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“I like you, Caleb. Hahaha.” His chuckle fills the air as he downs the rest of his whiskey and then grabs a flute of wine and fork. He strolls off to locate Marie and Julia. I rub my fingers through my hair and exhale.
For the past hour everyone has been having a great time dancing, and drinking. Connor and Madison are slow dancing, Travis is flirting with Dia, who is pretending not to be interested but also won’t walk away, Julia is talking with guests, smiling and looking radiant. I watch the way her dress hugs her body, and I am jealous. I walk up behind her, placing my hands on her waist and pull her into me.
“Baby, Can I have this dance?”
She places her delicate hands in mine as I lead her to the dance floor, which is the living room. This house is huge so when the furniture is removed its perfect for entertaining. I look over at the clock displayed on the TV, we have one minute until the NYC ball drops. The Dj plays a slow song, and we sway to the music, lost in each others eyes. Her blue eyes captivate me every time I look into them. It feels as though whenever she is looking at me the whole world around us disappears, leaving us alone.
“10,9,8.”
The crowd begins to count down as servers walk around handing out champagne. I wrap my arm around the small of her back as we stand there with friends and family.
“5,4,3.”
I look over at Julia who is fixated on the TV screen and smile. I turn to face her, and she turns her head to look at me.
“3,2,1. Happy New Year, baby.”
Our lips collide and everyone around us is cheering and ringing in the new year. Fireworks go off outside and fireworks go off in my heart. Her warm juicy lips on mine and her midnight seductive scent infiltrates my senses making me groan.
The tapping of glass breaks our kiss and pulls everyones attention to the center of the room. Tony clears his throat as he holds out his champagne glass in front of him.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Some of you know me, others have probably heard about me. Ali Harrington was my mother. May she rest in peace. My daughter Julia, your lovely host, has proven time and time again just how strong she is. She is the most loving human being I know, besides you, dear.”
He nudges Marie who laughs alongside the crowd.
“Julia, I am extremely happy that you have found love and light after a dark storm. Caleb, you seem to be a wonderful man and I am happy my daughter has a man like you in her life. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with our great pleasure to announce that Caleb has asked Julia to marry him, and she said yes.”
Tony holds up his glass and everyone cheers and claps. Julia’s mouth drops open wide as she turns to me.
“How does…”
“I asked your parents for their blessing.” I smile as she places her hand against my cheek and pulls me in for a kiss.
“I fucking love you Caleb Taylor.”
Madison hustles over to us, “Oh my god, really?”
She searches Julia’s hands and then looks up at me with a raised brow.
“Oh, it’s right here.”
Julia pulls her ring out of her bra and places it in its rightful spot for everyone to see. Madison and Marie gawk at her ring and hug her tight.
“Congratulations dude. This means I get to be your best man again, right?” Travis gives me a hug as he laughs.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Everyone continues to congratulate us as we make our way to the bar. I am thirsty, I don’t know if I was nervous about telling everyone but my mouth is dry.
“Two whiskeys.” Julia orders as she fiddles with her ring.
“I guess congratulations are in order, Mr. Taylor.”
The voice I have been dreading to hear again sounds from behind me. Julia immediately turns around and her eyes go wide, but her stance straightens. I turn around and peer into Lucy’s eyes as she walks up to us. The music suddenly stops as everyone is now paying attention to the woman who is supposed to be dead, walk through the crowd. The whole town knows who Lucy is, so you can hear the whisper’s filling the air around us.
“Lucy, what are you doing here? This is a private party.”
“But the whole town is here. Shouldn’t I be too?” She grabs a champagne glass off a server’s tray before chugging it down. I attempt to step forward, but Julia swings the back of her hand against my chest, making me halt in place. Julia steps forward as she looks at Lucy.
