Read Hot for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #2) Online
Authors: Sharon Cummin
“I
love you,” she said.
“I
love you too baby. Your chariot awaits,” he smirked.
Josh
helped her into the truck and then walked around and got in. He
turned on the lights and sirens and pulled away.
“We
have a little time before the reception starts. I wanted to know if
you could take me somewhere?” she asked.
“Where
would you like to go?” he asked.
Lisa
sat for a moment, nervous to continue. Had she made the right
decision?
“I
want to meet your dad,” she said.
Josh
looked over at her.
“What?”
he asked.
“I
would like you to take me to meet your dad. I want to tell him what
an amazing son he has. I want him to know how much I love you,”
she said, trying hard to hold it together.
“I
never go there,” he said.
“I
know, but will you take me there to meet him? I am only asking for
this one time,” she said. “I want him to be a part of our
special day.”
“Is
this what you really want?” he asked.
“Yes,
it is what I really want,” she replied.
He
drove the truck to the cemetery. She could see his hands shake
against the steering wheel. It was important to her for them to go.
They would be there together. Josh helped her out of the truck. She
grabbed the things Becky had given her and walked hand in hand with
him to his father's grave. Josh stopped in front of it.
“My
mom does a great job of keeping it nice,” he said, through a
shaky voice.
“It's
beautiful. She must spend a lot of time here,” Lisa said.
The
lawn was perfect and there were tons of flowers. Lisa could see how
much love surrounded his dad.
Lisa
took the flowers from her hand and placed them in a vase that was
sitting there empty. She reached in the bag she was carrying and
pulled out a little sign that said Dad and another that said grandpa
and placed them in the ground next to the flowers. She took Josh's
hand and leaned against him. When she looked up at him, there were
tears streaming down his face. He put his head against hers and stood
silent. They stood quiet for at least five minutes. She reached in
the bag and took something else out. Hold it together, she thought to
herself. Lisa wanted to be strong for him. She turned to the grave.
“I
wanted to introduce myself to you. My name is Lisa. I have just
married your son Josh. He is the most amazing man I have ever met in
my entire life. You raised him well. I remember watching you and Josh
play ball in the front yard. I was the little girl that used to sit
next door and watch all day. I bet you remember me,” she began.
Josh
stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, but didn't say a
word.
“I
finally got that boy to notice me, after all those years. He saved my
life. He works hard every day to save lives and help people. I want
you to know how proud I am to be his wife. I will spend every moment
for the rest of my life making him as happy as I possibly can. Your
wife has taken me in as her own. I feel so lucky to have such a great
family. I am so happy to have her for my mother. I wanted to tell you
that you're going to be a grandpa. We are having a baby boy, and we
are going to name him Jack, after his amazing grandpa. I am going to
leave a picture of him here for you. He is going to be one special
baby. We all already love him so much. His grandma is already
spoiling him. Thank you for raising your son to be such a wonderful
man. I love him with all my heart.”
Lisa
could feel tears in her eyes as she bent down to put one of her
ultrasound pictures with the flowers she had left. She turned to look
up at Josh.
“Thank
you for doing this,” he said, through blurry eyes. “I'm
glad you brought me here. I don't know what I ever did to deserve
you. I will never disappoint you. You're the best. I love you so
much.”
Lisa
kissed his cheek.
“I
am the one who's lucky. I got the boy. The one I always wanted. Now,
I have a family. I feel so special and so loved. Thank you for being
my everything.”
They
hugged tight. Lisa pulled some paper and pens out of the bag and
looked at Josh.
“I
want us to write a note to your dad. We can tie them to the balloons
and let them go to him. Will you do it with me?” she asked.
“I
will,” he answered.
They
both wrote their notes and folded them. It was something private from
each of them. She tied them each to a balloon. They both looked up
into the sky as they released them together, until they could no
longer see them. Lisa turned and kissed Josh on the cheek.
“You
ready to go to our party?” she asked.
“Yes,
I am,” he answered, as he looked back at the flowers she left
one more time.
Josh
took her hand and helped her into the truck.
On
the way to the reception, Lisa thought about Becky and Gavin. She
looked over at Josh for his reaction.
