Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2) (43 page)

Just don't send her into early labor.

No worries. We've been practicing.

I bet you have, you cheeky monkey.

Gotta go. Love you. Always.

Love you too. See you in a couple hours.

As time passed, it became easier to be playful around Rob. The longer she and Liam were committed to each other, the more Jenna fell in love with him. Loving Liam was her salvation, even more so than it had been her undoing all those years. When she met Rob, she knew that they'd both eventually find their One.

Who knew that it would be such a complex answer?

Love wasn't always as simple as it should be. Now, she could be happy for Rob and for Emily without being unhappy for herself. She could accept that she'd loved Rob fiercely once but that it hadn't been enough for either of them, and that was okay.

Love didn't have to end in loss nor did it have to end badly when it was over. It could morph into something else. And that something made her life richer.

Every single day.

**********

“Where are we going?” Jenna asked.

“It's a surprise,” Liam replied. They were taking the S2000 out one last time before they brought it to the dealer and traded it for a Toyota Highlander. It was the last full day they'd be in L.A. before they all moved back to Maine.

After Rob's big Oscar win, they'd added a new guard, Noah, to the team. Rick had suggested Alan, but Liam had refused. He was now the official head of the Deac Roberts security team, and he didn't trust Alan to take care of his family. That included Rob, Emily and their unborn baby girl.

When he'd questioned Alan about Rob and Jenna's affair four and a half years earlier, the man had no idea that Rob and Jenna had been sleeping together those three weeks, and according to Rick, he should've known. Liam used that as justification to send Alan back to Minnesota, and Rick relented. His concession had been Noah, whom Rick said was as good as Liam.

Liam took exception to that, especially since Noah always seemed to act put-out if his boss made requests. So what if those requests sometimes effectively made Noah a glorified manny instead of an elite bodyguard for a celebrity? That was part of the job now that the team was a family and not just a bunch of guys hanging out and drinking beer.

They did need three guards on staff, since both Em and Rob needed someone and Liam couldn't be on overnights the way he had been in the past, but the Malibu house became crowded when Noah had arrived a few days earlier.

Privacy was at an all-time low, so Liam had asked Rick to stay in L.A. long enough for him to take Jenna on a date. He had a very special reason for it.

For a while, Liam had a hard time talking to Rob. Things felt like they would never go back to the way they were before his best friend and his fiancée had admitted to their prior relationship. But over time, as he grew closer to Em and they talked every day, Liam began to relax into the new reality. Jenna worked hard all the time to show him how much she loved him.

This date had been a long time coming. He'd wanted to do this months ago, but between the holidays and awards season, time was precious and he'd been unable to accumulate a large enough chunk at once. This was the only day that worked while they were still in California, and Liam knew it had to happen this way, as it always should have.

He patted his left pants pocket as they pulled into a parking space at Bistro Mexique. The small lump was still there and he smiled.

“I didn't know you liked this place that much,” Jenna teased.

“It has sentimental value,” he said with a wry grin.

“Didn't know you were that sentimental, either.”

“You'll learn new things about me all the time.”

“Good,” she said, blinking rapidly. Her emotions were running high, he could tell by the way she was jittery and looked as if she might cry at any moment. She was usually so collected. It gave him confidence that this had been the right thing to do.

“Time for dinner,” he said, and they made their way into the restaurant, hand in hand.

**********

When they arrived, there were other people at the restaurant, but it didn't take long for the tables to clear. It seemed odd that no new patrons arrived, but it was a Wednesday night. Somehow, they'd been seated at the same table where they'd sat both times they had eaten here. Liam held her hand as often as possible and they were seated side by side.

They were mostly done with dessert when the waiter silently arrived at the table, deposited a champagne bucket, poured two glasses and nodded. After that, the place seemed empty and Jenna realized that there was literally no one else around.

This couldn't be a coincidence. “What's going on?” she asked.

Liam leaned in close. He'd asked her to wear exactly the same outfit she wore the night they'd said goodbye four years ago, so she'd gone commando, which seemed especially naughty now that she was a mother of two. But he'd requested and so she'd obliged.

His right hand wandered up her thigh from her knee, stopping short of home sweet home. He nipped at her ear as he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said. They were afforded so little time alone these days, and her heart began to race in anticipation as she hoped he'd let his fingers walk just a little bit farther. His mouth found the sweet spot on her neck and she had all she could do to stifle a moan.

“There's something I've been wanting to do for four years,” he said.
Yes
. She'd wanted him to touch her then, too, had wanted him to slide his fingers inside her, to rub her until she came apart, right there in the busy restaurant. It was thrilling to think about doing it without getting caught.

