Grace’s booming voice rang out. “Nailed it!” She and her husband smacked their raised palms.
Mr. Brewster grumbled, “Dammit. This one cost me a thousand bucks.”
Connie was chortling, and she kept clicking the heels of her shoes together. Then she and her sister broke into a goofy tribal dance.
Jen glanced at Samantha. They both had similar brow-raising expressions.
John and Ryan appeared dumbfounded but amused.
“Someone want to share?” John asked. “Uncle Howie?”
After a smooth routine of fist bumps, handshakes, and gestures with his wife, the heartily laughing older gentleman slung an arm around Connie’s shoulder and grinned.
“This bet was between me and your mom. She insisted she could bring you both to the altar before the end of the year. I thought she was crazy. Knowing my nephews as I do, it seemed farfetched to think either of you would settle down. But I forgot something.”
“Forgot what?” Ryan asked.
“It might be a family trait, but sudden marriages seem to be our thing.”
Grace laughed and threw her hands up. “Hallelujah.”
“I met a cute surfer chick in 1973. It was a Tuesday. Malibu Beach. We got married three weeks later at a wedding chapel in Reno.”
“Your mom and dad did the same thing,” Grace continued. “How’s the legend go, Connie?” she asked. “They met while working on an environmental project in Africa. Greg was the serious-minded philosopher out to change the world while my sister was a free spirit getting her fancy university work project groove on.”
Jen let out a gurgle of laughter at the description.
“They fell in lurve,” Grace teased. “But Greg, he knew that because of who he was, they’d have to play the game.”
“He wouldn’t have it,” Connie told them all with a wistful smile.
“So they snuck off and got hitched overseas and played the a fait accompli card.”
Connie looked at her and Ryan with a sly smile. “Howie and I made the bet last year after I saw the way the four of you acted with each other at the annual holiday party.”
Ryan kissed Jen’s hand. “Oh, you mean how this one managed to somehow,” he said with air quotes, “dump a glass of ice water in my lap.”
She snickered and shrugged. “It’s true,” she admitted. “I guess you could say all that sniping and poking at each other was our courtship.”
Connie blew them a kiss.
“And let’s not forget the Lloyd CEO,” Jen playfully teased. “A big gathering where everyone wanted to talk to him but all he did was stalk poor Samantha.”
The matriarch weighed in. “He also handwrote her Christmas card. I knew when he spent an hour writing out a holiday card that my son was falling in love for the first time.”
Connie wiped away a tear of emotion and went to John. He kissed her cheek and hugged her tight. She looked around at all of them.
“Thank you, Samantha. Thank you, Jenna. I can’t remember the last time we were all so happy. Before Daddy died, for sure.”
Thinking she’d ease the sudden emotion that overcame everyone, Jen tugged on her suit’s jacket and said, “I’m claiming this one.”
Connie and Grace zeroed in on her. “What?” they said in unison.
“John and Samantha.” She sniggered. “I played cupid. Winning!” she declared with a victory wave.
The twins cracked up with laughter.
Samantha asked, “What are we missing?”
The ladies composed themselves, and then Connie explained.
Clicking the heels of her expensive looking shoes together, she looked a little like Dorothy in her ruby slippers.
“Matchmaking is my thing.”
Grace added, “Cupid is her spirit animal.”
Connie shushed her sister and continued. “I was lucky to share being in love with someone as wonderful as Greg Lloyd. Once he was gone, I showered my sons with all that love. I also did what I could when I saw two people who obviously belonged together. That’s why Howie took my bet. He was wagering with Cupid.”
“Cupid in heels,” Howie called out as Connie clicked her shoes.
“You have to teach me that move.” Jen chuckled.
“Me too!” Samantha added.
An emotionally charged, clumsy group hug ensued.
Connie instantly scolded her sons when she straightened.
“You bring me my granddaughter,” she berated John.
Scolding Ryan, she sniffed, “Fur grandbabies count too.”
