Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
LEXI
The entire day is like bliss. The rain stops eventually, even when the clouds overhead still look threatening and mean, it seems as if the worst of it is over.
Josh and I spend the day in bed. Laughing. Talking. Having sex. Eating. Then more sex. This man is unbelievable. And he loves me. Oh my fucking god, he said it first.
We’re in such a love bubble that I truly don’t want to leave.
This cabin has been a first for both of us, and a part of me feels sad we have to go.
I don’t want to go back to reality. Reality is boring.
But maybe it won’t be so boring if Josh really meant what he said.
He’s my boyfriend, and he loves me, he wouldn't have said all of that if he didn’t mean it right?
We pack our things, Josh whistling while he does so, and me running around trying to fit everything back in my tiny suitcase. I will never pack light again. Packing light is overrated.
When I come back from loading up my trunk, I’m deep in thought, wondering what we’re going to do about the whole work situation.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Josh says, catching me by the hips as I squeal. I didn’t even see him on the porch.
“You scared the crap out of me!”
He laughs. “But seriously, you look like someone just told you there was no Santa.”
“I’m worried about telling Ali, and your dad,” I say. “I mean, they’re the bosses, they’re in charge, they can date whoever they want.”
“If Dad has a problem with it, which he won’t, then I’ll quit.”
I balk. “Quit? Josh, I don’t expect you to do that, it’s absurd.”
“No, it isn’t. If he really loves me and respects my choices, then he’ll be okay with it. We’re professionals. He’s in love with his ex-sworn enemy. Somehow that makes me think that all is well over in their camp.”
“I know, I just worry because Ali has been so good to me. She’s worked so hard, and her ex-husband almost took it all away from her. They had a horrible divorce.”
“I didn’t know that, and that’s awful. She’s done an amazing job, and single handedly created a powerhouse business all while raising her daughter.”
“I love her like a mom,” I admit. “But I haven’t exactly come clean about my feelings for you. If anything, I’ve played it down. We’ve joked here and there about the handsome Lucas men?—”
“Ew, please don’t tell me my brothers were included in that vision.”
I ignore him. “But I’ve never come out and said ‘hey Ali, I’ve got the hots for Josh and I think I want to have his babies.’”
I pause. “You want to have my babies?”
“Uh.” Oh, shit. “Um, no, it was a figure of speech, you know, like ovaries exploding whenever women see Tom Hardy on the TV, that kinda thing.”
Think before you speak, asshat!
“I really hope you don’t want Tom Hardy’s babies, or we might have a bit of a problem.”
I think I got away with it, until I open my mouth, close it again and Josh piques a brow.
“You want my babies?” He repeats, folding his arms over his chest.
“Well, not right this second.”
“But someday?”
“Maybe. I’ve never really thought about kids, until?—”
“Until?”
“Until you did that thing to me all weekend and I kept seeing us at the cabin, our kids playing in the grass, Jesus, Josh, you’re really gonna run a mile if I don’t shut my pie hole.”
He pulls me closer, and I can feel how hard he is.
Is this man ever down? “I think I quite like that pie hole where it is, thank you very much, and all the other holes. And I had the same vision, Princess,” he tells me.
“I can’t even believe I’m admitting this, but I see my future in your eyes.
I see our kids, our life, our happiness.
What have you done to me?” He presses his forehead to mine.
“What have you done to me ?” I breathe. “This is moving so fast, but none of it feels forced or wrong. Why is that?”
“Because we're in love with each other,” he affirms. “When I saw you at the house with Melinda, I didn’t even think twice if I’d done the right thing when we broke up.
I knew it was all falling into place, because when I saw you next to her, there was only one woman I wanted, one woman who I want to share my life with, if you’ll have me? ”
“I love you,” I whisper. “I really fucking love you, Joshie.”
He chuckles. “I’m glad we’re on the same page, would be kinda awkward now.”
She laughs, too. “We’ve just got to break it to our bosses.”
“Don’t worry, I have a plan.”
I groan. “Oh, no.”
“What?” He nudges his hips against mine “Don’t you trust my better judgment?”
“I know what your impromptu plans are like, and sometimes they’re a little nuts.”
“Oh dear, should I cancel the mariachi band?”
I pull him into my arms. “Not a chance. I think it might drown out the voices in my head.”
“Good to know you’re easily distracted.”
We kiss and the world could stop. I love this man, and he wants to put a baby in me.
Not today, perhaps, but someday, and I can’t explain the way my stomach flutters when I think about being barefoot and pregnant with his kid.
Something else I didn’t know I even wanted, but it makes perfect sense.
I was dating absolute donkeys until I met my stallion.
“I think we need to put that practice into motion, you know, for when we do want kids for real.”
He grins, caging me against the wall. “Spoken like a true princess.”
“I’m so pleased everything went well,” Ali says a few days later when she’s back in the office.
Of course, I texted her the second Monica signed.
