Read Temporarily Yours (A Shillings Agency Novel) (Entangled Brazen) Online
Authors: Diane Alberts
Tags: #fake fiance, #jen mclaughlin, #force proximity, #erotic, #military, #marriage of convenience, #contemporary romance
Temporarily Yours (A Shillings Agency Novel) (Entangled Brazen) (14 page)
Epilogue
One Year Later
Kayla sat on the plastic chair in the airport, fidgeting with her purse and glowering at the waiting death trap she could see through the window. Christmas carols played in the background, and people laughed and chatted merrily.
Not a big shocker there. It
was
Christmas time.
And for the first time, she’d sent out a couples Christmas card. The same ones she always rolled her eyes at? Yeah. She’d done it. And she and Cooper had laughed at their matching red sweaters with every stamp they stuck on. She’d never had so much fun sending out cards, for the love of God.
But then again, she’d never had so much fun, period. He made her laugh every single day, and she constantly thanked God that he’d been stabbed in the stomach with a candy cane a year ago. She thanked God for
Cooper
.
Speaking of which…he was heading her way.
His green eyes were locked on hers, and he wore a smile, a grey sweater, and a pair of casual jeans. His hair was tousled to perfection, and he looked as if he was the happiest man on Earth. He always told her he was.
A kid with a candy cane ducked in front of him, and he lunged back. Kayla laughed, then covered it up with her hand. But he’d heard it. He turned to her with a mock glare. “You find my fear of kids with candy funny?”
“Um…we promised not to lie to each other. So I’m going to have to go with a
yes
.”
“What are the odds of me being stabbed again?”
“I’d put it at one in a billion.” She looked out the window, all traces of laughter fading away. “But our chances of crashing? Much higher. Like, one in—”
“Hey, now. None of that.” He sat down beside her and threw his arm over her shoulder. Leaning down, he kissed her temple and then rested his cheek on top of her head. “We talked about this, and I’ll be there the whole time to help you through it.”
“We should have driven.”
“To England?” He cocked a brow. “Even you know that’s not possible.”
That was her present from him. She’d told him she wanted to go almost a year ago—and he’d made it happen. He was so
perfect
it was almost sickening.
“When I said it was my dream to go to England at Christmas time, I didn’t think it through.” She fidgeted with her purse again. “Maybe we could take a cruise ship, or a submarine. Maybe before we die, they’ll make a really, really long bridge. And then we can drive across it on the safe ground—”
“Over miles and miles of water,” he said dryly.
“And not crash to our deaths.” She peeked at the plane. “Oh God. We’re boarding soon. Oh God.”
“First class, you may now board,” crackled over the speaker.
Cooper stood and held out his hand. “Ready, sweetheart?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She took a shaky breath and then rose. “I’m scared. This is a long flight.”
“It’ll be fine.” He led her toward the gate attendant. “Before you know it, we’ll be drinking tea and eating biscuits with the queen.”
She snort-laughed. “Or recovering from the massive hangover from the in-flight beverage service.”
Kayla watched Cooper hand the gate attendant their tickets, then they walked down the jetway hand in hand. He held on to her so tightly that she wondered if he thought she’d try to run.
She was almost tempted to.
He stopped at the back row of first class and motioned her to her window seat. “Here we are.”
“Okay. I can do this.” She slid into the window seat. “I might be taking a sleeping pill for this one.”
“You mean a ‘vitamin’?”
She laughed. “Yeah.”
“You can drool on me. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
She pulled the tray down and wiped it off with one of her ever-present anti-bacterial wipes, then handed Cooper one for his. He shook his head but did as she asked, then they both waited. She waited for this plane ride to be over and he waited for…
what
?
He looked nervous.
As they sat there, he tapped his foot on the floor and drummed his fingers on his knee at the same time. He was
fidgeting
. He never fidgeted. “You okay over there?”
“Huh?” He turned to her and blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Fabulous.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t tell me you’re nervous about this flight.”
“Of course not,” he scoffed. He craned his neck and looked over his shoulder. “I’m just waiting for our drinks. I ordered them before we even got on the plane.”
She glanced out the window. “They’ll be here. I think we’re taking off soon.”
“You need a drink before we do.” He stood up. “I’ll go and grab—”
“She’s coming.” Kayla grabbed his hand and yanked him back down into his seat. “And you’re not leaving me. If you aren’t here when we move, I’ll lose it.”
He patted her leg, but still seemed distracted. He was watching the flight attendant as if he knew her or something. “I’m not leaving,” he assured.
The flight attendant came over and smiled at them. “Here is the champagne you requested, sir.”
“Thank you.” Cooper took the glasses, then handed one over to Kayla. “And if you have a blanket, that would be great.”
“I can do even better than that. I could bring two.”
“One will do.” Cooper grinned. “We share.”
The attendant nodded, while Kayla blushed. She knew exactly why he wanted that blanket—and she couldn’t freaking wait. “It’s a little more crowded in First Class than last time.”
“Then you’ll have to be even quieter.” He turned to her and held his glass out. Was it just her imagination, or did his hand tremble? “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Kayla leaned in and kissed him, not bothering to take a drink. All she needed was right here with her. “Thank you for my present.”
“Thank you for loving me.” He lifted his cup. “Now drink.”
She lifted it to her lips and took a sip. It was delicious.
He took a shaky breath. “I’ve never been happier than I have been with you, you know. I thought over all the ways I could do this, and a million scenarios came to mind. But the best one was staring me in the face.” Cooper reached into his pocket. She arched a brow and watched. What was he up to? “Tell me, what are the statistics for people who get engaged? How many of them get married?”
Her glass hit the tray with a clunk. “W-What?”
“You heard me,” he said softly. “What are the numbers?”
“I-I don’t know.” She wrung her hands in her lap. “Maybe Eighty? Why are you asking me this?”
“The chances you don’t know the answer to that question are one in a hundred.” He pulled a black box out of his pocket. When he opened it, she saw that it held a beautiful diamond. “Kayla, will you do me the honor of being my wife? I promise to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as I possibly can—distracting you on planes, and making you laugh—with a few fights thrown in for the amazing make-up sex. Will you say yes?”
She covered her mouth with her hand, then nodded frantically. “Yes! And not just temporarily yours. Forever yours.”
Unable to stop himself, Cooper grinned and slid the ring onto her finger. “Fuck yeah. Let’s do this.”
Their laughter could be heard throughout the plane.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, Shannon, for being a wonderful editor and always being in my corner. I appreciate you, and I’ll miss having you by my side! Love ya!
Thank you to the whole Brazen team, for helping this book shine! The cover, the editors, all of you! Thank you so much!
To my family, I love you. Thank you for never letting me doubt myself, and for always being there for me.
To my agent, Louise, thank you for being my rock star agent. You’re the best!
To all my friends and loved ones, thank you! I don’t know what I’d do without you!
And, as always, a huge thank you to the readers out there. Without you, I wouldn’t be doing what I love…
Writing sexy romance books.
About the Author
Diane Alberts is a multi-published, bestselling contemporary romance author with Entangled Publishing. She also writes New York Times and USA Today bestselling new adult books under the name Jen McLaughlin. Diane has always had a vivid imagination, but it wasn’t until 2011 that she put her pen where her brain was and became a published author. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency. Though she lives in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, a cat, and a Senegal parrot, she dreams of being surrounded by hot, sunny beaches with crystal clear water. In the rare moments when she’s not writing, she can usually be found hunched over one knitting project or another.
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