Jen saw him hesitate and wondered if his mother had too. He was thinking about the odds of them making a baby right out of the gate.
“Shit,” John grumbled. “Now I have to find a new assistant.”
“Pardon my French, Mr. Lloyd,” she bit out, “but fuck that. I’m not quitting just because we got married.”
John’s relief was endearingly palpable. “Really?”
“We might have to discuss her hours, though, bro.”
Samantha wrapped her arm through John’s. “Well, about that. We’ve decided that his schedule needs to change, so he can spend time with his family.”
John surprised the holy hell out of her when he agreed. “I’m going to work remotely at least one day a week. And maybe a half day too. We’ll see.”
“Isn’t this perfect?” Connie muttered in a voice crackling with emotion.
Grace put an arm around her sister. “You know what this means, right?”
“Oh, hush,” Connie snapped.
Jen and Samantha looked at each other. Something new was in the air.
“What are you talking about?” John asked.
“It’s simple, really,” his aunt declared. “Once the boys were happy and married, there’d be no more reason for this one to stay single.”
Connie pushed her away. “I’m not dating. Case closed.”
Ryan said, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Mom, come on. Aunt Grace has a point. Am I right?” he asked everyone.
John chuckled and smacked his hands together. “This has possibilities, guys. We need to find her a man.”
“John!” Connie shrieked.
“What?” He laughed.
Samantha clapped her hands gleefully and waggled her brows at Jen. “We need to talk.”
They giggled, linked their pinky fingers, and then hugged their men.
Clicking their heels, though not quite as perfectly as Connie Lloyd had done, she and her soon-to-be sister-in-law hooted gleefully.
“Cupid in Heels, version two-point-oh. At your service!”
Epilogue
Exactly Nine Months Later
“Thirty seconds,” Ryan called out. “Twenty.”
Jen struggled to stand and kept one hand on her huge belly as she joined her husband.
“Ten. Nine. Eight,” he droned.
She watched the digital clock as the numbers moved to midnight and when the clock buzzed, and a new day started, she and Ryan started celebrating.
They had paper poppers and kazoos along with an abundant supply of sparklers at the ready. Goober ran around yipping happily.
“We made it.” She laughed. “It’s official. Nine months and one day!”
Ryan dropped to one knee and stroked their baby bump. He kissed it again and again and laughed his ass off.
“Granny Carlton can officially calm the F down, now. We passed the naughty test! Whoop, whoop!”
“Oh, man, I gotta sit down,” she mumbled. “My back is killing me.”
“That’s because our son is a big boy,” Ryan crowed.
He helped her get onto the lounger and put a pillow behind her back, and then he sat at the foot of the chair and put her feet in his lap. Goober climbed next to her and put his head on her thigh.
Gently rubbing her feet, Ryan made a bunch of bad jokes about scary mothers-in-law that got her laughing.
She thought back to their impromptu marriage and the past nine months and felt nothing but happine
ss. Their rash behavior simply hastened a happily ever after that felt charmed.
Four months in, right around the time she sported an obvious baby bump, John and Samantha tied the knot. It was a beautiful ceremony for family and friends with Chelsea as the maid of honor. The bride was radiant and the groom an emotional basket case. They were, to borrow an oft-used phrase, cute as hell.
Uncle Howie finished the apartment renovations not long after. By then, of course, the need for a modern nursery was apparent—something that gave her a chance to go to town. The charming junior suite had a window seat that looked into the terrace garden and decorations on the walls that Chelsea helped Jen pick out.
Any day now, their son was due to make his arrival. Now that they’d successfully maneuvered around the nine-month tongue-in-cheek prohibition, she was good to go at any time.
Sooner than later, she thought. Being pregnant was awesome and she had loved every second, but Jen was eager to move on to the next chapter where a baby wrapped in blue would be put in her arms.
“I have to tell you,” Ryan was saying, “that my brother is handling this whole thing better than I thought he would.”