I’m still pinching myself after Monica came back out from her phone call and declared that she didn’t really need another walk around.
She was happy with what she’d seen already and was ready to sign on the dotted line.
Ali and I have talked on the phone briefly about the details.
With the storm, the phone lines were down for a few hours, and I have to say, I really liked having a break from technology.
I think going away for a weekend every now and again with no phones or laptop might be the ultimate vacation. As long as Josh is by my side.
“Yes, about that,” I start, but I’m interrupted by a knock at the door.
We both turn to look at the intruder. We have a lot to catch up on, and I wanted to tell Ali today about my weekend with Josh. She still hasn’t put two and two together that we spent the weekend in the cabin. I’m assuming she thinks Josh left.
The delivery guy has a giant box in his arms. I notice the familiar pink cupcake design right away, and the scrawl across the side. ‘Sweet Confetti Bakery.’ Uh, oh.
“Aww, will you look at that?” Ali says as the delivery guy hands her a card. We thank him and I stand there stunned. “Oh, it’s for me.”
“What does it say?”
She frowns. “It says: Alison Archer, favorite realtor and second-mom-to-be, I come bearing gifts, but the biggest gift of all would be if you’d not yell at me the next time you see me, Joshua x. ” She looks up at me. “What is going on?”
Panic hits me and she flips the box, staring into the contents. I wince, trying to think for a moment, then find my voice. “Well, about the weekend, there’s something that I probably need to tell you.”
Ali is still ignoring me, at least until I clear my throat. Then she looks at me, her eyes flicking back at the box. She starts to laugh. “I don’t believe it.”
“What?” I come to look over her shoulder then I gasp.
Oh, Joshie. He went all out.
There’s a dozen or so red velvet cupcakes staring back at us with gorgeous pink icing. He’s even spelled out; I love your P.A. across the top of them in a darker pink — or rather, Chelsea has, from Sweet Confetti Bakery.
He’s even scrawled a note on the inside lid of the box as if to explain himself even further.
I’m in love with your PA. Please let her date me. We both love you, but we love each other more. We both want this. I don’t want any other woman. Just her. Lexi. My princess.
Then Alison takes off her glasses and reaches for a tissue. “About fucking time,” she laughs, wiping her eyes.
“W-what?”
“I said, about fucking time. You two have been eye-fucking for years, and frankly, it’s exhausting!”
“Wait, you’re not mad?”
She laughs, shaking her head. “Mad? I’m dating his dad, a man I used to hate but now I love with all my heart. I would never be mad at you for loving who you want, that isn’t up to me.”
“But all that stuff we said about privacy and pillow talk.”
“You won’t tell Joshua anything, and I won’t tell Tristan anything, the same as they won’t. We still respect our clients, and our prospective businesses,” she says. “That doesn't mean to say that we can’t have a little fun in the sheets with the men we love, even if they are on the opposing team.”
Tears well in my eyes, threatening to leak at any moment.
“Thank you,” I stammer, trying to contain myself but not knowing if I’m able.
“So much, Ali. I was so worried you’d be super disappointed in me, but we both got stuck at the cabin, and one thing led to another, and he’s so freaking dreamy — I can’t even describe it?—”
She pats me on the arm and reaches for my hand to squeeze it. “You’re in love with him. I know. I’ve also suspected for a while that he feels the same way.”
“How do you know that?”
She shrugs. “The way his face lights up whenever I mention your name. The way he asks about you when you’re not around. He always makes excuses to come to the office, or call you to ask about something irrelevant, something Mason could do.”
I pull on my bottom lip nervously. “That is kinda sweet.”
She stands, then pulls me into a hug. “I’m happy for you, Lex. You deserve a man like Josh, he’s perfect for you.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, because I would’ve really hated to quit.”
She blanches. “You’d really quit your job?”
“I wouldn’t want to, but we both feel the same way, and we’re just… I don’t know?—”
“In love.” She smiles. “I get it. But I’m not losing you that easily, thank you very much. We’ve got a lot more to do.”
I feel on top of the world. “Thank you,” I say. “For understanding. I guess the little mix up at the cabin was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“It seems like it. And I’m so proud of what you did with the Monica Chase deal.”
She thanked me profusely for pulling the deal together with Melinda in her absence, and I know she’s really happy with how I handled things.
My smile at her words is wide and proud. I’m quite pleased with myself over everything that happened that weekend.
She wipes a finger through the frosting of a cupcake. “I’m glad my flu was good for something, at least. Never thought I’d be inadvertently playing matchmaker on my deathbed.”
“I’m glad you lived through it. You look much better, by the way.” I grab a cupcake, too. Dying to call Josh and tell him the good news.
“Here’s to falling in love.” She holds up her cupcake and I tip mine against hers in a toast.
“And the Lucas men,” I laugh. “Hey, do I get to call you Mom for real now?”
She gives me a stern look, but it only lasts a moment. “Not if you expect me to answer.”
All is right in the world again.