Her Charming Secret (29 page)

“But she has always supported me, inspired me, loved me and trusted me; she held my hand and told me to live this life and to never give up hope. Needless to say, she also knows my deep dark secrets,” he smiled as everyone chuckled and clapped their hands. “Guys, I’m not done yet,” he said, looking at Ashton and Alex, who wolf-whistled twice.

“Gabriel, protect her and cherish her because she loves you more than anyone else. You two seem to have found what we are all looking for from marriage: your ideal person. Your soul mate. The One. You serve as an inspiration to everyone, because you have shown that dreams really do come true. I wish you both the best of luck and a life together filled with health, happiness and joy. So, congratulations again! I hope you enjoy the rest of your celebration today as well as the rest of your lives together!”

Aiden raised his glass and winked at Adele as she cheered happily before he walked towards his table to join Jo and the others.

Nicholas smiled and got up for his turn. He kissed Lynn’s cheek and stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Nicholas, the father of the bride. I have been waiting for this moment for twenty-five years, and I must say that it is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. Adele captured my heart on the day she was born, and I became more and more in awe of her as the years passed on. She’s my little girl, my princess and my ray of sunlight, and, no matter what her age, she’ll always be those things to me.

“My little girl dreamed of this day and her Prince Charming. Adele used to tell me that one day a guy would ride a white horse and take her away. I silently prayed that wouldn’t happen, because I couldn’t think of giving her away – it was overwhelming. And now her dream has come true, complete with her very own Prince Charming. I give you my whole-hearted blessing, and I know you two will last a lifetime. I am so happy that this day has finally come. Gabriel, I am confident that you will take care of my daughter. Thank you for making her happy. I know in my heart that you will be the perfect match, regardless of what happens later in life. Adele and Gabriel, I wish you much love and happiness in your new life together. Congratulations!”

Ashton and Alex were giving him a standing ovation and Pierre was crying again. “Youz never letz me zpeak on Adelynn’s wedzing! You badz man, Nicholas!”

“That was awesome!” Lynn said and pulled Nick down for a passionate kiss.

When everyone had finished their lovely speeches, it was Gabriel’s turn. Adele kissed his cheek as he got up. He grinned and moved forward. More wolf-whistles started.

“Adele, the day I met you, my world stood still. I had always hoped to meet someone like you, but wondered if such a woman even existed. Adele is my best friend and lover, and now, thankfully, she’s my wife, too. When we first met, I knew she was something special. But it went beyond that. Adele, we have faced so many things together, for so long and now I know that my life without you is meaningless. Seven years ago, our meeting was unexpected, likely something you would never want to remember again,” he said, looking towards Aiden as he remembered the day he was brought in to be operated after getting into the worst accident.

He met Adele in the hospital and she begged him to help her brother. Pushing his thoughts away, he continued, “But when we met, you exceeded all of my expectations – you were my perfect match. It was as if our meeting was written in the stars, arranged by some heavenly being. I never feel alone, because I have someone who is ready to hold me up and support me in whatever I decide to do. I have never been so sure that you are the one for me. And the more I got to know you, the more deeply I fell in love. I knew that I wanted to hear your laugh, see your smile and feel your heart beating for the rest of my life. Thank you for the past seven years. They were amazing, and I know the rest of our lives will be even better. It’s funny to think that we are celebrating on the exact day we met. To me, that is a sign of fate. I love you, Adele!”

While everybody got up, cheered and applauded, Aiden was quiet.
Seven years!
It had been seven years since he had had the accident and lost his memories. Adele, who was being hugged by her mother and congratulated by everyone around her, turned around to see Aiden sitting quietly. She felt happy, but Aiden’s feelings were mixed with her happiness. He was cheerless. He felt her gaze on him and immediately put on his best smile as he moved forward to hug her.

“You okay?” Adele asked her twin.

“Never better! You did it!” Aiden smiled.

“Yeah, I did it!” she murmured and kissed his cheek.

Everyone was on the dance floor now. Pierre, as promised did a hula. He didn’t let the bride and groom have the first dance; instead, he pulled Danielle and said that the first dance always belonged to them.

Gabriel pulled Adele closer as they danced slowly; he kissed her and said, “Can this day get any better? This was perfect!”

