April Fool Bride (12 page)

Maddie didn't want to hear any more. She
crept silently away from the door. As she hurried up the stairs,
the sash to her robe fell from the last belt loop. The truth
haunted Maddie. She'd loved Jake, but her love had been selfish,
damaging. She walked into the bedroom and looked at the bed where
he'd taken her to heaven last night. She'd been right. She should
never have yielded to him. Jake would never love her.

How he must disdain her and her marriage of
convenience. She was just as arrogant as Constance. She'd tried to
take advantage of Jake because she thought he was unemployed. She'd
dictated the terms. She hadn't felt such self-loathing in a long
time. Yet, that didn't help her breaking heart.

Why had Jake married her? Not for love. Not
for money.

For revenge.

Chapter
11

Jake rolled his shoulders to release the
tension. It was late. He'd got all the pent-up anger out of his
system and promised his mother he'd "be nice" to Constance. Why had
he been arguing with his mother when he wanted to be upstairs
making love to Maddie? He took the stairs three at a time. The room
was dark. Maddie must have closed the drapes. Silently, he went to
the bathroom and undressed. When he slid under the covers, he
reached for Maddie. She wasn't there. He rolled over and snapped on
the light.

"Maddie?"

Had she somehow gone to the bathroom while he
was walking to the bed? He went there. No. He returned to the
bedroom. Had she gone to the kitchen for a snack? He rushed to the
back stairs and started down. A few steps from the bottom, he saw
the sash to Maddie's robe. Oh, no. He could picture her standing
outside the kitchen door as he sounded off to his mother. How his
words must have hurt Maddie.

He went back to the bedroom. This time he saw
the stapled pages on the floor next to her side of the bed. When he
picked them up, his breath caught. Even though he'd hit the
highlights at dinner, these pages spelled out exactly how wealthy
he was. He imagined Maddie thought the worst after reading this. He
saw the sticky note on top of the report. Amy.

He went to find his cell phone.

"Yes, I've talked to Maddie tonight, and yes,
I know where she is," Amy said. "I'm not supposed to tell you
though."

Jake used all of his charm to no avail.
Finally he fell back on the truth. "Maddie found out I was lying
about needing money. That's bad enough. But she overhead me talking
with my mom. I think she may have heard only the damaging parts of
that conversation. Amy, I need to find her. I can't let her think
what I know she's thinking. It will break her heart. Please. Help
me."

Amy didn't say anything. He hadn't felt this
helpless since Afghanistan. When Amy finally spoke, he felt giddy
with relief.

"She went to her townhome. Come by my place,
and I'll give you the spare key because I know she won't let you
in. There's no alarm system. She was grieving and just starting to
do a slow burn so I know that red-headed temper of hers will be in
full fury by the time you get there."

Jake drove as fast as the other freaks on the
road at two in the morning, and Houston had their fair share of
crazy speeding kamikazes after midnight. He reached Amy in record
time, grabbed the key, got directions, and hit the street again. To
his surprise, Maddie's townhome was in a gated community fairly
close to his mother's subdivision. Or maybe that wasn't so
surprising. He punched in the code Amy had provided and found
Maddie's home in less than five minutes. Ready to do battle for the
woman he loved, he unlocked the door and went inside, snapping on a
lamp in the living room. Before he could think what to say to awake
her without scaring her to death, she appeared in the darkened
doorway to his right.

"Jake. What are you doing here? How did you
get in?" Maddie didn't move any closer.

"Amy is the answer to both."

"Some friend," Maddie huffed. "You can give
me my spare key and go back to Amy and tell her…tell her, I don't
know. Tell her whatever the hell you want to tell her."

Crimson painted her cheeks. Her green eyes
flashed fire.

"I'm glad you're angry. I prefer that over
having you heartbroken."

"How very magnanimous of you."

"Maddie, I know I screwed up. I'm sorry. I
wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how. Then after we made love,
I was afraid you'd take it badly."

