Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) - J.C. Reed Page 0,78

of relationships so far—” He shrugged, leaving the rest unspoken. “Hey, what could possibly go wrong, right?”

“Everything, Chase,” I whispered. “Everything.”

Like him finding someone else and leaving me. Like both of us deciding we weren’t really relationship material.

Or maybe, just maybe, we’d find happiness.

“Hmm,” he whispered. “But you’ve got to admit staying married might not be such a bad idea, particularly since we can’t get a divorce just yet. So—” He smiled and before I could blink, he kneeled before me, drawing the attention—and probably envy—of every woman in the vicinity. “Lauren Wright.” I giggled at his decision to use his last name. “You’re already my wife, so I’m going to skip that part because we’ve already sorted it out. You’ve come to me in a desperate plea to seek my help. Now I’ve got to ask. Are you sure you want to divorce me, even though the sex is pretty mind-blowing, and I’m always happy to offer seafood?”

I laughed, and then I leaned forward and kissed him. “No, I’m not sure.”

His brows shot up. “Why? Because you know that I love you, and you love me, too?”

“Yes,” I said, sporting the biggest smile of my life. “I love you.”

“Yeah, how much?”

“To the moon and back.” Our gazes connected, and my heart filled with just a little bit more love for him. “I love you with my soul. And now shut up and just kiss me before you decide to mention crabs.”

Epilogue

Fifteen months had passed since the case was closed and Chase won the trial, marking the end of my fears, my insecurities. Indeed the end of my life as Laurie Hanson. Sitting with a cup of coffee in my hand and a book in my lap, staring at the sunset out of Chase’s penthouse, all sorts of thoughts carried through me.

So many good things had happened since the day I became Lauren Wright.

Jude had made my dream come true by helping me to get a job interview, and I got hired as a marketing assistant to help promote her TV show.

Kade and I had become good friends, but he still didn’t know that I was his half-sister. A part of me felt bad, but Chase had been right: Kade wasn’t ready for the truth yet. He had too many issues. Besides, deep down, I was afraid that the delicate friendship slash bond between us would break. But at times, he reminded me so much of my mother, it had become increasingly hard to hide such a secret from him.

His dark brown eyes, his pale face, even his long, thin fingers, they were all painful reminders of her. On some days, I wondered how I could have been so blind as not to notice the startling resemblance.

As it so happened, Kade had an amazing voice, too, and could play the piano, just like Eleanor.

Whenever I looked at him, I saw her. When he played the piano for us, I couldn’t help but think just how much my mother would have loved to meet him.

He would have made her proud.

In spite of my initial reservations, Kade had turned out to be a great guy, but he couldn’t be more different from Chase.

Or from my father whom I had the pleasure (or displeasure) of meeting once. The encounter had been awkward, and to be honest, I had no idea what my mother ever saw in him. While he promised to stay in touch, deep down I knew that would never happen. Not because he might not try, but because I had no interest in keeping in touch with him whatsoever. Just like Kade, the wounds the past had left behind were too big. Too much time had passed and I just couldn’t pretend that nothing had happened.

As for Chase and I?

We were going to be parents any time now. The baby was keeping us both waiting. I kind of looked forward to reading my mom’s last letter while, at the same time, I feared the new phase of becoming a mother myself.

Chase, being Chase, made everything easy. He couldn’t stop talking about our little family and even bought our first house together, far away from the glitz and the wealth of L.A.

It was an old building he planned to renovate. But the place—in the country—was amazing and oozed charm and a flair that screamed home.

As for the estate, it went without saying that we were going to name our daughter after my mother and that one day she was going to inherit my family’s estate.

Even though I still hadn’t returned to Waterfront Shore.

I just couldn’t.

Especially not after finding out about all the bad things that happened to my mom over the course of her life. It was too painful to think that her life had been hell, so we rented it out to a big shot film producer Jude met through work. He had even expressed an interest in purchasing it if we ever decided to sell.

Which I knew we never would.

Clint had moved out, and he and Shannon got married. As far as I knew, they were living in Dallas and were expecting their first child.

I wished them the best of luck, in spite of our fallout after he lost most of my mother’s money. I did gift him my grandfather’s cars which were worth a fortune.

That made Clint happy.

And it made me happy, because in spite of his greed, I was grateful for how my life had turned out. Without him and his demands, I would never have met Chase, and that was what mattered.

And Chase was perfect in every way.

We were a match made in heaven, even though we couldn’t be more different: I, shy and introverted, and he, pushy and always in your face.

He was a good husband, though, and the best lawyer one could get.

I just hoped I’d never have to divorce him because I was sure he’d never let me win, and to be honest, losing sucked.

As I turned my swivel chair to regard him sleeping on the couch—he had been working late again—I felt grateful.

Grateful that he loved me.

Grateful that things had worked out between us.

Honestly, I had never thought it possible, but Chase taught me miracles do exist. After everything that happened, I wouldn’t have done things differently.

We married for a reason, but we stayed married for love.

And that’s not just a story we’ll tell our kids; it’s my own personal fairy tale that I hope will never end.

The End