Silent Love(23)

That delightful smile left and was replaced by a grimace. "My dad and  mom will have a conniption. My mom will want a proper wedding."

"We can have one, just...quickly," he said.

"My dad will expect us to be engaged for awhile," she whispered.

He shook his head. "We'll be engaged for however long it takes you and your mother to throw together a wedding."

"How big do you want it?" she choked out.

Shrugging, he ran his hands up her bare thighs until he hit her center.  Light pressure on her tiny nub, he made small circles that caused a gasp  to escape her full lips. "It can be the size you want. Doesn't matter,  as long as we're legally married."

He sank a finger into her core and moaned at how ready she was for him.  Her hips started to move, rocking against his digit for friction. How he  loved to take her this way.

"All right," she agreed, her eyes closed and her head flew back.

Grinning devilishly, victory was his.





17





Beth kissed Sean goodnight, not wanting to leave him, but she had  insisted on going home for the evening to process all that happened. She  knew she never stood a chance against that man and was doomed if she  couldn't learn to say no to him.

Stepping into her home, she hit the security code on the alarm then  reset it after she closed the door. Tossing her purse and keys on the  small table to the left of the door, she went straight to her phone and  turned on her computer. The system set up to her house made it possible  for her to have a phone conversation. A line was dialed through her  computer, so when the person on the other line spoke, their words were  transcribed onto the screen. From what her parents said, there was only a  slight delay between what they said to her response. Her dad had bought  her the original system, but she'd been saving for an upgrade before  she got fired. Turned out it was a good thing she didn't install the new  system. They were going to have to install a complete phone, security,  fire, and doorbell alert system in his home.

Dialing her parents, she patiently waited for the screen to tell her they answered.

Hi, honey.

"Mom, Dad?" she asked.

It's Mom. How are you? Did you see Sean?

Both her parents had voiced their concerns when she left this afternoon.  She smiled. "I'm good, Mom. I did see Sean. I have some terrific news.  Sean asked me to marry him and I said yes."

Crap, Dad was going to be pissed that Sean hadn't asked permission first.

You did? Oh, honey, that's fantastic. Let me get your father. Mike.

A moment later, her dad got on the phone.

Elizabeth, are you sure this is what you want?

No matter how old she turned, she'd always be daddy's little girl. "Yes,  Dad. I love him," she said softly. She wished she could see her  father's reaction. She was positive his features would show his total  adoration for his only child. A soft sniffled escaped. "I'm sorry he  didn't come to ask you first."

He did, Beth. That boy showed up on my doorstep while you were in the shower and asked permission.

"What?"

I told him if you said yes, then I'd support that decision, but I also  warned him I'd tear off his balls if he hurt my little girl again.

"Dad!"

What? I'm not lying. I will, and I'll add his brother in there for good measure.

Beth rolled her eyes knowing the man was all talk. Well maybe not all talk, but still, he'd never really tear off Sean's balls.

For another half an hour, she stayed on the phone and explained to her  mom what time frame and what they were looking for in terms of a  wedding. Talk about fulfilling a mother's dream. Jill Connors went  straight into wedding mode as if that was what she was born to do. She  assured Beth she'd take care of everything and make all the arrangements  according to what her daughter would want and not to worry about a  thing. Including money. Which her dad then inserted, what she imagined  was his best military order, to not break the bank. She'd let them hash  that out.

Trudging upstairs, she felt exhausted. A long emotional day that started  with extreme lows and ended on an extreme high drained her. She took a  quick hot shower, tossed on her favorite pajama set, and climbed into  bed. Within minutes, she was out for the count.







In a fog, Beth felt herself in the weird state somewhere between  consciousness and sleep, like she didn't know if she was dreaming or  not. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the scent of smoke tickled her  nose. Maybe one of the neighbors was having a bonfire. She wanted to  roll onto her stomach, but her limbs felt like lead, so she laid there  unmoving for how long she had no idea.







