Ayden's Secret (30 page)

“Yes!” Ethan snatched the tape. “Now it’s my turn.”

“No.” Ayden snatched the tape and handed it back to Joshua before he killed Ethan in the church.

“You don’t understand, Wolf. Evelyn found the tape of me and Grace…”

“Jesus, are you all on tape?” Malcolm looked wideeyed in shock.

“No.” Ayden and Chase sounded off.

“I wasn’t.” Joshua mumbled through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, we film it from time to time.” Ethan shrugged. “So what.”

“Kinky bastard.” Ayden shook his head and left the group heading back to Charlie. The men followed with Joshua frozen in place. Evelyn passed on her way down the aisle, and Ayden grabbed her arm. “Hey, you owe me a bag of sugar.”

“Excuse me?”

Evelyn’s eyes widened as Ayden dropped her arm with a huge smile and walked away. He could hear her trot toward Joshua behind him. Charlie smiled deviously as she met him at the door. That woman was no angel; that was for sure.

“You’re such a devil,” Ayden whispered as they walked out the doors.

“Say that again. I don’t ever want to be called angel again.” Charlie cuddled into his massive arm.

“Devil in disguise.” Ayden kissed her forehead as they left the church.

****

The rehearsal dinner dragged on for hours and finally ended. Joshua and Evelyn were the quietest couple there. Both of them were modest and private people and now they had been exposed in a very public way. Charlie felt a little bad about what she had done, but once she saw they had found the safe and somehow got it open most guilt had gone.

“We’re here, darlin’.” Ayden opened the cab door and held a hand out for Charlie.

“It’s an art gallery.” Charlie looked at the building.

“The loft is on top of the gallery.” Ayden tugged her along as he walked around to the stairs leading up to the loft. His hands trembled a bit when he put the key in the door.

As they stepped inside, Charlie lost her breath. The loft was lit up with candles. A small table set for two in the center of the room had dessert and a bottle of champagne on ice. “Ayden?”

“Huh, wonder how all this got here?” He winked and escorted her to the center of the room. He picked up the remote and pushed play on the CD player. Elvis began to sing “Fools Rush In.” “Dance with me?”

“Oh Ayden.” Charlie stepped close to him and wrapped her arms around him. Ayden surprised her by tugging her wig off. “What are you doing?”

“I like you better in your own skin.” Ayden kissed her cheek and did his best to follow her lead again. “I’ll need you to teach me how to dance for real before we get married, you know that right?”

Charlie’s heart flip flopped with nerves and excitement. “I like how you dance now.”

The song ended after a few moments, and Ayden could feel the tension in his gut. He was prepared to offer her everything, and he planned to do just that. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Charlie turned as he stepped away and grabbed something off a nearby table. Ayden turned to her and went to his knee. His arm outstretched. Charlie felt her chest clenching and her heart thumping. She was so excited and overwhelmed. She would not pass out at a proposal. “Ayden?”

“Darlin’, I love you. If you don’t want to have kids for a while, that’s okay. I can wait. We can get an apartment close to UNCW or East Carolina University while you go to school. Or if you want to go to college somewhere else, I’ll move. I have enough money to retire completely…”

“Ayden.”

“I’m just saying.” He was preparing her to say yes. “If you marry me, Charlie, we can really have a new start, together. It doesn’t have to be my way…”

“Shh.” Charlie stepped close and pinched his lips. For years she had to pry information out of him, and at the most important moment of her life, he wouldn’t shut up. “Yes, Ayden.”

“Yes?” He rose to his feet. “Yes, you’ll marry me or…”

“YES!” Charlie hugged him. He still held the box in his hand unopened. She didn’t care what was in it. He wanted to marry her. “And Ayden, you don’t have to move. I can get my degree online. So many universities are moving into the computer age.”

“But if you want…”

“I want you.”

“Then let’s celebrate.” Ayden kissed her lips and then grabbed the champagne bottle.

“Uh. Ayden.”

“Yes, darlin’?”

“You know when I was in the hospital.”

“Yes?” He stopped and turned his heart thumping.

“She wanted to talk to me alone because they ran a lot of tests on me.” Charlie swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Are you okay, darlin’?” Ayden began to fear the worst. He set the bottle on the table and started toward her.

“She said I’m pregnant.”

“Pregnant? But you said you were on birth control.” Ayden had to breathe a moment and regroup.

“I was. Guess it didn’t work.” Charlie drew her brows down. “I thought you would be happy. You said you wanted kids right away.”

“I am happy. I was afraid to be too happy because you said you didn’t.” Ayden took a step closer.

“Ayden, I am so happy!” Charlie smiled and leaped onto him.

“Thank God!” Ayden hugged her tight.

***

July one year later.

Ayden watched as the vans behind him struggled to get organized. Joshua and Evelyn had a little boy, black hair and green eyes just like his daddy. Tom and Noel had another little girl. Ayden figured Noel was massing an army of women against the man. Stephanie and Megan sported the first signs of baby bellies, and Grace had a full round gut. Ethan was determined to get four kids. He looked in the backseat of his own truck. Two babies were in their car seats, one boy, one girl. Charlie had twins. They named the little boy Michael and the little girl Hanna, a real girly name. One happy woman sat beside him. Life was good. Real good.

“I love you, darlin’.” Ayden smiled at his wife.

“I love you, too.”