Epilogue
Presley
Four years later
I took a moment in the bathroom of the church, checking to make sure the square of paper was safely pinned to the inside cuff of my wedding dress. I must’ve been crazy to have a winter wedding, but it was the earliest we could do after our engagement six months ago.
I considered us lucky with my father and Alex’s connections to Oliver Fox. The Diamond Square Hotel had a beautiful wedding space and choosing a Friday evening reception made it easier to get a date. It was a week from Christmas and the city was done up in all the colors of the season.
The note was there, safely secured. I put my hand over my wrist and closed my eyes, smiling at the memory in the planetarium. We’d been inseparable since that afternoon even with the eight miles between us. Numerous phone calls and texts, Facetime was a daily occurrence when we couldn’t get together physically.
Hudson often surprised me with flowers delivered to my apartment or a quick video to tell me he loved me. The wounds from our past healed. I would forever have the scar of Evan’s teeth on my shoulder, but I would never let the attack cripple me.
Last I heard, he was somewhere out west working on a cattle ranch. He enjoyed the hospitality of the New York State penal system for twenty-two months for what he did to me. I hoped to never see him again.
My mother knocked on the door, pulling me from the past. I gave one more quick look in the mirror, deciding I couldn’t improve anything else and stepped out.
“You look beautiful. They’re starting.”
My parents escorted me to the front of the church while over two hundred people watched me. Neil stood as Hudson’s best man. My brother had grown into a strapping, wide shoulder nineteen-year-old with plenty of women buzzing around him begging for attention.
As I got to the altar, I handed Jennie, my maid of honor, my bouquet before my parents kissed me and Hudson took my hand in his. He was handsome in a tailored black tuxedo which fit him perfectly. He raked his eyes over me before we turned to the pastor to take our vows.
The Diamond Square had a private bridal suite where we could relax and Hudson took full advantage of our privacy, slipping his hands under my dress. I slapped at them.
“No,” I hissed.
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so now that you have my ring on your finger, I get nothing?”
I giggled. “You must be joking. We had sex twice before you left last night. It’s not even twenty-four hours.”
His eyes were twinkling when they met mine. “It could be two hours, and I would need more.”
He grasped my wrist, hearing the crinkle of paper. His brow furrowed as he folded back the cuff of my sleeve.
“What’s this?” he asked, referring to the safety pinned square of paper.
“The note you gave me at the planetarium.”
Hudson unpinned the note, unfolding the small square and smoothing it out.
“Truth – I can’t live without you. Two magnets,” he read.
I dabbed at my eyes. “I love you.”
“You better,” he chuckled. “You have my name.”
“I think we should greet our guests,” I said, rising from the couch.
He took my hand, and we exited the bridal suite. I let out a breath, releasing any tension as we stepped into our new life together.
The End
If you enjoyed this book and want to check out more of my books, check out When I Was His, the first of The Sly Fox Series. If you like hot billionaires, age gap steamy romances with a sprinkle of suspense – you can get it here. Look below for an excerpt from When I Was His
I was still nervous when I left the office for the day. Sadie was waiting for me in front of my building so we could walk to the subway together. I dropped my purse when I got to her, spilling half the contents on the ground. She helped me recover everything and when she handed it to me, I dropped it again but this time it was zipped.
Sadie narrowed her eyes at me. “What happened at work?”
“I’ll tell you when we get home,” I said quietly.
“Now. Tell me now,” she demanded.
“Home.”
We started walking to cross the street and the black car that I’d seen Oliver slide into the week before pulled up to the curb. The back window opened, and Oliver’s handsome face came into view.
“Ladies, can I give you a ride home?”
“Absolutely,” Sadie said. She didn’t hesitate and I had no choice but to join her. The driver got out, the same hulk of a man I saw before with slicked back black hair, a graphite gray suit and a thin mustache. He opened the back door and Oliver stepped out to let us into the car. Sadie glanced at me, and I gave her a weak smile. When we were on our way, Oliver turned to me.
“How was the rest of your day?”
“It was okay,” I said in almost a whisper.
“Miss Fulbright, Ryleigh tells me she’s too busy this weekend to have lunch or dinner with me. Is that true?”
I almost died right there on the back seat. I glanced at Sadie and pleaded with her to say I was busy.
