Page 15 of Flirt Like A Pin-Up

“I love you, Cherry Crush. Or should I say, Mrs. Manning?”

EPILOGUE

MARGOT

Camden and I were married by a judge on the third floor of the county courthouse at 3:13 p.m. After dropping me off at my car, he’d spent the morning arranging the marriage license and calling in a favor with a friend of the family who happens to be a judge magistrate. Then he went ring shopping because it was important to him I have something on my finger. He said we could go shopping later if I didn’t like it and pick out something else.

Something different? Not a chance. I love my ring and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

We spent the weekend in Vail and took Monday off, arriving back in the office on Tuesday as Mr. and Mrs. Camden Manning. While we didn’t make a big deal out of it, neither of us hid our newlywed affection either. It took two hours for Sabine and Chris to notice my ring and one question in front of Camden to inform everyone of our impromptu wedding.

On Wednesday, the staff celebrated us with a big cake, which we cut and fed each other chunks of, just like at a regular wedding reception. It was sweet, and let me know how much everyone cares about us.

That was two weeks ago. Brooklyn and Coulter got back last weekend, but took Monday off, so I’m starting today at my regular desk on the second floor with engineering. We haven’t told them about us yet. Camden didn’t want to talk to Coulter while he was on his honeymoon, which I can understand, but I’m dying to grab Brooklyn and take one of our coffee walks.

My phone rings.

“Could you come up to Coulter’s office?” Camden says without preamble.

“Sure, give me a minute.” I scheduled Camden a two-hour debrief with Coulter first thing this morning, so I didn’t expect to hear from him until almost lunchtime.

“See you soon,” he says and then hangs up. His voice isn’t cold, per se, but it’s also not filled with warmth and affection, which he has had no problem showering me with in front of all of his employees for the last two weeks.

I walk off the elevator to find Brooklyn not at her desk, but Coulter’s office door open. Camden is sitting with the newlyweds at the small conference table with coffee and pastries. As soon as I cross the threshold, my husband is on his feet, and rounding the table to pull me into his arms.

He lays a passionate kiss on me and then turns to face his brother. “I was going to wait until after I caught you up on business stuff, but this is more important.”

Brooklyn gasps, slapping her palm over her mouth. “That’s an engagement ring.”

Coulter furrowed brow swings from his wife to my left hand. “Holy shit, Camden.”

“When did you get engaged?” Brooklyn is out of her chair and pulling me into her arms.

“Married, actually.” Camden answers for the both of us. “Two weeks ago.”

“Two weeks?” Brooklyn exclaims at the same time Coulter gets up out of his seat, his eyes glued to his brother’s. “Why did you elope?”

I shrug. “Camden asked, and I said yes.”

“I waited long enough to make her mine.” Camden slips his hand over my hip and pulls me to his side. “If Margot wants a fancy wedding in the future, we’ll have one.”

“Well, the four of us at least need to celebrate.” Coulter smacks his brother on the shoulder and then pulls me into his arms, giving me a sweet brotherly hug. “Welcome to the family, Margot.”

“The staff bought us a cake,” I chirp, feeling weird in Coulter’s arms. We haven’t spoken much before their engagement party where Brooklyn drew me into her inner circle, and now we’re family.

Brooklyn’s face falls. “But we didn’t celebrate with you.”

“Baby, we were busy doing other things.” Coulter swings the door shut behind me and motions to the table, moving Brooklyn back to her seat. We follow, but instead of letting me sit in my own seat, Camden sits down and pulls me into his lap. “Speaking of which, if you are going to throw a fancy wedding, try to do it in the next six months. We might not be available after that.”

I glance at a blushing Brooklyn and then back to Coulter, who radiates male pride. “Are you pregnant?”

She bites her lip and nods. “Yeah.”

The four of us stare at each other for a minute, as if we all feel the same overwhelming sense of gratitude for the direction our lives have taken. “We have a lot to celebrate, don’t we?”

“A lot.” Brooklyn giggles.

“What does this mean in regards to you starting school next month?” Camden asks, and I know it’s because he wants me to move from the engineering department to marketing and sales—not only as their administrative assistant, but as an apprentice. Camden said if he had to move away from the department and take another role, he would, even though there’s nothing in the HR handbook that says married people can’t work for and with each other. I mean, the CEO is married to his assistant.

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