Derailed (19 page)

There love was so big that it made everything around pale in comparison. Fiona wanted a love like that. She knew that she would give up Baton Rouge for Everett, but she wanted to know that he’d give up Boston for her. Those were just cities—they meant nothing to her. Unfortunately to Everett his location on the globe meant more to him that her or her son.

When it was her turn to be escorted down the aisle by Everett she happily laced her arm in his. Beside her Everett smiled and joked, but she couldn’t focus on his words because emotion had seized her and she desperately swallowed back tears. She’d wanted to be married by now, have a man to prepare dinner for every night and socks to pick up from the floor. She wouldn’t even complain if he didn’t clean out the sink after he shaved. She’d gladly clean it for him. But that hadn’t been in the cards for her. She’d made one mistake and it had sealed her fate. She’d lost everything she’d known, but what she’d gained had been so much sweeter. She loved Ryder.

Despite best-kept efforts, her tears broke through the dam and rolled down her face. She pretended to smile, hoping no one would focus on her. She wanted to swipe at them because they tickled her cheeks, but she forced herself to keep her free hand at her side.

“Fiona?” He gazed at her with a furrow between his brows. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, you’re shaking.”

“I’m just a little emotional,” she whispered. “Please, don’t call attention to it.”

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

When they reached the end of the aisle, the wedding coordinator indicated where they should stand and so they parted. His continued gaze at her meant that his thoughts were still focused on the tears she’d shed. He seemed worried and anxious for her. His frown was a permanent fixture that she’d not seen in him before and she felt bad for having been the one to place it there.

Once they’d successfully run through the wedding processional twice, the group started to disband.

“How are things with Everett?”

Fiona shrugged. “I think I should have conceded. I think it would be worth the sacrifice.”

Maura nodded. “Maybe you should tell him exactly that.”

Hmm. Maybe she should. Fiona’s phone rang in her purse. It was Quinn from the studio so she answered it.

“Hello?”

“I need you to come by and take a look at some work I did. There seems to be a reaction. Maybe allergies. Not sure, but I wanted to rule out infection.”

“Okay, I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll be here.”

Fiona said her goodbyes. Only she missed saying goodbye to Everett.
Wasn’t that apropos?
She never wanted to utter those words to him to begin with so it was just as well. Still, she couldn’t deny the hurt feelings that he’d leave without even a simple
goodbye
.

“Let’s go, Ryder.”

“Mr. David invited me over to watch movies in the theater room.” Ari stood next to Ryder and the duo stared at her.

“I can bring him home after, if you’d like.” Ari said.

“Okay, that’d be fine. Thank you.” Ryder hugged her and kissed her cheek.

As she drove to the studio she thought about Everett’s mysterious disappearance. He’d never done something like that before. No matter how painful, he usually hit things head on. It wasn’t like him to leave without following up with her, especially since he’d been so worried about her crying.

She sighed as she put her SUV in park. Maybe this thing with Everett was more over than she had previously thought. This time she swiped the tears from her cheek and walked into the studio.

Walking down the hallway scents of lavender and rose caught her nostrils.
That’s odd
? A flickered glow emitted from the room at the end of the hallway.

“Quinn?”

“In here.”

She walked through the door only to set eyes on Everett.
A Thousand Years
by Christina Perri played softly. Candles were everywhere. The sketch she’d made for him was displayed on the recliner. She saw champagne chilling in a bucket. When she looked at Everett for answers he stepped toward her, and then went down on one knee.

“Fiona, I owe you an apology. It seems I was misled about something. There’s a lyric in this song …
I will not let anything take away what’s standing in front of me
. I thought Boston and my partnership defined who I was. I thought if I were to live without those things I’d be lost—a mass floating untethered through space. He took her hands in his. “In actuality I’m lost because I’m living without you and Ryder.”

He pulled the ring from his pocket and slid it on her finger. “You said yes to me once before and I failed to realize how precious that one little word was.” He kissed the ring on her finger. “I’ve resigned from Boston. I would like to pursue a career in Baton Rouge. But it doesn’t have to be law. The only thing I know for sure is it has to be you and Ryder. Nothing else remotely matters. I have no right to ask you this again after the way I treated our first engagement, but if you will say yes to me again, I think you’ll find a different reaction.”

