When Gray started singing the first part of the song, there was absolute silence in the audience. “Holy moly, he’s actually good, sis, I mean really good and that hip action, wow!”
“Hey, keep your eyes off my man’s hips,” Suzy growled. Oh brother, Beth was right. Gray was good. He wasn’t Jon Bon-Jovi, but he brought his own brand of sexy to the song. She wanted to march up to that stage and rip his shirt right off his back. When he got to the part of the song that said, ‘I know you’ll live in my heart until the day that I die,’ Suzy felt tears well up in her eyes. He was doing something that he knew would take him completely outside of his comfort zone. He was trying to show her with actions rather than words how much he loved her. She could never doubt the love of someone who would do something like this for her.
Suzy started making her way to the front of the room before Gray finished the song. Gray’s eyes tracked her progress as she drew closer to the stage. When he finished the last line of the song, the audience started chanting, “Suzy, Suzy, Suzy.” Oh God, they wanted her to go up on the stage. Well hell, try to stop her. If Gray could belt out a song in the name of love, she could at least kiss the man.
Nick stood at the top of the stairway to the stage as she made it up the last step. “Wipe that shit-eating-grin off of your face,” Suzy joked as she ran by him. His laughter followed her as she was suddenly under the bright lights with Gray. She didn’t bother to act coy, she literally launched herself into his arms, and he caught her in mid-air. “Oh my God, you’re crazy, but I love you,” Suzy shouted as her lips locked on his.
The cheer from the audience was deafening as Gray’s mouth devoured hers. How long they stood locked in each other’s embrace she had no idea. When Gray settled her back on her feet, he immediately went down on one knee. Suzy froze, hardly able to believe what her eyes were telling her. The audience had like-wise stilled, completely captivated by the events unfolding on the stage.
When Gray drew a box from his pocket and looked up into her eyes, Suzy could feel the tears starting to flow. “Suzy, I hardly remember a time when I haven’t loved you. Before we met, my life was mostly in shades of black, white and gray. When I first met you, color exploded in my world making everything in it exquisite and vibrant. You’re my love, my life, my heart and every color under the rainbow all rolled up into one. Please marry me and keep me outside of my comfort zone every day of my life.”
With tears running down her cheeks, Suzy shouted, “Yes! You’ve completely lost your mind, but I love you with all my heart.” Holding a trembling hand out to him, Suzy watched as Gray slid a beautiful blue sapphire ring set in platinum and surrounded by pave set diamonds onto her finger. My God he did know her. A normal engagement ring after this evening would have seemed just wrong. This ring suited her completely; it was fiery, sassy and unique.
The applause continued as they made their way from the stage. When she saw Jason and Nick standing near the steps, she walked up to hug them both. “Sorry about this, Jason, I’m sure you would have rather we took our profession of love elsewhere.”
Jason laughed and said, “Are you kidding me? We already have people scrambling to sign up for the conference next year. You can’t buy this type of advertising. I’m happy for you both, you guys deserve it. I’m pretty impressed with the singing, my brother. It took some balls to do that.”
Gray clapped Jason on the shoulder and pulled Nick in for a quick hug. “Thanks for the help. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like some time alone with my fiancé.”
Suzy snuggled against him as they made their way through the crowd. Gray had apparently picked up something of a fan club, and she figured someone would be throwing their panties at him if she didn’t get him away soon. They finally made their way to the back, and she spotted Beth waving frantically as she made her way to them.
Beth squealed and threw herself at Gray. “You totally rock future brother-in-law! Welcome to the family.”
She then turned to her sister and grabbed her ring finger. Tears were swimming in her eyes as she pulled her close. “I told you that someday you would find your prince. Our parents might believe that fairytales are silly, but you and I know the truth, don’t we?” Beth whispered.
Suzy gave her sister one last hug and allowed Gray to pull her back into his arms. Finally, she was where she’d always belonged, in the arms of the man who completely understood every crazy part of her and loved her anyway.
Gray looked down at her, “Ready to go, baby?”
Locking her gaze with his, Suzy replied, “I’m all yours, lead the way.”
