He took a deep breath when she did. What a story!
“He used his rescue and medical experience to good use and basically rescued her ass. That’s when this crazy picnic fiction gets started. At the hospital, when pressed for a story, Finn acting as her protector blurts out the first thing he thought of.”
“Oh, I get it now,” she replied. “Picnic in the desert, she stumbles and takes a fall. But he’s with her so nothing to see, move along.”
“Exactly,” he said with nodding praise. “She has privacy issues and PTSD quirks. For whatever reason, Finn and Remy are dancing around each other. A dead man could see that they like each other but shit, honey. Both of them are seriously fucked up. But he proved his mettle. I’m proud of him.”
He was chuckling and so was she but there was truth in the statement.
She caught a glimpse of what he’d laid on the counter and started to laugh. Another of the Little Golden Story Books he was so fond of reading to the twins.
“What’s this?” she laughingly teased while reaching for the book. “The Little Mermaid?”
“You have Bella to thank for that,” he replied with a sexy chuckle.
Nice try Major, she quietly thought. Bella might have been the one to introduce him to Ariel but she saw straight through him. First there was the Sword in the Stone. The story of a little boy who grows up to be a leader of men. And now, The Little Mermaid about a red-haired big-hearted hopeless romantic. Did he even realize he was telling the twins their story?
Gently caressing the side of his handsome face she smiled before stroking his nose with her own. Kissing each of his cheeks she sat back. “Did you decide what movie to watch?”
“Yes,” he announced with a manly laugh. Reaching into the pocket of the sweats he pulled out a flash drive.
“If that is porn, you’re a dead man.”
“Better than porn!” he proudly declared. “This, you smarty pants, is the finished version of our wedding and honeymoon video. Just got it back. Four full hours! I just figured with all that we have to look forward to in the new year,” he said with a rub on her belly, “that we should celebrate what a fucking awesome and amazing year we’ve just had.”
How come he was so fantastic and what the hell had she ever done to deserve this wonderful man’s love and devotion?
“Remind me to send your mother flowers.”
He gave her a quizzical look. “Flowers? What for?”
“Because Alexander, you are the best man I’ve ever known and considering the guys in my family, that’s saying a lot.”
He grinned.
So did she.
And then they got serious about honoring the incredible year fading into memory and opening up to the wonder, joys and challenges the New Year would bring.
“You look magnificent, Heather,” Brody murmured close to her ear. “I’m so proud that you’re mine.”
He kissed her cheek and pulled her closer as they rocked and swayed to the music of the live band doing New Year’s Eve duty at a charming and quaint restaurant they were fond of in the center of Sedona.
The sweet contentment and bliss she’d experienced the last week was like nothing Heather dreamed would ever happen to her.
She had a fabulous new home and a dream job. She was surrounded by good, solid, loving people who accepted her with enthusiasm. She was also officially engaged to simply the most wonderful man on the planet. Hell, in the galaxy. And she had a daughter. A daughter who made a formal request to be her mommy similar to her father’s proposal of marriage.
Oh, and not to be overlooked or forgotten was the whole trying to get pregnant thing.
Pregnant! After all those years of believing that children couldn’t be in the cards. Good lord. It didn’t get any better than this.
Thrilled that her fiancé’s romantic side came out to play for the end-of-year holiday, she’d let him spoil her rotten with a sexy new outfit to go with her sparkling Christmas diamonds. And she hadn’t objected in the least when he declared that Bella would be spending the night with Calder and Stephanie who were on Daniel duty for the evening.
He wanted to celebrate this new chapter in their relationship and she was overjoyed by his happiness. Win-win.
She had a problem though. He was so damn handsome and sexy in a three piece suit with his rugged good looks and long hair that she was having a hard time behaving.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured into her ear.
They were still holding each other close and gently swaying as one slow song segued to the next.
“Mmm. For what?” She kept her face pressed into his neck so she could continue breathing him in.
“For being a pig.”
Her head shot up and she searched his face for an explanation. “I don’t understand.”