He squeezed her hand tightly. “Fiona Marie Miller, will you marry me?”

She was in shock. She’d thought he’d left without saying goodbye. In reality he’d been here with Quinn setting up all this.
He quit his job and Boston for me
. He’d made the ultimate compromise to show her his love.

“Fiona, penny for your thoughts. Have I lost you? Just tell me what I can do to show you that I’ll be committed to you and Ryder forever. I’m sorry, Fiona. Please, won’t you give me a second chance to do it right this time?”

“I … I’m …” Tears fell. Not just from her face, but his also. She swiped the pad of her thumb across his cheekbone. Proof of his love existed in that teardrop. She hugged him. “I love you. Of course I’ll marry you.”

He squeezed her back, his hands around her waist, pulling her toward him. He breathed a heavy sigh. “Thank you.”

“For the record, I never needed you to quit your job in Boston. I just needed to know that you would.”

He smiled and kissed her chin. “I want to be here with our family and friends.”

They sat together for several minutes, until the song ended. “What’s with the sketch?”

“I was hoping you’d give me a tattoo.”

“Tonight?”

“If you’d like. But I’d like to offer a few changes.”

She pulled back to look into his gray eyes. “What kind of changes?”

“I want the heart to be on the ground and the law to be weightless. And then across the banner I want it to read:
Fiona Forever
.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons: One, because I never again want to forget how important you are to me. You’re everything. More than everything—you’re life. And two, because that is how long I intend to love you.”

“I like it.”

“Where will you put it?”

On their knees on the floor, she helped him remove his jacket. She loosened his tie and pulled it free, and then she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it from his body.

Surveying her canvas she considered a location. Her fingers traced along his pectoral, and then down his bicep.

“Tell me, Ms. Miller … does every customer get this personalized treatment?” His brow cocked.

“Not every customer, only those I’m engaged to.”

He chuckled. “I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.”

“So, what do you think?”

“I think the bicep.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

She stood. “Hop up here.” She patted the reclining chair.

As she prepared the ink she was deep in thought. “
Eternally Everett
.”

“What’s that?”

“Hmm?”

“It sounded like you said
Eternally Everett
.”

Her face heated.
Would he think her silly
? “I was thinking of a counterpart to
Fiona Forever
.”

“And you thought of
Eternally Everett
?”

She shrugged, “Do you not like it?”

“I love it. I’m just wondering where you’re going to put it.”

She mixed colors as she thought. “I was thinking of putting it along the petals of the rose.”

“Ms. Miller, you’re an artist.”

“I can’t wait until you call me Mrs. David.”

“I can’t wait for that either.

***

Fiona had him drink champagne—most of it actually. As she tattooed his arm he sang along to various artists from late night radio.

“Hmm, I hate to say it, but you may not want to give up your tenure as a solicitor.”

“Are you shaming my singing, skills love?”

“No, I would never.”

“You know what we should do to commemorate the night of our engagement?” He looked at her, hopeful.

“You mean besides getting tattoos of one another’s names?”

“In addition, we should christen this chair. What do ya say? He cocked a brow at her and traced her collarbone with the pad of his index finger.”

“I think, unless you want this tattoo to look like a hippopotamus on fire, you should sit still and stop touching me.”

“I would rather have the hippo than to stop touching you.” His hand squeezed her shoulder.

“I think somebody’s had too much champagne.”

“Think about it, Fiona. This is a reclining chair capable of reclining all parts of the body—in isolation. That means I could elevate your legs and I could—”

Her lips descended on his, the tattooing forgotten, for now. Her tongue slid against his teeth, and then explored him further. Before tonight, she’d never been so aggressive in their kiss, but she’d blossomed under his encouraging moans.

“I want to taste you, Fiona.”

She smiled against his lips. At her mercy as he was reclined in the lounger, she stood over him like the Olympian goddess she was. Her hand cupped roughly between his legs. “What if I want to taste you first?”

