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Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

JOSH

When Heather came walking down the steps with her purse and keys in hand, I jumped up from the chair I’d been sitting on.

“Hey.”

Heather jumped and let out a small scream.

“Jesus, Josh, you scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I was going to tag along with you to McDonald’s.”

“Why?”

“I need a cheeseburger.”

“What, are you pregnant, too?”

I laughed as Heather just started walking toward the door. We got to her car, and as we got in, I took a deep breath. Shit, it smells like Heather. I wanted to let out a curse word because I realized I was in a damn rented tux, so I wouldn’t be able to keep her smell on my clothes. I put my head back and closed my eyes. Motherfucker. I wanted to cry. Maybe I am pregnant. Emotional stupid ass.

“Josh, are you feeling okay? Are you sick?”

I almost said no but then I decided to see where this would take me.

“You know, I am feeling a little bit sick. I think the fresh air and ride will do me good.”

“Are you sure? I mean, maybe you shouldn’t eat a cheeseburger if you’re feeling sick.”

Shit, that went south. “Nah, really, I’m fine.”

We drove in silence for a few minutes before she started to talk.

“So, how have you been?”

“Good. I’m pretty much taking over my dad’s business. I just made this really cool desk for Ari’s dad’s home office.”

“Really? I bet he’ll love it.”

“I hope so. If he does and recommends me, that could be huge for the business. I even have a client in Fredericksburg who ordered a few things.”

Heather looked over at me and gave me that drop dead gorgeous smile of hers. My heart broke all over again as I thought back that morning at her apartment. Her blue eyes captured mine, and then she looked away.

“Lynda, I’m sure, must be very proud of you.”

I let out a small laugh. “Hardly. She hates that I make furniture for a living. She wants me to go back to school.”

“For what?”

“Law.”

“Oh no, don’t do that, Josh. Don’t give up your dream because that’s what she wants. You have to do what makes you happy.”

I nodded my head and looked out the window. I knew Lynda would never make me happy. Only Heather would.

“So, how’s school? Ellie told me that you’re going to graduate this summer. Wow, you must have doubled up on classes,” I said.

“Well, I didn’t really have anything else to do with Ellie and Ari living in Mason now. So I took more classes at UT and on-line. I have an interview with the Mason Independent School District next week.”

I snapped my head up and looked at her.

“For teaching?” I asked.

Heather smiled. “Yeah, I just have to finish some classes this summer and take the state test, but they’re looking for three elementary teachers for next year. That’s why I doubled up on the classes. It’s killing me, but it’s worth it.”

“Wow, Heather I’m really impressed. I always thought you would make a wonderful teacher, prin…umm, yeah. I always could see you doing that.”

She smiled but didn’t say anything else. Fuck, I almost called her princess.

She pulled up to the drive-through and ordered ten cheeseburgers.

“Ten? I said I only wanted one, Heather.”

She threw her head back and laughed.

“I know, but as soon as I hand one to Ari, Jeff and Gunner will wish they had one, too.”

I let out a laugh. “Smart and beautiful.”

She smiled as she drove up to the window to pay. I handed her a twenty, and she pushed my hand away.

“I’ve got it Josh.”

“Please, I insist.” She took the twenty and paid while killing the rude girl in the drive-through with kindness. Only Heather would be extra nice to some rude bitch.

***

By the time we got back to the wedding reception, Heather and I were laughing so hard that we both had tears rolling down our faces. When I told her about Garrett walking in on Jeff and Ari one too many, she laughed even more.

Heather parked the car and was laughing so hard she had to take a couple minutes to settle down before getting out.

“Only Ari would suggest walking out naked to scare Garrett from ever doing it again,” Heather said.

“I know, right?”

We sat there for a few seconds, and neither one of us moving or speaking.

“Well, I guess we better get Ari her cheeseburger,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I got out of the car and started to walk next to Heather. Right before we got to the door, I took her arm and stopped her. She turned around and looked me right in the eye.

“Heather, I’m me utterly and completely.”

“There you are!”

I wanted to cringe when I heard Lynda’s voice. Fuck me.

Heather closed her eyes for two seconds before they snapped back open to look right into mine.

“Thanks for keeping me company. I need to get these to Ari. Excuse me, Lynda.”