“I know, right? I mean, that speech was something else, Gabe!” Adele grinned.

Alex and Abigail were burning the dance floor as usual; they remembered their own first meeting and their first dance. He pulled her to him and they swayed to the music, his hands around her waist and hers around his neck. She smiled, looking into his eyes, and swatted at him when he pulled her closer. They broke apart when a livelier tune came on, and Alex began to groove, causing Abby to laugh.

Lynn danced with Nick and smiled when she saw Aiden asking Jo for a dance. “They look so good together,” she whispered. Nicholas smiled and kissed her instead of replying.

Aiden and Jo gently swayed as the soft music played. “This was awesome, Aid! The best wedding I’ve ever been to.”

He chuckled. “This is the
only
wedding you have ever been to, love.”

“Right! Anyway, I loved it. Adele and Gabriel are perfect together.”

Aiden moved away before looking at her and whispering in her ears, “I need to talk to you. Follow me, but I’m going first.”

Dancing with her was all right – Uncle William wouldn’t have any objections – but them sneaking away together could cause trouble. So he walked away towards the deck and waited for Jo. There weren’t many lights there, so people wouldn’t know if they stood there.

Jo joined him five minutes later and asked, “Is everything alright? Why did you call me here?”

“Jo . . . dear Jo, I’m not sure how to say this. I guess I have waited long enough.” He sighed deeply and continued, “I love you, Josephine!”

Jo was surprised; he called her here to confess on his sister’s wedding. This couldn’t get better! “Really?” she whispered.

“Yes, I love you. Always have, ever since the day I set my eyes on you.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her soft lips.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, before moving away. “Stay back for a minute!”

He moved back and waited. She made some sort of squealing sound and jumped and giggled. “Yes, yes, yes! He said it! Yaaaayyy!”

He was shocked to see her enthusiasm, but he chuckled and pulled her into a deep hug. “Jo, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?” she grinned and ran her hand through his hair softly.

“You know I’m 
old-school
, right? And I like doing things the traditional way?”

She pulled away and got nervous as she thought about where this conversation was heading.

“Let’s do this the right way. Marry me!”

She was shocked to hear those words; she moved back and lowered her head. “Anything but that.”

“What? What do you mean, Jo?”

“I don’t want to get married, because it always ends badly. I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered.

“You won’t lose me. You just saw my sister’s wedding. Did you see the love in their eyes when they said their vows? It’s a promise to be together. Forever!”

“I can’t think about this right now. I’m so sorry. You need to give me some time.” She sighed and walked towards him. “Don’t you think it’s too soon?”

“Too soon?”

“Yeah! We just started dating; like, a month ago!” She sighed and placed a kiss on his cheek and said, “Let’s talk later; I can’t think right now. I’m sorry, Aiden.” She touched his cheek lightly and walked away.

Aiden watched Jo walk away slowly. She wasn’t ready now, but would she be ready in the future?

*  *  *

As Adele and Gabriel started saying their goodbyes, Pierre teared up and rushed up to hug Adele. Pulling her behind him, he glared at Gabe, “I will znot givez mi granddauzer zo you! I will ze take herz to France!” Gabe looked annoyed while Adele laughed.

Alex yelled, “Old man, they are legally man and wife; you can’t do anything about it anymore.” Pierre glared before nodding. Turning, he hugged Adele and began to cry, “Oh my poorz granddauzer. How you must zuffer for marrying ziz man! Zon’t worry! Grandpa Pierre willz alwayz helpz you.”

When he moved away, Nicholas hugged her. “Take care of yourself. Don’t want you to fall sick.”

“Daddy, I’ve grown up!” she grinned.

“You’ll always be my little girl!” He kissed her brow and moved back.

Adelynn hugged her daughter tightly, “Take care of yourself, baby. Have fun, and call me, okay?”

“Will do!” Adele smiled and said goodbye to Ashton, who was a little upset as he was very close to her. Little Aubrey didn’t care that much. She just told Adele to bring her a souvenir when she returned. All she wanted was her Aidey.

Adele couldn’t find Aiden, and it was getting late. Alex told her that he was standing behind. She felt uneasy the whole time he was gone. She saw him walk away and Jo had followed him. She knew that he was going to propose to her, so she happily danced with Gabe, but now she was worried.

