The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set

by King, C. M

  “He likes to act like he’s in charge, but really we know who really takes charge in the bedroom.”

  “And on that note.” We all quickly headed off before she even finished that sentence.

  * * *

  “Make a wish, Iz,” Joel whispered from behind. He was stood with his arms around me as I blew out the candle before everyone cheered. The cake was actually an array of beautiful cupcakes, in pink and lilac icing decorated with flowers. I knew this was Elijah’s doing, no way would Joel come up with this. My eyes wandered over to Elijah’s and he winked, only confirming it. I smiled and mouthed thank you. They looked far too pretty to eat, but once the photos were taken we would be devouring the lot.

  Everyone snapped away taking photos, we had a lot of family pictures taken. My dad insisting he needed plenty of the proud day. He really was overly sentimental but I smiled away, even though I secretly wanted to shy away from the camera.

  Once the pictures were taken Joel swiped the top of the icing from the strawberry cupcake, positioning his finger for me to lick off the delicious goodness. I groaned the moment the sweet icing hit my taste buds. I was in heaven. I guess we kind of forgot we were on show, not realizing everyone was watching our little.

  “Okay, you two, keep it PG. Parents and guests here, remember?” My dad shook his head in disbelief.

  I blushed and Joel chuckled. I playfully dug him in the ribs with my elbow to which he groaned. He grabbed me, placing a quick kiss on my lips before diving into the strawberry cupcakes. I made a mental note to hide some for later. Tonight would be a lot of fun once we had some privacy, I was certain things were about to get very sticky.

  * * *

  “Can I have this dance?” Joel asked, offering his hand. I smiled as I took it, and he pulled me in close as we reached the dance floor. There were several couples already there, but I never noticed anyone except Joel. The music was a soft slow ballad as we fell into a rhythm, melting into each other. It was heaven.

  “Have you had a good day, baby?” Joel asked, his eyes staring deep into mine.

  “I’ve had the best day.” It really had exceeded all my wishes, to be surrounded on my special day by all my loved ones.

  “So turning twenty-one wasn’t that bad then?” Joel smirked.

  “Well, there was cake and my fiancé and best friend arranged this amazing party for me and seeing my dad on my big day was something I’ll always treasure.”

  “So we did good then?” he asked needing more confirmation, but I would more than thank him later.

  “You all did amazing.”

  “You know it’s not over yet …”

  “Present time,” Elijah shrieked, frightening the life out of everyone around us.

  “I swear he has the most inappropriate timing, let’s pretend we didn’t hear him.”

  “Oh but I want to open the presents,” I murmured against his lips as he tried to distract me with a kiss.

  He sighed. “Fine, but you are mine later. I’m going to enjoy unwrapping you by myself.”

  “I think I might enjoy that too.”

  “Just you wait till I get you home.” His look was enough, I had to walk away before I pounced on him and did it there and then. When we were in the moment everyone else just ceased to exist, there was just us.

  “Okay, Izzy, sit in the middle, and we’ll pass the presents along.”

  I just smiled and conformed to Elijah. He was in party planner mode so it was best to just follow his instructions. I sat down, Joel followed suit squeezing my hand. The first present was from my dad. He handed it over smiling but there was a look of hesitancy in his eyes, which made me question his gift.

  I unwrapped it to find it was a set of vintage Jane Austen books that were in beautiful hand bound covers. I stroked my finger along the material, the pages inside were like silk, making the words appear more beautiful on the page.

  “I’m friends with a book dealer; you know my love for all thing books.”

  I smiled remembering how we would spend hours traipsing around fairs in the hopes to find something worthy of our collections. I now had an impressive book collection thanks to my dad persistence. I had gotten my bookworm gene from him and had read books non-stop ever since. So to hold this rare collection in my hands was beyond words.

  “There are only ten in the world. When Ted showed me them I knew they would be the perfect gift to give you to make your birthday even more special.”

