been networking with all my contacts since we got back from St. George. Ceci’s been busy with work, and I’ve chosen to stay home and work back in my office again—for now. I
have been setting up a team of agents, photographers, and designers before officially starting up my new project. It’s going to take some time getting everything finalized and ready, but when it’s finally time, it’ll all be worth it.
I grab myself another cup of coffee from the kitchen when I realize Ceci forgot her purse. I could call her and ask if she needs it, but I decide I’ll stop by Starbucks first and grab her favorite drink and bring it back to her. The break from sitting at my desk will be nice.
I’m walking in with her caramel latté in one hand and her purse hanging from my other hand when I spot Jason sitting on Ceci’s desk leaning toward her and laughing. I don’t know what it is about that guy, but now he’s crossed the line.
I barge in, startling them both. I drop her purse on the floor and set her coffee on the table. Heat is steaming from my entire body as I eye in on Jason.
I point at him and say through seething teeth, “What the fuck are you doing?” I don’t give him time to respond before I grab him by the collar and force him up against the wall.
Chapter Nineteen
Bentley
I SEE RED the second I see him that close to her and my body instantly reacts, my mind not exactly catching up to what I’m doing. I pin him against the wall, his face filled with shock and horror.
Jason isn’t a little guy. He could easily give me a run for my money, but in that moment, rage and adrenaline take over enough to take him off guard.
“What are you doing?” I hear Ceci yell behind me, but I don’t answer her.
“I don’t know what kind of sick fantasy you have about my wife, but you need to back the FUCK OFF. You’re constantly around her when she’s clearly taken. Next time, I’ll be doing a lot more than just slamming you against the wall. Are we clear?” I seethe, feeling the vein in my forehead popping with intensive anger.
“Bentley, put him down! He wasn’t doing anything!” she pleads, concern laced in her voice.
“Yeah, man, it’s not what you’re thinking. I swear,” he says calmly. Almost too calm.
The Intern Serials: Complete Box Set Page 41