Magical Weddings (133 page)

The question now was: how was she going to forget his kisses, his breath on her face, his hands on her body?

Aargh! Thinking about him was not helping.

****

Saturday morning, Carley got groggily out of bed. Another night of tossing and turning, of dreaming X-rated dreams of her Prince Charming left her feeling drained and exasperated at the same time. Fed-up with the whole situation, she stumbled towards the kitchen.

Today something had to happen. Something…She stopped in her tracks. A deli. She told Brett on Saturday that she was going to open her own deli. It was time, she knew it. Time to move on, to spread her wings.

In fact, she didn’t have to stay in Cape Town, she could move. Even as far as Johannesburg. Her mum and Aunt Rae lived in Rondebosch, one of the Northern suburbs of Cape Town, but the two of them led such busy lives, it wasn’t as if she saw them every week. And there were planes and trains, she could visit.

She switched on the kettle and grabbed her tablet. Where would she like to live and work? Maybe she should enter her request for a venue for a deli on the search engine and find out what is available.

Talking about search engines…Before she could think too much about it, she typed in his name—Brett St Claire. She blinked. Wow, there were five thousand possible links on which she could click to learn more about him.

She clicked on the first one. A picture of him in front of a big office block opened up. Her heart just about jumped out of her throat. She enlarged the picture and stared at his familiar face.

What was this feeling inside of her? Her insides were twisted up, her blood surged through her veins, leaving her hot and…and…aching? She caught her breath. Surely she couldn’t have fallen in love with the guy? Within the span of one day?

Her heart lifted, spun around before it finally settled. She was in love. Desperately, hopelessly, deeply in love with her prince. What a bloody stupid thing to do!

She buried her face in her hands. There was not going to be a happy ending, because this was real life, this wasn’t a bloody fairy tale, she’d known it all along.

It took her a while but she finally realised someone was knocking on her front door. Very loudly. She got up. It was probably one of her cousins or her mother or Aunt Rae.

The block of flats in which she lived had a very good security system and nobody could get to her front door unless she let them in. Or if the supervisor of the building let them in. And after three years he knew the members of her extended family well.

She really wasn’t in the mood for any of them this morning, but she had to open the door. Whoever it was, they would hopefully not stay for too long.

She opened the door. There wasn’t anybody there. Irritated, she began to close the door and that was when she lowered her gaze and saw it. She froze, her heart stopped and she forgot to breathe.

On her doorstep was her missing shoe. She bent down, picked it up and hugged it close to her.

Only then did she look up and there he was.

“Brett,” she whispered.

“Hi,” he said, coming closer. “May I please come in?”

Stunned, she nodded, stepping backwards. He entered, dragging a small suitcase behind him.

Without taking his eyes off her, he put a roll of paper that he had in his hand on the little table near the front door and closed the door. Then he took the shoe from her and led her to the nearest chair.

Smiling, he pushed her down gently and crouched down in front of her.

“I have to make sure the shoe fits,” he said gravely. “You see, the shoe is my heart and, without knowing it, I’ve been looking for a fit. But it wasn’t easy, because there is only one foot for this shoe. And there is only one woman for me.”

While he talked, he slipped the shoe on to her foot.

“It’s a perfect fit. What do you think?” he asked with just a hint of uncertainty.

Still incapable of speech, Carley stared at him, not quite able to believe what she thought he was saying. “What exactly do you mean?”

He moved forward and cupped her face. “I’m no prince, but I love you. And I know you’re going to say it’s impossible, it’s too soon and I’m crazy, but I love you. I fell in love with you within a matter of seconds.”

The sigh that spilled over her lips came from deep inside her. “It’s impossible, it’s too soon and I’m crazy, but I love you too. I fell in love with you within a matter of seconds.”

He stared at her for long seconds. She saw the exact moment her words registered with him—both his eyes darkened, an extraordinary sight. With a shout, he plucked her from the chair, fell backward so that she tumbled on top of him.

“I should have phoned and talked to you during the week, but I wanted to have a plan and I think I now have one that you will also like. Well, I hope so. Let’s talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Carley said gravely.

“But I can explain …” he began before he realised what she’d meant.

Without taking her eyes off of his, she started to unbutton his shirt, one button at a time.

His eyes flashed once and before she could blink, she was lying under him on the floor and he was towering over her. He plucked his shirt over his head and her eyes zoomed in on the perfect six-pack in front of her eyes. Smiling, she spread the fingers of both hands over his muscles. His heart tripped under her fingers and she gazed up at him in wonder.

“This is real,” she whispered.

He moved, pulling her closer to him with his leg. “Very. Do you feel what you do to me?”

Incapable of speech, she nodded.

“This is no fairy tale, what I’m feeling is very, very real,” he said, lifting her top over her head. “Do you believe me?”

Carley touched his face, his hair. “I do.”

Bending down, he kissed her. Could this really be happening? To her? But then he deepened the kiss, his tongue finding a way into the depths of her mouth and it finally dawned on her that this was very, very real. Brett was in her flat, he was kissing her senseless and she was letting him. Because she loved him.

****

Brett tried to be gentle, tried to reign in his galloping libido, but when her hands folded around his neck, her sweet breath flowed across his face, the slow burn that had been with him since Saturday, turned to fire.