  He was right they would be something I would treasure and admire on my shelf for the rest of my days.

  He smiled and I could see the emotion building. He was trying to make up for the past, to make amendments for those years we had been apart. I felt sad he still felt like he had to prove himself. He was my dad and I loved him, that was all I needed but the present he bought me today was priceless, as much as the thought that went into it. I loved how he still embraced my inner bookworm. Books to me were everything and to have such a collection on my shelf that maybe one day I could eventually hand down to my own children was priceless.

  “I’m so happy you love it,” he said, cupping my face as a tear slid down my cheek.

  “Just having you here dad is the best present of all, but this is beyond words. Thank you, it means the world to me that you would go to all this trouble to get me such an amazing gift.”

  “It’s my pleasure, just to see your eyes light up is enough.” He kissed my forehead and winked before sitting down, everyone looked on in wonder, almost a little surprised by our little moment.

  Elijah soon broke the tension announcing. “So who wants to follow that?”

  Everyone laughed but more in a nervous like way. Mike piped up saying he would go next. I raised my eyebrows expectantly when he handed over the card.

  I ripped it open and out dropped a spa day voucher.

  “I thought we could both go. You and I could have a bonding session while we relax,” Kara added with a smile.

  “Oh that would be amazing.” My own smile soon dropped when Elijah made a face, he instantly felt excluded. But I needed girl time as well, I hadn’t spent that much time with Kara and wanted to make up for that fact. She was great for my brother. She was witty and fiery always putting him in his place. She was what he needed, always being such a big personality himself.

  I tried to ignore Elijah’s glare, he had other friends too to socialize with there was seriously no reason for him to get jealous. It would be nice to have a girly day, and to avoid the orgasmic moans that always left Elijah the moment he was massaged.

  “And we also got you this.” Mike grinned producing a decorated chocolate egg from Choccywoccydoodah with twenty-one piped on the front.

  It was almost a shame to eat it, but I was certain I would demolish it the moment I got home. Mike winked knowingly. He knew he’d done well. I couldn’t help but smile, there were times like this that I would treasure having a big brother, the other times not so much.

  “Now my present.” My mother stepped forward and smiled, passing me her gift. I eagerly unwrapped it to find it was a white gold bracelet and inscribed were the words:

  ‘Life holds special magic for those who dare to dream’

  My eyes filled up with tears, such a perfect quote. I looked up into her glassy eyes and leapt up giving her a hug. She staggered back slightly, and I could tell from her hold that she was taken back by my actions. She eventually relaxed and held me for a few more moments longer. When she moved back, she stroked my face staring deep into my eyes.

  “You’ve made me so proud with the lady you’ve become. You’ve always been so strong and determined to succeed in life. I know you are destined for great things with your dancing. I still can’t believe my little girl is twenty-one.” She trailed off, beginning to cry.

  “Mum …”

  She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. “And to think twenty-one years ago I was in labour.”

  “Seriously, Mum, we don’t need that vision in our head,” Mike snapped,
shaking his own. Kara batted him playfully and laughed.

  “Well, you will go through that too, Mike. You never know if you and Kara—”

  Mike’s eyes widened in horror. “We’re a long way from having babies. Let us just enjoy being together for a while before you marry me off with kids.”

  “Time is ticking, Mike, you’re not getting any younger,” Elijah added, loving the fact he was stirring the pot.

  “Yeah, you aren’t either, if those crows feet get any worse you might have to consider Botox,” he added evilly, knowing the consequences of his words.

  Elijah’s face dropped. “Oh my god, Sam, what did I tell you and you said I was making a mountain out of a molehill. I am booking an appointment before they get any worse.” He stormed off before we even had chance to placate him and tell him Mike was just joking.

  “Cheers for that Mike.” Sam glared before running after him. Kara slapped Mike hard on the arm.

  “Owww, fuck, Kara, what was that for?”

  “Language, Mike,” my mother screeched giving him the evil eye.

