Page 22 of The Price of a Promise

“Let’s celebrate with a drink.I’m buying.You stay here and enjoy the view, Future Mrs.Fairchild.”I pressed a kiss to her forehead and headed across the terrace, looking back every few seconds to lock eyes with her and grin like an idiot.Inside the bar, the volume had risen—more people, more chatter, more frenetic notes of electronic jazz music.I headed toward the bartender with a perma-grin, ordering two of Cora’s favorite: gin and tonic.

When the bartender told me the total, I slid him my debit card.He swiped it and grimaced.“It said declined.Do you have another form of payment?”

Panic streaked through me.I’d just given most of my cash to the server and these drinks were pushing fifty dollars.“Yeah.Hang on.”I fumbled for my wallet, pulling out a credit card I kept on hand.Except it was damn near maxed out.I sent up a thousand prayers while the bartender swiped it.Please don’t do this to me today.Not when we’re so happy.He stared at the screen of his console blankly, and then handed back the card as a receipt printed.I let out a low breath of relief.

I added a tip, though I wasn’t sure if the extra amount would go through, and signed with a flourish.One of my brothers had to have used our shared debit card accidentally, but I wasn’t going to investigate now.I headed back onto the terrace with our drinks, finding Cora frowning in the corner next to the space heater, staring down at her phone.

“Cheers, babe.”

She looked up at me, that pretty smile returning.We clinked glasses as I eased into the seat next to her.After a sip, she hummed.“That hits the spot.”

“I figured it would.And I’ll hit your other spot later.”

She giggled, her hand coming to my chest.“There’s the pick-up line that works on me.”She nuzzled my neck.“I love you so much, Axel.”

“I love you more.”

“So when should we have the wedding?”She cozied up to me even further, and I lifted her legs so they rested on my lap.

Dragging my hand back and forth across the shimmery smoothness there, I said, “I want whatever date you want.”

“This wedding planning is off to a great start.Giving me all the control.”She laughed evilly and then sipped her drink again.“I’ve always wanted one of those redundant dates.Like 2-22.Or 4-4.”

“We can get it etched into a cutting board, hang it in the kitchen.”

“Where should our first house be?”

“Wherever you want, honey.”I grinned again, capturing a sweet kiss.God, it felt good to say that.But my anxiety tugged at me.I had a maxed-out credit card to offer her as we started our lives together.You’re fucking this up already.I took another hard pull at my drink, needing the heat that would calm my monkey brain.What if your business doesn’t launch like you think?Another hard pull.Maybe Allan was right.

“Jeez, drink it all in one gulp,” she teased me.

“These expensive drinks taste better,” I croaked, swirling what little was left in my glass.“Anyway, I was thinking we could have a condo in the city.Then probably a country house in Kentucky, by my parents.Then an LA pad, for whenever we start conquering the West Coast.”

She giggled, nuzzling against me.“Can I decorate all the houses?”

“Of course, babe.”Except when will you be able to afford all these houses?When you’re both 70?“Whatever Mrs.Fairchild wants, Mrs.Fairchild gets.”

She bit her bottom lip, pinning me with the sexiest look I’ve ever seen.“I’m not kidding Axel, if you say that one more time I might come right now.”

Oof.Like there was any challenge I wanted to accept more than this one.I wet my bottom lip and surveyed the terrace.There weren’t too many people out here, due to the cold, but with how close we were to the space heater and how happy we were from the fresh engagement, we could have been out here naked.I slipped my leather coat off and covered her legs.My hand found the heat underneath her dress.She lowered her chin, a sexy smile playing at her lips.

“What was that, Mrs.Fairchild?”

Her nostrils flared as my fingers found the soaked crotch of her panties.So the proposal had turned her on.Our foreheads came together as I pushed my fingertips to meet the swollen heat of her.She was juicy velvet, crushed and electric.With one finger inside of her I snagged a deep, sloppy tongue kiss.Her thighs went rigid beneath my leather coat.

“You make this too easy,” I whispered hotly into her ear, “when you’re turned on like this.Dripping wet.And all because you’re about to be my wife.”

“It’s your fault,” she said breathily.I circled my fingers around the hard nub of her clit, and she jolted in my arms.“You’re the only man who makes marriage look like a good idea.”

I coaxed another passionate kiss from her while I eased a second finger into her, then a third.She loved being filled with me—wherever and however possible.And the night of our engagement called for something to remember.

I swiped my thumb back and forth over the needy nub while I pumped my fingers into her forcefully.She whimpered softly, tightening her grip around my neck.

“I’m ready to fingerfuck you in public for the rest of our lives.”

A lazy smile drifted onto her face, and she arched against me slightly just as a server flitted up to our table.

“Anything else you two need right now?”

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