“I know she has a couple of things going on.”
“I was hoping she would join me for dinner tomorrow night.”
“I told you, I have to check my schedule.”
“And I told you I hoped I didn’t have to wait too long.”
“You only asked me a few hours ago.”
“I can be impatient.”
“I noticed,” I mumbled.
Sadie sat there gaping as we continued our banter back and forth. Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up in front of our building. I had no idea how Oliver knew where I lived but an explanation would have to wait until we were in private.
Oliver stepped out and offered his hand so he could assist both Sadie and I from the car. He grasped my elbow as Sadie started to walk to the entrance, leaning into my ear and whispering.
“Don’t torture me too long. You have my number.”
His lips brushed against my ear, causing tingles to rush down to my core. He let me go and waited until the doorman opened the door and I was safely in the lobby. I watched the car pass by us before I turned around to join Sadie at the elevator.
She grinned. “You have some explaining to do.”
“Upstairs.”
She couldn’t ask me anything else because other residents had joined us. She started badgering me as we walked down the hall before we got inside our apartment. I kept silent until the door was closed.
“What the hell was that all about?” she demanded.
“I had lunch with Oliver today.”
I kicked off my shoes and padded to my room with Sadie hot on my heels.
“You had lunch with him? Where?”
I pulled out a tank top and shorts from my dresser. “His office. He took me up there and ordered food to be brought in.”
“Am I missing something? Why?”
“He wants to date me.”
I started unbuttoning my dark blue blouse and Sadie grabbed my hands.
“Did you just say he wants to date you?”
I nodded. “Yes. He made it perfectly clear what his intentions are for me.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“I said I need to think about it.”
She let my hands go and sat on the corner of my bed. “What do you need to think about? The man is a God in more ways than one. He’s fabulously rich, handsome and from what I can see, polite.”
“He’s also much older than me and more sophisticated. I’m afraid I would lag behind and… I don’t know, embarrass him?” I trailed off.
She chastised me. “Are you serious right now? You’re well read, Ivy League educated and smart. It’s not like you haven’t been places.”
Sadie was right about that. My parents had taken my brothers and me to many places. I’d been to several countries in Europe, Asia and South America besides Canada, Australia and Mexico. I could speak three languages although my French was not the greatest, but I was fluent in Spanish.
“He’s older. Fourteen years older. In four years, he’ll be forty and I won’t even be out of my twenties.”
“You’re crazy. That man seems stuck on you. I saw how he was looking at you. What could it hurt to go on a few dates with him?”
The truth was that Oliver Fox scared me. I was afraid of the effect he had on my body when I was in his presence. I knew if I fell for him, it would be hard and fast. If we broke up, I would be devastated. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to deal with the aftermath.
“He can have his pick of women.”
I removed my blouse and Sadie scowled, “You wore that bra?”
It was a basic white cotton bra with matching panties. Usually, I wore the set to work out but today I didn’t feel like wearing lacy lingerie.
“What’s the problem?”
She groaned loudly when she saw my panties as I removed my skirt.
“You had lunch with Oliver Fox and wearing that ?”
“Jesus Christ, Sadie, I wasn’t fucking him. It was lunch,” I huffed.
“But you never know. It could have escalated.”
I shook my head. “I refuse to allow myself to fall that fast for him. If I decide to date him, we won’t be having sex anytime soon.”
She threw up her hands. “You’re out of your mind. I could only imagine how hot he is in bed. I barely know the man, and if he offered, I would sleep with him right now.”
“You have more confidence than I do.”
“So? Are you having dinner with him this weekend?”
“I don’t know.”
I went to my closet and placed my clothing in the basket at the bottom before putting on the shirt and shorts I selected.
“Have dinner with him and see how it goes. You two might just hit it off.”
“Maybe. I’ll call him later.”
Sadie rose and went to her room to change. I was taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator when the lobby phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Miss Stewart?”
“Yes?”
“We have a delivery for you.”
I frowned because I wasn’t expecting anything. “What is it?”
“It looks like flowers.”
“I’ll be right down.”
Sadie came out of the bedroom in the same outfit as me except her tank top was yellow.
“What was the call for?”
“I have a delivery.”
She smirked at me as I opened the door.