Own the Eights Gets Married

by Krista Sandor

  “Georgie, that’s so lovely of you,” the woman said, reaching out and squeezing her hand.

  “I’m the lucky one. I’m so grateful to the both of you,” Georgie replied with a wide, teary grin as the door to the shop opened, and Jordan entered the cozy space.

  She waved him over. “Guess who’s going to walk me down the aisle?”

  “I am!” Gene answered before Jordan could even guess.

  “That’s terrific news,” Jordan said, shaking the man’s hand.

  Her fiancé had grown especially fond of Mr. Gilbert.

  “I see you don’t have your cane with you, Gene,” Jordan observed with a triumphant nod.

  “Nope, I haven’t needed it since I started training with you,” the man replied, going into a bodybuilder pose that had them all laughing.

  Jordan had talked Gene into a few training sessions that had bloomed into ongoing twice-weekly workouts.

  “And there have been other benefits,” Gene said, lowering his voice.

  “Other benefits?” Georgie asked, stealing a glance at Jordan.

  Mr. Gilbert slid off the barstool and straightened up. “Let’s just say my wife doesn’t mind having a more virile husband around the house.”

  Marjory blushed like a schoolgirl. “You’re terrible, Gene! Now, come on. Let’s let Jordan and Georgie have a moment together,” the woman said, threading her arm with her husband’s as they returned to the group of knitting ladies.

  “It looks like Mrs. Gilbert is all over Mr. Gilbert,” Jordan teased as Mr. Gilbert surreptitiously patted his wife’s bottom before she took her seat.

  “I’d say you’ve got a client for life. How was your workout with the high school kids this afternoon? Did you find a trainer to step in while we’re at bridal boot camp?” Georgie asked, straightening a row of coffee mugs.

  At the mention of boot camp, her fiancé beamed. “I did. Sara’s going to fill in, and Simon said he’d be able to help out and run the after-school workouts.”

  “How about everything with the bookshop? Did you get things all squared away?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Becca’s able to step up, and a couple of the part-timers said they could take on more hours. Oh, and Talya, remember her? She’s the high school student who’s volunteering in the children’s area. She said she could handle the story times for me.”

  A wolfish twist graced Jordan’s lips. “It looks like we’re ready for boot camp, baby. But I do have a bookkeeping question. Can you come with me to your office?”

  “Maureen’s not here,” she replied, trying to read this man.

  “We don’t need Maureen for this,” he answered.

  Georgie signaled to Becca that she was going into the back as Jordan followed behind.

  “What was the question?” she asked as she heard the door to the snug space close and lock before Jordan pressed her back against the door.

  “I’ve wanted to do this all damned day,” he breathed, peppering her neck with kisses.

  With all the engagement excitement, they hadn’t even kissed since he’d proposed.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. He smelled good, freshly showered, his skin still warm from the heated spray of water. She closed her eyes and inhaled the clean, earthy scent of his soap and imagined all those rivulets of water trailing down his cut abs and his muscled forearms.

  “We shouldn’t do this. We’re on the no fornication protocol,” she whispered on a sigh, but it didn’t stop her from tilting her head to give him more access.

  “This isn’t fornicating. I looked it up. Fornication is consensual sexual intercourse. This is simply a guy making his fiancée come hard.”

  Holy hell!

  He captured her mouth in a scorching kiss and lifted her into his arms. With her back against the door, Jordan’s hard length pressed between her thighs.

  “Georgiana, you smell so good,” he breathed, digging his fingertips into the flesh of her ass as he ran his tongue across the seam of her lips.

  “It’s the scented dryer sheets,” she said on a dreamy sigh.

  Not the sexiest of replies, but it had been a long day.

  A very long day.

  She wrapped her legs around him and tightened her grip. Everything about this man’s touch set her on fire.

  “Have you been a naughty librarian this afternoon?” he whispered against the shell of her ear, and a delicious shiver cartwheeled down her spine.

  Sweet Lord! The man could dirty talk.

