“No,” she said softly, unable to help but smile as she reached up and ran traced his jaw lightly with her fingertips. “I could never regret that.”
“Then what would you like to know?” Reed asked, turning his head so that he could press a kiss against her palm as he rubbed his hand between her legs.
“Well, I have questions,” Joey said, licking her lips as he slowly caressed her.
“Of course, you do,” Reed murmured, his lips twitching with amusement as he shifted to get more comfortable while he continued to lazily tease her. “And what are your questions?”
“Well, I have many,” she felt obligated to tell him.
“I figured as much,” he said, chuckling as he leaned down and kissed her. “Ask away.”
“I guess the first question I have is about the need for the kidnapping,” she said, running her fingers through his hair as he kissed her.
“Because it was necessary,” he said as he pressed a kiss against her chin.
“Because you were afraid that I’d say no?” Joey asked on a small gasp when he traced her slit with a fingertip because there was no chance that she would have said no.
Again, not that he’d asked her, because he hadn’t.
No, what he did was make love to her until she was boneless, carry her to his truck, buckle her in and head home where he’d rummaged through her boxes until he found what he was looking for. Once he had her birth certificate, he threw her back over his shoulder, jumped back in his truck and refused to stop until they’d reached New Hampshire where he’d thrown her over his shoulder and she found herself standing in front of a very nervous Justice of the Peace.
“No,” he murmured, kissing her jaw, “because it’s tradition.”
“It’s tradition to kidnap your bride?” she asked, admittedly intrigued.
“Yes,” he said, kissing his way down her neck as he continued teasing her.
“Why?”
“Bradfords don’t propose and we don’t have traditional weddings,” Reed said as he slid his finger between her slit and began lightly teasing her clit as he kissed his way down to her breast.
“And the terrified Justice of the Peace?” Joey couldn’t help but ask only to groan when he licked her nipple.
“Will probably take an early retirement,” Reed said, slowly teasing her clit with tiny circles and starting to make it difficult to focus.
“I’m sensing there’s a story behind this.”
“There is,” he said, kissing his way back up.
“Is it the same story as my pretties?” she asked, making him chuckle.
“Yes, and I’ll tell you that story on our one-year anniversary,” he promised before she could ask so she moved on.
“And Matt?”
“Shouldn’t have got in my way,” he said, moving his finger down and slid it inside her.
“Is he still in the closet?” she asked, groaning as her back arched and her hips shifted to follow each thrust of his finger.
“No fucking clue,” he said, removing his hand so that he could shift over her and settle between her legs.
“And the reason that we didn’t stay in New Hampshire?”
“Didn’t want to jinx this,” he said as she felt that first glide of his cock sliding between her legs.
“Okay,” she said, making a mental note to ask about that later. “And Jackson?”
“Knows,” he said, and before she could panic because this was definitely one of those moments where she felt that panicking was appropriate, he was there, kissing her.
“It’s fine,” he promised her as he continued to slowly grind against her.
“It’s really not,” she assured him with a frantic shake of her head, wondering why he wasn’t panicking because he should definitely be panicking.
“Do I seem worried to you?” he asked, groaning as he kissed his way down to her neck.
Well, now that he mentioned it…
“Why is that exactly?” she asked, her breath catching as closed her eyes and her head dropped back as he did all the things that she liked.
“Because you’re mine.”
“Oh, god,” she choked out as he slid inside her.
“Do you have anymore questions?” he asked as he lazily rolled his hips.
“Not at this time,” she said, because she felt that it would be for the best if she focused right now and worry about things, like her brother killing her husband, later.
“Then why don’t I take this opportunity to get something out of the way?” he offered, punctuating his suggestion with a firm roll of his hips.
“What’s that?” she asked, smiling up at the handsome man that she loved more than anything.
“I’m going to love you for the rest of my life, Joey,” he said softly as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands.
“Even though I’m a pain in the ass?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Especially since you’re a pain in the ass,” he swore as she leaned up and brushed her lips against his.
“Do you promise?” she whispered.
“I promise.”
Epilogue
One Month Later…
“Little Joey Lawson,” his father said with a rueful shake of his head and a chuckle that had Reed smiling as he added another brownie from one of the many platters of food that had taken over his kitchen.
“I never saw it coming,” Reed said, chuckling as he went to grab what looked like a butterscotch brownie only to quickly rethink it when he saw the small blue dot on the plate warning him away.
“I’m pretty sure her grandparents did,” his father said, making him frown as he added cookies to the plate that he was making for his wife with the hopes of enticing her into eating something.
“What do you mean?” he asked as his father shifted his attention to one the pans of baked macaroni and cheese that his cousin Reese’s wife Kasey had made for the party.
“I’d always wondered
about something,” his father said only to frown down at the macaroni and cheese that he’d scooped onto the plate and asked, “Does Joey like mac and cheese?”
“Yes,” Reed said, although he wasn’t sure how well it was gonna go over today.
He should have canceled the party and dragged her to the emergency room, but his stubborn wife refused to listen, and he had a feeling that it was all because of the large bastard watching his every move.
“Your grandparents expected them to end up together, didn’t they?” his father asked, shifting his attention to Jackson, who’d showed up in the middle of the night three weeks ago and informed him that he was moving in to keep an eye on his sister, and had been glaring at him ever since.
“Yes,” Jackson said, taking him by surprise.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Reed asked, adding a few sugar cookies to the plate that was most likely gonna go to waste.
“That’s why your grandparents didn’t leave Joey to us because they were afraid that we’d adopt her,” his father said, sounding thoughtful as he went to add broccoli to Joey’s plate only to stop when Reed shook his head.
“Correct,” Jackson said, taking him by surprise.
“She can’t handle vegetables right now,” Reed said when his father went to add sliced cucumbers to her plate.
“Why would they think we were going to end up together?” Reed asked Jackson, who simply glared at him, something that he was getting really fucking sick of.
“Tradition,” his father said, chuckling.
“But, how would they know about that?” Reed asked because he knew for a fact that his parents never told anyone, not after what they’d gone through and he’d never said anything to them, which left…
“Matt,” Jackson said, confirming his suspicions that his brother had a big fucking mouth.
“When?” his father asked, looking amused.
“After Joey’s eight birthday party when the asshole that knocked up my sister decided to take it upon himself to have a word with our father and they started wondering about his obsession with Joey. For the price of another slice of cake, Matt told us everything,” Jackson explained while Reed glared at him.