Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER: CARA
“Ican’t believe you have that picture hanging in our bathroom,” Cara laughed, tapping a finger against the frame of the photo from the day of Liam’s press conference. “Can you hand me my earring?”
He passed it to her with a grin. “I like that picture.”
“Most couples have photos of their wedding day,” she pointed out. “And those pictures do exist.”
“Yes, but those pictures don’t mean much to me,” Liam said. “You know I’m right. I kissed you that day, but it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t real. This, though…”
“No, you’re right,” she agreed, affixing the back of her earring.
“That one was real.” She smiled again, remembering it.
It had been one of the most magical moments of her life, sitting in the back of that room and listening as he proclaimed his love for her.
The way it had filled her heart, the way every single word had hit her with increasing wonder…
She would never forget those moments as long as she lived.
He looked her up and down. She was wearing a red dress, new for the occasion. “You know,” he said. “We don’t really have to go to the Stingers’ end-of-season banquet. We could stay here and come up with other ways to enjoy ourselves.”
Cara laughed and swatted his arm. “We have to go to the banquet, and you know it,” she told him. “You’re going to be on the team next year. And besides, my firm needs to do publicity on this event.”
“Are you worried you’re going to run into Alastair?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “Not really.”
It was the truth. For a few months after leaving Alastair’s firm and opening her own, she’d felt twinges of guilt or shame every time she’d thought about him. The idea of facing him at a press event had haunted her, and she hadn’t been able to imagine what she would say when it inevitably happened.
But it didn’t seem to matter now. Bailey PR was thriving.
The fact that her career had gotten off to such an unorthodox beginning was proving to be something more people found charming than off-putting, and if Alastair had anything to say about it, Cara figured she would probably just laugh.
She’d long since stopped caring what he thought of her.
“He’s probably representing some other members of the team,” she said. “It’s not a big deal. But if there are any new players looking for representation, they might be open to a pitch from me.”
“They will if they have any sense,” Liam said. “No one could possibly do better than you.”
Cara laughed. “You’re biased,” she reminded him.
“I certainly am.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, drew her close, and pressed his forehead to hers. “And glad to be,” he murmured before kissing her briefly.
Even a stolen kiss was enough to disturb Cara’s equilibrium.
He was devastatingly attractive. Strong hands, strong arms, rough cheek, deep voice…
She didn’t think she would ever get used to him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
If her life was disrupted in this delicious way forever, she thought it would probably be a gift.
All too soon, they separated. “We need to get down to the car,” Cara said. “We don’t want to be late for the speech.”
“The speech is exactly what I do want to be late for,” Liam grumbled.
For just a moment, she had a flash of the old Liam, the one who did what he wanted at all times with no regard for the consequences.
But she didn’t have to argue or even try to persuade him.
He came around on his own. “You’re right.
Let’s go. Put in an appearance. And then we can come home early, right? ”
“I’ll take it,” she grinned. “You drive a hard bargain, Liam Sims.”
But as she thought of the night ahead of them once they returned home and how enjoyable she knew it was going to be, she had to concede that his was not a very hard bargain at all.
The clubhouse over Stingers Stadium had been decorated in team colors.
The players were dressed in suits and ties and all of them, to a man, had beautiful partners on their arms. But as she walked in with Liam, it was clear to Cara who had brought a spouse and who had simply found a date for the evening.
The wives were dressed a bit more comfortably, clearly used to these affairs.
They had distanced themselves from the men and gathered in groups of three and four.
They were old friends, she thought. They’d been coming to these parties for years.
And the few that were newer had been adopted.
This was Cara’s first real team event, so she didn’t fit in with those groups.
But she didn’t belong with the others either, the girls who had been picked up and been brought along as dates for one evening.
These girls wore expensive dresses and elaborate hairstyles and looked around with wide eyes, as though they couldn’t quite believe where they had found themselves.
Liam linked his arm through hers and pulled her over to a couple standing near the bar. “Cara, this is my good buddy Mark Lawrence,” he said, indicating the man. “And this is his wife, Sandy.”
“It’s good to meet you, Cara,” Sandy said with a warm smile. “We’ve all heard quite a lot about you, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
Cara blushed. “It’s nice to be here,” she said. “I’ve heard good things too. I wish we could have met sooner.”
“We understand, though,” Mark said. “Between one thing and another.”
It had been a hectic six months. She and Liam had decided on a long vacation to Hawaii, teasingly calling it their honeymoon.
When they’d returned, she had moved right into setting up her business, which had required long hours and some travel.
Meanwhile, the Stingers had been wrapping up their season.
Liam had taken to spending time with some of his teammates and the coaches, talking over strategy and preparing for next season.