Lynda turned and watched Heather walk inside. I wanted to shout to the top of my lungs right now. Instead, I looked at Lynda and tried to give her my best smile.

“So, you went to McDonald’s with Heather, huh?. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?”

“You were a little busy dancing with Heather’s date. Since you were both occupied with each other, I decided to get some fresh air, and Ari didn’t want Heather walking out here alone.”

“Really? Well next time, do a girl a favor and let me know. I was freaking out, and I had to ask Ellie. She said she had no idea where you were. Finally, Ari just told me.”

I almost wanted to laugh, thinking about those two devils playing with Lynda like that.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you, Lynda. Really, I wasn’t even gone twenty minutes.”

Lynda turned and started to walk back into the building. I rolled my eyes and then followed behind her.

For the first time since I’d started dating her, I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of having to go home with her.

We got back into the reception hall, and I saw Jeff and Gunner both eating cheeseburgers. When I let out a laugh, Lynda turned around.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna walk over and talk to Jeff and Gunner for a bit.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to run to the ladies room. Be back in a few minutes.”

I nodded my head and walked away.

If I’m lucky she’ll get lost.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

HEATHER

I splashed some cold water on my face and forced myself not to cry. Fucking Lynda. What was Josh about to say? Damn it. I needed to find a way to talk to him, and I needed to do it without that bitch seeing. Maybe I could have Brian keep her occupied. I was doing him a favor by letting him escort me to the wedding. His father worked with Ari’s and kept getting on him about not having a date for the wedding. Little did his dad know, Brian wanted to keep his real relationship a secret.

I looked up at myself in the mirror and let out a long, loud sigh. Christ, I look like shit.

Just then, I heard someone come into the bathroom. When I turned to grab some towels, I came face to face with Lynda.

“Well, fancy seeing you again so soon!” Lynda said in her chipper fake-ass voice.

Ugh. I dislike this girl very much.

“Hey Lynda, I was just freshening up. I’ve got to get back to Brian. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Hey, did Josh tell you our good news?”

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to look at her.

“Um, no, I guess he didn’t.”

“Oh well, we really haven’t told anyone. We’ve been talking about marriage.”

I felt sick to my stomach. All I wanted to do was run into a stall and throw up.

“He asked you to marry him?” I said, a little too shocked.

“Yes…well not officially with the ring and all, but yeah, we pretty much have started talking and planning it. I’m beyond the moon.”

“Don’t you think y’all should date a little longer before you talk about something like marriage?”

Lynda just laughed. “Gesh, Heather, you sound like my parents. Don’t get all elementary school teacher on me. Josh and I are great together, and the sex is pretty fucking awesome.”

Oh god.

“I need to go, Lynda. I’m sure Ari and Jeff are planning on leaving soon. It was a pleasure talking to you.”

I turned and walked out of the bathroom. I headed back over to where Ellie and Ari were talking to Jeff, Gunner, and Josh. Josh looked up at me, and his smile faded. I was sure I looked awful and I felt even worse.

Ellie took one look at me and stopped talking.

“Heather, are you okay?”

“Actually, I’m not doing so well. I think I’m going to head home. Ari and Jeff, congratulations, y’all, I love you both, and I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon.”

I hugged Ari and Jeff, and then Gunner and Ellie. I looked at Josh, who looked confused as hell. I saw him look behind me, and I guessed the troll bitch was walking up.

“Hey baby, miss me?” she said as she walked past me up to Josh.

She went to kiss him, but he turned his head to the side, so she kissed his cheek instead. He never took his eyes off of me. I was so confused. He was looking at me like he wanted to tell me something, but he held Lynda in his arms.

“Okay, well, I’m going to go find Brian and get him to walk me out.”

“I can walk you out,” Josh said.

“No, Josh, it’s best if you let her date walk her out. Don’t you agree, Heather?”

I couldn’t even answer her. I turned around and walked away.

My heart was beating a mile a minute by the time I found Brian. I asked him to walk me to my car. By the time I got in, he was a little concerned, but I assured him I was okay. I drove about two blocks before I pulled over and cried my eyes out.

He’s going to marry her? I almost couldn’t believe it. The way he was looking at me tonight was the exact same way he had looked at me the day I begged him to make love to me at Ari and Jeff’s house. His eyes looked like they were filled with.

