Saved (Tempted #2) (19 page)

Kate was coming home, so Grace and I offered to throw her a welcome home party. West and Ethan offered to sit on the couch and make fun of us while we decorated.

“I think those streamers clash with the hardwood,” West said, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

“Bite me,” I said, flicking him off.

“With pleasure,” he fired back.

Smiling, I left the room and entered the kitchen. I had baked a million things for Kate. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard because I knew she couldn’t eat anything but I was just so excited.

Sorting out of the pink treats, I heard someone walk into the kitchen behind me.

“Angel, do you think you kind of overdid it with the pink?”

Looking around, I thought everything looked great.

“No, she’s a girl. Duh,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Thank you, Miss Obvious. But you have to admit it looks like Barbie threw up in here,” he said, stealing of the pink cupcakes and taking a bite.

“Quit that! Save some for Kate,” I scolded him, shooting daggers at him with my eyes.

“She doesn’t have teeth. All she’s going to be eating for a while is Emma’s boob. Hey, that’s something Kate and her daddy have in common,” he said, clearly proud of his dirty joke.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it wasn’t nearly as clever as he thought.

“You’re such a perv,” I said, piping Kate’s name on cookies shaped like baby rattles.

“But you love me.”

I couldn’t fight him on that because he was right. I loved him with everything in me and then some. He was my entire life and I knew the feeling was mutual.

“I do, I do,” I told him, smiling at him and blowing him a kiss.

“Why blow me a kiss when you can kiss me now?” he said, stepping closer and closer to me until I was pinned against the counter.

That kitchen brought something out in us

Hearing someone clear their throat, we looked up and saw Grace shaking her head in disapproval.

“Emma and Roman just pulled up. Their bringing their beautiful baby girl inside and I doubt they want to walk in on you two screwing on the kitchen counter.”

“Jealous,” West told her, slapping me on the ass and walking out of the kitchen.

“Hardly,” she scoffed.

The sound of the front door creaking open made my heart jump with excitement. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that baby and love on her.

“Kate’s home,” Roman’s voice boomed with happiness through the house.

Running to the living room, I saw Emma holding her baby girl in her arms and I felt a pang of jealousy cut through me. Sure, I was ecstatic for Emma. I only wanted her to be happy but at the same time I felt sad for West and me. I always had the gut feeling that our baby was a girl. I wasn’t long enough to find out what the baby was when I had the miscarriage.

“I think you girls overdid it just a tad,” Roman said, looking around the room.

“Suck it,” Grace told him, sitting on the couch and crossing her legs.

Ethan’s eye got as big as two silver dollars as he took the empty seat next to her.

“I think everything looks wonderful,” Emma said, giving Roman a look that said “Zip it”.

And it worked. He kept his mouth shut.

Kneeling on the ground beside Emma’s chair, I let Kate wrap her little hand around my finger.

“Hey there, Beautiful. You look just like your momma. Yes, you do,” I said, smiling down at the gorgeous, tiny girl.

My heart was elated and shattered at the same time. Feeling overwhelmed with emotion, I ran out of the house and collapsed on the front porch. Sobbing into my hands, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and pull me close.

“West, I’m so sorry,” I said, soaking his shirt with my tears.

“Sorry? For what, Angel?”

“For losing our baby. That could have been us holding our baby girl.”

I felt his body go rigid under me.

“Girl? We were having a girl?”

“I never found out for sure but I just had this feeling, ya know?”

Nodding, he closed his eyes and I saw a single tear slide down his face.

“It’s not your fault. And that will be us one day. I’m all in. I want the wedding, the kids, and the house. I want the whole shebang. I love you,” he said, wiping his eyes and kissing my forehead.

“I love you,” I told him, pushing my nose against his.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said, standing up and removing his shirt.

Did he want to have sex on the porch?

“Babe, I love your body but I think this surprise should wait for another time,” I said, looking on in disbelief as he stood in front of me shirtless.

I don’t know why I was shocked. He was a total horn dog.

“Get your mind out of the gutter. This is my surprise,” he said, turning around to reveal the new, huge tattoo on his back.

After looking closer, I saw angel wings. Just like my necklace. Feeling more tears bubbling up in my eyes, I released them.

Now, that shocked me.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it,” I told him, getting up and running my hands over it.

He used to have a hard time telling me how he felt, so he did it with music. And I knew exactly why he got that tattoo. He got it because he couldn’t find no song to express how he felt about our loss, so he did it a heartfelt tattoo.

“When did you get it?” I asked still in awe of it.

“A week after I found out about the baby. You had your necklace to represent it and I wanted something too. But I also got it for you, so you could stop blaming yourself. That baby, that loss was meant to bring us closer together. It was meant to strengthen our bond. And I think it did just that. Don’t you?”

Taking in all he said, I knew he was right. Being a strong believer in fate I knew everything happened for a reason. Feeling a weird sensation run through me, it took me a minute to figure out what it was.

It was a feeling I hadn’t felt in a while.

It was peace.

