Sinfully Ever After, page 21
part #4 of The Escort Series
I finally pull my eyes away from my wife and look at Marc. “Oh yeah. Have you guys decided when you’re gonna do that? Does Adrienne know yet?”
“I have no idea when it’s gonna happen. I’m sure Nathalia has her own plans in mind, so it probably won’t be for a little while. And yeah, she told her while we were in California.”
“So, who doesn’t know?”
“Nico and Kade are the only ones, I think. Everybody else knows.”
“Nico’s always left out,” I say with a laugh. “He’s gonna be pissed.”
Marc laughs, taking a sip of his drink. “He’ll be fine.”
After several seconds, I say, “So, I’ve been wanting to ask. What’s up with you not wanting Garrett to move here?”
He takes a sip of his drink, and then his shoulders drop after a deep breath. “It’s not that I don’t want him to move here. It’s just that I don’t think he knows what he’s getting himself into. To move to a different state is expensive, and to live here is expensive, and I don’t even know what kind of work he’d find here.”
“But he’s an adult, and I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”
Another sigh. “I know, but I feel like he’s just caught up in the vacation vibes. It won’t always be drinking and partying.”
Almost as if he knew we were talking about him, Garrett saunters over. “What’re y’all talking about?”
I look at Marc, waiting for him to say something, but when he doesn’t, I speak up. “Just talking about you moving out here. So, you’re pretty set on it, yeah?”
Garrett looks to Marc before meeting my eyes again. “Yeah. Sometimes you need something new, and I haven’t been happy back in Oregon for a while.”
“I didn’t know that,” Marc says, turning to his brother.
“Yeah. I’ve just been feeling unfulfilled, you know? I’ve seen all there is to see there, and done everything, too. I just feel like my life has stalled, and there’s much more opportunity here. I need to do this.”
Marc places his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know this was how you were feeling. I thought it was just a spur of the moment decision.”
“Nah. I’ve been wanting to move for a while, and what better place to move to than a place where you have a brother and new friends,” Garrett says, looking to me.
I give him a slight nod.
“Well, I’ll definitely help you out,” Marc says.
“I appreciate it, man,” Garrett responds.
“Why y’all being wallflowers?” Nico bellows, dancing his way towards us.
“I’ve been out there all night,” I tell him. “I need a break. And I thought I told you about staying away from Cindy.”
“Hey, she won’t stay away from me. What am I supposed to do?”
“Mmhmm,” I murmur.
Adrienne comes over and slips her arm through mine and looks up at me. “Hey, husband,” she purrs, giving me a kiss. I can tell she’s a little tipsy, but she’s so damn cute.
“Hey, wife,” I respond, pulling her into me and kissing her a little more fiercely. Fuck the spectators.
“Just wait for the honeymoon, people,” Nico jokes.
Our group of people start trickling in. Troy and Em, Kade, and then Lincoln and Nathalia.
I look around and couldn’t feel happier with the group of people that have become my family. For the longest time, I was unhappy when I thought about my lack of a family, but over the years, I’ve gained some of the best family members a guy could ask for. I look over and see my mom making conversation with Adrienne’s dad, and there’s no drink in front of her. Progress.
“I’ve decided I’m moving down here,” Garrett announces to the group. He looks at Marc who gives him a small smile and a nod. “I feel more at home here than I’ve felt at the place that’s been home my whole life. I don’t have friends like you guys back home. I don’t know when it will be, because I’m gonna need to secure a job first, but I wanted to let you all know that you’ll be seeing a lot more of me in the future,” he says with a giant smile.
“That’s awesome, man,” Troy tells him.
“We’ll be here to help you when you need it,” Linc tells him, mirroring Marc’s earlier comment.
“But I will not be there when you tell Mom and Dad,” Marc says, making everyone laugh.
Nathalia whispers something into Adrienne’s ear, and Adrienne responds with a vigorous nod.
