Cox. My husband.
He always looked handsome. In gym shorts, or a t-shirt and jeans. In a suit and tie, or in nothing at all, he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
Maybe I was a little bit biased.
Today he was more handsome than ever in a gray suit with a vest and tie.
Georgia sat in the front row, across the aisle from my dad’s seat. She twisted around and waved at me, tears already streaming down her face. I waved back, trying so hard not to cry.
Up front with Cox were his three groomsmen, Oliver, Mr. Calloway, and Corban. Mr. Calloway held little Ella in his arms. She must have been fussy and wanted her daddy.
Before I knew it, Jamie was ushering me and Dad to the end of the aisle. Dad straightened, standing tall.
Cox’s eyes found me. And he smiled.
I started crying and didn’t try to stop. That was just how this was going to go.
Besides, it was my wedding day. If I wanted to cry happy tears of blissful joy through the whole thing, I would.
The guests stood and we started forward, step by step up the aisle. Cox’s grin didn’t fade even the tiniest bit. He watched me come to meet him as if he were the happiest man on earth.
Me. I made him smile like that.
We got to the front and I turned toward my dad. He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.
“I love you, princess,” he whispered.
“I love you too, Dad.”
Then he turned. Cox reached out to shake his hand, but Dad stepped in closer and wrapped him in a hug.
And then I heard the most amazing thing. Dad held him another second and said, “Son.”
Cox pulled away and swiped beneath his eyes. I was crying like a baby, but Cox? I’d never imagined I’d see the day.
Dad took his seat. I handed my bouquet to a teary Nora and moved to stand with Cox.
Looking into my eyes, he took my hands in his and as the officiant began the ceremony, he mouthed the words I’d once longed to hear. I love you.
I mouthed them back. And boy, did I mean them.
I loved this man so much, and the best part? He loved me right back.
Our marriage hadn’t exactly begun in the usual way. Most people didn’t marry someone they barely knew when they were too drunk to remember it the next day. I still didn’t remember much about that Vegas wedding. But we’d framed a collage of photos from that crazy night and put them on our living room wall, a fun memento of the wild night that had brought us together.
Neither of us had a single regret.
And now, here we were, in front of family and friends, saying our vows—vows that truly meant something. Because this time, we were madly in love, devoted to each other, and ready to spend the rest of our lives together as husband and wife.
Maybe it was a good thing I’d gone commando in that dress. Because, who knows, if I’d been wearing panties, maybe none of the rest of it would have happened.
I met Cox’s eyes again and smiled. I had a little secret he was going to discover later.
I’d gone commando again today.
Need a peek into Cox and Sophie’s happily ever after? Prepare to swoon with this bonus epilogue.
I NEED MORE SOPHIE AND COX
Have you read about the other Dirty Martini girls, Everly and Hazel? Check out Everly and Shepherd’s story in Faking Ms. Right and Hazel and Corban in Falling for My Enemy.
In the mood for more steamy romcom goodness? Check out Book Boyfriend! Turn the page for a preview…
Book Boyfriend: Chapter 1
Alex
Sometimes in life we all have moments when we realize we screwed up so badly, there’s no way out.
I’m having one of those moments.
Mia is staring at me, wide-eyed, like I just told her I murdered her mother. I didn’t, for the record. But the book she’s holding falls from her limp hand, and her mouth moves like she’s trying to find something to say. The depth of the trouble I’m in is starting to hit me.
This is going to be bad.
“Are you serious?” she asks. “You aren’t serious. How? No. You can’t be.”
“I am.” Damn it, this is not how I wanted to tell her. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been planning on telling you. I wanted to tell you. It just never seemed like the right time, and when it did seem right, things kept happening.”
She looks at the floor, her head slowly shaking from side to side. I’m panicking, trying to come up with the right thing to say. Is there a right thing to say when you’ve been lying to the woman you’re in love with? If there is, I don’t know what it is.
“Oh my god,” she says, stepping away from me. “Oh my god. I’ve been… and you were… this whole time… and it was… Lexi was you?”
“Yes, Lexi was me.”
“Holy shit.” She puts her hand on her stomach, like she might vomit. “I’ve been telling you things—things about you. And you’ve been using that, haven’t you? You’ve been manipulating me this whole time.”
“No,” I say, putting up a hand. “No, Mia, I swear it wasn’t like that.”
“How can you say that?” she asks. “Oh god, it started in the bookstore. Can I buy you books? I told Lexi I wished a guy would do that, and you used it on me. You picked me up with my own line.”
“No. God, Mia, I didn’t know who you were then. I just thought you were cute and it seemed like a good idea.”
“When did you know?” she asks, finally looking me in the eyes.
I stare at her, suddenly unable to speak. All my logic, all the decisions that seemed perfectly reasonable up until this moment come crashing down around me. The proverbial house of cards.
I really fucked this up.
“Alex, when did you find out who I was?”
“After we had dinner at Lift,” I say, reluctantly. “You messaged Lexi and talked about your date. I knew it had to be me.”
She gapes at me, her mouth dropping open, her eyes widening.
Yep. I’m screwed.
“How could you keep this from me?”
“The only person who knows is my sister,” I say. “I kept it a secret from everybody else.”
“Yeah? Well, you aren’t sleeping with everybody else,” she says.
I wince. “Mia, please. I didn’t mean to lie to you.”
“Of course you meant to,” she says. “Lying doesn’t happen by accident.”
“No, but I wanted to tell you,” I say. “I swear, I was going to.”
She meets my eyes and crosses her arms. “But you didn’t. Why?”
Okay, maybe I should back up and explain why I’m standing in front of the love of my life, trying to make her understand how I’m also a woman named Lexi Logan.
Confused?
Yeah, me too.
It all started a little over a year ago. I know, that’s a big jump, and you want to get to the good stuff. The boy meets girl, they fall in love, have hot monkey sex, are pulled apart by conflict, and come back together for a brilliant happily-ever-after stuff. Believe me, I’m all too familiar with that story.
In fact, I write them for a living.