In a matter of a minute, he held a dozen roses and a diamond ring in his hands. He gazed up at her. “I love you so much. Will you marry me?”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and her whole face felt like it would split with the smile she couldn’t contain. She nodded, her tears splashing her face. “Yes.” Her voice sounded like she hadn’t used it in years.
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” she said again, louder.
He slid the ring on her finger, his hands warm and wonderful against hers. She gazed at it, took the roses from him, and melted right into his arms. He kissed her, and she didn’t even care there was a huge group of people watching. They cheered and music started, and then they were surrounded by all the people that cared about them most.
Twenty
Lawrence entered Fisher’s penthouse a few minutes after their Nine-0 meeting was supposed to start. Nothing was official, and their meetings didn’t have a schedule. But every eye was still drawn to him, and he smiled as he moved over to the counter and picked up two cans of Dr. Pepper.
“Hey, Fish,” he said to the man standing there. “How’s the baby?”
“Doing so great.” Fisher grinned and lifted his water bottle to his lips. “What about you? Getting married tomorrow.” He glanced at Lawrence, who nodded.
“Yeah. Ready.” Lawrence was more than ready. Beyond ready. It had been a great ten months with Maizee as his fiancée, but it had been ten months. He was dying to start his life with her as his wife, but she’d needed time to plan every detail. And if there was one thing he knew about Maizee, it was that she was crazy about details.
While her sister had been married in their parent’s backyard, Maizee had chosen to stay here in Getaway Bay and have a beach wedding right here at Sweet Breeze. She’d hired Your Tidal Forever to plan her wedding, and Lawrence had gone to tastings for cake, meetings to pick out centerpieces, and appointments to go over invitations.
The only thing he hadn’t done was help Maizee with her dress. She said she didn’t want him to see her in it until she was walking down the aisle, and he’d agreed.
“And you’re giving up the penthouse,” Fisher said.
“Yeah,” Lawrence said. “She has a great backyard, and it’s….” He wasn’t sure what it was about her place that he liked so much. Maybe just that she was there. “I’ll miss Linus and Isabella,” he said, changing the subject. “But I invested in the Orcas, and we got box seats together, so I’ll still get to see them.” The team hadn’t had a great first season, but Linus was convinced they just needed a few years to get established. They’d just hired an ex-quarterback as their new offensive coach, and Linus was overly excited about having McCoy Armstrong on the staff.
“Well, we’ll all be there,” Fisher said. “Stacey says Jonah is fine to be around people now.”
“You sure?” Lawrence asked. “I mean, I want Stacey there, but not if the baby is sick. We understand.”
“She says it’s okay,” Fisher said. “So we’ll be there.” He grinned at Lawrence and said, “I need to go talk to Marshall for a sec. See you tomorrow.”
“See you.” Lawrence’s stomach swooped. Tomorrow. He was finally getting married tomorrow.
Tomorrow came quickly in a string of days that had seemed to take forever to pass. He adjusted his cufflinks and looked in the mirror. Behind him, his father did the same thing, fixing all the pieces of his suit and his shirt before joining Lawrence.
“Thanks for having me,” he said for probably the tenth time that day.
Instant annoyance sprang through Lawrence, but he kept his voice even when he said, “Of course.” He didn’t need to be thanked for inviting his own family to his wedding. He was a bit surprised they’d all made the journey across the ocean, but he’d been nothing but grateful and helpful, putting them all up in Sweet Breeze and going back and forth to the airport to pick them all up.
His mother and sisters had been in town for a few days, and he’d only left them alone for an hour to attend his Nine-0 Club meeting the previous day. Maizee had taken them to lunch, and they were with her in the bride’s room.
Sudden nerves hit him, and he couldn’t wait to get out on the beach.
“I wasn’t sure you’d ever get married,” his dad said, and Lawrence suppressed a sigh.
“Yeah, well, Gladstone Financial takes a lot time and energy.” He met his dad’s eyes in the mirror for a brief moment. He didn’t need to justify anything to his father, and what good would it do to tell him that it was partially his fault Lawrence had believed a marriage could never work?
After all, the man had been married four times. So Lawrence smiled and said, “It’s probably time,” before turning and walking over to the door. He cracked it, having been given very specific instructions from a woman named Charlotte that he was not to exit before she gave him the signal.
The hallway outside was empty, and he closed the door again. From the window, he could see the set-up on the beach, and the ceremony would take place under the same pergola where he’d proposed.
Maizee had changed the pink and blue streamers out for gold and navy blue, with a hint of hunter green. She wanted it to echo Christmas without screaming with red and green. Chairs had been set up and extra tents erected to cover them.
People moved around down there, probably guests taking their seats. He wished he could get the window open so he could hear the ocean, but he supposed the wedding music would drown out the waves.
Someone knocked on the door, startling him away from the paradise before him. He answered the door to find Charlotte standing there. “Ready, Mister Gladstone?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She gave him a smile and said, “You can go on down. All the way to the altar, like we discussed. You’re using the main bank of elevators. Please don’t deviate from that, okay?”
