Not About Love (This Love Book 2) (32 page)

I’m stuck at work. Let me get back to you later, okay?

Aye, aye, Captain. Text me when you’re done.

I walked to the pancake house and stopped when I got closer to the place I knew so well. It looked…different. As I approached my friends’ restaurant, I noticed that the name of the store had been covered by a blue board that said “The Travel Book Co.” in gold lettering.
The Travel Book Company
…
like in Notting Hill?

Was this a themed baby shower? I had expected elephants and baby lions; a baby shower themed after one of my favorite romantic comedies? Helga had clearly outdone herself. She’d be beaming knowing I approved of this…as long as I didn’t have to endure any shower games.

In the window of the store was a reproduction of the painting featured in the movie,
La Mariée
by Marc Chagall. Lined up on the bottom of the window were several travel books of all sizes.

I went to grab the handle of the door and noticed a poster taped to it.

It was a quote from the movie, when Julia Roberts goes to Hugh Grant’s bookstore and he turns her down to protect his heart.

Shit.
Just thinking of that scene made me emotional. I fanned my eyes to stop the tears from falling, then took a deep breath and opened the door. The bell on the door chimed. I expected someone to greet me, but the place was deserted.

Some party
.

“Hello? Helga? Am I early?” I made my way in and closed the door.

I looked around and noticed that the tables that usually took up the whole room had been pushed aside. Small bookshelves were lined up, creating a path of some sort. I took one of the books from a bookshelf—another travel book. Yes, this was definitely a themed shower. There were dozens upon dozens of books. I hoped Helga had either borrowed them or bought them for very cheap, because this was entirely too much.

I looked at another book, one about the city of Granada that was full of gorgeous pictures. It looked like an art book.

“Hi.” The deep timbre of Boyd’s voice startled me. I turned around and saw him standing at the end of the room wearing a deep blue suit with a white shirt. His shirt was unbuttoned, and he wasn’t wearing a tie; I had never seen him so dressed up.
Good lord.
He was so impossibly handsome. All he needed was a spotlight on him and he could very well been have an actor in some action movie. He looked just as beautiful as any of them.

My name is Rivers, Boyd Rivers. Special agent, at your service
.

I held back a laugh and pursed my lips, just to make sure my jaw wasn’t hanging open.

“What are you doing here?” I asked with a smile. “And so dressed up. I thought you were busy and couldn’t meet me. Do you have a business meeting?” If so, he was slightly overdressed for it. I walked toward him slowly, and I saw a hint of a smile on his face. I just couldn’t get over how beautiful he was. It was like seeing him for the first time all over again.

“Hi,” I said to him as I stood in front of him. “Damn, you look hot. Are you trying to kill me here? I mean, can I even touch you? I’m afraid I’ll get you all wrinkled.” He laughed, and the joyful sound filled the room. His eyes twinkled in a way I had never seen before. We were alone, and it was unusually quiet.

“Where’s everyone else, Boyd?”

He let out a deep breath. “It’s just me and you, Ally.” He looked down at me, eyebrows raised, as if I were missing something.
What is going on?

“There’s no party?” I asked, confused.

“No party. I enlisted Helga’s help because I need to tell you something.”

“Oh.”

There was no party—but…the theme.
Notting Hill
. The books, the painting, the sign…the quote on the door. The man in front of me dressed in his best suit.

Oh
.

He had done all this for me? I felt a knot in my throat, and my eyes started filling up with tears. I swallowed a sob as a tear escaped from my eye, but he caught it and wiped it away. Emotions were flying so high, it felt as if Baby Rivers was dancing the Macarena inside me, complete with a final somersault.

“Am I supposed to make the speech?”

“What speech?” he asked, tipping my chin up to look at me. He seemed just about to kiss me, but he didn’t. I longed for his kiss, for his lips. I needed him
now
.

I sniffled. “You know, from the movie…
I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy
—”

“No,” he interrupted me, his hand cradling my cheek. “I am. Wait for it.”

The smirk on his face made me want to do stupid things to him. I
was
going to do stupid things to him as soon as this was over.

“Ally, I know you haven’t always been able to rely on me. I know I’ve let you down a few times, but if there’s one thing I realized in the last few weeks, it’s how much I care for you. If there’s one thing I came to understand while I was in New York, it was how much I need you by my side.” He kissed me softly on the lips but didn’t go any further. I sighed. I needed more. I had no idea where the Boyd Rivers Apology Tour was going from there, but I was sure enjoying the teaser.

His gaze moved from my eyes to my lips, and his eyebrows pulled into a frown.

“I love you, Ally. I have for a while now. I was just too stubborn to admit it.”

“I love you, too,” I said, lacing my hands around his neck.

There was no way to stop the tears at that point. They were just streaming down my face—silently, at least. All I could hope for was to not burst into a bout of ugly crying.

“Ally.”

“Yes?”

“I’m just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him,” he said, quoting the movie. I looked into his eyes, and I realized just then how head over heels in love with him I was. He looked at me in a way I had never seen before, not even the time I’d seen him tear up during the ultrasound.

I smiled. “I do. I do love you, Boyd Rivers,” I said, leaning in to kiss him. He untied my hands from around his neck, and I pouted. He laughed, and the beautiful sound made me want to kiss him again and again, but he was being so stingy with his kisses. What was his deal? I looked up at him and noticed the smile had been replaced by a solemn expression on his face.

