Page 93 of Beautiful Life
He glides upward, making me shiver. “Give me the word, Leigh.”
“I don’t know,” I mutter. “How can you be ready? So soon?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything as I am today. Marrying you. Starting a life with you. Giving you what you want—what you deserve. Let me give you everything.”
My hands on his shoulders move up to his neck and into his hair that I love. I look up at him. “Yes, Tony.”
He doesn’t wait another second, he angles his hips and surges inside me taking my breath away. Filling me to the root, so big and full, I’ve never felt anything this beautiful.
He pulls out a bit, surges back in only to stop again and groans. “You feel good.”
Then he starts to move. And I mean move, just the way I love it. He slams into me in his perfect demanding way. It’s good, all good—better than ever before with nothing between us—and when he finally buries himself inside me, he moans how much he loves me.
Like I always do, I envelope him with my limbs and hang on tight. He turns his head to bury his face in my hair.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
I feel his whole body move on a silent laugh. I even feel him inside me and sense him smile against the side of my head. He’s sarcastic when he presses into me one more time. “Sweetheart, you never need to thank me for that. But you’re welcome.”
I squeeze him. “Tony. I’m talking about the day in your conference room when you took over my divorce. I didn’t understand it then, but you made me a promise and today you delivered. You’ve given me a beautiful life. A life I never thought I’d have, a life I wouldn’t even let myself dream about because it hurt too much to know I might never get anything as beautiful as this. You saved me and I got you in the process.”
Sliding an arm under my back, he rolls us so I’m on top. I pull my knees up to straddle him.
“It starts today, gem. A new start and a life together.”
I smile and lean in to kiss my husband.
*****
Tony
I hang up the phone and move out of my office to find Leigh. For the second time today, on our wedding day no less, I’m going to have to tell her something that’s not going to make her happy.
We just finished dinner. Gabby texted a couple hours ago and informed me she arranged to have dinner delivered. It was a full spread of appetizers, prime rib, all the sides, and dessert with a bottle of champagne and two bottles of wine. I tried to think of everything but didn’t think past the actual wedding. I’ve gotta hand it to Gabby who thinks of every detail. My cousin is the shit.
As I turn the corner, I don’t see her in the kitchen, but I do see her bouquet placed in the center of the island. She must have dug through the cabinets, because it’s in a glass pitcher filled with water since I don’t have a vase. Smiling, I turn and see Leigh curled in the corner of the sofa with Fin laid out beside her with his head in her lap. She has a glass of wine in one hand and the other is busy giving her dog another head massage.
She looks up as I stop and shake my head. “He’s on the sofa now?”
She screws up her nose while shrugging and puts her wine to her lips as if she’s apologizing for not caring that Fin is on the furniture.
She takes another sip. “He loves me. He just can’t help it.”
I go to them and give Fin a scratch. “Get down, buddy.”
He half-heartedly moves and I take his spot by Leigh. “You’re not gonna like what I have to say.”
“Why, what happened?”
“I talked to security. They sent me up to management in administration. They don’t want you to come to work tomorrow. Maybe even all week. They want to see what happens and how this plays out. They assured me your job is safe but they can’t have you there if it means potentially putting other staff and patients in danger.”
She looks away. “I understand, I just feel bad.” She looks back to me. “Maybe I should’ve talked to them. I’m sure you didn’t try and persuade them otherwise.”
I smile. “I didn’t. But I talked to them as your attorney, not your husband. If I talked to them as your husband, I wouldn’t have let them make the decision. I would’ve just told them you wouldn’t be back at work until we got this figured out.”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t get it. It’s not like Preston really cared about me. I think he was happy to finally be rid of me. Why would he do this now when he did everything he could to avoid jail time?”
“I have no idea.” I twirl a lock of her hair in my fingers. “I’m sorry, though. I know how much you care about your job. Hopefully it will only be a few days.”
