Epilogue

EPILOGUE

SUTTON

A Few Weeks Later

I paced my apartment, marching up and down and constantly checking my watch between anxious glances at the window. Snow was falling heavily outside and I was starting to worry that I wasn’t going to make it to the airport, but not making it wasn’t an option.

It was almost Christmas and it had been nearly a month since I’d last seen Hawk in person. I couldn’t wait another minute to see him again, let alone another day—or worse, two or three if the weather kept this up.

Fuck it, I’m leaving now.

Nodding to myself, I grabbed my coat and my handbag, deciding that I’d rather wait at the airport for his flight to get in than to hang around here any longer. Hurrying over to my parents’ house, I heard them laughing with Winnie over dinner and I sighed, wondering if I should’ve joined them after all.

They’d invited me, but I hadn’t thought I was going to be able to eat anything. Mom’s roast and potatoes smelled delicious, though. Yet somehow, I still wasn’t hungry. I felt like my entire being was filled with red ants and that the only thing that could soothe me right now was seeing him again.

“Hey, honey,” Mom said when I walked into the dining room. “Are you sure I can’t make you a plate? There’s plenty.”

“Thanks, but maybe later,” I said. “It smells divine, but I’d like to be able to enjoy it, and right now, I think food is going to taste like cardboard and sit like rocks in my stomach.”

She chuckled. “Would you like me to look up the flight for you?”

I dropped my chin in a nod and pulled my phone out of my pocket, too nervous about delays to be able to bring myself to check. As I handed over the device, Mom simply had to have me unlock the screen and refresh the page that had been open all day before she smiled.

“There are no delays on Hawk’s flight. It’s still scheduled to be on time.”

“Right. I think I’m going to head over to the airport early.” I strode over to Winnie’s chair and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “Don’t try to wait up. The weather is terrible and I have no idea how long this is going to take.”

“She won’t give us any trouble,” Mom said, smiling as she practically shooed me out the door. “Go get him, baby. We’ll be right here and we’ll make sure she gets to bed on time.”

“It’s the holidays,” Winnie complained with a laugh. “Why do I have to go to bed early?”

“You won’t be going to bed early,” my dad chimed in. “You and I have a date with a Christmas movie, remember? They just mean that you can’t stay up until midnight. You’d be wrecked tomorrow and I’m sure Hawk will want to show you the houses he’s trying to decide between.”

Winnie thought it over for a beat, then shrugged and turned to smile at me. “Tell him I said welcome home.”

“I will, baby. Sleep tight.”

My heart had been racing all day at the prospect of finally seeing him again and it was no better as I climbed into my car and started the slow journey to the airport. It wasn’t snowing so hard that it was impossible to drive, but there was enough of the stuff coming down that it called for a near crawl while all I wanted to do was put my foot down on the gas.

All the way to the airport, the only thing I could think of was Hawk. It felt like my blood was pumping at twice its normal rate and I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, the anticipation so real that it was making it hard to even breathe.

I’d missed him so, so much and I’d been counting the days until he got back ever since he’d left. These last few weeks seemed to have dragged on forever, and I had half a mind to simply drive to the arrivals’ terminal, park right in front of the doors, and race inside so I wouldn’t miss him as soon as he came out.

Since it was an airport, however, I knew I couldn’t do that. The place was a mess when I arrived anyway, making it almost impossible to find even a normal parking spot, let alone a space anywhere near the darn doors.

Thankfully, I was early enough that even the never-ending search for parking didn’t make me late for his flight, and when I finally made it into the building, my heart skipped at all the red suddenly on the board. So many flights had been canceled and I felt sick until I saw his flight number, the board proclaiming that the flight from Los Angeles was landing.

I wanted to cry with joy. He’s here! He’s finally here.

Walking as fast as I could without breaking into a full run, I waited outside of security, watching families reunite for the Christmas holidays while I waited for the other half of myself to return. I knew this wouldn’t be the last time we’d be apart, but I really hoped he didn’t need to leave again anytime soon.

Hawk had been gone since Thanksgiving and it’d turned out that Winnie and I hadn’t been able to go see him in LA. The only weekend she had nothing going on at school, Hawk had had a bunch of stakeholder meetings that he hadn’t been able to get out of unless he scheduled them for the week after Christmas, which would’ve meant he’d be gone for longer.

As it was, we’d both been afraid he might have to leave again immediately after Christmas. Between putting everything in place to purchase his dad’s company as well as moving some of Gold Star’s operations to Portsmouth, he’d been so darn busy that even just last week, I hadn’t thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell he would get it done in time for Christmas, but somehow, he’d pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

We’d talked every day and we’d texted back and forth all the time, but I still missed the heck out of him. Winnie did too, even though he’d spoken to her at least as much as he’d spoken to me. I’d even bought her a cheap little phone with only his number and mine on it to keep in touch, and she’d sent him hundreds of photographs in the time he’d been gone, taking pictures of just about everything she did and sending them to him.

I’d sent him pictures too, but mine hadn’t been nearly as innocent. Neither had the ones he’d sent back to me, and it’d been fun for a week or so. Exciting and kind of naughty, but the novelty had worn off fast.

