A Sorta Fairytale (19 page)

You laugh and wave a hand at me. “Don’t worry about it, Stel. Just stop questioning everything. Do what your heart wants. What does your heart want?”

I smile. It’s such a simple thing, but I take a few seconds to look at you. And I remember the bar, the garden, our fights, our love, and the person I want to spend my little piece of a fairytale with. And then I say it. “You, Alex McNeil.”

Chapter 39

Stella & Alex

“You got enough stuff?” you whine, carrying some of the last few boxes into your apartment.

Our apartment.
I smile with tears in my eyes, because it’s ours, and I’m happy. God, I’m so happy. You bring so much happiness and joy to my life. I feel…complete…with you, without being way too cheesy. “Yeah, I think I got everything.” I’m too busy staring at you. Lost in your beautiful soul.

You run to me, wrapping your arms around my waist. “I’ve got everything I want right here.”

I smile and stare into your eyes. “I love you, Alex.” I don’t have any doubt of it running through my mind while the words leave my mouth. I’ve only said those words to one other. Thomas. But with Thomas I always had a little bit of question. A little bit of self-doubt in the back of mind when I echoed those words. Beautiful, symbolic words which are meant for only a few. Or so I think.

“I love you too, Stel.”

Butterflies swarm in my belly. My nickname. I feel comforted when you call me by it. I wrap my arms around your neck, breathing in your scent when I rest my head on your chest, closing my eyes. I feel at home, in your arms, in the apartment. With this life. I’m content. Not scared, but happy. Happy with everything. The way I am with you. The way you are with me. How I feel. How I act. “Thank you,” I whisper.

You look down at me, scrunching your brows together. “For what?”

“Getting to know me. I know I’m a bitch. I know I’m hard to understand, and confusing, and a pain in the ass.”

You cut off my rant. “Stella,” you say, wrapping my face in your hands. “You are not a pain in the ass.” We look at one another until one of us cracks, me being the first. “Okay. Maybe you are. But you’re mine, and I love you. I’m in love with you, Stella, for the rest of our lives. I will always love you.”

Tears rush to my eyes. “God, I love you so much, Alex.” I pull you to me, keeping my arms tightly wrapped around your waist, never wanting to let you go. Never wanting to watch you walk away. With Thomas, when I walked away it was fine. Because I was running to someone I was truly, madly, deeply in love with.

“Come sit with me,” you say, pulling me behind you toward the couch. We fall into it together, laughing wholeheartedly when it sucks our bodies in. Extending your hands to me, you say, “Come here.”

I comply. I wanted to run into your arms before you even said the words, and I’m glad you did.

“That’s better,” you murmur in my ear, keeping a firm grip on me.

“Mhm.” I moan. We lie there for God only knows how long. Relaxed. Content. Happy in one another’s arms. But then I feel you becoming restless. “What’s up?”

“So, I was thinking,” you say, looking down at me. “I want to paint something.”

“Oh.” I nod.
I know where this is going.

“You look so beautiful here on the couch, with the sun beaming in against your beautiful black hair.”

“You want to paint me now?” I ask, surprised.

“Yes.” Kissing the side of my head, you whisper, “Can I?” The second I wave my hand, you kiss me harder and call, “thanks,” as you run off for the easel in the corner of the room.

I laugh and shake my head. “You’re like a kid in a candy store!”

“You betcha! When I have a sexy thing like you to look at while I paint? There’s nothing better in the world.”

Relaxing, I stare at you from my seated position on the couch. Watching as you paint a beautiful portrait on the easel. I’m mesmerized by you. Loving the warmth of your heart, kindred spirit, and safe touch. All things we read about as little ones in fairytale books. And I guess I could say I found my own sorta fairytale…with a bit of a twist. If I could’ve had one wish from a fairy godmother I would’ve wished to blend the two of you together. However, life isn’t a fairytale. Well, it sort of is, to me. I will always love Thomas, but there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love. I learned that. Separately, with the two most amazing people who deserve everything life has to offer. But I could only give my all to one. And with everything against us, ultimately I fell in love with you…Alexandria Grace McNeil.

…and we both lived Happily Ever After.

Epilogue

1 week later

Stella, Alex & Thomas

I walk hand in hand with her. My girlfriend. We’re doing what we always do, going to the local market and getting food for a picnic in the park. That’s our thing, and I’m perfectly fine with it. It’s what we’re happy doing. It’s the simplicity that made me fall in love with her. I don’t care what other people think or say, because I am in love with the most amazing woman in the world. I never thought I was bisexual. I never looked at another woman and thought I wanted to be with her. I thought I only wanted a man, but then I met Alex. No, I didn’t feel that instant connection where I wanted to fall in love with her. I wanted to be her friend. And there was a small part of me that wanted more. I can’t explain it, really. It wasn’t her features, her shoulder length brown hair, and her beautiful brown eyes. The significant height difference between the two of us. I fell in love with her soul. I got to know her for who she truly is, which is an amazing woman who puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She doesn’t care what others think. She does what makes her happy. And in a world filled with chaos, it’s so easy to lose yourself and to try and fit in with the norm. But not Alex. She does what she wants. When she wants.

Once I left Thomas, I decided to leave the firm. I knew I couldn’t be in the same work environment as the man I fucked for two years. He understood completely. I think a part of him was hurt, but in the end, he understood. He even gave me a huge bonus, enough to allow me to do what I want to do…start my own bakery. I’m finally doing it. Living the dream. Doing what Alex taught me. To live every day as if it were my last. No second guessing. Going with the flow. Because as Thomas taught me as he lay in that hospital bed, everything could change in the blink of an eye.

