“Yes! Yes, I give you another chance. Yes, I love you too and I want to be with you and give this crazy thing between us another chance. Yes!”
“Two!”
“Say that again,” Heath said, grinning now.
“I love you and I want to be with you too!” Aileen shouted to be heard above the cheers.
“One! Happy New Year!”
Cheers rang out around the room. Heart racing and spirits buoyant, Aileen tugged Heath down for another kiss, deeper this time. When they parted, she was panting and Heath’s cheeks were red and his eyes joyful.
Aileen traced her fingers over his handsome face. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, kissing her fingertips.
Happy New Year indeed, she thought. More like happy new life.
Epilogue
One year later…
“Ho, ho, ho.”
Heath gave the traveling Santa who was passing by the entrance to the hotel ballroom a flat look. He was on edge enough as it was without some jolly old elf getting all up in his face with holiday cheer.
Once Santa took a hike, Heath walked over to a nearby mirror and checked his appearance for the umpteenth time. New Tux? Check. Crisp white shirt? Check. Bowtie? Skipped. His soon-to-be-wife had specifically requested him to be “rumpled and ready.”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair again, making sure it was suitably messy then flashed a wide grin at his reflection. Nope. Too much. He tried a smaller smile, but it still felt forced.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Today should be the happiest time of his life. He and Aileen were getting married. All their friends and family were here. The ballroom was beautifully decorated in silver and gold and all things Christmas and a gentle snow was falling
outside. Everything looked like a frigging picture-perfect moment. So, why was he a bundle of nerves?
“Hey, dude.” Murphy walked up to him and slapped him firmly on the back. “You okay?”
“I’m good.” Heath gave a curt nod. “You?”
“Good. Really good. Excellent, actually.” His slow smile showed the truth of it. Murphy and Shayma had tied the knot over the past summer and now Shayma was six months pregnant. For a guy who’d been questioning his path in life just one year ago, Murphy seemed to have found his niche. He’d ended up accepting the head of security position at Heath’s company, BrightStart, and had already implemented some of the best policies and procedures Heath had ever seen. Not to mention married life agreed with the guy. He’d never seen Murphy happier or more content than when he was with Shayma. They’d bought a house together in Queens and were getting ready for their new arrival. All was right in that little corner of the world.
Murphy chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry, dude. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re marrying my sister and you’ll make her supremely happy for the rest of your life.” Said as a statement of fact, not up for discussion. “Plus, we’ll be brothers now. For real. Not that I didn’t always think of you that way.”
“Thanks, man.” Heath and Murphy shared a quick back-slapping bro hug. “I feel the same. I just…” He hesitated, not sure how to put what he was feeling into words. “It’s just an enormous responsibility, you know? Joining lives with someone else. What if she marries me then realizes what an idiot I am? What if she grows to hate me? What if—”
“Hey.” Murphy held up a hand to stop him. “Do you love Aileen?”
“More than anything in this universe.”
“And I know she loves you too. She won’t stop talking about how wonderful and sweet and awesome you are. It’s enough to make me puke, dude.” Murphy rolled his eyes then grinned. “But that’s all that counts. You love her. She loves you. All the rest will work out from there.”
“Is that how it was for you and Shayma?” Heath leaned his hips back against the side table behind him. “Her family had some reservations, right?”
“Yeah.” Murphy had traveled to Al Dar Nasrani for their wedding ceremony, Shayma insisting that her parents would love and accept him once they met him and saw how happy their daughter was with him. Heath had been there, acting as co-best man along with Daveed and it hadn’t seemed to go as smoothly as she’d predicted. There’d been lots of interrogation sessions between Murphy and Shayma’s father, lots of wary looks at the funny Americans treading on their precious island soil, lots of tension between both sides. But seeing how happy Murphy and Shayma were now and how the strife had given way to a tentative accord with the news of a baby on the way, Heath had hope that the much less daunting problems between him and Aileen would vanish once they said their I Do’s.
“But we got past those. Her mom’s even coming to stay with us once the baby’s born to help Shayma.” Murphy’s smile faltered slightly. “It’s good. It’ll all be good.”
“What’s good?” Daveed said, coming up to join their group.