  “I organized a few shelves, then snuck a copy of the Kama Sutra in with the self-improvement books.”

  “You are one bad, bad girl. But I’ll say this. That book did wonders for us,” he answered.

  “The best kind of stress relief,” she purred, remembering how they’d used that excuse the first time they’d slept together.

  “All the stress relief,” he repeated on a sexy chuckle.

  Jordan released her, setting her feet onto the floor before turning her away from him. Her back pressed to his hard torso as she craned her head to meet his kiss. His hand eased past the band of her skirt, and his fingers dipped into her panties. She lifted her arms and arched her back, giving him complete access to her body. He found her tight bundle of nerves and worked her in perfect little circles that had her gasping for breath within seconds.

  “Do you like that?” he growled.

  “You know I do,” she panted.

  He continued his magic between her legs as his other hand slid beneath her shirt and found her left breast. She pressed her hands to the door, steadying herself as Jordan’s hard length rubbed against her ass as she rocked against him. With each brush of his thumb over her tight nipple and every stroke of his fingertips across her most sensitive place, the coil inside her wound tighter and tighter until she teetered on the edge of ecstasy.

  “I know you’re close,” he said on a low, sexy rumble.

  She was. God, she was. She parted her lips to answer when a faint knock came from the other side of the door.

  Jordan froze. “Did you do that?”

  She shook her head.

  “It’s me, Miss Jensen. I had a question about the children’s story time schedule and a few things to go over regarding the Shakespeare Shuffle high school volunteer program. Miss Becca said you and Mr. Marks were working back here.”

  “It’s Talya,” she mouthed to Jordan.

  “And, I’m out here, too. It’s me, Simon. I have a question for you before you leave, Mr. Marks,” the teen chimed from the other side of the door.

  “Simon and Talya are right out there, and I’m…” Georgie whispered.

  Jordan’s cocksure expression gave way to a panicky cringe. “Give us a second, guys. I’m helping Miss Jensen get in a burst of cardio,” he called out.

  “Cardio in the office?” she mouthed.

  “Let’s be honest. Your heart rate was through the roof,” he said with a smirk until she gestured to the door with two fifteen-year-olds on the other side, and his eyes went wide.

  “Say we’re doing work stuff,” she whisper-shouted, which wasn’t an easy feat with someone’s hand in your panties.

  “I was wrong. Miss Jensen and I are not doing cardio. We’re doing work stuff,” he called, and now she was the one cringing.

  This man was a terrible liar.

  “Do you think they know what we’re doing back here?” he asked.

  She stifled a nervous laugh. “They will if you don’t remove your hands from my body.”

  “Jesus, you’re right,” he said, raising his hands like a football ref reacting to a field goal.

  She smoothed her outfit then turned to her fiancé. “How do I look?”

  His gaze raked over her body. “A little flushed. We may have wanted to stick with the cardio story.”

  She took a step back and couldn’t help but stare. “Well, you look like you’ve got a party in your pants.”

  “It
doesn’t turn off like a switch,” he whisper-yelled as he shuffled behind her desk and picked up a folder to mask the evidence of their non-fornication.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Jordan strategically positioned the folder, then nodded, and she opened the door.

  “What’s up, guys?” she asked, willing her cheeks to de-flush. Was that even a word? Her trifecta scoffed and shook their literary heads.

  But she quickly noticed neither of the teens standing in front of her cared about her wrinkled blouse or her flushed, pre-orgasmic coloring.

  Simon’s gaze bounced between the floor and Talya as Talya hugged a notebook to her chest, her gaze bouncing between the floor and Simon. It was like watching pubescent ping-pong.

  Talya had started volunteering in the bookstore after the children’s addition was finished. A sweet, quiet girl, when she’d come asking if she could help in the children’s area to earn volunteer hours for her high school’s honor society, Georgie was more than happy to oblige.

  “Do you two know each other? You’re both sophomores, right?” Georgie asked.

  Talya nodded while Simon shook his head.