His smirking grin belied the calm, deliberate, matter-of-fact way he answered.
“Because even on New Year’s Eve, with all these people around, all I can think of is how to pull you into a dark corner and fuck you senseless.”
She gasped and blushed from head to toe.
“Sorry,” he shrugged. “Like I said… pig.”
Laughing, she returned to their dance snuggle and settled comfortably into his embrace.
After a couple more circuits around the dancefloor, they returned to their corner table and sat side-by-side with their backs to the other patrons.
The wine steward appeared and poured them each a flute of Taitinger’s Nocturne Champagne, a vibrant pink concoction that immediately brought a smile to her face.
“Happy?” he asked with a tap of his flute to hers.
“I’ve never know a happiness like this.”
They sat close, whispered words of love and polished off the whole bottle of bubbly while devouring something off the dessert menu called Wicked Chocolate. It was the perfect evening.
At midnight, they laughed and caroused like everyone else. They even wore paper hats and blew into horns as confetti and balloons rained down around them.
She was beautifully and deliciously lit and didn’t care because they weren’t driving. Brody, the darling, had booked them a romantic garden cottage at L’Auberge so they could drink a river of champagne and it wouldn’t matter.
After the countdown and midnight madness they danced for a bit and then made their way back to the table. It was almost time to leave.
Fanning herself as she dropped into her seat, she grabbed hold of Brody’s hand and lost her frickin’ mind at the same time.
“I have something for you.”
“Oh well good,” he replied. “I have something for you too.”
He reached into his suit’s inner pocket while she wiggled out of her panties.
“Here,” she said as the scrap of black dropped in front of him.
His hearty laugh made her giddy. “Well shit, Heather. I don’t know if this is an even trade.” He swiped the panties off a plate, glanced around to see if anyone was watching, held them to his nose, closed his eyes and then shoved them into his pocket.
“Here,” he drawled as an envelope landed in front of her. “If I’d known underwear was on the menu, I would have gone commando after my last men’s room visit just so I could hand off my briefs.”
She laughed because he would have too. Filled with joy and laughter she dug into the envelope and tried to focus. Oh damn. This looked important. Legal. Maybe she should try harder to concentrate.
After another quick sip of champagne, she went through the papers without much luck until one long sentence stood out.
My client requests the court declare her to be a legal guardian of the minor child, Bella Mia Jensen, and furthermore requests a swift final disposition of the pending adoption following Ms. Clarke’s marriage to the minor child’s only living biological parent.
“Brody,” she muttered. “What is this?”
He took her hand, kissed his ring and then pointed to the ring Bella gave her.
“This my love is about our
family. I had Parker draw up adoption papers. He says that without a living mother, plus us getting married and already living together, it will be possible to push the paperwork through.”
“You mean I can be Bella’s real mom?”
“Honey, shit. You are her real mom. This is just legal mumbo jumbo.”
“Oh my god,” she squealed.
“Baby, we are going to have the most fantastic fucking year. We’re gonna get married and put the past legally to rest. This is our time Heather. We’ve waited long enough.”
“I love you so much and I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Hey,” he chided with a tap on her nose. “No more not believing, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed with an emotional sniff.
After kissing her with exquisite tenderness, he cupped the side of her face and smiled into her eyes. “It’s happening, baby. Just like I promised. Happily ever after—guaranteed.”
THE END
EVERLASTING ~ A Family Justice Novel
Spring 2017
Other Books by Suzanne Halliday
The Justice Brothers
Broken Justice
Fixing Justice
Redeeming Justice
Family Justice
Always
Desert Angel
Sanctuary
Unchained
Unforgettable
Wilde Women
Wilde Forever
Wilde Heart
Wilde Magic
The Gideon Affair
The Wedding Affair
The Halliday Ever After Dream Team
Cheryl ~ Fiona ~ Shelly ~ Diane ~ Kelly ~ Dee ~ Christina
Thanks for being awesome
This one’s for you
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.
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Dear Bella: A Family Justice Novella Page 12