“Aiden?” she called when she saw him standing near a tree, alone.

He smiled. “Hey, time to leave?”

“Yeah. Is everything alright? Did you talk to Jo?”

Knowing that the truth was going to hurt her, he put on a fake smile and said, “Everything went perfectly! I’ll fill you in on the details later.”

“I’m glad!” She threw her arms around him. Gabe came towards them and said, “Ady, baby, let’s go.”

“Take care of her, Gabe.” Aiden smiled and shook hands with him.

“Always!” Gabe said and pulled Adele along. “Come now, love, we are getting late.”

She smiled and followed before turning to look at Aiden. “You aren’t coming, Aid?”

Aiden smiled and said, “Be there in a minute, you go along.”

She smiled at him and walked away.

He pulled the ring he got for Jo out of his pocket and wondered if she would actually ever accept it. They were in love, and he was beyond happy but he wanted to legally say that Jo was his.

He sighed, pocketing the ring again. He loved Jo enough to give her time, but now it was a question of whether she loved him enough to marry him one day. He heard people searching for him, and standing tall, he plastered a grin on his face and walked out to wave goodbye to his sister.

- Chapter 27 -

Dire Challenges

Aiden’s desk was buried under paperwork. While Alex and Adele seemed convinced he was just trying to ignore the heartache of Jo’s rejection, he was just compensating for all the time lost during the wedding, at least that’s what he had been trying to convince himself.

Looking up he noticed that even the most diligent workers had left for the night and the office was empty – empty like his heart was. Sighing, he leant back in his chair, a hand creasing up his forehead to alleviate the headache that was blooming there. A knock on the door had him opening one irate eye to see who was still there; the sight of Jo standing by the door decreased his annoyance but increased his heartache.

“Is there something you needed, Jo?”

“Not really . . . Aiden shouldn’t you be getting home too?” She asked concerned.

Aiden sighed, “I still have a little more to do, you can leave though.”

Not hearing a word from Jo and having his eyes back on the papers, he assumed Jo had left and startled when he felt hands on his shoulders. “Jo, what are you do . . . doing?” He asked.

Jo grinned at him; the smile was sweet and seductive all in one. While her smile was an innocent one, her eyes spoke volumes of her intent.

“Oh nothing! I thought you looked too tensed and a massage would relax you a bit.”

Aiden couldn’t hold back a moan as her deft hands loosened a knot in his shoulders, “Ah, Jo, that’s enough. This is highly . . . umm . . . right there . . . umm . . . inappropriate.”

Jo giggled, “Yes boss, I get that but isn’t it my job as your secretary to make your life easier?”

Aiden growled and swiftly turned his chair causing Jo to startle and fall in his lap, smirking he tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear and whispered, “I’ll show you easier,” before kissing her with all his pent up feelings. Jo moaned as he nipped his way past her ear down to her neck, “Aiden . . . not that I don’t love this . . . but your desk is pretty uncomfortable when pressed against my spine.”

Aiden chuckled, “So, what do you say we do?”

Jo got up and smirked, pulling him along, she pushed him on the couch in his office before straddling him. “I think you and I will both be much more comfortable here.”

Aiden nodded dumbfounded. He had never seen this side of Jo, she had always been so sweet and shy, and this side interested him.

Jo slowly slid his tie loose, trailing her hand down his chest as she unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt; she was reaching down so her hair tickled him and Aiden’s breath caught when the door opened with a bang.

“Hey, Aido. You still here? Man you gotta stop moping—” Alex said walking straight in and stopping when he saw his cousin and his friend looking completely debauched on the couch.

He smirked, “For heaven’s sake dude! This isn’t the place to lose your innocence, you have beds and rooms that actually lock for that.”

Jo dropped her head on Aiden’s chest and giggled while Aiden glared at Alex. Alex just grinned and walked out saying something about possessive dudes on his way out.

Aiden got up and buttoned his shirt. He folded the tie and kept it in his pocket before fixing his hair. “It’s getting late, let’s go.”

