by Mia Madison
“It’s good to know that if we meet up again, there’ll not be that big gray elephant in the room,” I say to Lara as we walk back to get the car.
“Yes, I wouldn’t want you to run out on me again. My family would start to think it was something of a habit.”
“No, I’ll never run at the sight of Jenny again, which is just as well.”
Lara looks at me. “Why?”
“I thought we’d invite her and Richard to our wedding.”
“Our wedding?”
“Yes, I thought we might get married next summer. If you want to.”
Lara shrieks. “You’re crazy! It’s too soon. We’ve only known each a couple of months.”
“I am crazy, you’re right. Crazy about you. We can take it slow, if that’s what you want. I don’t want to rush you. I love you, Lara.”
“I love you, too. But don’t give me shocks like that. There’s fast and there’s supersonic speed.”
“I think I shocked myself. It just came out. I should have planned a better proposal somewhere more romantic than a wine bar parking lot. You might have said yes, then.”
“I haven’t said no, yet. I just said you were crazy and fast. That’s all true. And besides, you didn’t ask me a question. You just said you thought we might get married. What type of proposal is that?”
“Are you thinking about saying yes?”
“Yes.” She sucks in a breath. “I can’t believe I said that but...” She throws her arms around me and buries her face in my chest. Then she looks up. “Ask me properly. With a question.”
“How does it go again?” I tease. “Oh, I know. Will you marry me and be my wife forever and ever?”
“Good question. Yes, I will.” And with that and the long kiss that follows, the wine bar parking lot becomes one of my favorite places in the world.
Lara
I’ve never been interested in weddings up until now. I didn’t even particularly like going to them, but I’m getting really into it now I’m planning my own. I have Pinterest boards full of everything you can think of. Mom and Jessica share my enthusiasm. Ewan just rolls his eyes and distracts me with kisses and more.
Soon after Ewan proposed, I gave up my weekend job. I wasn’t getting to see him nearly enough, as well as have time to plan for our wedding. But shortly after I gave notice at the café, Ewan asked me to move in with him, and I get to see him all the time now.
“I could go and get my job back. They said I could work there any time,” I say.
But he won’t dream of it. “You were wearing yourself out with all those jobs. And if you want to do that, I have other ways to assist.” And he waggles his eyebrows and makes me laugh. “Seriously, you know my house is your house, right?”
I love living with Ewan at his house in town. Though it’s not the same as having my own place, and I think Toby misses the country walks, being with Ewan all the time makes up for any of that. He lets me rearrange the furniture, and I brought a lot of my things from the old place so it’s more like home. It’s just that I feel like I moved into his place. And he knows it.
A couple of weeks after I move in, he comes home with paperwork from his lawyer. “I know I’m a good landlord. I allow all the pets you want, and I never charge rent. But you told me why you had all those jobs. And I can do something about that. This house is not going to be mine any longer, but ours.”
“Ewan! You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. My lawyer says that too, but I wanted to do it. Sign the paperwork, and it’s yours as well as mine.”
But somehow, I never get around to signing those papers.
Ewan doesn’t let it rest, though. A few weeks after he brought the paperwork home, he says, “I’ve been thinking. How about we go house-hunting this weekend, and we choose something together that’s definitely ours and not mine?”
All I can do is give him an extra big hug. Sometimes, there are not hugs enough to show how much I love him and what he means to me.
That weekend we find our perfect house. It’s just outside the town center on the edge of the river. I can stroll to work along the river bank, and there are some great places to take Toby for a walk.
*
“At least you haven’t turned into one of those Bridezillas,” Jessica says, as we browse through wedding magazines one night at her place, looking for party favor ideas, and a gift for my flower girl. Rita’s daughter Sophie is going to scatter a basket of petals. We’re still not sure if daisies are going to work, but we are going to try it out.
“You’re not trying to control absolutely everything,” Jessica says. “Just as well, because the best bits of weddings are when things go wrong.”
“What’s going to go wrong?” I panic. “I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“It won’t. Don’t worry,” she says. “Everything will be just fine. You did get Ewan to invite all his single firemen buddies, didn’t you, not just the families?”
“Yes, we’ve invited all the ones that are not working on the day. Some of them will just be there for part of it—the ceremony or the evening reception depending on their shifts.”
“You see,” she says, her eyes twinkling. “It’s going to be great, whatever happens.”
“Great for you, you mean.” I laugh and hug her, because I know she wants it to be a special day for me and Ewan. But I want her to have a good time too. I’ve arranged one thing I haven’t told her about, and I think she’s going to love it.
*
The weather is perfect on the day I marry Ewan, much like the sunny day I first met him when he washed my car. I love my dress. The rich embroidery and little buttons down the back are to die for, and my flowers are peach roses just like Ewan first bought me. Jessica helped pick her own dress. It’s a very simple sleeveless style in cream that is the exact color of mine. The bodice has an edging of peach beading to match my flowers.
We finish our hair and makeup and help each other into our dresses in plenty of time, which must be a first for Jessica. I can hardly breathe with excitement and nerves.
Ewan is going to meet me at the door of the church. Instead of anyone giving me away, we are going to walk in together as singles and out as man and wife.
