EPILOGUE ONE JANIE
JANIE
“Say what you will about weirdo billionaires and their arranged marriages, the honeymoons are legit.” Skye says to me from her lounger. Behind her I can spot the Moroccan coast.
True to his word, as soon as I solved Mellman’s missing money problem, Ben whisked me away for an extended honeymoon on his yacht. Starting from London, we’ve cruised all over Italy, Greece, parts of the Mediterranean that seem too beautiful to be real.
“Agreed,” I say.
“You sure you don’t mind us barging in for this week?”
I glare at her, “I wouldn’t have sent the invite if I didn’t want you guys here.”
“Yeah, but I hear your man is constantly making friends everywhere you dock and having parties on board, not to mention his brothers and their wives have also crashed your trip, right?”
I chuckle, “Yes on all fronts. But he can’t help that he always makes friends. I’ve been encouraging him to do things for himself because he tends to obsess over if I’m having fun and if I’m getting what I want. Plus, he never pops in with new people without asking first.”
She agrees, “Hate the pop in.”
“So much.” I sit up a bit so I can see the boys and she does too.
Ben and her husband Matt are playing around at the above deck wheel, as if we don’t have a professional captain and crew to man this thing.
“Those social things are really only once every couple weeks. Most of our time is spent just lounging together or exploring Europe.”
“It’s not too much? I don’t know if I could do such a long vacation. I need my routine to keep my anxiety at bay,” Skye admits.
“Some days it is but I just tell him if I need to be alone for a day. And he’s trying too. Like he made the chef stick to our meal routine. He’s French and I’m pretty sure he said he didn’t want to serve that many burgers and soups and pizzas at sea.”
We both laugh.
“Well, that was sweet. Are you still fighting your doubts about him getting bored with you?”
“I would, except he FaceTimes me almost constantly when he’s gone and he always seems more than ready to cut a trip short to get home.”
We both settle back into our loungers. After a minute she speaks up again. “And at home, normal day-to-day life, how’s it been?”
“Great. We live mostly in Juniper Falls, surprisingly.”
“Really?”
I nod, understanding her surprise. “I just like to be near Gran. And all the renovations and stuff, I’m sure you heard about that.
” She nods and I go on, “Jack is in town now, working construction and staying out of trouble. No one will confirm or deny anything but I’m pretty sure my squeaky clean husband paid an ungodly amount of money to the New York underworld in order for myself and Jack to never be thought of ever again. ”
“You think?”
“Mhm.”
“That’s kinda hot.”
“Right? Ben does still travel a lot during the week but we have a thing about Saturdays. He’s normally home by 12:01am.
” She awwws at that and I go on, “We go to the city a lot, I travel with him about one trip a month so far. It’s working for us right now.
Is it exhausting some weeks? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely yes.”
“Sex is that good, huh?” She jokes.
“Oh it absolutely is. And, well…Ben. I just want him around.”
“D’you hear that, mate? You heard that, right?” Ben’s voice comes up from the side gunnel near us.
“Hear what? I didn’t hear a thing,” Matt jokes.
“Wanker.”
“I said you were really really good in bed,” I tell him as he sits down on the edge of my lounger.
“She did,” Skye confirms.
Ben leans down to kiss me, “Cheeky.”
I grab his face and tell him with my mouth what he wanted me to repeat.
I just really love him. More and more each day.
I can’t get enough and I tell him so. That he’s brutally handsome and unbearably charming, British quirks aside.
Just like he tells me things like how deeply interesting I am.
Or how I always surprise him. Or how brilliant I am.
I pull away with a smirk, “Ew, don’t say cheeky.”
“Alright, wifey.”
“Stop.”
“Never,” he says, then starts to get up to move to another lounger but I pull him back down.
I whisper, “Say that again.”
“I’ll never stop, Janelle.”
I kiss my name right out of his perfect mouth.