“All right,” he said, twisting to call over his shoulder, “Come on, Dad.”
Charlotte leaned closer and said in a whisper, “His seat is on the very end of the second row, on the right.”
“Thank you,” Lawrence said, and she left before his dad could cross the room to him. “Let’s go, Dad.” They made their way down the hall and onto the appointed elevator. Lawrence didn’t wear shoes, which he was glad for when he stepped onto the sand. He directed his father to the correct seat, which was far enough from his mother to appease everyone.
He crossed over to the other corner of the crowd, where his mother sat with both of his sisters, their husbands, and all of his nieces and nephews. “Hey, guys.” He gathered all the kids into a group hug amidst giggles. “You ready for this boring party?”
“It’s not boring,” Lois said, patting the chair for her son to come sit back down. “This is the best wedding we’ve been to, right Mom?”
“The food is so good here,” his mother said, and Lawrence leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“I’m so glad you guys came.”
“You’ll be here for a few more days, right?” Lawrence hadn’t really paid too much attention to their plans post-wedding, as he and Maizee were traveling over the next couple of weeks for their honeymoon. She’d planned a trip to Europe, somewhere she’d always wanted to visit.
“Yes, until Wednesday,” his other sister, Sally, said. “Thanks for everything, Larry.”
He gave her a hug too and figured his time until he was supposed to be stationed at the altar was up. So he straightened his tie and took his position at the front of the crowd. His heart beat and beat and beat with every minute that passed.
Why wasn’t Maizee coming? Had something happened?
What if she didn’t show up?
Lawrence pushed the doubts away. Maizee loved him. She’d be here.
He scanned the crowd, glad when the pastor arrived with a big smile and a “Are you ready?”
Lawrence nodded and jerked his attention to the back of the chairs that had been set up when the frilly music filtering through the overhead speakers quieted and th
en changed to the wedding march.
Fisher linked arms with Stacey, and both of them grinned like fools as they took step by slowly painful step down the aisle. All of Lawrence’s friends were in the wedding party, as were the few Maizee had made since she’d been on the island.
It seemed to take forever for them to all move down the aisle so he could see Maizee. Everything inside him froze at the sight of her in that gorgeous, flowing, head-to-toe lace dress. She wore a radiant smile and her hair all pinned up on the top of her head. She carried a bouquet of the most gorgeous pink flowers he’d ever seen, and Lawrence felt like he was the luckiest man in the world.
She arrived in front of him, and he received her into his arms. “Hey, my beautiful fiancée.”
“Almost wife,” she whispered with an anxious giggle.
“Nervous?” he asked.
She shook her head and smiled before turning to face the pastor. The ceremony began, and Lawrence tried really hard to pay attention. But the soft smell of her perfume infusing the air around him, and the feel of her tucked against his side made listening very difficult.
He did hear her when she said, “I do,” and he knew enough to say the same thing when it was his turn.
And he definitely heard the pastor when he said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
Lawrence looked at Maizee, giddiness trampling through him as she gazed back at him with fire and electricity in her expression. He held her tight and kissed her, kissed her, kissed her, the crowd behind them cheering like they’d just won the billion-dollar lottery.
Lawrence definitely felt like he had, and he whispered, “I love you, Maizee,” one more time before kissing her again.
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Sneak Peek! The Belated Billionaire Chapter One
Katherine Harrison sighed as she sat down, her bowl of chicken noodle soup rotating in the microwave behind her. The break room at Clean Sweep needed a thorough cleaning, ironic considering this was a maid service.
The biggest, best maid service on the island of Getaway Bay. With a dirty break room. As the owner of the company, she should clean it, but she couldn’t get up the energy to do much more than swipe right on her phone as she looked at her dating app.
Getaway Bay Singles promised to be the “directional compass in your dating life” much like a GPS was to help someone get around the island. GBS boasted high percentages of singles getting together and staying together right here on the island, and Katie had decided to join the service because she was tired of managing the seventeen people at Clean Sweep and then going home to take care of her ten-year-old daughter.
Heather was awesome, and Katie didn’t mind being a mother or a business owner. She was just lonely. So lonely.
And GBS helped with that, so she was glad she’d joined though she hadn’t made much of a love connection yet. She tapped and swiped through the app, reading quick sentence like AndrewB and JoanS went to Spam Hut, and MikeT and TerriL enjoyed an island tour.
GBS helped with restaurants, date ideas, and more. She’d filled out all of her favorites the first night she’d downloaded the app, staying up well past her bedtime to do so. But if she ever were to meet a man in real life from the app, she felt certain they’d have an excellent meal at a restaurant they both liked. The app would not lead them astray, that much Katie knew.
She’d been chatting with a man named TeddyF for several days, and a message from him popped up on her screen. Surviving the week?
Sort of, she typed back to him, a smile brightening her face and her day. Sooo busy this week.
