Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Oh, he thought they were about to see a whole bunch of braces. “She doesn’t hate me.”
Niall turned to him. “No. She loves you and I love you, and let’s take a deep breath and try to find something normal. I happen to know that you’re going to be invited to play at The Hideout this weekend. Don’t expect sex. Just ease in and get a lay of the land and if she decides she wants a second top…”
“I’ll be there.”
He had a sudden surge of real hope.
She loved him. He loved her. He loved Niall.
All he had to do was love himself, too, and it would all work out.
“Let’s play some basketball,” Jensen said. “Although apparently it’s also therapy, so you should be ready for that.”
“I’m ready for anything, brother,” Niall replied.
Jensen was ready for his future to start.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Harlow stood in front of the mirror and watched her mom. Natalie Dawson looked gorgeous in her mother-of-the-bride dress, but she was obviously more concerned with her daughter’s. It wasn’t like her mom hadn’t seen her in this dress before, but she cried every single time.
“You look so beautiful,” her mom said, putting a tissue to her eyes.
She felt beautiful in the stunning sheath dress. She was fairly certain her grooms were going to lose their minds.
“She does,” Greer said with a smile. “Exactly as beautiful as our mom was on her wedding day. I told the photographer there are some specific shots we want.”
Greer and Gigi and Ruby were her bridal gang, and they had been with her every step of the way. One of the things they’d decided to use as inspiration was her parents’ wedding. They were going to do a couple of shots mirroring her favorite pics of her parents, but with her friends as stand-ins.
“Gabe is in the tuxedo I picked for him,” Gigi promised. “I had to fight to get him in it, but I swear he’s a young Julian Lodge. Getting Jack to stand in for…well, older Jack…was the real issue. Now that was a struggle.”
Jack had been through the ringer, but somehow she thought Ruby had a hand in getting that Special Agent in a tux. But that was another story for another day. Love seemed to be in the air for all of her friends. The members of The Hideout were all settling down, and she was here for it. She’d started calling the last year mating season.
“It’s going to be wonderful,” she said, checking herself over one more time and thinking about how she’d woken up this morning. To men who snuck into her parents’ house and slept with her even though she’d tried to play the bad luck card. She hadn’t tried hard. She’d missed them even after a couple of hours. Jensen had promised they would be gone long before dawn.
And then she’d had to wake them up to kick them out so her dad didn’t find out how much Taggart was teaching her soon-to-be husbands about getting around security systems.
“It is,” her mom said and kissed her on her cheek. “We’ve been to a lot of weddings lately, but this is the best. I’m going to make sure everything is ready, and your dad isn’t talking to the pastor again.”
“About the three sniper positions he located? I clocked those babies the minute I walked in.” What could she say? She was her father’s daughter. But both of them, which is why she was able to find a church she could get married in with windows and everything. If Dad had his way, they would be doing this in a bunker with security on every door. “Seriously. It was the best of my options, Mom. The one I first wanted had twenty, and I didn’t think Dad could handle it.”
“You are so sweet to think of him, baby. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you being accommodating,” her mom said as she brushed away tears. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. You relax and get ready. We’re almost there.”
Her mom left and Ruby walked in looking gorgeous in her bridesmaid dress, and a bit irritated.
Ruby pointed a finger her way. “You are a menace.”
She was. And she was perfectly comfy being that. “Yes, but why? It could be many reasons.”
Ruby stared at her. “You invited Lucy Flanders. You barely know Lucy Flanders.”
Oh, then the fun had started. There were certain feuds within the spy kids’ group, and it was always super fun to watch them blow up. “I totally know that whole family. I spent several summers in Bliss with Aunt Georgia. Gigi did, too.”
Gigi gave her a thumbs-up. “Gotta love Bliss.”
“Then you also know that Kala Taggart loses her damn mind when the woman walks in the room,” Ruby accused.
Gigi giggled. “It was funny. There was a lot of talk of finding holy water and how Lucifer isn’t allowed in a church. It’s the perfect amount of drama because her mom won’t actually let her try an exorcism. I don’t think she would know how to do that, but I could be wrong. Big Tag likes his kids prepared for anything.”