“I knew you’d want to do something different,” Ewan says when I suggest it. “But I like it.” He doesn’t know the other thing I have up my sleeve. The surprise I arranged knocked Jessica out too. She’s full of glee on the way to the church.
As we pull up at the old parish church in the village where I grew up, I catch Ewan’s eye, and he bursts out laughing.
Jessica and I are riding on the back of an ancient fire truck. Thankfully, the car I had waiting in case of bad weather lies unused. Four of the guys from Ewan’s crew are on there, including Gavin, Jessica’s favorite from the car washing day. He’s the one who helps her up the ladder when we climb onto the truck at home and helps her down at the church. I notice him whispering something in her ear. “He said he would see me at the reception,” she tells me later.
But for now, I don’t worry about what Jessica is doing or what Gavin is saying, because I only have eyes for Ewan, looking gorgeous as ever, this time in his suit. He lifts me down from the truck as if I weigh nothing.
“You look beautiful,” he says. “Even with that smudge on your nose.” He wipes the evidence of my journey on top of the truck away and kisses me.
“Are you ready? he asks. “I don’t want to rush you.”
“Can’t be too fast,” I say. He takes my arm, and we walk through the arch the firefighters have made to lead us to the ancient oak door of the church.
THREE YEARS LATER
“Are you sure you and Gavin will be okay?” I ask Jessica.
“Yes, we’ll be fine. Go out and enjoy your anniversary dinner. How much trouble can three babies be?” And we both burst out laughing, because we both know how much trouble they are.
I gave birth to these little terrors—two boys and a girl—almost
a year ago now. Ewan and I didn’t even have twins in either of our families and now triplets! He said that was me being different again. One baby at a time was just what everyone else did. But he loves us all to bits. It seems like I started off with three jobs and now I have three babies—more than a full-time job.
It’s the first time we’ve been out together without having both of our mothers babysitting at the same time. Luckily, they get along. I don’t know how I’d have managed without them. But Ewan’s parents are on vacation in Spain, so Jessica volunteered and dragged Gavin along.
She says it will be good practice for him “for later.” I know she’s hoping they’ll have a family soon after they get married in the spring.
“I hope it doesn’t put him off for good,” I say, just before Gavin arrives. He’s coming straight from the station.
“Oh, but look, their outfits! How can all that cuteness put him off?”
I put the “My Dad’s a fireman” sleep suits on the babies tonight. They wriggled about just as much as ever as I dressed them for bed. They didn’t care what the slogans said. But maybe Gavin will like them.
Ewan and I put on our coats and escape out of the door.
“You look beautiful, tonight,” he says. “You wore that black dress for me? It’s still my favorite.”
“You just like taking it off me.”
“Just like the first time.” We laugh and I remember how it was with him in my cottage just a few years ago. And how it’s even better now. We have been getting more sleep lately, and what a difference that makes.
“My dress will wear out eventually.” I’ve already noticed some of the seams inside fraying a little.
“Some things will never wear out. Me. You. Us.” He takes my hand and kisses my fingers, and I melt inside.
He still has that effect on me, even now, three years later, and I think he always will.
I kiss him and hold his hand tight, and then he helps me into the car, and we set off for our anniversary dinner.
*****
ALSO BY MIA
See links below for super sexy stories by Mia—all scorching hot and steamy head-over-heels insta-romances with no cheating, a happy ever after and satisfaction of the dirtiest kind guaranteed.
Fireman series
My Filthy Fireman, Playing with Fire, Burning for You, On Fire,
Babysitter Wanted, Caught by the Fireman, My First Time Fireman
Dad's Best Friend Stories
Marcus Mine, Latin Spice, Forever My Lady, Zayum Zaddy, Dad’s Billionaire Buddy, A Day and Forever, Falling for the Star, His Shy Librarian, My Secret Crush, Dad’s Royal Buddy, Hot Single Dad
Naughty Boss Stories
My Dad’s Boss, Bossy Christmas Party, My Boss’s Boss, Business with Pleasure, Bossy Valentine, Dangerous Curves Ahead, Bossy Daddy, Forbidden Intern, The One and Only
Adamo Family series
Tempting Tonio, Kissing Kosta, Craving Carlo, Vexing Victor, Reaching Rico
Lone Wolf Dreaming Dante
Sexy Professor Stories
What Happens in Vegas Late Night Confessions
Other Older Man / Younger Woman stories
Bossy Billionaire, Weekend in Paradise, Head Over Heels
Love At First Sight series
Touch & Taste, Work & Play, Protect & Serve, Wants & Needs
Bend & Break Past & Present
Foxworth Ranch series
My Cocky Cowboy, The Blacksmith, The Cowboy’s Virgin Princess, The Polo Prince
Check out Mia’s Amazon author page for the complete list of titles
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In the mood for something decadent, delicious, and provocative? Meet Mia Madison, purveyor of Forbidden Fantasies Romance. Come in, sit back, and relax. The candles are lit, and the dancing shadows on the wall promise sexy, seductive tales of spine-tingling love, leading to a pleasure-drenched happy-ever-after.
You'll discover young women eager for experience, who have scorching encounters with older men who know exactly what they're doing between the sheets. In Mia Madison's world, anything can—and does—happen. So, leave your inhibitions at the door and come along for the ride.
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