“What else would you like to do today, babe?” she asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

I shrug. “I’m not sure. What do you think about that puppy?” I try to sneak by.

She drops my hand and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Really?”

I twirl my fingers together and bite my bottom lip.

“Oh, god, don’t bite the lip! You know how much I like that!” she whines, dropping her hands to her sides and kicking at the ground.

“What?” I play along.

“Oh, fine!”

I start to cheer, clapping my hands together and making a squealing noise, but stop. “Really?”

“Yes,” she says. “Really, really.”

Jumping over to her, I wrap my arms around her neck and give her a hard kiss on the lips. “Thank you so much!”

“All right, all right. Let’s go get a puppy.”

“But I thought we were going to the market?”

“Well, we could always bring the puppy on the picnic.”

“Really?” I whisper.

“Yes, Stella.”

I smile up at her. “I love you so much, Alex.”

She runs her fingers through my hair. “I am in love with you, Stella.” Kissing each other, we link hands and turn around, walking toward the pet store. “So what kind of puppy do you want?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “What about you?”

“Definitely a small one.”

“Okay.”

We continue walking, content in one another’s embrace. We’re happy, and then I spot him, coming our way.

“Isn’t that…?”

“Yes,” I cut in. I stop walking and start to bite on the corner of my lip.

“Don’t be nervous, babe,” Alex tries to reassure.

“But he doesn’t know about us.”

“Who cares, Stella? Do you?”

I shrug. “Kind of.”

“You love me…right?”

My eyes widen as I stare into Alex’s. “Yes, of course, I do! More than anything. I’m in love with you.”

“Good,” she murmurs, leaning in against my lips and kissing me. Grabbing my hand, she gives a gentle squeeze. “Come on.”

I smile up at her and hold tightly to her hand. My stomach tightens. I’m a little nervous. I’m not going to lie. But then I look over at him, and the nervousness I felt vanishes from me. He gives me comfort and relief. It’s almost as if he can feel my eyes on his, because then he looks up from the BlackBerry glued to his hands, and our eyes meet. I’m surprised when I don’t see shock on his face. Instead, I see a grin. A big one.

“What the hell?” Alex groans next to me.

“What?”

“I thought he’d be more…”

“Surprised? Yeah, I have no idea what’s going on.”

We continue to walk in his direction, and when we get close enough, I start to say his name, but he extends a hand toward Alex. “It’s nice to meet you, finally.” And then it comes. The look of confusion. The eyebrows pulling together. The stare of trying to figure out. “Oh shit! I finally know where I’ve seen you before! The bar! You were the bartender.”

Alex nods. “Yup. That was me.”

“Well, fuck me.” Thomas laughs. “This is a small fuckin’ world.”

I look at Alex. A look of confusion is on her face, surely mirrored on mine.

Dropping her hand, Thomas turns to me and grins. “Stella.”

“Um, Thomas? Why aren’t you more surprised?”

“Well…” He shrugs. “I have a little secret of my own.”

“Oh?”

“I sort of spied on you. I saw the two of you at the park. That night you came to my apartment and drank yourself under the table?”

I giggle and glance at Alex, who has an even bigger look of confusion on her face. “Yeah, somehow I remember that.”

“Well, I knew I wasn’t the one for you. I think I even knew long before. I just never realized it was the bartender from the night at the bar. Was that when the two of you met?”

Alex and I look at one another with knowing grins. Turning to Thomas, I say, “Guilty.”

“Well,” he says looking back and forth between the two of us. “You both look very happy. I’m happy for you, Stel.”

“A nickname?”

He shrugs. “Why not?” And just then his phone starts to ring. He looks down at it, he then at the two of us. “I should probably get going.”

I nod. “Take care of yourself, Thomas.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “You too.” Turning to Alex, he says, “Nice to meet you, Alex.”

“Nice meeting you too,” Alex says, grabbing Thomas’s hand and giving it one last shake.

And as Thomas walks past us, I feel relief. Relief that I really do love the two most amazing people in the entire world.

Taking my hand, Alex says, “Let’s go get that puppy.”

I smile at her and say, “Let’s go.” So we walk. No, we don’t walk off into the sunset like the end of a fairytale. And, no, an old woman doesn’t tell of heroic events and disasters that befell us. There aren’t any glass slippers or pumpkin carriage rides. But we found happiness in the most unique of ways. Looking at her, I know I’m happily in love. With Alex McNeil, I got my very own piece of a fairytale.

The End

Acknowledgements

Dear Readers,

This book was extremely difficult to write. First off, I hate love triangles. Despise them with a passion but I thought there was something “different” about this book. I knew from the very beginning stages I wanted the whole secret with Alex and I wish I could see the look on reader’s faces when they discover what it is.

Speaking of readers, I want to thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for joining me on this rollercoaster of events. Writing the words on these pages is sometimes very difficult but you all make it worthwhile.

There are so many people I need to thank.

Reader/ Blogger - Emma Wicker

Editor – Lori Whitwam

Formatter – Dixie Matthews

Bloggers – Ya Bound, HEA Bookshelf, Lady Amber’s Launch Party, Erotic for All, Kay Dee’s Place, All I Want and More, Sapphyria’s Steamy Books, Underneath the Covers, Freshly Baked Books, Roxanne’s Realm, Books and Tales, The Bookish & the Romantic and Books n’ Pearls. There are so many more I haven’t listed but thank you so much! Without all of you, it would take forever for people to hear about my books, so thank you! Hugs and Kisses!

Above all thank you to my boyfriend for giving up time for us to be together for me to write these books. Thank you for supporting me in this dream I have. I love you so much Josh.

Until next time,

Emily!