No, I’m dreaming again. It was so obvious that Josh had moved on.

“You lost me…”

The moment I’d slept with Jerry I’d ruined any chance with Josh. I lost him.

Just then, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the caller ID.

Josh.

My hands started shaking. Should I answer it? I hit ignore and threw my phone back in my purse. As I put my head on the steering wheel, I started to cry even harder.

He’s getting married.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

ARI

Thank God it was time to go. If I had to talk to another person and say thank you, I was going to go off on someone.

I looked over at Jeff while he shook someone else’s hand, giving him his fake-ass smile. I let out a little laugh. I looked over to my right and saw Emma and Grace walking up. I started to head toward them when Lynda stepped in front of me.

“Before ya say goodnight to Grams, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

No, bitch.

“I can try.”

“Can you apologize to Heather for me?”

I felt the heat rushing into my face. I’ll kill this girl if she hurt Heather.

“For what?”

“Well, I’m not sure what happened, but I think Josh must have upset her. When they came back from McDonald’s, she was clearly hurt when they were walking in. Then, when I ran into her in the bathroom, she was crying. I know Josh can be a bit of an ass at times, and I know they’ve had a different kind of friendship.”

“Um, okay. Well I’m sure Heather will be fine. Thanks for your concern. I’ll let her know what you said the next time I talk to her.”

Just then, Emma and Grace walked up. Emma hugged Lynda and talked to her while Grace gave me her congratulations.

I kept looking over at Lynda. There was something about the bitch I didn’t trust. Heather seemed fine when she brought me my cheeseburger, but was clearly upset after running in to Lynda in the bathroom. I don’t trust that bitch as far as I can throw her skinny ass.

Jeff and I said good-bye to, I swore all 150 people at the wedding.

We made our way out to his truck, and after my mother and Grace helped me to get my dress inside the truck we took off.

“So, where are we going, Mr. Johnson?” I asked as I wiggled my eyebrows up and down.

“The W.”

“Oh wow, the W and Paris? I do believe you are going to start off this marriage by spoiling me.”

“That is my every intention, Mrs. Johnson.” Jeff said with a smile.

***

After we got to the hotel and checked in, we were standing outside our room. Jeff had told the bellhop to just leave the bags, and he would bring them in later.

Standing at the door of our room, Jeff turned toward me and cupped my face with his hands.

“I will always do whatever I can to make you and our baby happy. Do you believe me, Ari?”

My heart was in my throat. How can he say something so simple and make me all crazy?

“Yes, I believe you, Jeff.”

Reaching down, he scooped me up into his arms as he tried to open the door and hold on to me. I started to laugh when I felt he was losing his grip on me.

“Shit! This dress is making you slip.”

“The dress, huh? You haven’t been working out that much lately. Maybe you’re losing your brute strength,” I said with a giggle.

“Oh yeah?” He set me down for a second, and then picked me up again, throwing me over his shoulder. I let out a small scream.

“Baby, you need to be quiet, or they’ll kick us out!”

He smacked me on the ass, which caused me to yell out again.

Once he got the door open, he reached down, grabbed the two suitcases, and carried us all into the room.

He dropped the bags and then slowly, oh so slowly, helped me down. I instantly felt his hard-on and all I wanted to do was rip off his clothes.

“Show off,” I said with a smile.

“All for you, baby, all for you.”

I turned and looked our room.

“Holy hell.” It was breath-taking. With its totally modern look, it was so different from the Driskill. All I saw were windows with a view of downtown Austin.

“Oh my gosh, the view from up here is amazing.” I continued looking around the room, and the next thing I saw was the large curved sofa and the LCD TV.

“That TV is huge!”

Jeff laughed.

“Well, I don’t plan on turning it on…at all.”

I smiled at him.

“Me either…well until I wear your ass out, and then I’ll watch HGTV while you sleep.”

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. “That’s not going to happen. Come here, let me show you the bathroom.”

When we walked into the bathroom, I swore it was like I was walking into a spa. The walls were all gray, and everything else was white. It had modern white sinks and a large bath-tub. Oh my god, the bathtub. I just wanted to soak in it. It was tucked near the corner and looked out over the river. It was beautiful.