He stripped her short pyjama pants from her body in record time. Reverently, he stared down at her body. He’d never seen anything more perfect, more sexy, more fragile. His hands moved slowly over her, tracing the slope of her shoulders, sliding down her arms. He revelled in the silkiness of her skin, exploring the softness and strength of her body. When his hand closed over one breast, she shuddered.

“You have too many clothes on,” she whispered raggedly and tried to loosen his belt.

Barking out a laugh, he quickly got rid of the rest of his clothes. He looked up to find her eyes wide, her lip caught between her teeth.

He grinned. “It’s real, but you can make sure if you want to,” he teased.

She nodded eagerly and touched him. He gritted his teeth. If she continued stroking him the way she was doing, he wasn’t going to make it. Her eyes were nearly black when she looked at him again.

He caught her hand. “If you do that, this will be over way too soon,” he growled and pinned her hands above her head, staring down at her. Her scent surrounded him, reeled him in and he was lost.

Hunger raced through him, he fused his mouth with hers. Driven by passion, his hands again began their exploration, only this time he wanted so much more, he wanted all of her.

****

She was helpless against Brett’s onslaught on her senses. His mouth closed over her breast, sending her nerve endings into overdrive. His hands teased and tortured while gradually sliding lower and lower down her belly.

“Brett,” she murmured, her only thought to assuage the aching need that was driving her crazy. She lifted her body, pleading wordlessly.

He lifted his head, his hand finding her very core. “You’re ready for me,” he said triumphantly as he moved over her.

“I’m ready,” she whispered and eagerly met his forward thrust.

“Look at me?” he asked and she tried to focus, tried to keep looking into his blue and brown eyes but then a torrent picked her up and focusing on anything else besides the fire racing through her became impossible.

She knew he held back, wanting to give her time to get accustomed to him, but then she arched her back and surrendered. He grabbed her close and, burying his face in her hair, he made her his.

Minutes, hours later, she opened her eyes to find him staring down at her. She lazily lifted her hand and touched his face. His eyes darkened.

Her prince had found her and the shoe fit perfectly.

****

The next morning he found her at the dining room table, pouring over the plans.

Hesitantly, he walked closer. They never got round to talking last night, so he wasn’t sure how she was going to react to his idea.

She looked up. “Tell me about these?”

“Well,” he said, his heart in his throat, “I think I found the ideal location for your deli. The only problem is that it is in Johannesburg.”

Her smile lit up her face and he relaxed.

“Then it will be perfect,” she said.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Just stay where you are,” he said. “Don’t move.”

Carley stared after him, hugging herself. Her whole body was still humming after last night and her head was spinning. What more could the man possibly have up his sleeve?

He came back in, looking grave, holding something in his hand. Without saying anything, he took her hand and led her to the same chair she’d sat in last night. This time he bent down on one knee. Every drop of oxygen left her body.

He opened the small box in his hand. “Carley, I love you. I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

Laughing, she threw herself in his arms. “You had me at I love you, silly, you didn’t have to ask me to marry you,” she said in between kisses.

“Oh, but I had to. You see, the prince married the princess and they lived happily ever after.” And then no more talking was necessary.

Carley slowly got out of the car. Her cousins, who had been waiting on the beach, rushed forward.

“Carley, you look stunning,” Erin gushed.

“I love your dress.” Smiled Robin.

“You look like a princess,” said Susan, a hand on her slightly protruding tummy.

“I still can’t believe that both you and Susan found the exact husbands that Aunt Rae said you would,” giggled Lori. “But come on, bride! Your groom has been patrolling the aisle for the last fifteen minutes.”

Her cousins fell into a line and, smiling at her, they began to move down the aisle.

Carley looked up to the sky. It was another beautiful day on Clifton beach. Both she and Brett had agreed that this was the place where they wanted to exchange their vows. Right here where the magic had happened all those months ago.

Tomorrow they’re flying to Greece for their honeymoon and two weeks later she was going to open her deli.

“Come on, baby girl,” her father said. “Let’s do this.”

The music swelled and they moved forward. She tried to smile and nod at friends, but her eyes kept looking for her groom. And when she saw Brett, everything else faded away.

He was waiting for her, his eyes never wavering from her face, a big grin nearly splitting his face in two.

She’d found the perfect groom, the perfect prince, the perfect man—for her. The magic was real after all.

I have been reading love stories for as long as I can remember and when I ‘met’ the classic authors like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James, the Brontë sisters, etc. during my Honours studies, I was hooked for life.

I married my college boyfriend and soul mate and after 40 years, 3 interesting and wonderful children and 3 beautiful grandsons, he still makes me weak in the knees. We are fortunate to live in the picturesque little seaside village of Betty's Bay, South Africa with the ocean a block away and a beautiful mountain right behind us. And although life so far has not always been an easy ride, it has always been an exiting and interesting one!

I like the heroines in my stories to be beautiful, feisty, independent and headstrong. And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity. They are of course, also gorgeous! My stories typically incorporate the family background of the characters to better understand where they come from and who they are when we meet them in the story.

Visit with the author on her website at:
www.elsawinckler.com