All I wanted now was to hold him in my arms for real, to wake up with him every morning, and to sleep next to him at night rather than staring at his face on a screen as we drifted off or got ready for the day. I really, really just hoped that he would be out soon.

As I looked around though, I realized the crowd had started lessening but Hawk still wasn’t here. My heart started pounding again when I checked my phone and realized I’d already waited for an hour. Then I waited for another.

It was getting real late, real fast now, and I tried calling him, but his phone just rang and rang. Worry nagged at my internal organs, turning them all into churning pits of dread as I glanced up at the board, but Hawk’s flight had gotten in so long ago that it wasn’t even on there anymore.

Where are you, love?

I pushed myself up on my toes and craned my neck when the crowd swelled again, another flight coming in and those families shrieking with excitement as their loved ones came out. Kids rushed to parents, significant others sobbed as they were reunited, old friends embraced warmly, and still, there was no sign of Hawk.

Just when I was about to give up, I heard someone calling my name. “Sutton? Sutt?”

I spun toward his voice, my hands flying to my mouth as I gasped when I finally saw him rushing toward me. Dragging a single, small piece of luggage on wheels behind him, he raced over from the other side of the arrivals terminal, looking no worse for wear even after what had to have been a long day of travel.

Hawk’s thick dark hair was swept out of his face, a single lock of it falling over his forehead in his haste to reach me. Wearing a perfectly tailored navy blue suit with a crisp white button-down underneath and a sky blue tie that matched his eyes, he still looked like he could’ve stepped right off the pages of a magazine.

Tears welled in my eyes as I finally broke into a run, meeting him halfway. He let go of his suitcase, catching me when I leaped and sliding his hands under my thighs to hold me to him. I sealed my lips over his. He kissed me hard, groaning in my mouth before he finally pulled away.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he murmured between furious kisses. “My first flight got delayed so I missed my connection. I’m so sorry. Shit, I thought I was going to miss you. Thank you for waiting for me, baby. I love you. Oh, and hi.”

I stared at him through blurry eyes, smiling against his lips before I hugged him again. “Hi. I love you. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

“Nothing would’ve kept me off that flight,” he murmured, still holding me before he blinked hard and finally seemed to realize we were still in the middle of the packed terminal. “I would’ve lost my mind if I didn’t get to see you today.”

“Same. Maybe you should buy a jet,” I joked tearfully. “That way, we don’t have to worry about commercial flights being delayed when you have to leave again.”

“Buy one?” he asked. “I have one. I was just saving the fuel so I could take you and Winnie to Hawaii this winter instead.”

“Are you joking?”

“About the jet? No. About saving the fuel, yes.”

I drew back and laughed, shaking my head as I stared into those eyes I’d missed so much. “How did I not know that you have a jet?”

“You never asked,” he said. “It’s not just mine, though. I bought it with a friend, which is why I didn’t take it. He’s going to Ibiza for the holidays and I was originally supposed to go with him, so we compromised. He took the jet and I didn’t go to Ibiza.”

“Ibiza for Christmas?” I arched an eyebrow at him, smiling as he took my hand after finally setting me back down on my feet. “Who does that?”

“Assholes who don’t have the love of their life waiting for them at the airport,” he teased, leaning over to kiss my temple before he reached for his suitcase. “I don’t have to leave again anytime soon, though, so we shouldn’t have to worry about next time just yet. I’m here to stay.”

“Those words are like music to my ears,” I admitted, tightening my grip on his hand as I led him through the terminal to the parking lot. “I didn’t know it was possible to miss someone that much.”

“Let’s just get home,” he said, the first rasps of exhaustion finally making themselves known in his voice. “I want you and your bed, in that order, and then I never want to leave either of those things again.”

I smiled, taking his hand and draping his arm over my shoulders as I snuggled into his side. “Same, but we’ll probably have to make space for Winnie in the bed with us if you’re never leaving it again. She missed you too.”

“I missed her,” he said, pulling me even closer.

Back by his side, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged and those red ants that had been living inside me all day finally disappeared. These last few weeks had been rough, but we’d made it and now we would finally get to start our lives together.

It really is about freaking time.

***

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***

If you loved this book, don’t miss out on Weston’s fan favorite …

Check out book 1 in A Wedding Bells Alpha Novel called Say You Do .

My brother is an idiot—he’s getting married.

And I’m in charge of getting things together since our folks are gone.

Lucky me. The guy who thinks love is for the birds and worn-out 80s songs.

I honestly don’t have time for this drama. I run a billion-dollar company, have women to entertain, and am working on my plans to rule the world.

No, seriously.

And yet, when you least expect it, life kicks you in the balls.

The beautiful, snarky woman that runs the flower shop is perfect to help me pull off this wedding.

Just seeing her sends my head spinning with possibilities.

She’s perfect. To play my fake wife for an event I have coming up as a side deal.

My ex-wife will be at the event, and I sure could use someone to show her how well I’ve done since she ripped out my soul.

So my curvy new friend gets my ring and a chunk of my wallet before agreeing to the deal.

Funny thing is, I’m not so interested in taking it back by the end of the adventure.

I’m willing to go all in on what might be the best decision of my life.

And I’m demanding the same of her. No maybes. No I-don’t-knows.

No fear of what might be or might not be.

Open your pretty pink lips and utter the words.

Say you do.

I gotta have THIS