“Well, I know some of you know already, but since we’re making announcements, I thought I should tell you all that Marc, Lincoln, and I are engaged. We won’t be having a legitimate ceremony, but we will have something in the future. So be prepared to do this all over again.”
“Wow, that’s crazy!” Nico says. “I never thought I’d see a three-way wedding. Is that what it’s called?”
“We get to call it whatever we want,” Marc chuckles.
Nico looks around and notices none of us reacting with surprise. “Did you all know already?”
Troy squeezes his shoulder. “It’s okay, man.”
“Fuckers,” Nico mutters.
“But we’re still so excited!” Adrienne squeals. “We’ll make it the most amazing, non-wedding ever!” she yells.
Yep, definitely tipsy.
Troy drapes an arm over Emilie’s shoulders and kisses her temple. They share a look and communicate something between each other. However, considering it’s confession time, I’m assuming this is when they’ll announce their pregnancy to everybody else.
“Well, we have some news of our own,” Emilie says, looking at everyone.
“I swear to God, if I’m the only one who doesn’t know,” Nico warns.
Troy places his hand on Emilie’s stomach and waits. It takes a second before people notice.
“Wait! What?” Marc exclaims, pointing at Em’s stomach.
They both smile in response. “Yep,” Emilie says, resting her hand over Troy’s.
The group roars with congratulations, and lots of hugs are exchanged.
“We don’t know much yet. She’s still early on, but we have an appointment soon,” Troy says.
“Congrats, guys,” Nico says. “Looks like all of you are growing up and settling down. I wonder if I should start thinking about getting married and having babies.” He pauses and looks around at us before laughing. “Nah, who am I kidding?”
“Yeah, you’re not ready yet,” I say.
“Well, lots to celebrate tonight. A wedding, a soon-to-be non-wedding, a baby, and a new move. Anything else anybody want to add?” he asks, looking at Kade who shakes his head.
“Well, actually,” Emilie says in a small, nervous voice.
She looks up at Troy who just grins. “Emilie and I got married yesterday,” he announces, shocking the hell out of all of us.
“What?” All of us say almost in unison.
“No you didn’t!” Adrienne shrieks.
Emilie nods. “Don’t be mad! We just went and had a quick ceremony in true Las Vegas style.”
“You eloped?” Marc questions, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Wait, what?” I say again, looking at Troy and waiting for him to say it’s a joke.
“We didn’t want to take anything away from today, so we didn’t mention anything. But I proposed to Emilie last night, and she told me about the baby after. We made the decision then to get married.”
“When we went to the shopping center for food, and you took forever to come back with it, were you getting the ring?” I ask him.
“Yep. I had already started looking, but I knew that I needed to ask her sooner rather than later. So, I got the food, and then went to pick up the ring while you were asleep in the car.”
“Sneaky ass.”
I turn to look at Adrienne, and she has tears in her eyes as she looks at her best friend with her hand over her heart. Emilie walks over to her and puts her hands on her shoulders. “Don’t be mad, A. I never needed a big wedding, and we all know Troy’s story. It’s not something we needed to do. I just wanted to be married to the man that I love with all my heart.”
A tear slips from Adrienne’s eye as she pulls Em into a tight hug. “I’m not mad. I’m so happy for you.”
As they hug and cry, the rest of us congratulate Troy who pulls both his and Emilie’s wedding rings from his pocket. He slips his on, and when the girls separate, he slides the diamond onto her finger as well.
Adrienne and Nathalia admire it and share a group hug. “Okay, so I might be a little mad,” Adrienne admits. “You’re my sister, you know? Of course I’d love to be a part of your big day, but because you denied me that, you now have to let me be around all the time when you have the baby. I’m talking, in the hospital room and everything.”
Em laughs through a sniffle. “Okay.”
“Jesus Christ, is that everything? There’s so much happening tonight,” Nico states.
“Well,” I look at my watch. “Me and Adrienne are gonna have to leave soon. We have a flight to catch.”