Maddie closed the distance between them. She
fairly trembled with anger, but her voice was unnaturally calm.
"Why, Jake. How hard can it be to tell poor stupid Maddie that you
made her the biggest April Fool joke in the history of the
world?"

"No. That was never my intention."

She didn't give him a chance to say anything
else. "How you must have laughed when I
persuaded
you to
marry me. I've got to admit that I admire your patience. You waited
years before I presented you with the perfect opportunity for
revenge. How patient you were. I can only hope that the
satisfaction you derived from adding last night's
sexcapade
to your list of coup d'états made up for all the years of
waiting."

"Now just a damn minute," Jake managed before
she interrupted him again. This time there was no mistaking the
fury in her voice.

"Why the only thing you haven't done is sell
your story to the paparazzi. I'm sure they'd pay big money if you
told them how you got Mad Maddie to marry you and pay for the
privilege. How you got me to love you!"

The last came out as a shout. Maddie paled.
Her hands covered her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears. Before
he could move, she ran back through the darkened doorway and
slammed the door.

Jake rushed to the door, but she'd locked it.
He pounded on the door. "Maddie. Sweetheart, unlock the door."

"Go away. Just go away. You've got everything
from me now. What more do you want?"

Her sobs were like a knife in his chest. He
leaned his forehead against the door and took a deep shuddering
breath. Then Jake did the bravest thing he'd ever done in his life.
"What more do I want? You, Maddie. I want you. I need you. I want
our marriage to be real, not a business contract."

He waited. The sobs ceased. Encouraged, he
said, "I want to be the father of your babies. I want to go to bed
each night with you in my arms and wake each morning to find you
there."

He heard a soft click as she unlocked the
door. He opened the door. Maddie stood there, tears shining in her
emerald eyes. "Is that all you want?"

He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled
her to him. "I want to love you so deeply that you will never doubt
where my heart lies. I want you to love me the same way."

Jake kissed her then. Maddie wrapped her arms
about him, treasuring the moment, the kiss. Then his lips left
hers, and he held her tight against him so that she felt the
steady, reassuring thud of his heart. "I love you, Maddie. Even
when I thought I wanted revenge, I think I really wanted you."

That was the last rational thought she had.
Jake's hands and mouth stole her breath away as much as the soft
words of desire he whispered as they walked together to the
bedroom. He worshiped her with his hands, his mouth, his body. She
generously returned the favor.

When they lay with their bodies joined,
Maddie laughed softly. Jake grinned and thrust his hips drawing a
soft moan from her. "Are you laughing at my love making
ability?"

Maddie giggled. "No. I'm laughing because
yesterday I resolved to use birth control when we did this
again."

She felt a tremor pass through Jake. "Does
that mean you're not on the pill?"

"Wow. You really do have a high-powered
brain," she said, pulling him down for a kiss.

Jake kissed her leisurely, taking his time,
and enjoying her mouth while he moved slowly inside her. "Is this a
bad time to have unprotected sex?"

"Not if you want a baby," Maddie gasped.
Frantic, she cried, "Oh, Jake. I'm so…so close."

Jake moved faster. His voice was low, urgent.
"I guess…we could stop…and get some condoms."

"Right. Like that's going to happen." Maddie
cried. Then she could speak no longer, only feel.

Jake held her, praised her, told her how much
he loved her as he succumbed to his own pleasure.

Later, when sanity had returned, he pulled
the cover over them and curved his body around hers. He loved the
way they fit together in all ways. Just before sleep claimed him,
Jake said, "I'd like to name the first baby after my dad."

"Only if it's a boy," Maddie said, drifting
to sleep in his arms.

Epilogue

Maddie held Maureen Constance Graciella
Becker, and Jake held Christopher Edward Becker as the priest,
Jake's cousin, christened the twins. The two little scamps actually
remained quiet during the ceremony, much to their parents'
surprise.

