Intimate Illusions [The Callens 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (22 page)

Max huffed and slipped her hands from Ian’s to his. “Normally, Ian is the slick one with all the right words, but apparently he’s lost his tongue. What he is trying to say is that we love you and want to marry you.”

That might not have been the most romantic turn of words, but the sentiment worked for her. She threw herself into Max’s arms and hugged him. “Yes, I accept.” Then she moved to Ian. “Would that have been so hard to say?”

“I guess not.”
Oh, my
. She’d never seen him blush.

Max elbowed Ian. “He’s got something for you.” She caught the quick eye roll but held in a giggle.

“Oh, yeah.” He shoved his hand in his pocket and extracted the most beautiful diamond ring she’d ever seen. After lifting her left hand, he slipped on the gold band encrusted in not only a diamond, but it was surrounded by a ruby and an amethyst.

It fit perfectly. “It’s beautiful.” She held out her hand and admired the setting. “Do the stones represent you two?”

Ian nodded. “We thought about getting matching stones around the diamond, but since we’re nothing alike, we thought it better to make them different.”

She liked that, but she wouldn’t ask which stone belonged to which brother, nor would she comment that they were more alike than maybe they realized.

Max moved closer. “You know the store doesn’t open for another hour. I thought maybe you’d like to celebrate.”

Her mind whirred with the possibilities. “What did you have in mind?” It wasn’t like they could have sex on the floor. The entire front of the store was glass.

“You got any place private in the back?”

Her office resided behind closed doors. “I got a desk.” She grinned and wrapped her arms around Max’s neck.

Ian cleared his throat, and they broke apart. “What? You’re welcome to join us,” Max said.

Ian glanced at the box on the counter. “Shit. I forgot.” He picked up the box and placed it in her hands. “We bought this for you knowing how beautiful you looked in it.”

She had no idea what this was. Carefully, she lifted the lid, and her heart stopped. She set the box on the counter and lifted the white dress. The beads shimmered under the overhead lights. Tears formed.

“This is the wedding dress I modeled. I thought it was the most beautiful one I’d ever worn.”

“When we saw it on you, we knew we had to buy it.”

She didn’t know the price, but it had to be outlandishly expensive. The fact they loved the dress meant the world to her. “You couldn’t have picked a better present.”

The men beamed. “So when do you want to get married?”

Not wanting to be disappointed, she hadn’t dwelled on the idea. “I don’t know.” The image of Christmas with the large family bloomed. “How about at Christmastime? I know your mom will have the house decorated. This way, she won’t have to do double the work.”

The men looked at each other. “I’m sure Mom can pull that off. That gives her six weeks, but what about your parents? Will they be disappointed that you aren’t getting married in Los Angeles?”

“They moved to Vienna two years ago. The States were too uncouth for them.” She flicked her nose. “At one time my folks were cool, but once my father’s company expanded, they got into that jet-set crowd that never appealed to me. If I send them an invitation, they’ll come, but hosting a wedding would not be very practical.”

They gave her a group hug. Ian lifted her chin with a finger. “You going to be okay?”

She swiped a tear. “These are tears of joy. You both have fulfilled my every wish.”

Max grinned. “I’ve got a wish of my own.”

“What’s that?”

He took her hand. “I’ll want to show you something in the office.”

She hoped it had something to do with a naked body part. “Are we going to celebrate the store opening in style?”

“You bet!”

Unlike most other authors, I started writing late in life. Writing stories in high school and college was not for me. Only after I graduated did I fall in love with romance novels. For the next twenty years, I read voraciously. It got to a point where my book-buying habits cost as much as my groceries. At that point, my husband suggested I write a book. Hey, it looked easy, right? All the stories started in the same spot (hero and heroine at odds) and ended the same way (happily ever after). Only it was anything but easy. Eleven years and fifteen completed romantic suspenses later, I finally published. I never would have gotten that far had it not been for two local chapters whose generous members shared their amazing wealth of knowledge.

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