Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
A soft kiss from him makes my skin tingle. “Correction: fell in love with you again.”
Correction: my skin doesn’t just tingle. It sizzles.
I murmur as he kisses my neck on Main Street in the town where he grew up. The town where we fell in love again. Thanks to a house. “It’s perfect.”
When I spin around, I’m in his arms, where I belong. “Where’s the candle?”
“I’ve got that too. It was just a cover up.”
I laugh. “I figured as much once you gave me this. You had it all planned out?”
He nods toward the store. “That guy’s big into giving gifts to his woman too. He helped me out with the switcheroo.”
“You planned this to that degree?”
“I planned all our dates. Of course I planned this,” he says.
Yes, of course. Since that’s who he is.
We walk through town on this warm summer day till we reach Ripley’s farm. There, Vikas and Bowen stand in front of their friends and family and pledge to love each other always.
“I now pronounce you together always,” the officiant says, and I love that their vows are uniquely them. “You may now kiss your groom.”
As they kiss, we all clap. I scan the guests, spotting Ripley in the back, her tattoos on display in her sleeveless dress. She looks relieved and happy, like she’s glad she pulled off this wedding. A few rows away, a strapping man with the kind of watchful eyes that see everything is looking her way. “He looks like,” I begin, whispering to Monroe as I nod to them.
“A bodyguard? Yeah, that’s Banks,” he says. “And he knocked some sense into me the day of my dad’s party.”
“Oh, I like him then. And I wonder if he likes Ripley? Or if he’s watching out for her?”
“He’s definitely watching her quite close,” Monroe says. “And like he wants to know what she looks like naked.” He swipes my hair off my neck. “It’s a look I’m familiar with since it’s how I look at you.”
I love that look for me and as for Ripley and Banks, I’ll have to ask her later.
For now, I turn all my focus back to the two handsome men walking down the makeshift aisle together. As they stop to say hi to all their guests including me.
Bowen looks me up and down with a knowing grin. “Looks like you’re getting your happily ever after,” he says. “Told you so, hun.”
Then Vikas turns to Monroe, a stern look on his features. “Be good to her. She’s one in a million.”
I run my finger along the house charm, feeling the full weight of its meaning as Monroe drapes an arm around me and squeezes possessively. “I know and I will. I promise.”
Vikas wiggles his eyebrows my way. “Like I said, yesss and please and sir.”
That night as we dance under the Darling Springs stars, I can see our future clearly. It feels like today, and tomorrow, and the next day.
Monroe
A few weeks later, when we’re back in the city, I get up early on a Sunday, the sun streaking through the bedroom window. Juliet’s sound asleep, looking peaceful and happy. Even in her sleep. That’s how she’s appeared lately, and I’m damn glad I put that look on her beautiful face. Once I’m ready, I give her a soft kiss, then turn to leave.
She grabs my wrist and blinks her eyes open. “Hey.”
“Didn’t realize you were up,” I say.
“I’m not but I need you to find out something when you play golf today with Wilder Blaine.”
He’s the owner of both a football team and the golf course in the city where I like to hit the links. Sometimes he’s my golf partner, like this morning. “Okay. What are you angling for?”
She smiles. “I had this feeling he was into Fable.”
I roll my eyes. “Juliet.”
She sighs, like she’s exasperated with me. “I’m a matchmaker. I can’t help it.”
“I promise nothing,” I say.
But when I arrive I know I’ll do everything I can to find out — for her. Love just has that effect on you.
And a funny thing happens when I play a round with the dark-haired, sarcastic, inked billionaire who owns the joint. I ask him a few questions about work, and before I know it, he’s mentioned how brilliant the team’s head designer is. How talented. “She’s fantastic. I’m so lucky to have Fable Calloway working with me,” he says.
The way he says her name makes me think Juliet is right.
When I return home I tell her everything, finishing with, “And I didn’t even have to ask.”
Her eyes pop and she throws her arms around me. “You’re brilliant. And I just have a feeling.”
I have a feeling too. As I nuzzle my face into her chestnut locks, I have a feeling I’m going to be happy for the rest of my life.