Marianne felt the heat spread across her cheeks. “So the dress…the shoes…”
“All on my Amex.”
“Jane, honestly—”
Her hands flew into the air. “I know. I know, it was risky, but the look on your face when you saw him for the first time…and the way he smiled back at you…I mean, I am Cupid, right? So how could I resist when two people I love so…”
She was the original cake girl. The only one for Nick. The edges of her mouth curved into a half smile. “Oh, Jane.” She jumped out of her chair and threw her arms around her friend’s shoulders. “Statistically speaking, you’re the smartest Cupid in town.”
“Really?” she said, “You’re not mad…”
“I’m not mad,” she said, but Jane was already speaking over her.
“Because he loves you, Marianne. From what I can tell, he loves everything about you. But I think you already know that, too, which means the only real issue left is how do you intend to fix this? Because you are not going to throw away the best man who has ever happened to you.”
Marianne picked up her cup and turned it around so that the words faced her friend. Grande. Passion. Marianne. She smiled over at Jane, her eyes brimming. “You’re right. I’m not.”
…
Nick arrived home to find his ex-fiancée waiting in the hallway outside his condo, holding a picnic basket in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other. She was dressed to kill in a preppy trench coat and a pair of ruby red stilettos, sexy proof that there was no place like home. Her usually perfectly pressed coat sported a few wrinkles, which made him wonder how long she’d been waiting. He hoped not too long, although he knew he’d wait for her forever.
Goddamn, how he loved her.
He approached the door, stood across from her, and waited to hear the words he knew would change his life forever. Because he was ready. Nick was done with the rules. He wanted to take this woman out on back-to-back dates. He wanted to share sleepovers every Sunday during football season. No, every night. Every night for the rest of his life.
Her unwavering blue eyes caught his. “Are you sure about passing on the partnership?”
Nick nodded, knowing he’d never been more certain of any decision he’d ever made. “I’m sure.”
“No regrets?”
“No regrets.” He reached out to straighten the collar of her trench. “Not if I have you.”
“Well, then, counselor.” She dropped her chin and glanced up at him from behind her glasses. “You’re in luck, because I’ve consulted with the ‘legal department’ at Smart Cupid…”
“The ‘legal department’?” He leaned his hip against the doorjamb.
Marianne nodded and kept on talking. “Apparently, the whole ‘fake engagement’ portion of our agreement is totally unenforceable in a court of law.”
“Really?” he said.
“Totally unenforceable,” she said, with a teasing gleam in her eyes, “Love, however, is a different story, love is totally binding.” She tilted her head back and looked up at him, tracing the line of buttons on his shirt with the champagne bottle. “And according to my most recent matrix calculation, after analyzing all the data, I have determined that you love me.”
She bit down on her bottom lip and waited for confirmation.
Down the hallway, the elevator dinged as a smile inched across his face. He took the sapphire and diamond engagement ring out of his pocket. “Marry me?”
Returning his smile with one of her own, Marianne swayed another inch closer. “Did I mention I’m naked underneath this trench?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Can I take that as a legally binding ‘yes’?”
“Yes.” Her whispered answer sent his heart soaring as every piece of the puzzle fell perfectly into place. “Absolutely, yes.”
Nick brushed a kiss across her lips and slipped the ring back onto her finger where it belonged. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Marianne dropped the picnic basket and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, the champagne bottle hard against his back.
Nick gathered her against his chest and pulled them into the doorframe. He planned to tell her about her ex and his conversation with her dad…everything, so that there would never be any secrets between them. He wanted to know why she’d packed up and left, too. But she was here now—home. The rest of the truth could wait until the morning. Until he proved to her how much he loved her—body and soul. Then he’d let go of the past and embrace a permanent future with his anything-but-temporary fiancée.
A future he hoped would last forever.
“Think we’ll make it?” he asked.
She smiled up at him, a mischievous twinkle at the back of her blue eyes. “Statistically speaking, I’m 99 percent sure.”
He tilted his head back and laughed up at the ceiling, happier than he’d ever been, more sure of his commitment to her than of anything he’d ever done. “And the other one percent?”
Eyes never leaving his, Marianne took a step back as her hands dropped to the belt at her waist. She untied the knot and let her coat fall away. “Convince me.”
Epilogue
“The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space.”
—Marilyn Monroe
White and blue twinkle lights reflected against the white canopied tent, and Marianne smiled up at Nick, loving her newly minted husband in his conservative tux and sexy, undone tie. Her voice softened with a hint of wonder. “We did it.”
The band played Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me,” and Nick twirled her around the edge of the parquet dance floor. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“For six weeks?”
“For sixty years,” he said, a look of pure love etched across his handsome face.
A few feet away on a round table covered in white linen sat a three-tiered wedding cake, a custom-made replica of her husband’s birthday cake, complete with a raised pop-out top and a dark-haired groom embracing a bride clad in a silver-sequined dress. On the second tier, nestled under the Brooklyn Bridge, a cupid sat mischievously aiming her arrow up at the unsuspecting couple. The cake was a gift from Jane and Charlie, a sly reminder of how a siren got her man.