Cleaning, right? his next message said.
Right. Katie had told him about herself, as many as the surface things as she felt comfortable with. Favorite movie, favorite food, what she liked to do in her spare time. The thought of spare time was actually laughable, but she wasn’t laughing.
She had one more thing to tell him before she’d be comfortable getting together with him, and she set her phone down as she thought through their few weeks of conversation. She liked him. He was witty and smart. Thoughtful and inquisitive. He’d been kind, and while his profile picture was a cartoon rendition of him, she thought he was probably attractive, in an older, closer-to-fifty silver fox kind of way.
Because Katie had faced it—she wasn’t exactly a spring chicken at age forty-six.
TeddyF liked Chinese food, and warm island rain, and the view from the highest point in Getaway Bay. He worked in the technology sector as an app developer. He’d only been on the island for thirteen months, and he claimed he hadn’t had a serious relationship in years and years.
One or two dates is all, he’d told her. And then the spark is gone.
When she’d asked him if he was looking for serious, he’d given her one word: Yes.
And while Katie had had serious twice now, she had to admit she didn’t want to move into her fifties and then sixties by herself.
I have something to tell you, she typed, her fingers moving in a methodical and slow way. And you can take your time responding. Think about it. All of that.
Oh, boy, he said. All right. Go ahead.
I have a ten-year-old daughter named Heather. Katie stared at the words. She’d only told three men on GBS about Heather, and all three of them had cooled considerably afterward. But honestly, did they think they were courting a forty-six-year-old woman without any ties or responsibilities?
TeddyF was forty-nine, at least according to his profile. She’d learned that most men didn’t lie on GBS. There wasn’t really a point, as it was an app for singles in a very limited location, not across-the-ocean correspondence.
Am I meant to guess the thing you need to tell me? ;)
Katie startled at the ding and resulting vibration in her hands from his message. A light laugh tickled her vocal chords, and she tapped on the arrow to send her sentence through the magic of the WiFi to TeddyF’s phone.
Then she flipped her phone over and pushed her chair back. She realized in that moment and with that motion that she didn’t want TeddyF to cool considerably after he found out about Heather. She didn’t want that at all, and if he asked to meet her, she’d say yes.
“You should ask him,” she said aloud just as Lacey entered the break room.
“What?” She pulled open the fridge and pulled out a can of Diet Coke—her lunch.
“Just talking to myself again,” Katie said as her phone chimed once, twice, three times.
“Ooh, someone’s popular.” Lace sat down beside Katie and grinned. “Is that GBS?”
“How did you know?”
“That notification sound is unique.”
“Are you using the app?”
“Who doesn’t?” Lace shrugged and took a swig of her soda. “So, who’s the guy? Are you meeting him?”
“Thinking about it,” Katie said, telling her office manager the truth. If there was someone who cared about Clean Sweep as much as Katie, it was Lacey Moon, and she’d been with Katie since the beginning.
She’d also been as unlucky in love, and Katie said, “Have you ever met up with someone on GBS?”
“Yeah, a couple of times.” She tossed her dark ponytail over her shoulder. “The app is pretty amazing and matching up what the two of you like and suggesting the type of date you’re likely to enjoy.”
“That’s what I�
��ve heard.” Katie’s phone bllliinged again, but she still didn’t dare pick it up.
“You want me to see what he’s saying?”
Katie covered her phone with her hand. “No….” She looked at Lace, a flicker of fear rumbling through her. “I just told him about Heather.”
“Oh.”
Yeah, that one word said it all, and Katie nodded, her palm still flat against the plastic case of her phone. She drew in a deep breath and said, “Here I go.”
Ten years old, Teddy had said. That’s great. My youngest nephew is ten. Great age.
I like kids, if that’s what you’re wondering.
And then, his last message was Did I lose you?
She looked up at Lace. “He said he likes kids.” She wasn’t sure why, but her voice held a measure of awe. “What should I do?”
“Ask him out.” Lace grinned and finished her can of pop.
“Really? Just like that.”
“Just. Like. That.” She really hit that last T, and Katie felt the vibrations of it down inside her stomach. Which may not be as flat as it once had been. Maybe she could get together with TeddyF in a couple of weeks, after she’d had a chance to hit it hard on the treadmill, really get that ten pounds off she’d been slowly putting on since moving to paradise and eating more fresh fruit smoothies than was humanly sane.
After all, fruit had calories too. As did the coconut milk and sugar added to the smoothies that made them so delicious.
“Okay,” she said, letting her fingers fly over the screen. “I’m going to do it.”
Want to get together sometime? She read the sentence aloud to Lace and waited for the thirty-something to give her approval. When she nodded, Katie hit send.
Absolutely, Teddy said almost instantly. What are you doing tonight?
“Tonight?” The disbelief in Katie’s voice felt like a lead weight in her lungs. “He wants to get together tonight.”
The Brave Billionaire (Clean Billionaire Beach Club Romance Book 11) Page 14