“There may be a way we can do it simultaneously.” He watched her closely, gauging her expression.

“At the same time?”

He nodded. As the position dawned on her she turned redder than he’d ever seen. It was so cute, but he wanted to ease her discomfort. “We don’t have to, I just wanted to give you the option.”

“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.”

“Totally fine. We can rock, paper, scissors for the chair.”

“That sounds more my speed.”

She held her fist in her palm. “Ready?”

He nodded. “Go.”

“One, two, three.” He produced rock while she made scissors. “Looks like I win. Get your ass in the chair, Ms. Miller.”

The lavender silk dress she wore was perfectly designed for the task he had in mind. He reclined the chair all the way back and then took her feet and placed them over his shoulders. Caressing her thighs he slid his hands upward to hook his fingers into the waist of her panties and peel them off. When they emerged from under the dress he smiled and wrestled them off around her legs. “Purple thong panties.” He stuffed them into the pocket of his pants. “I’m keeping these.”

“I don’t care, do whatever you want.” She squirmed in the chair, desperate for him.

His mouth feasted on her until she’d climaxed twice, and then she begged for him to put an end to their distance.

He entered her slowly, “It’s our first coupling as an engaged couple.” Her reply was a moan from deep within her throat. “I love you, Fiona.”

“Mmm.”

He needed to see her so he lowered her legs and adjusted the chair so that they were face to face. “That’s better.” His hands haloed her face to accommodate rogue curls that had come loose from her diamond clip. “I like how you had your hair up tonight.”

Her eyes flashed deep blue at him. She was still in a haze of ecstasy and he chuckled. “Okay, Ms. Miller, I think you’re telling me to focus and get down to business.”

They made love twice and fell asleep in each other’s arms on the chair.

Fiona woke a little dazed, but quickly realized she was the happiest she’d ever been in her lifetime. Beneath her slept her gorgeous fiancé. They still wore their clothes from the night before—the rehearsal dinner. Today was Bailey and Parker’s wedding day.

A few groans and then Everett slit his eyes open. Smiling, he stretched. “Good morning. Remember this position because this is how I want to wake every morning.”

She giggled. “Let me finish your tat.”

She stood and checked on the ink she’d abandoned last night for something a little more amorous. She’d have to mix more, but it was totally worth it.

“So,” he stretched his arms back behind him and yawned. “Let’s finish the tat and then take donuts and coffee over to the estate and announce our engagement. I want to tell everyone!”

“Silly man, we can’t announce our engagement today.”

“Why the hell not?”

She mixed colors as she regarded him quizzically. “Seriously, Everett—we can’t take the focus away from Bailey and Parker. It’s their day. Imagine how you would feel if one of your brothers came and announced his engagement on our wedding day morning.”

“Oh, I get it. So tomorrow then.”

“Maybe tomorrow, but next week would be even better because everyone will have recovered from the wedding by then.”

“Can we tell Ryder?”

“Oh my God! Ryder!” She ran from the room and toward the telephone at the front counter, but Everett pulled her back.

“Fiona, I asked my Dad to invite Ryder to stay the night.”

“Oh.” She thought for a moment. “What if I would have turned you down and sent you packing?”

“You would have made two of the Davids very sad. I told him not to tell anybody. I told him we’d make an announcement—hopefully.”

“Should we call him?”

“I’m pretty sure he concluded it went well.” He pulled her into a kiss. “So will we tell Ryder today?”

“Of course! He’ll be so happy.”

While Fiona finished up the tattoo they planned how they’d surprise Ryder with the good news.

“Ryder loves Crepe House. He always gets the cinnamon roll. It takes up an entire plate.”

“You’re kidding—I’ve never been there. Why don’t we take him there and then you can show him the ring and I’ll show him my tat.”

“He’s going to be so happy—and so jealous. Do you know he begs me at least once per week to give him a tattoo? Says he won’t tell anybody, that it’ll be our little secret. I heard a mother in another state got arrested because she let her son get a tattoo of his dead brother’s name as a memorial on his arm.”