“I want in that tub.”

Jeff came around to stand in front of me. Placing his finger under my chin, he lifted my head up to him. His soft lush lips captured mine, and he kissed me so tenderly that I thought for sure I would melt on the spot.

He pulled away slightly. “How careful do I need to be with taking off this dress?”

I smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. “This is a very expensive dress, Mr. Johnson. What if our daughter wants to wear it someday when she gets married? How am I going to tell her that her daddy put the rip in it because he wanted mommy naked so he could have his wicked ways with her?”

Jeff smiled, and my knees about gave out. Holy shit, this man is beautiful. I looked him up and down. His beautiful light brown hair was a tad bit messy, and those emerald green eyes were just sparkling. When he smiled big like he was now, I could see the dimple on his right cheek, and for some reason, that turned me on even more.

“I’ll tell ya what, if I rip it, I promise to buy our daughter the most expensive wedding gown that she wants. I just want her momma out of this one.”

I turned around and looked over my shoulder as Jeff slowly started to unzip the dress. I heard him suck in his breath when he saw the back of my corset.

“Jesus, Ari…if this is what the back looks like, I can’t wait to see the front.” He leaned in and kissed me from one shoulder to the other.

My body shuddered.

Then, he placed his hands on my shoulders and slowly pushed off the dress.

“So damn beautiful.”

I stepped out of the dress, moving to the side of it. I heard Jeff pick up the dress, and I looked over my shoulder to watch him lay it over the white ottoman. He was handling it with so much care that I had to smile to myself.

I love him so damn much.

“Turn around, Arianna.”

Oh. My. God. The sound of his voice ran through my body like a bolt of lightning. What the hell? My heart starting pounding and I looked down at my shaking hands. I balled my hands into fists, and then I placed them both on my stomach. Is it butterflies or am feeling the baby?

I slowly turned around to face him. Jeff sucked in a breath of air as he looked up and down my body. He took two steps back, hit the ottoman, lost his balance, and then landed right on his ass.

I started to laugh as he jumped back up.

“Wow, if I had known that I looked that good, I would have taken that damn dress off hours ago,” I said as I laughed my ass off.

Oh shit! I started to jump up and down. I had to pee. Oh my god! If I pissed myself, I was blaming him. I pushed past Jeff and ran over to the toilet. Now, it was Jeff’s turn to laugh.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…so much for romance.

“That was classic, Ari. Damn, I love you,” Jeff said as he walked over to the bath to run the water.

I finished, washed my hands, and took one look at myself in the mirror. I did have a glow. I wondered if it the pregnancy or just because I was so unbelievably happy?

Jeff walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my stomach. He gave me a small hug and then turned me around.

“You take my breath away in all this silver, baby, but I’m afraid I need to take it off as well.”

Jeff slowly got down on his knees as he picked up my left foot and removed my shoe. Then, he removed my other shoe. He slowly slid his hands up my right leg and unclipped my stockings from the garter belt. He rolled it off my leg and set it to the side and then repeated the same moves on my left leg. Then, he reached up and unhooked the garter belt. I could feel the rush of moisture hit my platinum-colored panties.

Shit, I’ve never wanted him as much as I do right this very second.

He hooked his fingers on my panties and so very slowly pulled them down. As he did, he placed gentle kisses down my leg. I stepped out of my panties, and he tossed them to the side.

When he looked right at my stomach, I felt it doing flips like never before. Oh god.

He placed his forehead and then one of his hands on my stomach.

“Hey, baby boy or girl, it’s Daddy.”

Mother of all things good. Fucking take me now!

“I love you, little baby of mine. Thank you so much for letting Mommy have a sick-free day today little bit.”

Oh. My. God.

“Jeff...”

He kissed my stomach and stood up. Turning me around, he slowly started to take off the corset. Once it was untied he let it drop to the floor.

I turned around and saw the lust in his eyes as his gaze traveled up and down my body. Then, his stare landed back on the small round bump at my stomach.

“Ari, you’re so damn sexy. I can’t wait to see your stomach grow bigger with our child.”

He’s trying to kill me. He has to be.

“Jeff, please make love to me…after you turn off the tub because it’s fixin’ to spill over.”