Epilogue
Gray led her quickly out the door of the house that they shared on the beach. When they were both settled in the car, he took off at a fast clip. He reached over and took her hand giving her a squeeze of encouragement. “You ok, baby?”
Suzy’s face was flushed and her heart raced in excitement. “Yes, but please hurry! At the rate we are going, the baby will be born before we even make it to the hospital.”
“Honey, calm down before you have a stroke. What good is it going to do us if we have an accident on the way? I can’t risk your life by driving too fast. If the baby is born while we are in the car then it will just have to be.”
Suzy turned towards the man who filled her days and nights with such love that she literally had to pinch herself often to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. True to her word, she kept him on his toes and he kept her grounded. She couldn’t imagine how she ever thought of him as a stuffed shirt because the man definitely had a bit of freak in him.
When they finally made it to the hospital, Gray pulled up to the valet stand, grateful that the hospital offered that amenity. As he handed the keys over, he asked the valet, “Where can we find the maternity floor?”
“It’s on the third floor, sir; go left when you get off the elevator.”
Gray muttered a thanks and quickly led Suzy towards the elevator. Once inside, he rubbed her back trying to calm her. “It’s ok baby, just breathe.”
As they exited the elevator, they ran into Beth, Nick and Ella. “Hey guys, any news yet?”
Beth walked up and quickly gave them a hug. “Nothing yet and it’s making me nervous. Maybe we should ask someone at the desk.”
As Suzy approached the nurse’s station, a tired but beaming Jason walked towards her. She squealed and threw her arms around him. “How’s Claire? Where’s the baby?”
“Claire and the baby are both doing great. They’re checking her out now and then I’ll bring her out for a minute for you guys to meet.”
“She? It’s a girl!”
“Yeah, I got my two girls now. We are naming her Christina Louise.”
“After her sister and her second mom,” Suzy said softly.
“Claire was planning to name her Christina Evelyn, but her mother asked that she use Louise. She felt like she deserved the honor of having our first child named after her. Speaking of them, they’re all in the room with Claire.”
Suzy put her hand on Jason’s arm. “I’m so happy for you both. I know you’ll be wonderful parents.”
Squeezing her hand, Jason said, “Thanks Suzy, that means a lot to me. I’ll see if they’re ready for me to bring the baby out, stay right here.”
“Great, let me grab the others and we’ll be waiting.” Suzy ran back to the waiting room and motioned for everyone to follow her. When they got back, Jason was standing proudly where she’d left him with his new daughter in his arms.
There were tears of joy and laughter as everyone welcomed little Christina into the world. Suzy’s heart was full to bursting. She was standing in the circle of Gray’s arms surrounded by family and friends while she gazed into the eyes of her new Goddaughter. Even a cynical person like herself, couldn’t help but feel blessed. She’d waited a long time for her happily ever after and here in this hospital, in the hallway, she was surrounded by it. Happily ever after was neither one person nor one place, it was a collection of things that brought you pe
ace, love and contentment, and if you were lucky, a little magic.
~~Connect With Me~~
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Acknowledgements
A special thanks to Todd Hebertson for my Cover Design.
A big thank you to Christie Giruad at Ebook Editing Pro for all of your hard work, it was a pleasure to work with you.
I also want to give sincere thanks to all of the people who loved Weekends Required and have emailed and friended me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Your support has truly touched me and I’m so grateful for your friendship.
A special thanks to the Fifty Shades of Grey Chat Group as well. It’s truly an honor to have such a great group lending their support to my books, thank you!
~~~
Thank you for purchasing Not Planning on You. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’d love to hear your comments, please feel free to email me at
[email protected] or visit my website sydneylandon.com for updates on future books. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on amazon.com.
There are now tentatively four books planned for the Danvers Series. The next book in the series is scheduled for Fall of 2012 and will be Beth’s Story. Please continue reading for an excerpt from the first Chapter of Falling in Love with Me.
Chapter One
“You’re what?” Beth cringed as her sister’s voice rang out in the sandwich shop. So much for thinking she wouldn’t make a scene if she told her somewhere public.
“Will you please keep it down sis; I don’t want everyone in here knowing my business.”
