Page 87 of Press Your Luck

Pierce’s eyes shone with reverence. I knew it made him happy that I had accepted Porter fully into my life. I wasn't his mother, because he had one, but I still loved him, and I was pretty sure Porter loved me back, although he could still be stingy with his emotions.

We headed over to the cake, and Porter joined us, each slicing a piece and each sharing it with the other. Our guests ahhed and clapped when we had a group hug.

"You look tired," Pierce whispered in my ear as Porter cut himself another piece of cake.

"I'm getting there."

"How about you and I go up to the suite and you can rest?"

I pressed my hand over his heart, a heart that was now mine. "What about the honeymoon?"

Another thing I loved about Pierce was how he could still look at me with lust in his eyes even though I was the size of a small house.

"Well, you're going to need your rest for the honeymoon. I intend to take full advantage."

All my girly bits tingled, and it had nothing to do with three babies kicking my bladder or milk starting to come to my breasts.

We checked in with Ruby and Bo who said they’d take Porter for the night. Then we said our goodbyes and went up to the honeymoon suite. Pierce helped me lie down on the bed, and then he lay down behind me, spooning his long body around me, his hand coming over my body and resting on the babies.

He kissed my temple. "Have a good rest, Mrs. Jackson. Be still, babies. Mommy has to rest."

My heart did a little dance in my chest as I closed my eyes and settled against him.

It was funny how just a few months ago, I wanted this man but was too afraid to love him. I’d been sure I’d end up fired or heartbroken or both. But by loving him, I had everything a woman could want and more than I asked for. I’d bet on Pierce and I’d won.

EPILOGUE II

Todd

Life was such a bore. Everyone would call me a selfish asshole for thinking so. After all, I had more money than I could ever spend. All my companies were successes, even the most recent one, an obscure hockey team in the desert of Nevada. It was a purchase I made on a bet by my good buddy Levi. And, as with the case of all my companies, I had come out on top. I had taken this ragtag team, did the unthinkable by hiring a woman to coach it, and then several weeks ago won the league championship. Even better, I recouped all the money I had sunk into it and then some. But now that the challenge was gone, I was back to being bored off my gourd.

I stood at the side of the room as I watched the coach of my team, Naomi Withers, become Naomi Jackson by marrying the coach of a rival team. It was quite possible that the financial success of the team was due to all the drama surrounding Naomi and her love life. But in the end, it didn't matter. I'd won the bet with Levi and Reed Hampton, the rival team’s co-owner, and now I was in need of another challenge in my life.

I looked across the room at my newest hire, Elisabeth Adams, whom everyone called Betts. When Naomi negotiated her contract for the next season, she insisted that I hire Betts, a marketing expert who'd been laid off when her company had been sold. I was sure Naomi wanted me away from marketing, considering how much I had encouraged the media to gossip about the team. Now that I'd achieved my goal, I had no problems hiring Betts and others to take on the task I'd been doing over the last year. As I said, the project was done, so now it was time to let others run it so I could move on to the next.

Betts looked as bored as I felt, but her answer was to consume glass after glass of champagne. I believed Betts was happy for Naomi, but I could see watching her friend find happiness was difficult for her. I didn't know her story, but based on her actions at this wedding, I suspected she had heartache in her life. Join the club. I had tried marriage once. I even had a son from it. My wife had liked the money, but not how much I worked to earn it. I suppose that was better than the alternative of her liking the money and not caring if I was never around. But in that marriage, I learned that I wasn't cut out for commitment. I couldn't make her happy. I did my best to be involved with my son when the marriage finally ended, but now at sixteen, he seemed to have little use for me except, of course, for my checkbook.

When my marriage ended, I was free to focus on my business, and I grew it into one of the largest in the country. It wasn't just one business, it was many, because I loved the challenge of starting something new and taking it all the way to the top. But after a moment of success came the boredom and the itch to find something new.

In all the years since my wife and I parted, a woman had never again factored into my life. A few times, I felt the itch to have an orgasm and would hook up with a woman, but I generally found the experience not very satisfying. Ultimately, I learned that a little bit of porn and my own hand were all I needed, and even that desire was far and few between. Sex just didn't hold an interest to me anymore, or at least that's what I had believed until the day Betts walked into my office for her interview.

When pious people described a temptress, the image they used fit Betts to a T. Long, wavy auburn hair, a curvaceous body, and long legs. I'd fantasized about her wrapping her legs around my hips before our interview even ended. I had a moment to wonder whether I should hire her, but I determined that I had promised Naomi that I would, and I figured that reaction was just a fluke. Except it wasn't. Every time I saw Betts, I was hit straight in the groin with an overwhelming lust. It was fucking annoying and yet, at the same time, I found myself craving it. It was better than boredom.

As I watched her, I felt the stir of my dick again, so I straightened away from the wall, put my phone in my pocket, and headed out of the ballroom.

This lodge was another investment of mine, but not really a project like I did with the hockey team. Initially, I had bought the place for myself to escape the busyness of work and all the lights and glitz of Las Vegas. When I bought it, I had all the systems updated. The place maintained its Nineteenth-Century charm, but underneath the old façade were the newest and the best systems and technology money could buy. Recently, I started renting it out to corporate groups and now, for a wedding.

As I left the ballroom, what I really wanted to do was go up to my suite and end the day. But I owed it to Naomi to give her the wedding of a lifetime, so I made a beeline to the kitchen to check on the staff and make sure that everything was running smoothly.

Confirming that it was, I left and decided to head to the library, thinking I would get a brandy and sit quietly for a moment before returning to the reception. As I rounded the corner, I passed the powder room where Betts was standing just outside, looking down at the side of her dress and swearing.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Her head jerked up at me, her eyes wide. She let out a breath and leaned against the wall, making me wonder just how much she'd had to drink. "I got my dress caught on something and now it's ripped."

I looked down to where her hand was clutching the seam of her dress. A tear along the seam exposed a smooth leg.

Fucking hell. I shifted and turned away, hoping she didn't notice the tent beginning to appear in my slacks.

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