Unforgettable (27 page)

 
“One guess. I’m surprised she waited till dawn. She was probably dressed and counting the minutes until she felt it was a reasonable time to come over.” Ethan stopped talking for a moment and gave me a look so overflowing with love that my stomach fluttered. “Good morning, my lovely fiancée.”

 
I smiled even bigger and threw my left hand out in front of me so that Ethan could admire the ring on my finger as well. “Good morning, future husband.” Ooh, that sounds good. Ethan was mine. It was pretty much official now, I was wearing this huge chunk of emerald on my ring finger, and there was no way anybody was going to pry it off.

 
The next assault on the doorbell started again so I sat up. “Let yourself in, Carrie,” I screeched at the top of my lungs, only belatedly realizing that Lucy was also barking at the front door. A second later the chimes and barking stopped and Carrie and Lucy came barreling down the hallway together.

 
“Let me see it!” She bounded up onto the foot of the bed a second before Lucy, bouncing up and down. “Let me see it!”

 
“You already saw it.” Ethan was hoisting himself up on one elbow. “It hasn’t changed since the last time you looked at it.”

 
“I know, but I want to see it
on
.” I dutifully held up my hand to Carrie’s face. “It’s beautiful. Oh my god, Jules, you’re really going to be my
sister
.” She leaned forward and grabbed me around the neck for a hug. I threw my arms around her and we squealed for a second before I pulled back.

 
“I need coffee.” I wasn’t as groggy as most mornings, surely the result of a fantastic night, but I still wasn’t at my best before caffeine.

 
“I’ll make it.” Ethan pulled himself out of bed and walked out of the room after raising his brow and giving me a suggestive look. Wow, he can make my girly bits zing silently and from across the room.
Impressive
. I gave him a saucy wink in return and he walked out of sight. Carrie was back to inspecting the ring. She was moving my hand from side to side to try to catch the light from different angles, much as I had done continually last night from the time he slipped it on my finger until I turned off my bedside lamp well after my usual bedtime.
 

 
“Okay, he’s gone, you can tell me
everything
.”

 
“There’s really not much to tell, Carrie. I suddenly got my memory back and then we talked about what happened and then he asked me.” I left out the sex because even though Carrie knew I had sex with her brother, it still weirded me out a little. The Elisa part I left out because it just made me feel bad.

 
“Details, Juliet. I need details. How did he ask you? Where were you? What were you wearing? Were you surprised?”

 
“Uh, he just asked me. We were in the kitchen eating sandwiches.” It didn’t seem romantic when I said it, at least not as romantic as it felt.

 
Carrie looked confused. “In the kitchen? Did he just pull out the ring and propose in the middle of dinner?”

 
“He didn’t have the ring on him; it was still in the bedroom.” Hmm. It was sounded even less romantic upon retelling.

 
“He didn’t have the ring? Was he at least on one knee?”

 
“Not really. He was on his stool and I was on mine. He asked me and I started choking on my sandwich.” Nah, it was still romantic. It was totally us. Me choking was a lot more normal and natural than some over the top proposal surrounded by flowers and candles.

 
“Oh god, Juliet. My brother is such an idiot. I can’t believe he didn’t do something romantic for you. He had rented a boat to take you on a private cruise of the Sound. He had the whole thing planned out. You would have loved it.”

 
I was taken aback by Ethan’s grand plans. I was infinitely happier with the kitchen proposal in my pajamas. He told me last night that he was overcome with love for me and couldn’t hold the words in. That confession made me feel magical. He loved me so much the words just exploded out of him.
He was so much like me
. Sure, he was super-hot and extremely talented and pretty smooth to tell, but he could still dork out occasionally. I don’t think I could be with someone who was too cool. It wouldn’t be natural.

 
“No, Carrie. It was awesome. It was perfect.”

 
“Well, I guess he caught you by surprise if you started choking. Did you even have a
clue
?” I didn’t want to tell her about Elisa, but this was Carrie and she would surely browbeat me until she knew every detail.

 
“Actually, I knew he was going to ask me. I found the ring on Friday.”

 
“What? Why didn’t you tell me? I was trying to be all stealthy by taking you shopping with me to find you the perfect outfit and you knew all along?” Carrie seemed exasperated that I blew her covert shopping trip idea.

 
“I found it after I talked to you. Elisa called me and told me Ethan had a ring for me.” Fresh anger at Elisa’s bitchiness flooded through me.

 
“
What?
That heifer told you and ruined Ethan’s surprise? Let’s go find her and kick her ass. She wouldn’t stand a chance against the both of us.” I smiled but Carrie was deadly serious. Carrie was tons of fun and a ball of energy, but when you crossed her or anyone she loved the gloves came off. She’d cut a bitch.

 
I was instantly transported to our first apartment and the creepy dude who lived under us. She totally beat him with her umbrella when she saw him skulking around our front door for the second time. That guy never gave us another second’s problem and moved out after Carrie told everyone in our complex that he was a pervert.

 
“I know. That was a shitty move wasn’t it? I don’t know what I’ve ever done to her to piss her off. I’m nice to her every time I see her. See if she gets invited to one of my dinner parties again.” I was so angry that for a second I considered Carrie’s idea. I quickly discarded it when I thought about how mad Ethan would be if his sister and fiancée got thrown into jail for assaulting his coworker. Yeah, that was probably too over the top to consider, but she deserved something. I had to put that thought on the back burner when I saw Ethan coming back down the hall and veering into the bathroom. A fresh smile bloomed on my face.

