The Secret 05 Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always (8 page)

A little less than two months later…

Ella

As I stand in front of the alter, waiting for the minister to pronounce Ethan and Lila husband and wife, all I can think is,
my feet hurt so bad.

At a little over four months pregnant, heels were not the best choice of footwear. But, I love Lila enough that I’m trying to be a good sport and suck it up. Besides, she did have to go to over five stores to find the perfect bridesmaid’s dress that would fit over my little belly.

To endure the pain, I focus on the best man standing across from me, looking smoking hot in a black tux. I never really thought a tux could be sexy, but I’ll admit, I think my mind was changed today.

When Micha catches me checking him out, he winks at me. My stomach flutters with butterflies as I think about the time we stood up in front of our friends and swore our love for each other.

Lila and Ethan decided to keep it pretty simple—well, simple for Lila. There are maybe fifty guests tops, consisting of her friends and family. She didn’t invite her mother or father and seemed pretty content about that. Ethan’s family did show up, though, which is a little surprising.

Lila’s dress, on the other hand, is anything other than simple. The silk and lace trails down half the aisle, and the corset top is embellished with flowers and diamonds that weave around her waistline. Her blonde hair is pinned up and curled, and a tiara glitters from the top of her head.

“And I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minster announces, drawing my attention back to the ceremony. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Ethan and Lila lean in for a kiss, giggling under their breaths, which makes me giggle and Micha laugh. Lila glances at me perplexedly when she notices my laughter. I simply shrug then point to my stomach, blaming it on my hormones.

Shaking her head, she grins then links arms with Ethan and heads down the aisle. Micha and I do the same, following them, but unlike Ethan, Micha reaches behind me and sneakily pinches my ass.

I snort a laugh, although thankfully, we’re out of the chapel and in the hallway by then.

“Not fair.” I pinch Micha’s ass back.

He laughs, wiggling his arm out of mine so he can skitter out of my reach. “That was way harder than mine.”

Lila sets her bouquet of roses down and places her hands on her hips. “You two are relentless. Seriously, it’s my wedding day. Can’t you just chill for like a couple of hours and stop fondling each other?”

Micha and I exchange a wary look. “Maybe,” we say simultaneously then sputter a laugh.

Ethan steps up to the side of Lila and swings his arm around her. “Relax, wife.” The word causes a grin to spread across Lila’s face.

Moments later, Ethan pinches her ass then bolts out the door toward the limo parked outside.

“Oh, he’s so dead for that.” She marches after him, the train of her dress swishing behind her.

Micha and I take hands and follow them out, getting into the limo that will drive us to the reception. On the way there, Ethan pops open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. He pours everyone a glass except for me. As if he’s planned it, he reaches into his jacket pocket and retrieves a juice box.

When he offers it to me, I take it. “Did you seriously carry this around in your pocket the entire day?”

He shrugs. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t feel left out.”

I roll my eyes. “Oh, you did not.”

“I did, too.” He presses his hand to his chest, offended. “I’m being genuine right now. I promise.” When I arch a brow at him, a conniving grin curls at his lips. “Okay, I’ll admit, I thought it’d be funny to make you drink out of a juice box while the rest of us get to sip champagne. Call it payback for that stupid prank you pulled on me the other day.”

Squaring my shoulders, I stab the straw into the top of the drink and take a sip as dignified as one can when drinking from a juice box. Micha chuckles under his breath then raises his glass.

“Okay, I have to make a toast. To the bride and groom, who are two of the best people I’ve ever met. I’m so glad they finally got married”—he pauses—“because it was about damn time.”

Ethan rolls his eyes as the three of them clink glasses, and just so I won’t feel left out, I tap my juice box against their glasses. By the time the champagne is finished, we’ve arrived at the reception hall.

“Are you ready to play?” Ethan asks as he grabs his drumsticks from the floor.

Micha nods as he pushes open the door. “But, just so you know, I’m not planning on making it a habit of jamming out at wedding receptions. I’m only doing this because I love the two of you so much.”

Ethan makes gagging noises as he hops out while Lila throws her arms around Micha’s neck and hugs the living daylights out of him. “You’re so wonderful, Micha,” she says, on the verge of crying.

He moves the heavy amounts of fabric from her dress out of the way so he can hug her back. With a soft pat on the back, the two of them break apart, and then Ethan helps Lila and her dress out of the car.

Micha ducks outside and offers his hand to me. Taking it, I very ungracefully get myself out of the limo, trying not to flash anyone as my short green dress threatens to flip up.

“Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?” he asks as he shuts the door, still holding my hand.

I nod as we head for the door of the building. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you told me that just an hour ago when we were walking up the aisle.”

He grins and drops a kiss on my mouth as we step inside the entryway. Then he lowers himself to his knees and places his hands on my stomach. The first time he did this in public, I got extremely uncomfortable and made him stop. But, now, it’s growing on me, and I actually kind of find it sweet.

“You’re going to be just as beautiful as your mother,” he whispers to my bump. His fingers spread across my stomach, and he starts singing an unfamiliar song under his breath. “Words will never be able to describe how much I love you.”

“What is that?” I ask, staring down at him. “Is that one of your new songs?”

He shrugs as he rises back to his feet. “I actually wrote it for her the other day when we found out it’s a girl. I’m still working on it, though.”

“What are you going to call the song?”

“I was thinking about calling it, ‘Lyric.’ ” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “And I was kind of thinking we could give her the same name.”

I rest a hand on my belly. “You want to name our daughter Lyric?”

He shrugs. “It kind of seems fitting.” His lips expand to an enormous grin. “I mean, she was created on a piano.”

His smile is contagious, causing my own to take over my face. “You know what? I think Lyric sounds perfect.”

Coming November 25, 2014

Unraveling You

(A new series starring Ella and Micha's daughter and Lila and Ethan's son)

Jessica Sorensen is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author that lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

Other books by Jessica Sorensen:

The Coincidence Series:

     The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

     The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

     The Destiny of Violet and Luke

     The Probability of Violet and Luke

     The Certainty of Violet and Luke

     The Resolution of Callie and Kayden

     Unbeautiful (Coming Soon)

     Seth & Grayson (Coming Soon)

The Secret Series:

     The Prelude of Ella and Micha

     The Secret of Ella and Micha

     The Forever of Ella and Micha

     The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

     The Ever After of Ella and Micha

     Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always

     Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always

The Shattered Promises Series:

     Shattered Promises

     Fractured Souls

     Unbroken

     Broken Visions

     Scattered Ashes (Coming Soon)

Breaking Nova Series:

     Breaking Nova

     Saving Quinton

     Delilah: The Making of Red

     Nova and Quinton: No Regrets

     Tristan: Finding Hope

     Wreck Me (Coming Soon)

The Fallen Star Series (YA):

     The Fallen Star

     The Underworld

     The Vision

     The Promise

The Fallen Souls Series (spin off from The Fallen Star):

     The Lost Soul

     The Evanescence

The Darkness Falls Series:

     Darkness Falls

     Darkness Breaks

     Darkness Fades

The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):

     Ember X and Ember

     Cinder X and Cinder

     Spark X and Cinder (Coming Soon)

The Sins Series:

     Seduction & Temptation

     Sins & Secrets

     Lies & Betrayal (Coming Soon)

Standalones

     The Forgotten Girl