With her hand clasped in his, Nick led her off the dance floor and into a corner of the canopy that had been set up on the lawn of her parents’ property. Moonlight streamed at the edges mixing in with the twinkle lights to create a romantic atmosphere that would make even Martha Stewart proud. Pre- or post-parole.
Only three weeks until Nick had to be back at Morgan Wealth Management & Trust. Once the dust settled from the scandal, Dan Morgan came to see Nick’s exemplary honesty and his commitment to Marianne as something positive, offered him a short leave of absence, and put off the partner decision for six months, the implication clear that the firm wanted him to have it once the smoke cleared.
After she’d revealed how Drew had blackmailed her into giving up Nick, he’d been scolded by Dan, since airing such less-than-squeaky-clean laundry could’ve negatively impacted the firm. An excellent result from her standpoint and, best of all, there were no secrets between them. Now they had twenty-one days, seven hours and approximately thirty-five minutes left to enjoy their honeymoon, and Marianne intended to make the most of every second.
Nick drew her into his arms and brushed a kiss across her lips. “About time to leave, Mrs. Wright,” Nick said, adjusting her glasses against the bridge of her nose. “Are you ready?”
“One more minute.” Her eyes filled with tears as she glanced around the beachside tent full of her friends and family. Dad held her mom in his arms as she gazed up at him, laughing alongside her father’s parole officer, who looked pretty cozy with Nick’s mom. Across the room, Dan showed off a few card tricks, clearly determined to take Marianne for a pretty penny at the firm’s next casino night. Cupid and her man, Charlie, huddled together in a sexy clinch at their table, and while her new bro
ther-in-law hadn’t been able to make it to the States for the party, he’d sent a case of champagne and a copy of his book on love. Not that they’d need it. Like the matrix said, they shared a forever kind of love. Nothing temporary about it.
Marianne had been a quiet, lonely kid, her head full of computer code and numbers, but no statistical equation could explain the joy she felt tonight surrounded by a wide circle of friends and family. She smiled over at Nick, happier than she’d thought possible. “Ready, Mr. Wright.”
Nick nodded and, across the makeshift room, the band announced the departure of the bride and groom, bursting into their version of Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars.” As the music filled the night air, Nick pulled her into a swift, passionate kiss before grabbing her hand to race through the gathering crowd of friends and family.
Confetti rained down on them, and she turned to blow her parents a kiss. A lump in her throat, she lifted her Marilyn-inspired, satin Vera Wang gown to climb into the Alfa Romeo and her ruby red heels sparkled in the moonlight. As the happy cheers continued from the edges of the tent, Marianne settled into the car beside her husband. Her husband. How she loved the sound of those words.
Nick chuckled at the handwritten sign, anchored to the back of the car, Smart Cupid Approved. Eyes filling, he turned to give his sister one last wave before settling into the driver’s seat. “Think we should break the speed limit?” he asked. “Just this once?”
Marianne smiled over at him. “If it means starting the honeymoon sooner…”
Nick waggled his eyebrows, revved the convertible’s engine, and took off down the pebbled driveway toward Ocean Avenue. Marianne looked up at the star-studded sky, but she didn’t have one wish. Behind them, a collection of tin cans clanked against the road, and a dozen heart-shaped balloons reached toward the heavens, as they raced toward what Marianne knew would be life’s greatest adventure—love.
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Acknowledgments
Once upon a time, in a faraway land called the ‘Burgh, a hapless author got lucky. No, not that kind of lucky—rather, she was fortunate enough to connect with a talented editor whose cool is unsurpassed. And so, my endless thanks to Vanessa Mitchell, fab editor and awesome chick. Your ideas and encouragement spur my imagination, and your patient feedback keeps me on track when I’d veer off course. I thank my lucky stars for you.
Big thanks also to Elley Arden, and fellow Entangled authors, Robin Bielman and Samanthe Beck for diving into the first draft of this story with big hearts. Unexpectedly His is better because of you. I only aspire to one day rise to the level of your crazy talents.
A special thank you to Kyle of mantelligence.com for allowing me to freely quote his masculine wisdom and for being my go-to source for all things manly. You are adored.
It’s funny, but one of my favorite aspects of the first two Smart Cupid books is the friendship between Marianne and Jane. I love how they support and challenge and encourage and frustrate, but ultimately love, one another. Melissa Smith-Beckner, my BFF of thirty-seven years, thank you—for the inspiration, for everything. And finally, to Micah, my first and oldest bestie, my longtime supporter, I love you.
Lastly, thank you to my husband and two little boys for still recognizing me when I stumble up from the basement, unshowered and bleary-eyed and looking for pizza. There’s no one I love more in the world.
About the Author
After ten years of survival, aka working, in Hollywood, this former actress and current author of sexy contemporary romance is living happily-ever-after in Pittsburgh with her longtime sweetie, AKA Husband Number 1, and their two punky kids. When not carpooling to birthday parties or testing her gourmet cooking skills by throwing a frozen pizza into the oven, Maggie daydreams about sneaking off to Vegas or Napa, or even just the movies. A love of red wine, Italian food, and music round out her list of life’s greatest joys. Oh, and Tuesday night karaoke, totally underrated fun.
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Unexpectedly His Page 16