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“He has a gun!” I yell, but with one more bash of the guy’s head into the hardwood, he’s left drooling and unconscious.
Jack pulls him up again, throwing him to the ground and cutting the canvas belt away with the knife he always has in a sheath around his waist.
A second later, the sheriff is there, holding Jack back. Jack fumes and twists, nearly pulling out of the sheriff’s arms, and I think for a second I’m about to witness Jack killing him. Then his eyes snap to mine and he hesitates, the fury turning to concern as he storms my way.
“You okay?” He runs his hands up and down my arms.
“Yeah,” I answer, the fear I should have felt a minute ago finally taking hold. “I…I just…he’s that guy. From TikTok.”
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. But, baby…from now on, you need to tell me this sort of shit. As soon as you noticed him you should have called me, or run, not confronted him yourself. How can I take care of you if you don’t tell me everything?”
“I didn’t want you to feel responsible and it all happened so fast...”
Jack lets out a long, low rumble. “I am responsible, little Prima. So get used to it.”
I watch as the Sheriff pulls the man from the table, his head lolling, dazed, but apparently not seriously hurt. He’s cuffed, his Miranda rights read to him as he’s led away from the scene.
“Hey, Layla.” Lily grins. “You kicked that guy’s ass.”
Willow looks concerned, her mouth pulling into a tight line. “Are you all right?”
I turn to Jack, take in a deep breath of his dark, woodsy scent, and then wrap my arms around his middle. There’s a murmur from the girls, but I don’t care. “I am now,” I say, smiling. “Daddy loves me.”
Jack strokes my hair, kisses the top of my head, and then starts to lead us away from the scene. “Daddy’s here, baby. Daddy’s here.”
Chapter 12
Layla
“Can you believe this?” Arianna stands behind me, her hands on my shoulders as we look into the floor-to-ceiling mirror in our suite, the ocean breeze outside fluttering the white curtains.
“Not in a million years.”
Her dress is cream and mine is white. Hers is high neck and lacy, mine is gauzy and loose. I’m in little gold sandals while she’s full-on glam with sparkling rhinestone-covered strappy heels.
“It’s crazy, but it’s perfect.”
After the incident at the dock, Jack and I spent the next couple days at the house, talking everything over, including the phone call he got from Carter explaining that he and Arianna were together.
It was a moment of shock, but I recovered faster than Jack. He was pretty touchy about it and when Carter and Arianna came back for a visit, Jack took him for a long ride. I’m not sure what exactly was discussed, I just know they came back both looking a little disheveled but their friendship was intact.
Carter proposed to Arianna that next day and Jack proposed to me. They’d already discussed having a double wedding and none of us wanted to wait very long, so here we are. A month later, dressed and ready to walk down the aisle.
“Are you ready?”
My stomach flutters and flips. “Yes. I’ve dreamed of this for a long time.”
“Me too.” We smile at the other and Arianna looks at the clock on the wall. “We have about five minutes. Hey, did you get Jack a present? It all got planned so fast…I was just wondering.”
Heat bursts onto my cheeks. “Yes, I got him something.” It’s been hard not to tell my best friend the news, but I really wanted to tell—well, show—Jack first, but I’m ready to explode with excitement. “I’ll show you.”
I step over and slip my hand down into the front pocket of my suitcase, and pull out a black leather box.
“A watch?” Arianna asks, but I shake my head.
“No. It was just the right shape box.”
I step closer, my heart pounding a thousand beats a minute, and flip open the top, watching Arianna’s eyes snap wide.
“Oh my god,” she says, bringing her fingers to her lips. “I can’t believe it. You’re pregnant?”
The white plastic stick with two blue lines sits on the black velvet interior of the box and I nod.
“I was going to wait, but this morning…I wanted to know. I couldn’t stand not knowing. My period was supposed to start two days ago. I figured it was just stress and excitement about everything, but I had to check.”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Arianna turns and grabs her purse, and I already know what’s coming.
Thirty seconds later, we’re jumping, hugging, laughing and crying when there’s a knock at the door.
Harper Higgins works here at the hotel and is also the pastor’s daughter calls through the door. “It’s time.”
“Coming,” we say at the same time, holding hands as we face each other.