“So do it already,” she breathed.

He leaned back, his face inches from hers. His hand stilled on her thigh, and he looked into her eyes. “You wanted me to make a choice. I think you always wanted that,” he said.

What was he talking about? “I don't know what you mean.”

“I'm choosing, Jenna. I want
you.
I love
you.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you, making you happy every single day. I should have asked you this four years ago, in this same spot, but I was too afraid then. I'm not afraid anymore. I know what I want and what I want is you. Not because you're the mother of my children, but because I'm madly, passionately, desperately in love with you. It's about four years later than it should have happened, but,” he pulled out the ring he'd given her in September, “will you marry me?”

Her breath caught and tears instantly formed, blurring her vision. “You still want to marry me?” she said, stunned.

“I've always wanted to marry you. I was just too stupid to admit it to myself or to you when I should have. So what do you say?”

She laughed through the tears. “Yes! I say yes.” Kissing him, hard, and she felt the smile on his lips. When she sat back, he slipped the ring on her finger. It was loose now, since she'd lost almost all of the baby weight over the past six months.

“We'll get it re-sized when we're home. I was thinking we could get married next weekend.”

“Next weekend? Why so soon?”

“It's not really soon, is it? We waited six months, and even though you gave me the ring back, I still considered us engaged. I was waiting for the right time to ask you in the right place.”

She touched his cheek and gently kissed his lips. “How are we going to manage that?”

Liam smiled mischievously. “I've had elves help me plan the whole thing. The only person left to tell was you.”

“What? You planned our whole wedding without me? How do you know I didn't want to have some big, elaborate affair?”

“Because you hate that crap. Your mother, my mother, Anja, Mary Cate, Amy, Kelly and Christopher made the arrangements. All you have to do is show up.”

“But what about a dress? I haven't even thought about that.”

“Christopher took care of it when he fitted you for the dress you wore to Harvey's party.”

“That jerk. I knew his odd behavior was suspect.”

“Aren't you glad you were surprised?”

She smiled. “Yes. We're really getting married next weekend? You're not teasing me?”

He let his hand creep upward. “If I wanted to tease you, I'd do this,” he said as he grazed her. “I wouldn't bother make up some story about a wedding that wasn't going to happen. You're going to become my wife next weekend. I'm in charge, remember?” His fingers tortured her, so close but so far. He pulled his hand away.

“You're mean,” she said with a pout.

Liam chuckled. “Sometimes. You can handle it.”

Jenna smiled at her quip on his lips. “Next weekend?”

He nodded and said, “For now, we'll go back to our place.”

“Our place?”

“The apartment.”

“It's ours now?”

“What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours. And you're all mine. Always.” He kissed her – slow, gentle, sensual, loving. She let her forehead fall against his chest as he held her close.

“I love you, Liam. I can't wait to be your wife. Next weekend can't happen fast enough.”

“Good. I love you, too. We've waited long enough. Let's go to L.A. and pretend I wasn't stupid for the last four years.”

She looked down at her ring, the center diamond and flanking blue-green tourmaline on either side, the one she'd missed having on her finger since the day they'd taken it off when the babies had unexpectedly arrived. The smile was automatic.

“I don't know, if the last four years hadn't happened, we wouldn't have Cam and Ellie. I think the end result was worth the journey.”

He hugged her. “You got that right. I was thinking more like we could pretend making love all night was the beginning instead of goodbye.”

“It was always the beginning. It just took us a long time to get here is all.”

“You always have all the answers,” he said with a laugh.

“I know. You love that about me.”

“I do. I really do.”

Dear Reader,

In
Back to December
and briefly here in
Only One
, we met Emily Ward Deacon's best friend, Meg. You might recall when Meg met Rob at Charlie's wedding and teased her. Well, when Rob and Emily left to reconcile in private, what happened to Meg? We just learned what Nina had been doing then. And in Ward Sisters Series Book 3,
Right Here Waiting
, we'll learn all about Meghan Miles and how Charlie's wedding changed her life.

Here's an excerpt from
Right Here Waiting
. This story follows Meg as she meets and falls in love with Charlie's husband, Dan's best friend. I hope you fall for Captain Neil Murphy as easily as I did when I wrote him. Enjoy!

All my best,

Lucy Gage

Right Here Waiting

Ward Sisters Series Book 3

Second Edition

Lucy Gage

©2014 by Lucy Gage

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Prologue

Morning of Charlie and Dan's wedding...

Neil stretched his long legs. When his feet hit the foot board of his twin bed, he appreciated both his sunrise waking habit and his military training. The ability to function on less sleep meant his jet lag wouldn't put a damper on Danny Williams' wedding.