Peace of mind. Peace of heart. Peace of soul.

And that feeling was priceless.

Stretching, I rolled over in my bed expecting to be met with my favorite face in the whole world. But I woke up to an empty space. Feeling panic settle into my chest, I ripped the blankets off of my body and walked into the living room.

He wasn’t there and it gave me deja vu and not in a good way. Had I given him a reason to run? I wracked my brain but couldn’t find one.

Just as I took a seat on the couch, I saw a huge white box tied with a silver bow and a card was attached.

Angel, open this box. When you find what’s inside get ready and meet on Main Street under the gazebo.

I love you.

West.

Sitting the card on the table, I felt butterflies start dancing in my stomach. Reaching for the box, I pulled the ribbon from around it and opened it up. Silver tissue paper filled it. Pushing through the paper, I saw white satin peek out under it.

Once I had gotten a clear view of it I saw that it was a dress. A white dress. A wedding dress.

Leaping up from the couch, I ran to my room and jumped in the shower.

We hadn’t talked about our engagement. I had thought about it but I was just so happy to have him back I decided it was best to let him bring it back up.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried off and slipped the beautiful mermaid gown on. It was simple but absolutely gorgeous. It was something I definitely would have picked out myself.

Looking in the mirror, I braided my hair up. I tried to put myself in West’s train of thought to try to figure out what was going on but it was no use. No one could think like West.

Putting the finishing touches on my simple make up, I grabbed my keys.

Just as I was about to walk out of the door, I remembered I didn’t have on any shoes, so I ran to my closet. And I saw another box wrapped just like the first one only smaller.

Opening it, I saw a pair of strappy sandals that matched my new dress perfectly.

Placing them on my feet, I ran out the door. Wanting to know what West had planned, I ran down the stairs.

“Mad-Dog!” I heard Ethan’s voice call me from across the parking lot.

Looking over, I saw Ethan leaning against his car in a tux.

“What are you doing here?” I yelled back, making my way to him, “And why are you in a tux?”

“Will you go to prom with me?” he asked, batting his eyelashes, “How come it’s okay for you to be in a dress and not for me to be in a tux?”

“No and West left it for me and he left me a note telling me to meet him under the gazebo downtown. Please don’t tell me he left you that tux.”

“Sadly, no. West asked me to drive you to your destination,” he said, holding his car door open for me to get inside, “Don’t worry I don’t want your man. He’s not my type.

“Thank you,” I told him, getting inside and trying to calm my nerves down.

“For opening the door or not taking your man?”

“Both,” I told him before he shut the door.

Ethan got in and turned the radio on. My legs started shaking and Ethan sensed my anticipation.

“Oh, calm down,” Ethan said, tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

“How can you possibly expect me to calm down? I have no idea what’s going on and you know how I feel when I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. You’re a crazy control freak.”

“I am not. I just like things a certain way.”

“Whatever you say,” he said, pulling the car in a parking space and getting out to help me out.

The gazebo was in clear sight and there was a small crowd gathered around it.

“Ethan, what’s going on?” I asked, feeling my knees go week.

“You’ll see,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders, “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I told him, smiling up at him.

As we got closer to the gazebo I saw my dad standing waiting on me. And he was also in a tux.

“Daddy, what are you doing here?” I asked, throwing myself into his arms.

“My lips are sealed, Princess,” he said, pulling me into one of his famous bear hugs.

Feeling someone tap on my shoulder, I turned around to face Frank.

“You might need this,” he said, handing me a beautiful bouquet of daisies.

My favorite.

I should have known right then but I didn’t. I was way too nervous and excited for my brain to work. But it hit me when Frank and my dad looped their arms through mine.

And it really became clear when I saw West standing under the gazebo with Preacher Everly by his side. Also in a tux. After that it was obvious.

It was a wedding. My wedding.

“Babe, what’s going on?” I asked, feeling my whole body shake.

He dropped to one knee and pulled my ring out of his pocket. Wait, how did he get that? It was in my jewelry box in my room. Or so I thought.

“We’ve been through hell and back together. We’ve laughed together. We’ve loved together. We’ve cried together. And I wouldn’t trade one minute of it. You know why? Because we were together. I would do anything as long as you were beside me. You brought me so much light into my life. You showed me that I was worthy of love. That I was worth saving and I could never thank you enough for that. Angel, you’re the love of my life and I want to prove that to you every day. Will you marry me right here right now?”

My bouquet hit the ground.

It seemed like a scene from a movie or a TV show. It seemed too good to be true but it was true. And that made me smile. There was no need to make him sweat it a little bit by pretending to be thinking it over and weighing my options. I knew my face was a dead giveaway.

“Yes! A million times yes!” I yelled, bending down and giving him a kiss that would have made a porn star blush.

I didn’t care that our families and friends were there. They could watch.

After our kiss we joined hands and everyone gathered around.

Preacher Everly preformed our ceremony and we were pronounced man and wife.

Looking in his eyes, I couldn’t wait for the rest of our life.