I threw my head back and laughed heartily before dragging her against me and giving her a deep kiss. I’d never been sure why Gracie felt we needed to put off marriage until we were older, but I wanted her to be happy, and as long as we were together, I was mostly content. But I was more than glad to hear that she had no more qualms about it.
When we finally broke the kiss, I caught her hand in mine and headed for the door because if we stood there any longer, we wouldn’t make it to the courthouse first.
One floor down, I rapped on London’s door. She threw it open almost immediately and was jumping up and down excitedly. “You’re pregnant?”
Gracie blushed and nodded, her hand giving mine a firm squeeze.
“Took you long enough to tell me! Geeze—” London broke off as she took in our attire and sighed in exasperation. “You kept me in suspense while you changed for a date?”
“Wedding,” I stated. “Want to be a witness?”
“Yes!” she screamed, running to give Gracie a hug before they both clapped and danced excitedly for a minute. Then London spun around and marched back into her room. “I’ll change, and we can go. You need a second witness, right? You should call Audrey and have her meet us there.”
“I already sent her a text,” I announced with a wink at Gracie.
She beamed and stood on her tiptoes to give me a quick peck on the lips. “I love you.”
“Okay! Let’s go!” London chirped as she barreled out of her bedroom and ran down the stairs.
“Love you too, Gracie,” I murmured with a chuckle before we followed after our crazy cousin.
“Um, Hudson?”
I glanced up to see Audrey, Gracie’s other best friend, standing from her chair in the corner of the judge’s chambers and holding out my phone. Gracie had slipped it in her purse right before she handed it to Audrey when we arrived.
We were waiting on the judge to return with the right paperwork, but I was surprised Audrey told me about a phone call. I started to tell her to shut it off, but she interrupted me.
“I think maybe you should take this call.” She wrinkled her freckled little nose, and her pale green eyes looked worried. “It’s Gracie’s dad. And this is his third time calling in a row.”
“Did he call my phone first?” asked Gracie.
Audrey shook her head, her light brown ponytail swinging wildly behind her. “Do you think he found out?” she whispered.
I shook my head but took my proffered phone from Audrey, concerned about why Jonah had called so many times. I was positive he didn’t know what we were up to, so it had to be something else important.
“Answer it,” Gracie demanded with a crooked smile. “Or we’ll all be going crazy instead of focusing on our wedding.”
“Kendall,” I barked after tapping the call button.
“Hudson, you need to respond to the German company about their offer. I can only hold them off so much longer. I understand if you want to talk things over with Grace first, but at least let them know you’re considering it. Or not, I don’t give a fuck. But—”
“Jonah,” I cut him off, thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about?”
Jonah was silent for a full thirty seconds. “You're not in your office, are you?”
I laughed. “If you thought I was lost in my work and ignoring you, why not just come down to my office?”
I heard a giggle in the background and rolled my eyes. “You have company.”
Gracie leaned back from trying to listen in and mimed gagging, making me chuckle. She hated it when she couldn’t pretend her parents' sex life was nonexistent.
“Exactly. They won’t stop calling me, so I’m calling you. Check your email, respond, and...on a side note, don’t ever let me catch you with my daughter in your office.”
I barely managed to contain my snort of laughter, but he hung up, so it didn’t matter anyway. There’d already been a couple of close calls during unexpected visits from Gracie. Those instances were an excellent example of how we’d ended up pregnant. Although, deep down, I was positive it had happened our first night together.
“German company?”
Gracie’s question brought me back to the present and reminded me that I had no idea what the hell Jonah had been talking about. I navigated to my email and immediately spotted the message he was most likely referring to. A quick read had my jaw on the ground. “They want to buy the software I developed last year. For...holy fuck.”
Gracie’s brow puckered as she skimmed the email. Then her mouth opened in a wide O. “Holy shit,” she gasped. “Is that...ten zeroes?”
“Are we ready to get married?”
Gracie and I both jumped at the sound of the judge’s voice as he strolled back into the room.
I grinned at my woman arrogantly. “Ready to marry your Sugar Daddy, baby?”
Gracie smacked my arm and rolled her eyes. “Ew.”
“Does this mean you’re not just marrying me for my money?”
She laughed and put her arms around my neck. “You already know I’m marrying you for your cock and because you're an orgasm machine.”
With all my blood in my pants, I cleared my throat and announced, “Let’s get this over with. We’re late for forever.”
Epilogue
Grace
I was feeling kind of grouchy as I walked up the steps to Charlie’s house after my mom practically shoved me out the door of my own home. The twins—because of course Hudson knocked me up with two babies the night he finally took my virginity—were going through a hungry phase, and I hadn’t had much sleep the past few nights. All I’d wanted to do was put on my jammies to get comfortable, but she’d insisted that I get dressed up and head over here to take my cousin out to cheer her up. Withstanding my mom’s guilt trips was nearly impossible, so I’d put on a dress and heels, slathered some makeup on my face, pulled my hair back in a low ponytail, fired off a quick text to my husband so he’d know where I was at when he got home from a late night at the office, and headed over to her place.
A sticky note on her door let me know it was open and directed me to the backyard. I strode through her house and pasted a smile on my face as I neared the French doors that led outside. I didn’t have to fake my smile for long, though. Not when I walked into a fairyland of twinkle lights and candles, with Hudson down on one knee in the center of all that beauty. “What in the world is going on?”
He flashed me a cocky grin that made my heart flutter as he reached into the pocket of his suit pants to pull out a small, navy blue jewelry box. “I wanted to surprise you, baby.”
“You definitely accomplished that.” I hurried closer, curious as to why he’d gone to such trouble to give me a present when today wasn’t a special occasion. “How come?”
He flicked the box open with his thumb and plucked a diamond contour band that was a perfect match for my engagement and wedding rings. “Because my girl deserves the memory of an all-out romantic proposal.”
“Oh my gosh.” I pressed trembling fingers against my lips as tears welled in my eyes.