  She frowned while the puberty ping-pong continued. Deciphering teen was like trying to read Greek.

  She glanced over her shoulder to find her fiancé grinning like an idiot and holding a folder as if it were a stick of dynamite.

  “Let’s try something else. What can Jordan and I help you with?” she asked.

  “Um, ladies first,” Simon said, shifting from foot to foot.

  “Okay, thanks,” Talya replied, brushing the hair from her eyes as her cheeks grew rosy.

  Hello, Teen Awkwardness 101.

  Talya glanced at her binder. “Everything is covered for story time for the rest of the week. I wanted to make sure you were all right with me reading Eric Carle’s books to the kids.”

  This girl was worth her weight in gold.

  “That’s perfect, Talya! His books and illustrations are engaging, and the children love his stories. It’s a great choice,” she said as the teen’s cheeks grew a touch pinker.

  Talya chewed her lip. “Okay, and one more thing. I have the volunteer list for the kids at my school who can help out during the Shakespeare Shuffle competition,” the girl continued, then handed her a sheet of paper.

  “You’re going to be at the race?” Simon asked, his side to side nervous shuffle coming to a halt.

  Talya nodded, and the teens stared at each other, neither saying a word.

  Georgie cleared her throat. “Talya was kind enough to sign up to volunteer during the race and to recruit kids from the high school to take part and earn service hours.”

  “I’m signed up, too,” Simon said, holding Talya’s gaze.

  “To volunteer? I don’t remember seeing your name on the list,” the girl replied with a creased brow.

  Simon shook his head. “No, I’m competing. I’ll be running and reciting a sonnet.”

  “Wow! That’s really epic,” Talya replied, brushing back her bangs again. “I’ll be handing out cups of water to all the runners.”

  “That’s epic,” Simon stuttered.

  “It’s epic that you’re running. I’ve seen you over at the gym and jogging through the neighborhood,” Talya replied.

  Simon’s eyes went cartoon wide. “You have?”

  The girl nodded, and Georgie stole a look back at Jordan. With the folder still in place, the man had gone beet-red, trying not to laugh while watching the most awkward conversation ever.

  “Did you need to ask Jordan a question, Simon?” Georgie asked, needing to get these kids the hell out of there before she lost it, too.

  “Oh, yeah! Mr. Marks, is it okay if we incorporate more upper body workouts for the next couple of days since a bunch of us are putting in the miles training for the run?”

  “That would be epic,” Jordan replied.

  Georgie threw daggers at her fiancé with her eyes while simultaneously swallowing a belly laugh.

  Not an easy feat.

  “You work at the gym?” Talya asked Simon through her lashes.

  He puffed up his chest. “I help Mr. Marks.”

  “That’s epic,” the girl cooed.

  “I’ve seen you around the bookshop, you know, doing book stuff,” Simon said, taking the teen awkward level up another notch.

  Talya fiddled with the edge of the binder. “Yeah, I help out in the children’s area.”

  “That’s totally epic,” Simon answered.

  Georgie’s eyes watered as she tried not to laugh. If she heard Simon or Talya say epic one more time, she would totally lose it. She took a breath and willed herself not to giggle.

  “Hey, guys, do you know what would be great?” she asked, making damn sure not to use the word epic.

  “What?” the teens asked in unison.

  Georgie glanced at her watch. “If Simon could walk you home, Talya. It’s about time for you to go.”

  “Yeah, sure! I’d be happy to walk Talya home. That would be—” Simon said, but Georgie cut him off.

  “Super terrific! You better hit the road,” she supplied.

  The teens headed toward the front of the store, and she closed the door and met Jordan’s gaze.

  “Can I say it?” he asked with a naughty glint in his eyes.

  “Don’t you dare!” she warned.

  Jordan dropped the folder and came out from behind the desk. He gathered her into his arms. “Georgie Jensen, you are totally epic.”

  “OMG, you’re like totally epic, too,” she said as they dissolved into a bout of laughter.