“Well, we’re here now,” Cara said. “And I know how much this team means to Liam. I’m grateful he was able to come back.”
“Oh, so are we,” Mark Lawrence said firmly. “Last season was kind of a disaster.”
“I didn’t watch much of it,” Cara said.
“Probably a good call,” Liam admitted. “It was a little hard to watch Sandusky running for passes every week.”
“And missing most of them,” Mark said wryly.
“You’ll see what I mean if you check the stat sheets.
We dropped to the bottom of the league without you.
That kid was not ready for prime time.” He leaned in.
“I think the coaches were actually considering ending his contract, but they decided to keep him on and let him warm the bench a little. See if he ripens.”
“I could live without that,” Liam admitted. “But…I suppose everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe he’ll learn a little humility.”
Mark laughed. “We can hope,” he said. “The good news is that you’ll be back off the bench and starting for us, so we’ll actually have a shot at winning a game or two in the upcoming season.”
“Can’t wait,” Liam said. “I think it’s going to be a big one for us. I’m thinking playoffs.”
“You think?” Sandy chimed in. “The Stingers haven’t had a playoff team since we were part of the organization.”
“Yeah, but miracles happen,” Liam said. He wrapped his arm around Cara’s waist. “And this year, we have a good luck charm.”
Cara looked up at him. He was beaming at her. “I’m not good luck,” she protested.
“No, you definitely are,” he countered. “My life has gotten exponentially better since you came into it.”
“Yeah, but none of that was luck.” She grinned at him. “You’ve just been making really solid choices ever since I met you.”
“Maybe.” He reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “And maybe I’m about to make another one.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you and I are already married,” he said. “But I’ve been thinking about that marriage for a while. About that wedding. I mean, I don’t think it was what either one of us would have wanted if we’d been choosing for ourselves, right?”
“Being married to you is the best accident that’s ever happened to me,” Cara said.
“Yeah, I’m not even surprised by the fact that you two never had it annulled,” Mark said. “Everything Liam has told me about you had made it obvious that you’re perfect for him, Cara.”
She beamed. They had talked about annulling the marriage back in the early days of their relationship, but when it had gotten right down to it, neither of them had really wanted to.
“We can do it sometime in the future if we decide this doesn’t work,” Liam had said.
“But for right now, I just want to be with you.” And Cara had agreed.
“I definitely wouldn’t take anything back about our marriage,” Liam said.
“But the wedding itself…you rushing down the aisle in someone else’s dress, doing it only because you thought you had to or you’d lose your job…
It worked out for the best, but it isn’t the wedding you deserve, Cara.
You deserve so much better. You deserve the best.”
He lowered himself to one knee.
Sandy let out a squeak.
Cara gasped. “What… Liam, what are you doing?” The room was falling silent, everyone turning to look at them. “People are staring.”
“They’re going to be staring even harder when they see you in your dream wedding dress,” he assured her.
“Cara, what do you say we do this right? I don’t want to end this marriage, but I’d love to start over with the perfect ceremony.
A vow renewal, if you’ll accept. And then the best party you’ve ever been to in your life. ”
“Oh, man, can I say yes?” Mark spoke up. “This sounds like the event of the century.”
Sandy shushed him. “Let Cara answer.”
Cara’s throat was thick with emotion. She’d never imagined she could be affected this strongly by a proposal from a man she was already married to.
This ought to feel like nothing at all, because nothing was really going to change.
And yet, somehow, it didn’t. Because he was right—this was what they had never had. Their wedding day had been a sham.
Cara had made her peace with that fact a long time ago. She’d been ready to sacrifice the dream of a big, romantic wedding for the reality of a cozy, loving marriage.
But now he was telling her she didn’t need to make that sacrifice.
He was saying she could have both.
She swallowed hard. “Of course, Liam,” she said, doing her best to remain steady. “Of course I’ll marry you again. I’d marry you a thousand times. I’d say yes to you every day for the rest of my life.”
He pulled out a ring, a beautiful diamond solitaire. “You never got one,” he murmured, and slipped it onto her finger.
Then he rose to his feet and took her in his arms, kissing her deeply.
People around them broke into spontaneous applause, but as far as Cara was concerned they might as well have been a million miles away. She hardly heard them.
The only thing that mattered to her now was Liam—Liam who loved her, Liam who wanted her, Liam who had been ready to sacrifice everything for her, just as she had been willing to do for him.
She kissed him back, long and passionate and without thought of anyone around them, reveling in the knowledge that they were both—miraculously—going to get everything they had dreamed of.
The End
I hope you’ve enjoyed Liam and Cara’s story!