Jo was surprised on how quickly he recovered and was all professional again. When they drove back to his place, Aiden decided to do more work; he sat in his study making notes for his course. He was already doing his M. Phil and he had challenged himself that he would get that Ph.D. no matter what happened. It had been two weeks since Adele’s wedding and everything was back to normal; nothing had changed except her surname, now she was called Adele Reid-Wood. Wait, more than normal actually because Jo was in his kitchen –
cooking
. Which could be abnormal, right?

She realized how she had upset him by saying no and tried to make up by doing all kinds of things, but they ended up wrong all the time, like now, for example. Aiden smelled something burning; keeping his laptop aside, he ran towards the kitchen.

“Jo, hon, are you okay?” he asked, panicking when he saw that she was crying.

“It’s burnt! I destroyed it!” she wailed and plopped on the floor. Aiden inspected the pasta she had been making; it didn’t look that bad; he could easily fix it.

“I’ll take care of this, darling. Please don’t cry.” He smiled and helped her up before kissing her cheek. She wrapped her arms around him immediately and sobbed.

“I’m a failure when it comes to cooking,” she cried again.

“No, baby. You aren’t a failure; you just have to keep trying,” he reassured as he made her sit on a chair and went to fix their dinner. They had invited Alex and Abigail over, and Jo had challenged Alex that she would cook everything without Aiden helping her. She sobbed as she watched him fix her disastrous meal. He was adding something and expertly stirring as he kept looking at the recipe book.

“Here, Jo. All done. Taste and tell me if it’s good,” he called, moving the spoon towards her. She took a bite and started weeping again.

“That bad?” He raised his eyebrow.

She wiped her tears and said, “It’s perfect! You are perfect and I suck!”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her face; she looked like a three-year-old, and her face was red as he pulled her towards him. There they stood hugging, him chuckling quietly as she sobbed.

“Let’s make a deal. I won’t tell Alex about the disaster, and you will smile for me and pretend this never happened,” he whispered and kissed her brow.

“Deal!” She gave a small smile and hugged him tightly.

“I’m going to call Alex now. Please, err . . . step away from the kitchen, love.” He kissed her brow one last time before walking away to the drawing room.

He called Alex and found out that they were still at home.

“Al, you said you’d be here at 7:00PM sharp!” Aiden groaned.

“I know, dude. Getting ready!”

“Who? Abigail? Why do women take so much time to get ready?”

“Hey! It’s not Abby; she’s already ready. I’m the one who’s still changing,” Alex said as he stood in front of his wardrobe choosing a t-shirt.

“Gosh! You’ll never change!” Aiden groaned again as he plopped on the couch. He remembered how it used to be when they shared an apartment during college. Alex would take hours to choose what to wear and finally Aiden would end up choosing something for him.

“Red or blue?” Alex asked.

“Color of the jacket?”

“Hmm . . . black?”

“Red, then, and don’t you dare be late again.” Aiden sighed, raking his fingers through his hair.

“See you soon!” Alex hung up and put on his favorite red t-shirt. Walking out, he saw Abigail sitting on the couch. “Ready, baby?”

“A long time ago,” she replied sarcastically and grabbed his hand. He always took Aiden’s help when he couldn’t decide on something, just like with the t-shirt incident. “You take forever to change!”

“But, babe, I was just choosing the color! You know that’s hard,” Alex replied with an innocent puppy dog face.

“Seriously, Alex, why are you acting like a kid?”

They were about to get into the car when he grabbed her hand and swiftly pushed her between him and the car. Her back was to the door, and she blushed as he leant closer. He grabbed her hands so that she couldn’t try to escape, and traced his nose along her jaw and placed a soft kiss under her chin. Slowly, he started moving downwards, placing a trail of soft kisses on her pale skin. Abigail moaned when she felt his breath on her neck.

He suddenly straightened and pulled the door open for her, leaving her utterly confused.

“We were getting late, weren’t we?” he asked, grinning.

She glared at him and was about to sit down when he pulled her back to him, completely removing any space between their bodies. “Oh, don’t do that, baby. I can’t keep my hands off you; I just wanted you to feel the way
I
feel when you brush me off.”

“Are you done? If so, I would like that kiss now.”

Alex grinned. Who was he to say no to a lovely lady? Swooping down, he molded his lips to her, pushing her right against the car again.