Jolting upright out of bed, Beth woke to the fire strobe lights blinking  rapidly in her bedroom. Trying to focus her sleepy eyes, she couldn't  see a thing except for the blinding lights. A dark haze filled her room.  Her first breath in, she coughed and choked on the thick smoke that  saturated the air. Remembering instructions from when she was a child in  school, she rolled off the bed to the floor and crawled towards the  bedroom door that she left open when she'd fallen asleep. The floor was  warm on her palms, too warm. Along the way she managed to bump into her  dresser, get tangled up in her clothes from last night, and knocked her  head on the sharp edge of her bed frame.         

     



 

When she got to the hallway, she went to the top of the stairs, and  that's when the blast of heat singed her skin. The entire downstairs was  engulfed in flames. Panic set in. Turning back to the bedroom, coughing  harder, she tried to get air into her lungs, but no clean air was  available, even near the floor. Quickly she made her way to the window,  which forced her to stand upright. She pulled up the blind and unlocked  the window, but the day had been scorching, causing the old wooden  frames to swell shut.

Another breath in and she coughed, then stumbled from an onset of dizziness.

Glancing around the room, taking advantage when the strobe lights  flashed on to try and see through the foggy blackness, she searched for  something to break through the glass. She remembered in the corner of  her room sat a heavy metal floor lamp. A gift from her grandmother  before she passed away. Rushing over to it while knocking into  furniture, she yanked the plug out of the wall.

Another deep breath, and the dizziness grew worse. She stumbled to the  ground, catching herself on her knees. Desperation took over. She had to  get out of the house. If she didn't, she was going to die in her  bedroom in a fire. There was too much for her to accomplish. She'd  fallen in love and just gotten engaged. If anything happened to her, it  would destroy Sean. And her dad. God, her father would be devastated.

Holding her breath and with every last bit of energy she had, she pulled  herself off the floor, scooped up the lamp and with all her available  strength, slammed it into the glass. Not even a chip. Reeling back her  hands again, she took another shot and this time the glass cracked and  spider webbed. One more should get her out of the house.

Unable to hold her breath any longer, she inhaled one final time. She  felt her body start to lose itself and fall to the floor, her vision  went dark, and her chest tightened up on her. The last thoughts that  crossed her mind were of Sean asking her to marry him, holding her  gorgeous ring in his huge fingers. She prayed he wouldn't mourn her  forever.





18





Hours after meeting Beth at his new office, Sean stepped through his  front door. Sounds of soft music filled the house, along with the scent  of something baking. Stepping into the kitchen, he stopped to find a  busty blonde pulling a cookie sheet out of the oven. Ryan sat at the  island on a stool, beer in hand, smirking at the young woman bent over.  Sean cleared his throat.

His brother's gaze swung to him. "How'd it go?"

"She said yes" he said proudly.

Ryan beamed, jumped off the stool, and gave his brother a manly embrace and slap on the back. "Congrats, Sean. She's peeerfect."

"She is," he agreed, chuckling. "We have to work on her self esteem, but I think this will be great for her."

Going back to his beer, Ryan picked it up and pointed the longneck his  direction. "It will be good for both of you. You need each other."

The blonde grabbed a spatula and placed a couple warm cookies on a plate  then set the dish in front of his horn-dog of a brother. Sean raised a  questionable brow. Ryan nonchalantly shrugged as he took a bite out of a  warm chocolate chip.

"Would you like one, Sean?" the woman asked, her red lips full and pouty.

"I'm good, thanks," he answered.

"What did she say about Court?" Ryan carefully asked.

"Nothing," Sean answered sternly. "I told Beth she comes first. I don't  care about Court and all her baggage. If I have to pick, I choose Beth."

Ryan set down his beer and gazed at the granite counter top. Sean knew  this was difficult for his younger brother. They'd always been close to  their cousin. She'd been the apple of their eye for years. They'd  protected her, watched out for her, and supported her like two older  siblings would do. Which had been fine when they were all younger, but  adulthood demanded maturity, and Courtney had been coddled by the men  that surrounded her and seemed to expect such treatment from all. She'd  lost touch with reality. That blame could be placed solely on Darren and  Derrick, husband one and two.