Suzy flicked her hand as if she didn’t care, but lowered her voice as she asked, “how can you be pregnant? You actually have to have sex to get pregnant, and you aren’t. Oh god, you didn’t get frozen sperm did you?”
If she wasn’t so mortified by this conversation, Beth would have laughed at the question. “No, I wasn’t artificially inseminated so I obviously had sex. I know this is somewhat of a shock to you, but I had sex!”
Now it was Suzy looking around as Beth’s last sentence seemed to echo off the walls of the restaurant. “Ok, let’s talk about this rationally. Who is the bastard and where can I find him? He took advantage of you, and now he’ll suffer the consequences. Has he even offered to step up and take responsibility?”
Beth rolled her eyes and wondered if her sister was going to challenge the father of her baby to a duel next. For such a modern woman, her sister was freaking out much more than she’d have thought. Clearing her throat, Beth admitted, “he doesn’t know yet. I…haven’t told him.”
“Well when are you planning on telling the man, when the kid is in college?”
“I just found out sis, so I haven’t had time to make a lot of plans. I’m trying to come to grips with it myself. I took a home pregnancy test last week and then had a blood test with my doctor. I got those results this morning. I’m pregnant. I’ve got my first appointment in two weeks.”
Suzy felt like she’d landed in the twilight zone. How could she not know her sister was seeing someone? Hell not just seeing them, sleeping with them. Maybe she’d been so wrapped up in Gray that she hadn’t noticed things that she normally would.
Suzy took a deep calming breath and studied her sister. She didn’t look freaked out, she actually kind of glowed. “Sis, how long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell me that you were involved? I never see you with anyone but Ella or Nick. Crap, they probably already know don’t they? Am I always the last one to know everything?”
Beth had been working for Danver’s International for about six months now as her sister Suzy’s assistant. Suzy was over event planning at Danver’s and had recently become engaged to Grayson Merimon, who she’d met when Danver’s International had merged with his company, Mericom over a year ago. Suzy had fought her love for Grayson and had almost lost him when a woman from Gray’s past had come forward to say that she was pregnant with his child. That had truly been a dark time for the couple until Reva; the woman in question had admitted that someone else was the father.
Her sister was now the happiest she’d ever seen her. Grayson had moved from Charleston, South Carolina to the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Danver’s was headquartered. His brother Nick or Nicholas had moved as well and was a vice-president with Danver’s. The CEO, Jason Danvers was married to Suzy’s best friend Claire. They had recently had a baby whom everyone dotted on.
Beth had been an elementary school teacher until budget cuts had caused the district to lay her off. She’d only been filling in temporarily to help Suzy out until she hired a new assistant. They were both happy with the arrangement right now, and neither of them was ready to make a change.
Now her beautiful sister sat before her with fire flashing in her eyes. Her red hair was pulled back in a French knot, and as usual, she was on the cutting-edge style wise. Beth always felt frumpy around her. As a former fatty, she never felt comfortable in her new, smaller clothes. She’d lost over a hundred pounds several years ago and even though the mirror showed her one thing, she always saw her old self staring back at her. Suzy had taken her red hair after their mother, and Beth had gotten stuck with their father’s unremarkable brown hair. Suzy was on the tall side and she was on the petite side. Geez, she’d missed out on the best family genes for sure. Realizing that her sister was staring bullets at her, she took a breath and dove back into the fray.
“Geez, you would think I’d told you I only had a month to live or something. Freak out much there?”
“Don’t mess with me girl, I have the parents on speed dial. I can only imagine the horror of having that talk.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Beth whispered.
Suzy pretended to study her fingernails. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t, but I’m gonna need something to work with here. So you either start talking, or I’m going to pull our brilliant parents from whatever laboratory they’re in and tell them all about their wayward child. “Oh god, the shame, the disappointment, the heartache,” Suzy finished dramatically.
“You suck,” Beth grumbled. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you won’t overreact, I mean it Suzy.”
“Who me? I never overreact.”
With a snort, Beth took a deep breath and prepared herself from the sheer hell that her sister was fixing to unleash. Maybe Ella was right, this might have been a very, very bad idea, but there was no turning back now.
Sydney Landon, Not Planning on You (Danver's Book 2)
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