He'd been looking forward to this wedding for a long time. For one thing, his best friend had loved Charlie Ward forever and making it legal completed their decade-old relationship. For another, Charlie's friend Meghan was a bridesmaid. Though it had been several years since their paths had crossed, Neil could hardly wait to get a glimpse of the gorgeous woman who had been the subject of more fantasies than he could count for thirteen years.

He ran on the trails behind his parents' house, along the route he'd taken since the age of twelve. The trees had grown in the nine years he'd been away, the path no longer daily trampled, but his father had maintained the trail. Light filtered through summer leaves of maples, oaks, ash and beech, a stark contrast to the more desert-like landscape that surrounded his current post, Ft. Irwin. He welcomed the shade and the cooler, damp, early-morning air, fragrant with the earthy scents of the Maine woods. Too bad his leave only lasted a week.

Slowing as he approached the house, Neil inhaled the aromas of his favorite breakfast: pancakes, bacon, eggs and coffee. He rarely had breakfast waiting after a run, since he always ran with his roommate, Owen.

For a little while, he'd had Beth, but her idea of breakfast didn't match his and she hated to cook. Neil had probably cooked more for her than she had for him. He'd caught Beth sleeping with one of the soldiers from her unit six months ago, and promptly dumped her.
Probably best
that Beth was stupid enough to cheat before ye got attached,
his mother soothed in her Irish accent.
No point in marryin' a girl who won't cook.

Nearly every night since he'd ditched Beth, Neil had dreamed of seeing Meghan on this day. He thought about it on the plane trip from California last night, as he drifted off to sleep, on his run, and in the shower while he jerked off this morning. Chances were good that all he'd ever do was think about her, because no other woman had intimidated the adult Neil Murphy the way she always had.

The last time he'd seen Meghan Miles was at Danny's college graduation party. In high school, Meghan and her best friend, Emily – Charlie's oldest sister – were three years ahead of Neil. At the time of Danny's party, Meghan was starting her PhD program in psychology, which Neil found fascinating. He and Owen believed that combat was ninety percent psychological, nine percent physical training, and one percent shit luck. The philosophy made them good at their jobs, because they knew that winning any kind of battle started in your head.

As soon as Neil understood that concept, dating became easy. Once he got over himself, girls didn't scare him.

Except Meghan.

For some reason, no matter how confident he became, or how many girls he'd dated or slept with, he couldn't find the nerve to talk to Meghan again.

Today might be his last shot, because in two weeks, his unit deployed to Afghanistan for nine months. Even when you led an elite team of soldiers with an M4, you received no guarantees from the Army that you'd come home still breathing.

**********

At the sound of the alarm, Meg groaned.
Why did the Wicked Witch insist we all have breakfast so damn early?

She rolled toward the alarm clock at the side of her hotel bed and let her eyes adjust to the light while she listened to Pink's
Raise Your Glass
. By the time the song had finished, her head bobbed to the beat.

This would be a day for change. She'd greet the day in the right frame of mind and it would make a difference. Didn't she give this advice to her clients all the time?

She needed to listen to herself.

Meg flicked off the alarm, jumped out of bed and bounced to the shower, the song still in her mind as she stepped into the steamy spray. Charlie's wedding could be the perfect place to meet a nice rebound guy, someone to clear stupid Justin from her head.

Guys loved that stuff, right? No strings hookups at weddings? Wasn't that the whole point of
Wedding Crashers
?

Then again, Vince Vaughn fell for one of his hookups, so maybe she needed to think about this more carefully.

No. Live for today. That had been a goal of her Thai retreat nine months ago, learning to appreciate the moment and accept what it could bring.

Don't worry about the past or the future, reside in the now.

Given her past, and the fact that Bucksport High alumni would be attending, living in the now could make or break her enjoyment of this wedding. The alternative would be to get good and drunk.

Stick with living in the moment
, she thought.
Safer that way.

With her new-found attitude in mind, she embraced the day.

Later that morning, as she walked down the hall from her room on the way to the Bridal suite, she almost fell over. A few doors away, a muscular guy stood, struggling with his room key, a garment bag aloft and a duffel on his shoulder. His silhouette made her breath catch.

No
, she thought.
Shaved head, big muscles. Military. Too much like Toby
. But then, as she stepped closer, she caught a glimpse of his backside and a grin spread across her face.

Look at that ass. It can't possibly be the guy from LAX? That would be fate
.

Grabbing the garment bag to help him, her fingers brushed his and he turned to look at her. Green eyes, freckles and the same shock of recognition.

Thank you, fate
. This wedding might be great after all.

Live for the moment, indeed.