“Oh yeah, you gonna tell me where we’re going?” she asks, batting her eyelashes.
“You’ve waited this long,” I say tapping her nose with my finger.
Adrienne and I move through the room saying thank you and goodbye to our guests. She’s already arranged for Cindy to help her dad load up all of our gifts and drop them off at our house, but then I remember something and rush off to go find Emilie.
“Hey, so about that best wedding present,” I tell her. “We weren’t going to open them until we got back from our honeymoon, but since you’ve been talking all this shit about how it’s the best one, I figure we could open that one now.”
She crosses her arms across her chest and smirks. “You’ll get it later. Don’t worry.”
“You don’t have one!” I yell. “I knew it.”
“Whatever, man. You’ll see,” she says, turning on her heel to leave.
Everyone moves outside to wave Adrienne and I off as we climb into the limo that’ll take us to the airport.
“I don’t have any clothes,” Adrienne says. “And as much as I love this dress, I don’t want to wear it on a plane.”
I point across the limo at a stack of clothes. “I got you, babe. You and I will change in here, and I have our luggage in the trunk already. I’m prepared. Don’t worry.”
“I love you,” she says, climbing onto my lap.
“Show me how much,” I say with a grin.
She bites down on her lip and starts undoing my shirt.
God, I love my wife.
ADRIENNE
Jace and I helped each other get undressed in the limo, and after a little fun, we got dressed in the clothes Jace prepared for us ahead of time.
I look out the window and see the airport. “We’re almost there. How’re you gonna keep me from knowing where we’re going when we get inside? I’ll see it on my ticket.”
“I can hold your ticket,” he answers smoothly.
“I’m capable of reading the signs at the gate, you know?”
“Maybe I’ll blindfold you.”
“And have people think you’re kidnapping me?”
He laughs. “They won’t think that. I’ll explain we’re newlyweds and I’m surprising you. They’ll think it’s cute.”
I scoff. “And when they announce it on the plane?”
“I have some serious noise-cancelling headphones.”
“I hate you,” I laugh, punching him in the arm.
Once we’re in the airport and have checked our luggage, I find out where we’re going.
“We’re going to Fiji?” I squeal with excitement, bouncing up and down on my toes.
“We’re going to Fiji, baby,” he responds, hooking his backpack over his shoulder. “It’s a fourteen-hour flight, so get comfortable.”
Of course Jace has us in first class, so a fourteen-hour flight isn’t too bad when you have extra space and amenities. Because we’ve had a long day already, we pass out almost immediately and sleep almost the entire way.
When we land in Nadi, we have to take another flight to an island called Taveuni. Once there, a mini-bus from the resort takes us on a twenty-minute scenic drive before bringing us to the boat landing.
“We’re riding in a boat?” I whisper to Jace.
The guide shows us to the water-taxi, and they inform us it will be a twenty-minute ride before we’re at the resort.
We’ve been traveling for a ridiculous amount of time, after an extremely long wedding day, but this is absolutely worth the travel. The water is a gorgeous teal-blue, and the trees are lush and bright green. We relax in the boat, the wind whipping my hair around my face, and enjoy the sights.
The driver tells us about the island. Apparently, it’s shaped like a horseshoe, and only houses up to twelve couples at a time. We have all two-hundred and forty acres to explore during our two weeks here. We’ll be served three gourmet meals a day, and have a chance at a private picnic on horseshoe bay. Jace has booked us massages at the Ocean Spa, and we’ll get to snorkel, swim, hike, kayak, amongst many other things.
“Don’t forget, a week in the room. Naked,” Jace whispers to me.
“Oh shush,” I laugh, swatting at him.
When we get to the resort, we get checked in and then shown to our bure, which is the Fijian word for a wood-and-straw hut. Ours is called the treehouse bure, and when we start walking towards it, I can see why.
From the front, you can only see a small portion, sitting up high amongst the trees. A balcony is visible, and I cannot wait to see the view from up there. It looks like it’s always been here, and the lush, tropical foliage has just grown around it.