* * *

Yet another disaster had happened. Jo had decided on making brownies. The only problem? She forgot to set the timer. The result? A kitchen filled with black smoke and charred brownies.

She started sobbing again when she
finally
realized she was a disaster at cooking. She was clutching her writer’s hat as she sobbed. She thought it would give her inspiration and motivation to cook; it did, but it didn’t save her brownies.

Worried by the burning smell, Aiden came running to see Jo hiding her face in the curtain. When he heard her cry, he asked, “Hon, what’s going on?”

“Go away! Don’t wanna talk!” she wailed and hugged the curtain tightly.

“Darling, come here, I’ll give you a hug. Please leave the curtains alone.”

She turned around and jumped on him, almost knocking him off the ground. “Ouch!” He groaned and rubbed his head. She was behaving like a child – which he really liked – but why was she crying?

He made her sit on the couch and asked her to wait for a minute. She pulled off the cushion beside her and hugged it tightly as she kept thinking about how Jake always told her to stay away from the kitchen.

Aiden came back with a plate of her favorite red velvet swirl brownies. “Shhh! You don’t have to tell Alex that you didn’t make them.” He winked.

She giggled. “Where did you get these from?”

Aiden shrugged. He didn’t want to tell her that after her trying to make pasta, he had had an inkling to call his mother and have a backup plan ready. After all, the worse that would have happened was Jo would have made her brownies and he’d have kept these for later. But now, looking at the charred remains in the baking tray, he was extremely happy he had thought ahead.

The red velvet brownies looked fabulous, a gorgeous mixture of red and white chocolate over deep red, moist, and soft cake.

When they heard the doorbell ring, he put the brownies in the refrigerator and walked towards the door. He opened to see Alex grinning at him, with Abigail next to him.

“Hi, Aiden!” Abigail said, hugging him as she walked in.

“Hey, Abigail! Hi, Al!”

“Bro, whatcha making?” Alex asked, rubbing his hands and grinning widely.

“I didn’t cook tonight. Jo did!” Aiden smirked. Jo came out of the room and hugged Abby.

“Joey, were you crying?” Abigail asked. She knew Jo too well to know when and why she cried. Josephine Winters only cried when she
burnt
something. Abigail wondered if the dinner would be edible.

She hoped for all their sakes that it was. As much as she loved Alex, he could be highly inconsiderate at times and she didn’t want him saying something about Jo’s cooking. They had just come to a truce, and she didn’t want anything upsetting Jo and the delicate balance that they had all finally found.

“Thanks for inviting us over.” Alex grinned at Jo and gave her a hug.

She mock-punched his shoulder. “Why are you being so formal?”

“Is it just me, or is anyone else starving? After seeing Jo cook I can’t help but want to taste it ASAP,” Alex said with a smirk. Jo grinned and left to set the table and Abby followed to help her.

“Heard anything from Adele yet? What kinda honeymoon is this? She has completely forgotten her family! No calls and no emails,” Alex said when the girls walked away.

Aiden sighed and said, “Let’s talk in the study.”

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw the mess in front of him. Books, papers and pens were scattered all over the table. Aiden sighed and picked up his glasses. He had a stylish pair of rimless glasses with dark blue sides that matched his eyes perfectly. He sat on a chair as he put his glasses on and sighed heavily again.

“Don’t tell this to anybody! Especially my parents, or I’m dead!”

Alex raised an eyebrow. This sounded like trouble. “Go on, bud!”

“Their honeymoon ended two days after they left. On the second day, Gabriel got a call from work saying that there was an important case to handle, so they returned immediately. I got a call from Adele and she sounded upset. I haven’t told anyone, and I’ve been meeting her in secret. She doesn’t want to upset anyone, so she decided to pretend that she’s still enjoying her honeymoon and will return in two days.”

“You two are in big trouble, you know that?” Alex muttered. “Why do you guys think that you can handle everything by yourself?”

“What do you suggest, then? I told her about Jo rejecting my proposal and she wanted to meet me. I thought she was still away, but she was here all along. And now Gabe has gone to some medical conference and she’s at home, all alone. If Jo wasn’t here, I would have called her. But I’m planning to spend some time with her tomorrow.”

“Aido, she’s married! She can take care of herself. Now it’s time to move back and let her live her life!”