Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jasper
Alder checked his watch, half twisting like he didn’t want me to see.
“Five minutes.” I didn’t have to see the time to know. Each minute ticked by excruciatingly slowly.
We were standing in front of the stone building in downtown Crocus Valley. The courthouse. Yesterday, I had made an appointment, and I had asked Violet and Alder to be here as witnesses—just in case.
“You think she’s coming?” Alder asked.
I shrugged, hating that I didn’t know. I’d given her all the space.
I hadn’t called. I hadn’t texted. And as antsy as it had made me, I hadn’t shown up for work yesterday.
Neither had I gone in today, but hopefully that would be different tomorrow.
Hopefully, I’d wake up a married man. Drive with my wife to the resort where we both worked.
Brainstorm plans to create water access.
Come up with ideas to increase reservations through the winter.
Yet she hadn’t called or texted. I knew my reasons; what were hers?
“I bet she’s coming.” Violet didn’t resonate with the confidence I wanted to hear. Was she trying to convince herself along with me?
We’d know soon enough.
The street was quiet. The thumps of a garbage truck down the street filled the air.
I paced up and down the short sidewalk lining the parking lot. “Dammit, Alder. How much time do we have?”
He cocked a brow at me but checked his watch. “Three minutes.”
He’d worn jeans. Must’ve taken the day off. I should thank him. If he’d shown up in his suit like he was on a break at work and ready to go back as soon as she was a no-show, I might be crawling out of my skin by now.
Violet was on her work break, but she wore regular clothing to work at the refinery lab anyway. I’d pretend she’d taken the whole day to celebrate my wedding.
I trekked back and forth some more. Sheridan wasn’t coming. It’d taken everything in me not to call REG myself and ask if Sheridan had contacted them yesterday. It’d be unprofessional, but if she hadn’t, they might reach out instead.
“Nine o’clock,” Violet said softly.
My boots scraped to a stop on the concrete. My throat burned, matching the searing pain in my chest. “She’s not coming.”
I dropped my chin to my chest and embraced the hurt.
“I’m sorry.” Violet put a hand on my arm. “I really am. Maybe she just needs more time.”
More time. Yes. It wasn’t like we were done with each other completely. We could still date. Would we? I’d just know she didn’t trust me or believe me. A fledgling relationship could survive that.
Fuck me. I fought to stay standing instead of crouching down and sinking my head into my hands. Nausea bloomed inside me. I might puke in the flowers lining the walk.
“Maybe she doesn’t,” Alder said.
I lifted my head. He was grinning and looking behind me. I spun around. All the pain vanished.
“I’m sorry.” Sheridan sprinted over the lawn, a pretty green sundress swishing around her legs.
A vision I must’ve conjured. “I didn’t think you’d really be here, like for real, so I went to your house first.” Her feet hit the pavement and she sped up.
“Then I didn’t know there was a parking lot back here and—”
I jerked her into my arms, not as smoothly as I’d like, but I needed the end result more than I needed to breathe. “You came.”
“I did. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I was in a huge rush and I might’ve crashed and…I’m here.”
She finished talking before I smashed my mouth to hers. Picking her up while kissing her, I swung her around. She was here. She was in my arms. That meant she believed me. I loved this woman, and I wanted to spend my life with her.
I could do this all damn day, but I set her down. There was one thing I had to do before we continued on with our day. Letting her go only to dig in my pocket, I put some space between us. Then I dropped to a knee.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “Jasper,” she said around her fingers. “You have a ring?”
“Made it on Sunday.” Polished and round. I carved it myself. “I’ll get you a diamond, I promise.”
“No,” she said quickly. “This is perfect.”
She was perfect. “Sheridan. I love you so damn much. These last two days have been hell. Will you please, please marry me?”
“You really mean it.” She gripped my hands, searching my eyes. “You really do love me.”
“Of course. Your mom picked me out because she knew I’m yours.”
Tears glittered in her eyes. “Yes, Jasper. I will marry you. Right here. Right now.” She squeezed my hands. “Put this ring on me when I say I do.”
I jumped up and gave her a quick kiss. Then, with my arm around her, I started for the courthouse. Alder was grinning.
Violet tucked her phone away. “I’ll send you these pictures after the ceremony.”
“Thank you.” Time to make Sheridan Bishop my wife.
Sheridan
Jasper laid me down on the bed and came down on top of me.
We were both naked. Alder offered to take us out for lunch, but Jasper asked for a rain check.
Then we’d sped home in our vehicles, and he’d given me the remote for the garage.
For our garage. It was a rental, but still, no more cot for me. Though that wasn’t why I’d married him.
I loved my husband. So much, and it was the best feeling in the world. I cradled him between my legs. His erection was pinned between us, hot and ready. I wanted just a moment. Holding out my hand, I admired the care taken on the wood used for my ring. I had inspired him to make this.
“I love you, Jasper Duke.”
“I love you, Sheridan…” He lifted a brow. “I don’t want to assume.”
I laughed and hooked my legs around his waist. “Sheridan Duke has a nice ring. Don’t you think? The Dukes running Bishop’s?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “You didn’t call REG?”
As if I had needed another sign he had really wanted to marry me—he hadn’t asked about Bishop’s Landing until now.
He hadn’t inquired about my decision, and he hadn’t mentioned his aunt.
Only Alder had after we were married. He said he’d talk to Linda so Jasper and I could celebrate. He was my favorite brother-in-law.
I rocked into him, the need expanding that had been simmering inside me since the ceremony and growing during our mad rush to get into bed together. The thrum between my legs matched my heartbeat, and with the way he was lying on me, our heart rates matched.
“I didn’t call them. I filled out the pros and cons, but on the pros side was you and me.”
His gaze roamed over my face. “That’s enough, then?”
“For me—always. For the resort, we’ll see. If we decide to sell later, there’ll be a buyer. But I feel like that place just needs a good couple to run it.”
“I know a good couple.” He shifted and dragged his cock through my pussy. “And the wife is really wet right now.”
“The wife really wants her husband inside her.”
He grunted at the word wife, poised and ready. Then he pushed in, filling me completely. So damn right. Stopping, a panicked look crossed his face. “Shit. A condom.”
I dug my feet into his butt cheeks. “Do we… Do we have to?”
His gaze stroked over me. The tip of his erection was still inside me, teasing at how well he’d fill me. “Does my wife want kids?”
I wet my suddenly dry lips. I just got married. Life was coming at me fast, and I was getting greedy. I wanted it all. “Does my husband?”
I couldn’t breathe. His weight on me was a comfort. Whatever he said, we’d be ready. But this was the first decision we were making that was ours alone. There was nothing to solve. No land to save. No property to keep. Just us.
“I want whatever you want, boss. If that’s no kids or one kid or four, now or in five years, I’m all in.”
“I don’t want anything between us.” I ran my hands up and down his back. “And if a kid happens, I know you’ll be there. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’ll be there with you the whole way.” He pulled out and thrust back in. “Fuck, Sheridan. You fit me perfectly.”
“Yes.”
We moved together, perfectly in sync. Partners in bed and out.
He thrust in. “I’m going to keep you in this bed all day.” He hinged his hips backward. “Until morning.”
I rose to meet him. “Is this when I tell you that I married you for your bed?”
“Oh, boss. I’ll fill this whole damn house with beds to keep you here.” He placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “And tomorrow, we’ll go to the cabin, but I can keep you under me until the morning.”
“Yeah, I like that.” And this? With nothing between us, every sensation traveled to each nerve ending, coating them in delicious pleasure.
Jasper Duke was my best decision ever. Always would be.