Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4) (39 page)

‘No, no, no. No crying. You’ll ruin your make-up,’ Lexi
said, attempting to retract her hand in order to wipe my tears.

I gripped it tightly and held it against my lap, blinking to
clear my vision so that I could look upon her clearly. ‘Thank you, for
everything. For being here. For being my best friend and putting up with me.
For being you.’

With a curious expression, she tilted her head to the side.
‘Carls, you don’t have to thank me. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else or with
anyone else. And as for putting up with you? I have had years of practice,’ she
said with a wink. ‘Now, enough of the waterworks. You have a man to marry.’

Lexi stood up and pulled me up with her. ‘And boy, is that
man keen to marry you.’

I let out a laugh-sob. ‘No shit. Hence I’m wearing a
maternity wedding dress. Who in their fucking right mind gets married when they
are pregnant?’

‘Two people who are too in love to wait, that’s who. It’s
romantic,’ she cooed as she brushed off my shoulders. ‘And anyway, you are not
wearing just any maternity wedding dress.’

‘No, I’m not,’ I answered while fluttering my hands in front
of my face in order to compose myself.

Smiling back my hormonal tears, I glanced down at the Vera
Wang gown that Alexis had gifted me. It was absolutely gorgeous: column-cut
with Swarovski crystal embellished lace that covered my shoulders and continued
over an ivory satin, full-length slip. The dress was snug but stretched
comfortably across my tummy.

At first I had said no, that there was no way in hell I could
accept it. But Lexi insisted and, let’s face it, she’s loaded now ... not to
mention it’s Vera-Fucking-Wang!

Just as I’d managed to gather my bearings, Lib barged
through the door, quickly struggling to shut it behind her. ‘Derek, I mean it,
go away. You are not seeing her.’

‘Baby, are you in there?’ Derek called out, his arm jammed
in the door, his hand frantically searching the wooden panel.

I broke away from Alexis and rushed to the door. ‘Yes!’

‘No!’ Lib said, holding me at bay with her arm as she fought
to keep Derek and I separated.

Reaching around her, I placed my hand in his, making sure I
stayed out of his line of sight. ‘What’s wrong? Are you all right?’

‘I am now,’ he said softly as his fingers wrapped around
mine. ‘I wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to make sure both my girls
had everything they needed.’

The adoration lacing his tone when he referred to me and our
unborn daughter as ‘his girls’ was incredibly sweet. It was also an incredible
turn-on. ‘We are fine. Although, my cave could do with a quick exploration,’ I
stated with a hint of innuendo.

‘Carly Josephine Henkley, I hope you are not insinuating
what I think you are. Last time I checked, you were not the owner of a hollow
space in the ground,’ Mum questioned with a stern yet unperturbed tone.

Derek’s grip tightened around my hand. ‘Mrs Henkley, it
would appear that I need to excuse your daughter for say ... ten minutes,’ he
implied. ‘I’ll bring her right back. I promise.’

‘Derek, if you want to become my son-in-law today, you have
exactly ten seconds to release Carly’s hand and make your way to the marquee.’

He groaned painfully and let go of my hand. ‘Fine, but you
drive a hard bargain.’ Quickly taking hold of it again, he gently caressed my
engagement ring with his fingertips. ‘I love you, baby. See you soon. Give her
rub for me.’

Leaning forward, I kissed the back of his hand while rubbing
my tummy like he’d asked. ‘I will. Now go, or I’ll be lat—’

‘Derek, what the fuck are you doing?’ a voice interrupted
us. ‘Get out of there.’

‘Ease up, Sean. I’m just havin’ a quick word,’ Derek ground
out.

‘Well, your time is up. Step away from the door.

‘Hey, Sean?’ I called out.

‘Yeah?’

‘Is Layla with you? We are nearly ready.’

‘I’m here, I’m here,’ she replied from the other side of the
door, ‘but I’m not coming in until Derek leaves.’

‘Yeah, yeah. All right, I’m leaving,’ Derek grumbled.

Seconds later, the door opened and Layla entered, a flurry
of mint green chiffon whisking past me. ‘Okay, everything is set. The boys are
making their way to the marquee, the celebrant is ready and the guests are all
seated,’ she advised as Lex handed her a glass of champagne.