  Kara scowled. “You know what that was for, you will go and apologise to him.”

  “I will not!” Mike barked.

  She moved closer. “Believe me, I have ways and you don’t want me to go there.”

  “Like what?”

  “You know what.” The look she gave him was enough.

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “Trust me, I would, now go apologise and be sincere, you’ve really upset him.”

  “Good god, it was only a joke.” Mike stomped off and Kara gave me a wink. Oh he was definitely under the thumb. I needed to get tips.

  Chapter Three

  We were busy chatting amongst ourselves when several minutes later we heard voices. I turned to see Elijah looking a little red eyed and my heart sank at the thought of him crying. He always put on such a front that I was surprised to see him take something stupid that Mike had said to heart.

  “And you were just lying because I know they are getting worse. I was telling Sam I could see them in the mirror.”

  “The magnified mirror,” Sam added.

  “Oh those things make you look horrendous, seriously, Elijah, I would never have noticed,” Kara piped up, standing up to give him a hug. He smiled and looked a lot happier.

  “Hey, come join me and Izzy at the spa. We can have a great day out, all three of us, we can get pampered, talk boys.”

  “What boys do you need to talk about, you’re taken,” Mike chipped in, looking thoroughly annoyed.

  “Oh shush, girls always chat about boys, we can still window shop.”

  “That’s what I always say,” Elijah added with a smile.

  “So you’ll come?”

  “If that’s okay with, Iz,” he asked hesitantly and I nodded.

  “Of course it’s fine.” I just made a mental note to not be in the same massage with him again, no one needed that much torture.

  “I’ll need to book you a place, next Sunday, okay, Iz, Elijah?” Kara asked waiting for approval.

  “Sunday is fine with me,” Elijah chirped, by the look on his face he was already looking forward to the prospect of a spa day together.

  “Yeah, Sunday’s fine with me too,” I said.

  “Oh, it’s going to be so much fun,” Kara squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

  “Jeez, glad I’m not going. Fancy going to the game?” Mike turned to Joel. He didn’t need to be asked twice. He was already grinning at the thought.

  “So everyone is happy then? Oh Elijah wait till you meet Gavin. He is going to blow your socks off. Talk about eye candy, my eyes were out on stalks last time.”

  Mike spluttered on his beer and Kara laughed evilly. My brother gave her a pathetic sad look; there was no mistaking the jealousy that was present in his eyes. He had fallen hard, and I was glad he had someone like Kara to keep him on his toes.

  “Oh baby, you know I love you really, but a girl can still check out the goods.” She walked over to a disgruntled Mike pecking him on the lips to appease him.

  Elijah laughed and hugged me hard. “Here’s my gift to you.”

  I took the envelope from his hand and looked at him in wonder. He had already bought me a beautiful vintage lace dress; the material was so exquisite that I was almost hesitant to wear it in case I ruined it. But he had insisted that I wore it on my big day, and if that wasn’t amazing enough, he bought me heels to match. He knew my wardrobe skills were non-existent so he’d taken it all out of my hands and for that I was grateful.

  Ripping open the envelope, I read the card inside, then squealed and hugged him hard. He grinned at my reaction as everyone stared on in sheer disbelief. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.

  “What is it, Iz?” Joel asked, looking mystified by the whole thing

  “Elijah bought me my own star.”

  “Oh my god, I want one.” Kara pouted and glared at Mike. “You never get me anything like that.”

  “What? You never asked.”

  “I shouldn’t have to.” She scowled shaking her head.

  “What am I a mind reader now?” He took a long draw on his beer as if to avoid talking any further.

  “Ugh men!” Kara rolled her eyes and then walked over to read the official certificate.

  “Awww, Elijah, that is the sweetest thing ever.”

  “You remembered,” I whispered, feeling overwhelmed by it all.

  “Of course I did.”

  “What?” Joel asked looking confused.