Maddie looked at the two grandmothers,
Constance and Graciella. She could hardly believe how everything
had changed once Jake had come back into her life.

She and Constance had made peace. It had been
a cancer scare that had made Constance reach out to Maddie in the
hope of changing their contentious relationship. With his mother's
loving coercion, Jake had changed his attitude about Maddie's
stepmother, and he'd helped Maddie overcome the resentment she'd
felt toward her stepmother. It hadn't been as difficult as Maddie
might once have thought when she discovered the truth about Connie,
which is what she called her now, without any derision
intended.

Connie had been a battered child and an unwed
mother at fifteen. With no support or family to help her, she'd
given up her baby for adoption. She'd been so hurt by those she'd
loved, that she'd vowed never to risk her heart again for fear of
rejection.

Now, Connie was looking for the son she gave
away. In the meantime, she was practicing her mothering skills on
the twins.

Maddie bounced their baby girl who was
beginning to fret just as their baby boy decided to get cranky too.
Without a word, Jake and Maddie swapped babies, and the twins
settled down again. For the moment.

When the ceremony ended, Jake kissed Maddie
lightly on the lips then whispered, "Have you given any thought to
my proposal?"

Maddie pretended confusion. "Was that a
proposal or a proposition?"

"Don't toy with me, Mrs. Becker. I might hide
your birth control pills." His eyes heated as he gazed at her.

A look of horror crossed her face. "Oh, you
wouldn't dare! And don't look at me like that. We're in
church."

"I promise to behave if you promise to renew
our vows on our anniversary."

"Are you sure? Wasn't one April Fool joke
enough?" Maddie teased.

"No. I've decided April Fool's Day is my
favorite holiday." He handed Maureen to his mother and took
Christopher from Maddie and handed him to Connie. Then, before God
and the congregation, he took Maddie in his arms and kissed her as
if it were their wedding day instead of their babies'
christening.

"Wow, you really know how to get a concession
from a negotiation," Maddie breathed when he released her.

The congregation burst into applause. Jake
laughed and hugged her to him. "You know how I love a good
negotiation. Almost as much as I love you, Red."

The babies cooed and Maddie recorded the
precious sound in her memory. She would treasure the moment and all
the ones that followed just as she treasured Jake, her first love.
Her husband. Her heart.

Forever.

The End

About April Fool Bride

Thank you for buying and reading
April
Fool Bride
. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed
writing it. I liked the characters and the story so much that I
didn't want it to end, but I'll revisit them with the next
All
Brides Are Beautiful Romance
, due to be published in a few
months.

As a writer, and as a woman, I believe in the
power of love to change lives. That's what a romance novel is all
about--change caused by love and the resulting commitment that's
made because of that love. That's the power of love in action.

Recommend April Fool Bride
. The
highest praise an author can receive is for a reader to recommend
her book to others. I hope you liked
April Fool Bride
and
will help other readers find Maddie and Jake's story by
recommending it to your friends, readers' groups, and discussion
boards.

Review April Fool Bride
. Authors live
and die by reviews. I'd appreciate it if you'd take a few moments
to post a short review. If you leave a review, please let me know
so I can personally thank you. Send a note to:
mailto:[email protected]
.
I'll send you a token of my appreciation.

Mailing List for Readers
. Sign up for
WordPlay
, for special news for
readers and receive a short story (not available elsewhere) as a
gift. (If you're a writer, you might also be interested in
Writing Hacks
, my free
newsletter for writers. Sign up and receive a free copy of one of
my nonfiction books for writers.)

Quality Control.
I care about
producing error-free books. If you find a typo or format problem,
send a note to:
mailto:[email protected]
so I can correct the file. Just send me the sentence that contains
the needed correction, and I'll do a Search/Replace to fix it. I'll
even send you a token of my appreciation for your effort.

My Motto
: "It's never too late to live
happily ever after!"

Thank you again for reading
April Fool
Bride
.