Page 126 of Secret Love

I still haven’t stopped teasing him about his proposal…I probably won’t ever stop.

His head falls back as he laughs. “We will have to remedy this,” he tells me. “You look like a bride to me.”

My heart never fails to lose its mind when he says things like that.

“Look at you though.” I laugh when he walks toward me. “This costume works perfectly with your brace. You don’t even have to fake the stiffness…it’s built in. And the girls did an amazing job on your makeup. I'm impressed.”

He laughs. “Yes, they did. I’m guessing you helped them with this idea? Because it is pretty perfect for what I'm going through.” He points to the bolt coming out of his head and we laugh.

“We might have brainstormed together.”

His hand grips my waist and he tugs me closer. “Come here.” His fingers trace over my blood-red lips. “I love these red lips. Gives me all kinds of ideas for later.”

“These red lips are game,” I say, pulling his finger into my mouth and sucking it.

He hisses in a breath.

Something clatters downstairs and we both freeze.

“Everything okay down there?” he calls.

There’s a long pause and I hold my breath, wondering if the surprise is blown.

“Yes, Daddy. Everything’s fine,” Audrey calls back.

My body relaxes and I hope that we’ve taken long enough getting ready that everyone has gotten in place by now.

“Should we go hand out candy?” I touch his smoothed-down hair, laughing at how stiff it is.

“Let’s do it.”

We walk downstairs and the lights have been turned off, so there’s only the glow of the twinkle lights from outside.

“Why is it so dark down here?” Henley asks.

When we reach the foyer, the lights come on at the same time as the music, and everyone is standing there, all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Rhodes is a mummy, and Levi is a ninja. Elle is Audrey Hepburn inBreakfast at Tiffany’s. Bowie and Becca are pirates. Penn is Batman and Sam is a Colorado Mustang. Calista and Javi are Beauty and the Beast. My mom is a teddy bear. Everyone looksphenomenal. But Weston, Sadie, and Caleb win the prize for most creative costumes…Weston is Colonel Sanders, and Sadie and Caleb are the chickens.

“Boo!” They all yell.

Henley holds onto my hand and the wall and once he’s caught his breath, he starts laughing.

“Holy shit, are you all trying to kill me?” He clutches his heart and everyone laughs.

Penn reaches out and bumps his fist. “Did we really manage to surprise you?”

Sam is beside Penn, and Henley bumps his fist next.

“Looking good, Sam,” he says.

Sam flushes and then stares at Cassidy with adoration. The few times I’ve seen him around the girls, it’s obvious he’s starstruck by Cassidy. From what I can tell, Cassidy is clueless about his crush.

“Dad had no idea…did you?” Cassidy says, turning to smirk at Henley.

“That you guys were creating this elaborate surprise behind my back?” He bops her nose and turns to me, his eyes warm. “No idea.”

He tugs me closer and leans in.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he says under his breath.

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