  “We were talking about things we’d like to do, to achieve, it was one of those deep and meaningful conversations, and Izzy said she would love to have a star named after her, and that she found nothing more beautiful than a dark sky full of stars. Well, now you have your own, it’s another thing to tick off the Izzy list.”

  “You have a list?” Kara asked and I nodded.

  “Yeah.”

  She bit her lip in contemplation. “I need a list, especially dating your brother, because he isn’t someone who takes hints easily.”

  “Oh, you have to learn to manipulate them without knowing,” Elijah added, winking and tapping his nose. “That way you get what you want and they think that they did it all by themselves.”

  “Wow, I’m loving this guy more and more.” Kara grinned. Looking like she had won the lottery. I guessed she’d be regularly tapping Elijah for tips in the future.

  “He is a fountain of information,” I added.

  “I am a guy, but I am a great manipulator too. I have Sam wrapped around my finger like seriously, I can get him to do anything. I am spoilt really, but what’s a guy to do.” He shrugged like it was out of his control.

  “Oh I need you to give me tips, like seriously, with your brother, I could shout it from the rooftops and he wouldn’t take the hint. It’s a good job he’s good in the bedroom.”

  “Oh sweet lord,” I murmured, trying to fight the visions from invading my head, no one needed that.

  Kara pulled a face. “Oh sorry, Iz, I keep forgetting, and at times I don’t have any filter.”

  “Bit like me then, I think we’re going to be great friends, wait till you meet my cousin B, you will love her.”

  “We’ll see,” I murmured under my breath, but Elijah managed to hear. I swear he had some sort of super power.

  “Now now, Iz, I thought you two were friends, she has been trying, you have to admit.”

  He was right, she had begrudgingly apologised and I had accepted, but I still felt like it was all for Elijah’s benefit to keep the peace. We had hung out the odd time, but I tried to stay away from it being just us, making sure there were others to talk to when Elijah disappeared off for drinks and food. To her credit, I think she wanted to say a lot more but knew the drama it would cause, so she bit her tongue and kept her opinions to herself, which was something I never thought possible. She had always been vocal in the past, but from what Elijah had told me she was really trying to make a
n effort since she came back here for good.

  She and Ryan were still going strong. I was pleased for them. That’s what I told Elijah over and over. We were back to being friends, but there would always remain to be an awkwardness between us, which saddened me. I hoped that we could build on our friendship and get it back to how it was, but a part of me knew with Brianne in the picture that wouldn’t happen. We had come to agree that we wouldn’t discuss either partners when we met up at Starbucks for a coffee. We still had our Netflix addiction, just now it wasn’t together. But we’d intensely discuss the latest episode of The Walking Dead in such detail, I don’t think anyone else would get it but that was our thing. I was happy that we got to still feel like the old days, well at least for a while.

  “Izzy, are you even listening to me?” Elijah shook me lightly on the arm.

  “What?”

  “She always does this—zones out. We’ll have to get together at mine, call it a little soiree. It will be amazing.”

  Yeah, Ryan and Joel in the same room…Not!

  “I don’t know, I think—”

  “Look, we all have to get along, it will be fine. I’m telling you, we will be such good friends. I can feel it in my bones.” He smiled reassuringly and I had to admire his optimism, because I sure wasn’t feeling it.

  Yeah, whatever.

  I smiled sweetly, I didn’t want it to put a damper on the day. It was my birthday after all. We continued chatting until I felt Joel’s soft breath against my neck as he placed a tender kiss there. “Are you ready to go home, Iz?”

  He didn’t have to ask me twice.

  I said a quick goodbye to Elijah and Kara before they became engrossed in their conversation again. They were getting on well and I was glad, maybe our duo had now become a trio. I gave my mother and Mike a hug and then kissed my dad. He was staying on to chat with Mike, so I told him that I’d see him tomorrow. As he was only here for a week I knew I needed to spend as much time with him before he’d head back down under, which the thought alone made me sad.

  After a short drive home, I dropped the keys down onto the table and squealed when Joel grabbed me.