The Geary Series Boxed Set (64 page)

One Year Later

Angie lay in her bed, the crisp white sheet cool against her naked skin. Mickey had left her three minutes to midnight the previous night, he had been dragged away by Elijah and Jack. They took their best man duties very seriously and they had insisted that Angie did not see Mickey before they got married.

Mickey had rented all ten rooms in a small hotel in a quiet village, the hotel overlooked the village and in the distance, there was a beach. Mickey had chosen Cyprus as the location for him and Angie to get married. The whitewashed building had shutters for windows and long billowing curtains. The shutters were pale blue, the same colour as the sea. Sitting up on her elbows, the sheet fell to her waist, sitting up further she strained to see the view out of the window.

The rapping on the door startled her and she raised the sheet to her throat.

“Who is it?” She called out.

“It’s your bridesmaids,” the voices called out.

Angie jumped out of bed asking them to wait a moment while she got dressed. She hurriedly put on a t-shirt and shorts and opened the door to the four women standing before her. Lilly, Olivia, Cecily and Jane stood in front of her all holding items of clothing and wedding accessories.

“We’re here on Mickey’s instructions to help you get ready, he said that he won’t tolerate any lateness and that you are to wear this dress.” Lilly held up a white dress bag, Angie couldn’t see any detail of the dress.

They all piled into the room and hung up the garments and placed the bags on the dressing table. Lilly closed the shutters so Angie couldn’t see what was going on outside. Angie had challenged Mickey to organise a wedding, she betted him that he couldn’t do it without the help of Jack and Elijah. He had taken her up on the bet, she had heckled him from her desk at work that he was incapable of romantic gestures. She had given up her job at the hotel and had become his PA at the security company. Angie loved her time at work, she got paid to snoop, her favourite pastime.

“Is Gale here?” Angie asked.

“No, my mum and dad have decided to stay at home, they are still trying to work things out.” Lilly volunteered.

“They are doing well, I’ve never done therapy before and it sorted out a lot of our issues from years ago. Our therapist said that if we don’t forgive each other and let go of the past then Gale won’t be able to move forward with Dylan. I think they are going to make another go of their marriage.” Jane said from her corner of the room.

“Are you ready to marry my son?” Jane asked as she stood behind Angie, who had been positioned at the dressing table on the small stool. She fiddled with Angie’s black curly hair, stretching out the curls and letting them spring back.

“I can’t wait, but you do know he hasn’t asked me yet, it started off as a joke that he wasn’t being romantic enough for me and spiralled out of control. I want to be his wife, but it would be nice to be asked.” She complained and slumped her shoulders.

“Typical Geary style, Elijah didn’t ask me either, he told me and then assumed that I would say yes. Well, you all know at which point he finally asked me, not his finest moment.” Lilly said and unzipped the dress bag.

“Yeah, that was brilliant, having an argument in the middle of Jack’s speech at his wedding, really subtle,” Olivia said.

She pushed the cover off and unhooked the hanger. Lifting it out of the bag she held it up for Angie to see.

“That is gorgeous, how the hell did he find the perfect dress for me?” Angie said and moved from her sitting position to feel the material of the dress. He had chosen a satin strapless gown that was fitted to the waist and then flowed out to the floor.

“He went to Evelyn’s shop and chose one, Jack has organised your lingerie. Please don’t punish Mickey, Jack didn’t actually help, he provided the designer to make you a corset.” Olivia said and showed her the white corset and matching accessories.

Angie handled the items delicately and marvelled at the attention Mickey had paid to her wedding day attire. The dress was perfect.

“Come on, let’s get you ready and then we can go and celebrate and get drunk,” Cecily ordered. The women had brought along their dresses too and the five of them took their time to get ready.

Angie sat at the dressing table fiddling with the headdress of flowers in her hair, they had all dressed and were ready well before the time they were supposed to be.

“I’m going to go and see the babies while we wait for the ceremony to start, I miss them,” Olivia said and smoothed her dress once she had stood.

The women wore a similar style dress to the bride but in a pale purple, they too had flower headdresses. They all were barefoot, no footwear had been organised so Angie assumed that she would be married on the beach.

Olivia opened the door and faced Mickey.