Just over two years ago, not too long after Derek and Sean
came to blows at the firefighters base camp in Wallan, Layla and I conspired
and decided it would be our mission to get the brothers on pleasant terms
again. What we didn’t bargain on was that they would not only reconcile their
differences, but that they would become extremely close as a result. It was a
fantastic outcome and a miracle to say the least, especially after how livid
Derek was when he found out that I had gone behind his back to arrange for him
and Sean to be stuck in an elevator together at City Towers.

My plan was brilliant, having made sure Bryce had absolutely
nothing to do with it, as I did not want my actions jeopardising their
friendship. Lucy, on the other hand, well ... she was all for it. And so it
happened, she, together with Layla, ended up being my perfect accomplices.
Admittedly, the plan was risky, because once the boys were stuck in the
elevator, no one could pry them apart in a hurry if they went head to head,
which they did. But luckily, I could communicate through the elevator’s speaker
system, and between Layla and I, we were able to keep their tempers neutral ...
at least after they’d expelled their initial anger and testosterone. It really
was perfect.

‘Okay. I’m ready. I’m ready to become Mrs Dik,’ I said
eagerly, knowing that as soon as we got this whole process started, the sooner
Derek and I could sneak away for some cave-diving.

My mother tutted before she hollered, ‘Right! Lex, grab
Carly’s train. Lib, you look after the flowers. Layla, make sure everything is
ready to go before she walks down the path, and Charli, sweetheart, you are with
me.’

Everyone stood at Mum’s orders, setting out to complete
their tasks, when a knock at the door sounded and Dad entered the room. ‘Ready
when you are,’ he said, blushing when he met my eyes.

‘Dad, you totally just blushed!’ I mocked endearingly.

He adjusted his tie and straightened his posture. ‘Carly,
I’m a grown man. I do not blush.

‘Sorry, Mr H, but you did indeed blush,’ Lex stated, backing
me up with a definitive smile.

Dad ignored us and wrestled with his tie once again, this
time with more aggravation.

‘Henry, what are you doing? You’re making a mess of it,’ Mum
scolded as she made her way toward him.

His hand shot out to thwart her efforts. ‘Back off, Joyce. I
can fix my own tie.’

‘Nonsense,’ she replied, dismissing his hand by pushing it
aside. ‘Clearly, you can’t.’

Watching Mum and Dad’s exchange had me thinking of what
Derek and I would be like in years to come. Would we be anything like my
parents? I hoped so. My parents, although argumentative with each other at
times, were the perfect couple. They knew what each other needed, even if it
wasn’t what they wanted. And they loved one another, and me, as much as humanly
possible. If Derek’s and my marriage could be anything remotely like theirs,
then we were going to be fine.

As we all proceeded to exit the room — the girls in single
file and looking stunning in their mint green Reem Acra knee-length strapless
dresses — I felt a flutter in my lower abdomen. The sensation of my daughter’s
movements from within my womb was weird ... alien-like. Not that I thought my
daughter was an alien or anything. She wasn’t. She was an unplanned, unexpected
shock to end all shocks. Yet she was also a living, breathing awakener and
life-changer. Although she did kind of look like an alien the last time we saw
her image on the ultrasound screen. My god was her head
huge! Just the thought of that head
coming out of my cave scared the absolute shit out of me. My cave is precious,
unharmed and well looked after
.

‘Carly, you coming? Derek can’t marry himself,’ Dad announced,
gaining my attention and holding his arm out for me.

I laughed. ‘No, he can’t. And I wouldn’t want him to. Could
you imagine the wedding night if he could?’

Shaking his head in amusement, he began to lead me down the
stairs and out into the garden. ‘I think it’s about time I gave you away,’ he
joked.

I squeezed his arm tight and lay my head on his shoulder as
we walked, smiling contentedly. ‘Yes, I think you are right. I’m ready, Dad.
I’m ready for you to give me to Derek.’

Derek

‘Stop hopping around. You look like you need to take a
piss,’ Sean said from his position beside Will and Bryce.

‘He probably does,’ Will added, nodding his head to a beat
that I knew from experience was playing silently in his mind.

I, too, was currently playing a song in my head, but mine
was the one I’d written for Carls and planned on singing to her at our
reception dinner.

‘Drained the snake before we came out here. I’m all good.
But thanks for thinking ‘bout my junk. I’m flattered,’ I responded, catching
sight of a mint green dress near the entry to the marquee.