  She rested her head against his chest and listened to the beat of his heart.

  “Hey, Miss Jensen?” he said, running his hand down her back.

  She looked up, ready for another round of epic giggles, but found her fiancé with a serious expression.

  “Yes, Mr. Marks?”

  He stroked her cheek as his gaze grew tender. “I love you.”

  This man.

  She stared into his eyes—the eyes of her Marks Perfect Ten asshat turned her More than Just a Number fiancé. She could barely believe this man was going to be her husband.

  “I love you, too,” she said, pushing up onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek when their phones chimed.

  Jordan leaned in, and their lips hovered a breath apart.

  “You know what’s not going to be epic?” he asked.

  “What?” she said on a dreamy sigh.

  He pulled back and kissed her forehead. “Being late to boot camp.”

  “Do you think we’ll be okay?” she asked.

  A wide grin stretched across his face. “Georgiana, boot camp might as well be my middle name.”

  She nodded. She had to stop herself from putting the cart before the horse. But the needling in her chest was back—the little voice sounding the alarm that trouble was just beyond the horizon.

  6

  Jordan

  “It looks like we lost the internet,” Georgie said, holding up her cell phone and waving it around to try to catch a signal like a Wi-Fi wrangler, but he wasn’t holding his breath. They hadn’t passed a gas station or much of anything for miles, and he needed to help his fiancée take it down a notch.

  “We are in the middle of nowhere, babe, and I don’t think there’s anything left for you to check. You’ve been working for the entire drive.”

  Georgie continued to wave the phone around, and he let out a weary sigh.

  This may have been one of the craziest and longest days of his life.

  And it still wasn’t over.

  After squaring things away at the gym and the bookstore, he and Georgie had rushed home, threw the essentials into a bag, and hit the road. He’d received an email from the wedding frau’s assistant, letting them know what to bring. There were a few cryptic lines of text, such as don’t forget to pack dryer lint and a sturdy trowel, which had to have been a typo, but he wasn’t too worried.

  He knew boot
camp. He loved boot camp.

  The runs. The obstacle courses. The workouts.

  Push-ups, pull-ups, and squats! Oh my! He was more than up for the challenge, and he could help Georgie get there, too.

  They’d started working out together. She’d shaved eight seconds off her mile run. Not a hell of a lot, but when they’d started, she’d run a twenty-minute mile. A nineteen-minute and fifty-two-second-mile at least got her into the teens.

  And as far as it being a bridal boot camp, that probably meant the program would entail couples’ stuff like outdoor hikes and practicing how not to trip while walking down the aisle. Plus, he was with Georgie. The love of his life. If any two people could get through a challenge, it was the two of them.

  They’d crushed Battle of the Blogs.

  They were becoming household names.

  As much as he hated the term CityBeat Sweethearts, he loved that a platform with hundreds of millions of people read what they had to say each day.

  They could do this.

  He did have a feeling the wedding frau may be keeping tabs on them. Her people had set this all up. But, again, it was boot camp, and he was a certified CrossFit trainer.

  This was going to be cake. But not the kind with empty calories. This would be healthy cake, like the gluten-free recipe they’d shared on the blog last week, which had been fucking delicious, especially since he ate his test slice off Georgie’s naked body.

  Georgie’s naked body.

  And, hello, no fornication erection.

  He shifted in the driver’s seat, then glanced over at his fiancée. Thanks to all her frantic wiggling around, shuffling papers, and reaching into the back seat to pull her laptop out of her bag to attend to a zillion different projects, her skirt had slid up her legs.

  A sight to see.

  Toned and lean, he loved drawing his fingers up her calves, past her thighs, then spreading her out on the kitchen table like the naughtiest dessert.

  He’d take that over cake any day.

  They hadn’t gotten to finish their no-fornication session in the office thanks to Epic Teen One and Epic Teen Two knocking on the door. And speaking of epic, he needed to get himself under control if he didn’t want to show up to bridal boot camp sporting one epic boner.