“You can’t come in here.” Olivia said and tried to shut the door on him, it was a useless task as he towered over her. One foot in the door frame prevented her from closing the door.

“It’s my show and I will do as I want to, if you are trying to sneak off to see the babies, they’re asleep and we’re ready to get this wedding party started.” Mickey said with his arms folded across his chest.

“Never wake a sleeping baby, these are the rules,” Mickey said and chuckled, he stepped to one side to let Olivia squeeze by, knowing full well he could never stop her from seeing her children. Jack and Olivia had managed to make twins, two boys.

“Ladies, you look ravishing in your dresses, especially you Lilly, pregnancy suits you.” Mickey said and gave Lilly a kiss as she left the room. She was six months pregnant and enjoying every moment.

Mickey still stood on the threshold, the position of the door disabled his view of the room, the only view he had was directly in front of him and that was the crumpled sheet of their bed. There was one more person he needed to kick out before he could speak privately to his soon to be wife.

“Come on mum, show your face, I know you’re in there.” Mickey called out and whistled a tune while he tapped his foot impatiently.

“Don’t you adhere to any tradition son? You’re not supposed to see the bride before you get married.” Jane said once she had come into view. “Now go away so Angie can finish getting ready.”

Mickey waited until Jane was close enough and then he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her over to his side of the threshold.

“Go and join the others mum, while I speak with Angie, there is something I need to ask her.”

He kissed her cheek and pointed to the main living room. Jane didn’t argue with him and hugged Mickey and walked barefoot to the front of the hotel where she could hear the excited chatter. Mickey had met his mum regularly once she had returned to Brighton, he had taken a few cases that were in Brighton to spend time with her. He had an old Navy buddy who worked in the city too, Tom and he had served together alongside Elijah. The first couple of months were strained but as family celebrations came and went and Jane was invited to all of them, their relationship became easier to the point of natural.

Mickey stepped into the room and quietly closed the door, he took a moment to turn around to see his future wife. When he collected his courage, he pivoted on the spot and stopped breathing for a moment. She stood by the shutters, peeking out through the slats to see if she could spot what was going on.

“You look stunning Angie.” Was all he said and stepped closer, he beckoned her to meet him in the middle of the room. She smiled shyly and moved forward until she was six inches away from him. She waited for his kiss and closed her eyes. When the kiss didn’t happen she opened them to see he was on bended knee.

“It was brought to my attention last night that I haven’t asked you to marry me. Apparently I have assumed you would go along with what I wanted on the basis that you made a wager with me.” He cleared his throat and took her left hand in his.

“Will you marry me Angela Moore and let me be your husband forever?” He asked, waiting nervously as he held an open black velvet box with a ruby and diamond ring nestled in the middle.”

Angie’s eyes filled with tears, but she managed to hold back so that they didn’t drip down her face, she didn’t have the skill to reapply the makeup the girls had done for her.

“Yes, Mickey, I’ll marry your stubborn ass.” She replied.

Mickey slid the ring onto her finger and stood, “Good because we’re late and the registrar is waiting in the church next door to marry us.

Mickey led Angie out of their bedroom and down the corridor to the welcoming cheers of his family. Angie’s family had flown over from the United States of America, which she didn’t know about. Today was going to be a good one.

I love to write, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am addicted to telling stories. I came to writing later in life, only two years ago to be accurate and I have recently danced into my forties.

I live with my family in the UK and have a full time day job, all other waking hours are dedicated to writing. I also write short erotica stories under the pen name Olivia Purley.

Thank you for reading The Geary Series, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that you spent the time reading it. If you can spare the time, it would be great if you left a review on the site you bought it or at Goodreads.

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Stranded at New Year – Out Now

Olivia Purley is Grace Harper’s alter ego, they are one and the same author. Grace writes Steamy Romance novels with a twist along the way and Olivia Purley writes short stories of steamy encounters and also about Mistress Scarlet and her clients. Here is where you can find her:

First Encounters Volume I, II and III – Out Now

The Scarlet Sessions Volume I, II and III - Out Now

Twitter: @oliviapurley

Facebook: Olivia Purley, author

Goodreads: Olivia Purley

Email: [email protected]