Bryce sniggered at my remark then lightly tapped me on the
arm, indicating the ceremony was about to start. ‘You ready?’

‘You have no idea,’ I answered, preening my neck to try and
get a glimpse of Carls. I was beyond ready. I’d been ready ever since
proposing, possibly even before that.

‘Good to know, mate,’ Bryce replied. ‘Let’s get you married,
and then you can finally become a man.’

Fucking smartarse.

‘Inevitable’ — a Live Trepidation musical piece — started
playing over the speaker as Charlotte, together with Alexander and Brayden,
began to walk down the aisle, the two boys grabbing handfuls of petals from
Charlotte’s basket and throwing them all over the place. ‘Inevitable’ was the
same song Alexis walked down the aisle to when she married Bryce. We decided
that it would become the Live T marriage song, but we would alter the melody
just slightly for each individual ceremony. At first I thought it was a stupid
idea, but the girls seemed to like it, so the idea stuck. One thing I have
learned is that you don’t argue with a bride during the planning of a wedding.
Especially a pregnant bride!

When the kids reached the end of the aisle, Lucy led the
boys to their seats next to her and Nic while Charlotte held up a sign for me
to read. It said:

LAST

I furrowed my brow, curious as to what the hell it was
about. She turned and showed our guests and they, too, seemed a little puzzled.

Layla was not far behind Charlotte and the boys, she too
stopping and displaying a sign. Hers read:

CHANCE

Again, I was fucking perplexed but also amused at the game
Carly was playing. I shouldn’t be surprised that she would orchestrate
something like this.

After showing me the sign, Layla turned toward the rest of
the room and shrugged her shoulders with a smile as she displayed it for them
to read. There were a few whispers and mild laughs.

Libby made her way down the aisle soon after, her sign
saying:

TO

‘What the fuck?’ I murmured and turned to Bryce who was now
chuckling behind his hand. ‘Did you know about this?’

He shook his head then averted his attention to his wife as
she, too, made her way down the aisle. I knew not to probe any further, my
attempt futile — Bryce’s attention now locked on Alexis.

She stopped and winked at her pussy-whipped husband before
holding up her sign which finished the sentence:

BACK OUT

What the fuck?
Alexis gave me a stern but playful
look which implied I really did not have a choice. Not that I needed one.

Letting out a loud laugh at Carly’s antics, I raised both
hands as if to say ‘no way’ as Alexis turned and showed everyone else the sign.

The room erupted into laughter as the final piece of this
strange puzzle was revealed. I, on the other hand, rested my head in my hand.

Hearing the scraping of chairs and shuffling of feet, my
head shot up, and my eyes searched the far end of the room until they fell on
the most beautiful thing I had ever seen; Carly. The mother of my child. My
wife to be.
Jesus fucking Christ.

She was breathtaking. Her long blonde hair was curled and
fell across her shoulders, a sprinkling of small flowers through it. She had
lace covering her chest and a mint green ribbon, matching the other girl’s
dresses, wrapped around her tummy ... the place where my daughter grew bigger
every day.

Jerking forward slightly, the result of Bryce slapping me
across my back, he instructed me to ‘Breathe.’

The sudden movement nearly had me choking, but he was right,
I’d forgotten to exhale. You see, that’s what a woman you love more than life
itself can do to you ... still that life from your very lungs.

As she made her way closer, her hand dropped to her stomach
and gave it a nurturing rub.
Fuuuck!
I couldn’t possibly love her any
more.

My heart pounded.

My temperature rose.

My peripheral vision vanished.

It was just me and her.

She stopped just out of my reach and turned to Henry for a
quick hug. Then, like a fucking chameleon, her expression changed to one of
don’t-mess-with-me as she held up a sign that I only just noticed was in her
other hand. It read:

DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT BACKING OUT. I OWN YOU, DIK.

I burst into laughter, as did the rest of the bridal party.
Carly turned and curtsied while displaying her sign before handing it her
father and taking my hand.

The feeling that shot through my fingers, up my arm and
throughout my body as our skin connected, was pretty much indescribable. But I
will say this: it’s a feeling that happens once in a lifetime, a result of
finding ‘the one’, of connecting with someone beyond attraction. It’s the
feeling of finding your soul mate.