“Shit!” Jeff ran over to the tub and turned off the water.

I let out a giggle as Jeff walked back over to me. He lifted me up and moved me over to the lower counter next to the sink.

“The water will get cold,” I said with a smile.

“Then, I’ll drain it and fill it up again. Right now, I’m going to make love to you.”

My heart dropped to my stomach. No matter how many times he’s said that to me, it still caused me to get butterflies in my stomach.

“Okay.”

And make love, he did. We started out in the bathroom, and then lifted me up and moved me to the bedroom where he gave every square inch of my body attention. I’d already had two orgasms, and I thought I was going to die if I had another one.

He rolled us over, so I was on top.

Sweet mother of Jesus, he feels so good. I didn’t want to stop, but I felt the familiar feeling building up inside of me. Just as I started to come, Jeff sat up and wrapped his arms around me, and came with me.

We sat there for a few minutes, just holding each other while we caught our breath. Then, I felt the baby move. I knew it was the baby because that feeling was getting stronger. I was pretty sure it was a boy, only Jeff could produce a son who could make me feel him move around earlier than he should.

“I love you, Jeff.”

“I love you so much more, baby. Let’s go sit in a hot bath.”

He let go of me, and I collapsed onto the bed.

“I’ll just wait here while you take your fine naked ass in there to draw me a bath.”

“You got it, babe.”

***

The moment I slid down into the hot water, I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. Thank God this day is over. I loved our wedding, and it was more than I could’ve ever dreamed of. But fuck, I just want to go to Paris.

I felt Jeff get into the tub with me, so I moved up so he could slide in behind me.

I leaned back onto his chest, and now it was his turn to relax and a sigh.

“So, Paris, huh?”

He let out a chuckle. “Yep, we leave tomorrow afternoon. Ellie did me a huge favor by making sure your passport was up to date.”

“Well, she wasn’t very sneaky about it. She just came out and asked.”

Jeff started laughing. “Damn that girl. I really wish she would get pregnant soon,” Jeff said, his voice turning sad sounding.

I put my hands to my stomach, silently thanking God for our blessing.

“She will, baby. She just needs to relax and stop worrying about it. Let’s get back to Paris. What made you pick Paris? Est-ce parce que je parle si bien le Francais?”

I knew Jeff had no idea what I’d just said, so I let out a giggle.

“Yes,” Jeff said with a laugh.

I turned around and looked at him. “Do you know what I just asked?”

He smiled that big ol’ smile of his and nodded his head.

“Alright, smart ass, what did I say?”

“You asked if it was because you spoke French so well.”

“Je pense que le bébé est un garçon.”

Jeff sat up really quick. “How do you know it’s a boy?”

Oh my god! “I don’t! I said that I think it’s a boy. When did you learn French?”

Jeff leaned back and took me with him. I could feel his chest moving up and down, so he must have been laughing.

“The day Gunner and Ellie got married, I was giving him hell about being so damn romantic. I said something about taking Ellie to Paris when she got pregnant. I liked the idea of taking you to Paris because I remembered you and your parents talking about when you went to France before and how much you loved it there. When y’all started speaking in French at dinner, I wanted to know what you were saying, I bought Rosetta Stone for French that night, and I’ve been trying to learn the language since then.”

I sat up, turned around in the bathtub, and looked at him.

“Vous imbécile romantique.”

“I think you just called me romantic,” Jeff said with a wink.

“Close. I said you romantic fool! Je t’aime, Jeff.”

“Je t’aime, Ari.”

Turning to face him, I wrapped my legs around him in the bathtub and smiled.

“I’m ready, baby, if you think you can handle me,” Jeff said with a wink.

“Bring it on, Mr. Johnson, ‘cause Mrs. Johnson is one horny pregnant woman.”

“Fuck yeah!”

***

Jeff and I collapsed on the bed around 4 a.m. I couldn’t move, and I was starving. I rolled over and cuddled up next to him. He was already asleep, and the motion of his chest going up and down was relaxing me even more.

I thought back to our wedding day yesterday and the night that followed. I didn’t think I’d ever be as happy as I was right now.

Then I smiled when I thought about the baby.

That statement wasn’t true. This was just the beginning of many more happy moments.

Just the beginning.