Everything is so vibrant around us, and the birds sing loudly as we march up the steps towards the door.
“I feel like we’re staying in Snow White’s cottage,” I whisper to Jace.
“I’m sure it’ll be much nicer.”
Inside, the floors are a shiny, light-colored wood, and the furniture is mahogany. The couch is just big enough for the two of us, and a single chair sits in the corner. A floor lamp that looks like it’s made of tree bark stands near the door, and a mini-bar is up against the wall.
“Oh my gosh, look at the view!” I exclaim, walking to the balcony.
When I step out, I look down to where we were just walking, the grass is a shade of green I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Over the tops of the trees, the water is visible and goes on forever. Jace and I realize the balcony actually wraps around the house, giving us views from every angle. There’s a hole in the balcony where a tree grows through, giving us some shade near our bedroom, which is where we re-enter.
I jump onto the four poster, king-size bed and Jace pounces on top of me. “We’re never gonna leave now,” he says, playfully biting down on my lip.
“But I wanna see the rest,” I pout.
“The rest of what,” he answers, pulling his shirt over his head. “On second thought, maybe I should shower first. We’ve been doing a lot of traveling.”
I laugh. “That’s not a bad idea. Let’s go find the bathroom.”
As I walk around the bed, I touch the material that’s secured around the posts on the bed, allowing us to close ourselves in if we wanted.
When I find the bathroom, I call out to Jace who explored elsewhere. “The bathroom only has a toilet and two sinks!”
He saunters in, still shirtless, a few seconds later with a pamphlet in his hand. “This says there’s an outdoor, lava rock shower.”
“Lava rock?”
As we keep looking around, we find that the shower is on a private sun deck, where there’s a Jacuzzi, and another amazing view of the water. A private king-size day bed is on the ground level, partially enclosed, with a bottle of champagne already sitting in a bucket of ice.
“Can’t let this go to waste,” I say, grabbing it by the neck.
Jace reads off the pamphlet. “Looks like we’re gonna have daily fresh-baked cookies, too.”
“Ooh, cookies!”
“I knew you’d like that,” he says, smacking my ass as I walk in front of him.
“Okay, let’s go shower,” I tell him, turning around and walking backwards. “And start drinking.”
He growls and rushes me, picking me up and running to the shower.
“Jace!” I squeal.
“Get that bottle open, woman.”
We spend the next hour, drinking from the bottle, showering, and enjoying being able to have sex in the outdoor shower, and on the balcony furniture without having to worry about anyone hearing or seeing us. I’m never going to want to leave our private paradise.
JACE
“I’m gonna go grab something from my bag real quick,” I tell Adrienne as she lounges topless on the chaise lounge chair.
“Okay, babe.”
As I walk through the living room, I spot a note on the coffee table that I hadn’t noticed before. I pick it up and start reading.
Jace,
You dummy. I saw the web page for your honeymoon resort on your computer at home when I was there visiting Adrienne. You’re welcome for getting rid of any evidence and not telling Adrienne your big secret. But that’s not the best wedding present ever. That comes next. Nathalia and I took it upon ourselves to book you guys a day tour of the island, and also, we extended your honeymoon by a few days. You’ll have to switch rooms, but you’ll get your wife to yourself for a little longer. Adrienne took three weeks off work anyway, and well, you’re your own boss, so it works out. Have fun! You can thank me later.
Emilie
I take the typed note, which she clearly arranged to have left here by the staff, and show it to Adrienne.
“Oh my god!” she laughs. “This is so something Em would do.”
“Well, she’s right. This is probably the best gift we could get.”
“Definitely the most generous. I’ll have to thank them later.”
“So, what’s next, Mrs. Jamison,” I ask, taking her hand and kissing it.
“Doesn’t matter to me,” she beams. “We have our whole lives to do anything we want.”
“Damn right we do. How did I get so lucky?” I muse, rubbing her thigh.
