Page 37 of Lily, Unwritten

“You know… next Christmas… we’ll be married and living in our new house.”

“It’s going to be the best year.” I kissed Zack’s mouth as I shifted, encouraging him to continue.

“I don’t think we should do this next Christmas Eve though, sorry.” He feigned a sad face.

“Aww, why not? It could be tradition. Christmas Eve sex and designer shoes under the tree?”

He smiled, rotating his hips and drawing a moan from my mouth as he rubbed against me. “I’m not telling you if I bought you shoes or not, stop. My point was that next Christmas, I hope we’ll still be doing this,” he pressed me tight against the wall, squeezing breath from me, leaving me saturated with desire. “But in a more delicate fashion because you’ll be pregnant and glowing and absolutely beautiful. I honestly can’t wait.”

“Me neither but, Zacahry… More action and less talk or it won’t happen.” I bit his lip as he rocked against me, delighting me with each thrust. We were so good together. When we were like this I didn’t doubt a thing. Next year was going to be amazing, he was right. We would both be turning thirty, buying a house, getting married, and if the universe was kind to us, falling pregnant. What had I ever done to deserve a life this perfect?

Zack carried me to the bed and lay me down, smothering me in kisses. “I love you.” He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly.

“I love you, too.” I snuggled back into him, the picture of happiness. Full of love and Christmas cheer.

Thirteen

The weeks post-Christmas passed by in a blur. Even the dull January days, where everybody anxiously waits for payday, hadn’t seemed to drag like they normally would. At work, the mediation sadly hadn’t helped the case, it was more like a process that just had to be done before the lengthy, eye-wateringly expensive trial would begin. I may have been working for the millionaire’s side, but my heart was pledged to the single mum who struggled to pay her bills. I knew Luke wouldn’t be earning a penny from this unless they won, no way would he leave her struggling with more debts than she already faced. I tried not to dwell on it, or him, too much, however.

In a blink, February rolled around, which meant Zack’s birthday trip to celebrate the big three-oh. Everyone had done an amazing job of keeping it secret, he didn’t have a clue. The sheer volume of secret messages and sneaking around I’d been involved with was insane. I was surprised he wasn’t more suspicious of what I was up to with the way I kept hiding my phone.

His whole family, plus Cassie and the girls, were on a morning flight together, and we would follow later in the afternoon, giving them time to decorate the villa for a surprise party. Zack was going to be beside himself with excitement, I was sure, but that didn’t stop my nerves in case something went wrong. I also worried I hadn’t packed enough clothes as half my suitcase was full of cards and gifts for Zack from friends and colleagues who weren’t joining us.

I drummed my fingers nervously against the armrest as we waited for the plane to taxi up the runway.

“Are you OK?” asked Zack as he took hold of my hand.

“Mmhmm. Just not flown in a long time.”

He smiled at me. “You’ll be fine. We’ll get you a large gin as soon as we take off.”

I kissed him, loving the feel of his soft lips; he was so sweet. I adored that about him.

“And,” he continued, “I have your undivided attention for two and a half hours, no escape. We are talking weddings.”

I laughed. “It’s not that I don’t want to plan it, there’s just too many choices. I’m struggling.”

He subconsciously squeezed my hand tighter as the plane picked up speed, barrelling down the runway. My vision blurred for a moment as the front wheels left the ground. I wanted to close my eyes but kept them focused on Zack.

“I was thinking spring would be nice because it’s when we met. But that means either two to three months’ time or wait until next year?”

I screwed my face up as the plane left the runway; the force pushed me back in my seat. “We wouldn’t get the right venue with such short notice. I agree spring is perfect, but it would have to be next year. You didn’t want to wait that long, did you? Maybe we need to go with winter?”

“I thought about that too.” Zack wriggled his jaw from side to side, I mirrored the motion, my ears crackling and popping. He was a frequent flyer now, unlike me, and he obviously knew all the tricks. “We’ll be in the house by spring. The garden is beautiful and there’s loads of space. Why don’t we get married there? Just picture it - marquee on the lawn, band over at the back, flowers up the staircase. Fairy lights in all the trees…”

“Wow,” I smiled, picturing it, vivid and beautiful. “You’ve really thought about this.”

He shrugged; his cheeks pink with a slight blush. “I don’t want to wait ages for the sake of a country hotel or manor. We’re about to start our whole lives in that house, why not get married there?”

“That’s ridiculously romantic.”

“Is that a yes then?” he asked.

“I already said yes once.” I held my hand up as I spoke, my engagement ring sparkled even under the yellowed lights of the cabin. “But yes, it’s another yes. I love that idea!”

He pulled me to him in a long, slow, seductive kiss, unfortunately interrupted by the stewardess coughing in disapproval as she checked our seat belts.

“How long until we get there?” he whispered as he stroked my arm. “I’m having bad thoughts about you right now.”

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