She rubbed her tummy and laughed softly. “They got pregnant like we did. Boom!”
“It’s gonna be so cool having our kids so close together. Cousins!”
“I hope you two aren’t still haggling. You know, hon, it’s John’s right to pass on your dad’s name. And Sam is thrilled with naming their baby Gregory.”
He sighed heavily and switched to her other foot. “Yeah, I know. And you’re right. We’ll use Gregory for a middle name.”
She shifted around, trying to find a comfortable spot.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Yeah, I guess.”
Ryan caressed her bump. Goober raised his head and looked at her expectantly.
“Oh,” she squeaked when a pain shot back and forth across her belly. “That was weird.”
Time slowed. She could hear everyone breathing. Her. Ryan. The dog.
They waited.
A few minutes went by. They started to relax and then another pain ricocheted with more oomph. This time, she grunted rather than squeaked.
Uncertainty gripped Jen. “Ryan?”
He was smiling. “Don’t you worry about a thing, my love. I’ve been practicing,” he proudly drawled.
Whipping out his phone, he called the driver they’d been using.
“We’re off to the races, Carlos. Better bring the car!”
Then he made a series of calls starting with her parents.
“Lynda? It’s Ryan. She’s going into labor.” He listened quietly for a minute then muttered, “Thanks, Mom. I’ll tell her,” and hung up.
“She’ll be on the next flight. Jet Coast charter.”
Next, he rang Connie. “Hey, Grandma. It’s time.”
They talked really quick, and he hung up so he could call John.
“Bro!” he boomed. “I don’t think my wife will be at work for a while.”
She heard John’s excited whoop and smiled.
Jen rubbed her belly and let the waves of happiness washing over her have full rein.
“Okay dokey, Mrs. Lloyd,” her sexy husband gleefully said. “Are you ready to meet our son?”
“Kiss me.”
He immediately took her to paradise for a spin around the heavens with his masterful kiss.
“I love you, Jenna.”
“I love you too, you scruffy rogue.”
He laughed and eased her gently off the chaise lounge. “Let’s go have a baby.”
Very early in the morning, nine months and two days after they married, Ryan and Jenna Lloyd welcomed Shane Gregory Lloyd into the family.
And yes, they really did live happily ever after.
THE END
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Suzanne Halliday writes what she knows and what she loves – sexy contemporary romance featuring strong men and spirited women. Her love of creating short stories for friends and family developed into a passion for writing romantic fiction with a sensual edge. She finds the world of digital, self-publishing to be the perfect platform for sharing her stories and also for what she enjoys most of all – reading. When she’s not on a deadline you’ll find her loading up on books to devour.
No longer wandering because the desert southwest finally claimed her, these days instead of digging out from a snowstorm you can still find Suzanne with 80’s hair band music playing in the background, kids running in and out, laptop on with way too many screens open, something awesome in the oven, and a mug of hot tea clutched in one hand.
Suzanne is the proud mother of USA Today Bestselling Author Ella Fox.
Check out Suzanne’s Facebook & Instagram
Also by Suzanne Halliday
JUSTICE BROTHERS SERIES
Broken Justice
Fixing Justice
Redeeming Justice
Original Justice (novella)
FAMILY JUSTICE SERIES
Always
Desert Angel
Sanctuary
Unchained
Unforgettable
Everlasting
Unstoppable
Enduring
Dear Bella (novella)
Honeymoon Angel (novella)
WILDE WOMEN SERIES
Wilde Forever
Wilde Heart
Wilde Magic
JUSTICE ~ WILDE CROSSOVER
Bishop’s Pawn
Checkmate (novella)
AFFAIR SERIES
The Gideon Affair
The Wedding Affair
STAND ALONE TITLES
Cupid in Heels
Sinful Shares Novellas
Control
Hidden
Forbidden
Enduring (Family Justice Book 8) Page 66