And then he kneeled down in front of me.

“Ohmygod.”

I was already swooning hard because of all of this, but I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand as he presented me with a small blue box. It contained a stunning white gold diamond ring—more accurately, I assumed it was stunning; I couldn’t really see it that well with the tears that kept coming out like a waterfall.

“Alberta Ferris, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes! Of course I will.” He slipped the ring on my finger and then got up to kiss me. “Oh, Boyd,” were the only words I was able to say before he attacked my mouth with a passion and need equaled only by my own.

A few moments later, our friends came out of the kitchen to congratulate us. Helga, Johan, Lieke, Hedwig, Ella, Lou—so many people came out to hug us.

We were surrounded by people kissing us and congratulating us on our engagement.
Engagement
. It didn’t seem true. Drinks were passed around, food was served, and Lou played the piano for a bit.

Boyd was across the room, looking as sharp and handsome as ever, talking to someone I had seen working at his gym.

“You guys were eavesdropping the whole time?” I asked Ella a little later.

“Who’d want to miss this, really?” asked Ella.

“I thought you two were out of the country.”

“We decided to come back early when Boyd informed Lou of his plan,” Ella confessed. Lou overheard our conversation and joined us.

“I couldn’t miss my brother getting down on one knee. Congratulations, Ally,” he said, raising a glass in my direction. I responded by raising up the virgin margarita Johan had made just for me. It was good, though it could never be like the real deal.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” he said, leaning toward me. “You’ve accomplished the impossible. My brother, the one who preached ‘love ’em and leave ’em’, is getting married.”

“Do you have any idea when you want to get married?” Ella asked.

“Uh, do you?” I asked, pointing at her engagement ring. The two had been engaged for months, and they had made no plans at all.

She waved me off. “You know Lou and I agreed we’d wait a little bit. But…you guys are going to have a little…
delivery
in a few months,” she said, taking my belly in her hands.

“Hey! This is not up for grabs,” I scolded her. “Am I wearing a shirt that says ‘Free Belly Rubs’?”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I’m not going to be the kid’s favorite aunt.” After a couple minutes of patting my belly, the baby finally kicked. “See? He already
loves
me.” Boyd joined us and took my side, and Ella wasted no time in starting to pester him.

“So, brother-in-law, when is this wedding going to be? You know I have to clear my schedule.”

Our eyes met. The way he looked at me was doing stupid things to my body. I needed to have him, and soon. If Vegas had been closer, I would have suggested getting married that night. He put an arm around my shoulder and gave me a serious look.

He seemed to be reading my mind, because he said, “As soon as possible.”

WE WALKED HOME JUST AFTER
the sun had gone down, and there was a light breeze that made summers in Amsterdam so pleasant. I was a bit tired from the events of the day, but I couldn’t complain. Everything was just so perfect. I’d never known such happiness. I held on to his arm as we made our way back after dinner, and I couldn’t stop staring at my ring. It was so simple and beautiful. The solitaire setting had always been one of my favorite styles, and I wondered if he’d gotten any help picking it out.

“You’ve done well, Jackson Boyd Rivers.”

“Thank you,” he said simply. “I have to admit, Helga helped me pick it out. I couldn’t decide. She said that one looked more like you.”

“She was right. I’ve always loved this style. It’s perfect.”

He let out a deep breath and gave me a longing look. I narrowed my eyes at him. What else did he have in store for the night?

“What is it?”

“Call me crazy, but in a way, I think I always knew,” he professed.

“What did you know? What do you mean?”

“I mean…you and me. I always knew there was something
more
between us. You…what you did to me…I hadn’t felt like that in a
very
long time, woman. It was just an instinct, but I convinced myself I was imagining things. It seemed so unlikely that I kept fighting my attraction and my feelings for you. I’ve been fighting with myself ever since the first time I kissed you on New Year’s Eve.”

“No way!” I exclaimed, incredulous.

“Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t quite love, but even back then I knew you were something special. You…got to me, but I didn’t want to feel that way and kept trying to convince myself we just had unbelievable chemistry, nothing more. I’m sorry it took me so long to come around when you got pregnant. I still can’t forgive myself. I was such an ass.”

I took his hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.

“Neither one of us knew how to handle it, Boyd. Babies don’t come with a manual. Heck, pregnancies don’t either, but this is the best decision I ever made,” I said as I patted my belly.

“You know, I’ve noticed you keep referring to the baby as
him
.”

“And you keep saying
her
.”

“But you do know, don’t you? Is it a boy?”

“It’s a boy.” I let out a sigh and looked into his eyes, but he wasn’t mad. In fact, the smile that stretched across his face was that of a person who’d just won the lottery.

He was full-on grinning.

“See? And you said you didn’t want to know!” I mocked him. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. He lowered his face to mine, his lips less than an inch away from mine. This was a different Boyd.

He was joyous, unguarded.

“I would have been happy either way,” he murmured, his breath warm on my face. “But since it’s a boy, there’s a good chance he’ll have your red curls and blue eyes.” He wasn’t wrong; the baby boy could look like me. I had read boys tended to resemble their mothers and girls their father, though of course that wasn’t always the case.