 
“Isn’t he dreamy?”

 
Carrie rolled her eyes. “Yes, he’s the dreamiest. Now, on to the important stuff. I brought a whole stack of wedding magazines and all of my catalogs. Most of the stuff is the same, and it will be a good place to start.”

 
I shook my head. There wouldn’t be any stopping her, and I fully intended to sit and pore over every single publication with her, but not without my morning Ethan fix. The coffee smelled good and it was calling me, but at this moment, nothing was as important as seeing my fiancé.

 
“Carrie, you can bring all those magazines to the kitchen, I need to brush my teeth and get some coffee. I’ll meet you in five minutes.”

 
“Okay.” She bopped out of the room and I made my way to the bathroom where Ethan was wiping water off of his face.

 
“Hey.” He turned toward me and pulled me close to him. “Sorry Carrie came so early, I had a different morning planned.”

 
“That’s okay. I expect she already had everything planned out; she was just waiting for me to say yes so that she could haul everything over here. I’m surprised she didn’t bring your mom along.”

 
“Oh, I’m sure she’ll be over here before the day is out. Maybe I’ll go into work after all.” Last night Ethan decided that since he had the days off anyway, he’d take advantage of the next few days at home with me.

 
“Don’t you leave me alone with those two. They’ll have me choosing between six shades of lilac for centerpieces or something. Besides, you have much better taste than I do.” It didn’t pain me to admit the truth. Ethan was a stylish dude with an eye for color. I would trust his choices much more than I would my own.

 
“Are you set on a big wedding?” Ethan had a strange look on his face as he asked me the question almost tentatively.

 
“Of course not. We’ve talked about this. I want a fun party, but I’m not into the poofy dress and becoming a Bridezilla over the font of the invitations.” The very thought of a big church wedding where everyone would be staring at me was about the last thing I wanted, but Ethan came from a pretty prominent family and Carrie’s wedding had been like a circus. I didn’t think I had much hope of a tiny backyard affair.

 
“I’ve been thinking since I got up. I’m off, you’re free, let’s fly to Vegas and get married today.”

 
“Get serious. Carrie would kill us if we didn’t let her plan our wedding.” That was only partially true; she would probably torture us first.

 
“It’s
our
wedding. Our day. We can still let her plan a party. Hell, I’d love a party, but I just want to marry you. I don’t care about any of the other stuff.”

 
I really
was
marrying the perfect man. I didn’t have to think about it. I was ready to pack my bags right now. “Can we have Elvis marry us?”

 
“Absolutely. So, are we doing it?”

 
“Yes! Oh my god. Yes, let’s get married today.” I jumped up and grabbed his face to pull down to my level. “You’ve got to tell Carrie, though.” He widened his eyes but didn’t protest as I kissed him.

 
“Deal. I’ve already called a kennel for the cat. We can drop her by any time after they open at eight. Carrie can take Lucy home with her. Go pack.” He swatted my butt as I turned towards the kitchen for my coffee. I knew Carrie and Ellen would be disappointed but I could honestly say I had never been so excited. Later on today I would be Juliet Ross. Yeah Baby!

Chapter Twenty Six

 
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Elvis had barely gotten the words out before Ethan grabbed me up and crashed his lips to mine. Ahh, I’m married. Holy crap,
I’m married!

 
I couldn’t even concentrate on my first married kiss because I was so wrapped up in the whole “wedding” euphoria.

 
After Ethan and I decided to fly to Vegas, everything seemed to happen in a flash. I had packed my clothes under Carrie’s supervision, but that was after her near meltdown at our plans. Ethan and I were able to placate her after we told her she was still free to plan a massive party for us. She took it far better than we were anticipating, but who knows, she may have just put on a brave front for us. I’m certain poor Nigel would be feeling the brunt of her disillusionment with our decision. Oh well, he married her, she was his problem.
I
married a reasonable and thoughtful Ross.

 
We had kissed Lucy goodbye and Carrie said she would take care of everything and lock up the house. She even agreed to catch Sparkles and take her to the kennel for us. We took her up on it and stuffed our carry-on bags with everything we needed for two days in Las Vegas. It was surprisingly less than I was thinking. Ethan had called the airline and managed to get us seats on a flight leaving in three hours so we had to haul butt to get to the airport and check in.

 
The next few hours were a whirlwind, getting a marriage license and driving to the wedding chapel took less time than renting a car at the airport. We were even able to get matching wedding bands onsite. We hadn’t even decided which hotel to stay at yet, we were doing everything on the fly. It was perfect.

 
“Well Mrs. Ross, what do you want to do now?” Ethan whispered the words to me as he broke our kiss. I’m
Mrs. Ross
. Instead of doing my usual happy dance in my head, I went ahead and did it for real. I even grabbed Elvis and did a twirl with him while Ethan just watched me and chuckled. I figured it was safe to act like the spazz I was since he was legally stuck with me now. I looked down at the thin platinum band snuggled up against my gorgeous engagement ring and felt like the luckiest woman in the world. I needed to ride this feeling and make it pay.