“Did
Gavin say anything to you today?” she asked.
“Like
what?” he answered.
She
saw a smirk on his face and she laughed.
“He
did, didn't he?” she asked. “He told you.”
“Yes,
he did,” Josh answered. “He couldn't hold it in.”
“Our
little ones are going to be able to grow up together. It's going to
be so amazing.”
Everyone
was already at the reception when they got there. Josh's mom walked
up to them as soon as they walked in the door. She gave her son a
huge hug and told him how much she loved him. Lisa hugged her and
smiled.
“Thank
you for doing that for him. Was everything okay?” she whispered
into Lisa's ear.
“Perfect,”
she answered.
Josh
and Lisa made their way around to talk to all of their guests as soft
music played in the background. Some of the tables had been moved out
to make room for a dance floor. There were balloons and a few
decorations. There was a DJ set up in the corner of the room. The
cake was three layers and beautiful.
Lisa
was surprised that Julie brought a date. They were sitting at a table
alone, when Lisa walked up. He seemed to be about Julie's age and was
handsome. Julie introduced him to Lisa. He was a doctor that Julie
met at a conference. His hair was short and dark, and his eyes were
blue. He was handsome and seemed very polite. Lisa noticed that the
two didn't seem to talk to each other much. Julie seemed very
serious. Lisa was used to her being sarcastic and funny. She was
definitely seeing a different side of her.
Lisa
saw Ethan, John, Heath, and Gavin's cousin Chris with his wife Sarah,
son Chris, and baby daughter Katie sitting one table away from Julie
and her date. She made her way to them and sat down to talk. Lisa
held the new baby girl and cuddled her in her arms. She also played
with the little boy as he laughed and giggled. Lisa noticed Ethan
stare over at Julie's table. She waved her hand in front of his face.
“You
okay over there?” Lisa asked.
“Fine,”
he growled.
Lisa
laughed to herself. Where's Mr. Smartass tonight, she wondered? Ethan
was a player. There was no doubt about it. He was sarcastic every
moment he was awake. She watched him intently. He refused to take his
eyes off of Julie and her date.
“Why
didn't you bring a date, Casanova?” she asked.
“I
don't know,” he replied.
Lisa
dropped the subject as Josh walked up and sat next to her. He kissed
the top of her head.
“What's
my wife doing over here with all these men?” he joked.
She
motioned her eyes to Ethan and Josh laughed. He shook his head.
“Ethan,
everything okay?” Josh asked.
“Fine,
fine,” he grumbled. “I'll be back.”
He
stood up, shoved his chair with his fists at his sides, and walked
outside. John, his brother, shook his head and walked out after him.
“I
have never seen him act like that,” Josh said. “Gavin
better be on his game tonight. She's with a clean cut, nice guy, not
some badass. Ethan is not going to let this go. It's killing him that
she won't give him the time of day. I think he may have met his
match. If she acted the slightest bit interested, he would move right
along to the next woman. She's smarter than that. Julie has known him
since she was fifteen. She knows he's an ass. She also knows it
drives Gavin crazy. That girl has them all wrapped around her
finger.”
The
DJ let everyone know that dinner was ready. They made their way to
their seats. The servers brought out their salads, and then their
main dishes. Everyone talked as they enjoyed their meals. Josh and
Lisa couldn't take their eyes off of each other. He kept leaning in
to rub her belly.
Josh
and Lisa danced to their first song as husband and wife. The rest of
the wedding party danced with them to the next song. Josh danced with
his mother and Heath danced with Lisa for the third song. She was
happy to have him step up and make her feel special. He was going to
make some lucky lady happy one day. The party was in full swing with
couples dancing everywhere.
When
the song ended, they heard a voice and looked up. One of the firemen
had the microphone. He walked over to Lisa and Josh.
“Lisa,
we wanted to welcome you to our family. We have all come to love and
appreciate you as one of our own. We have no idea how this guy got so
lucky, but please don't let him go. He could not get that lucky
twice,” he laughed. “You have done so much for all of us
and our families, and you take such good care of our boy. Thank you
for marrying him and becoming part of our family. We know the baby is
boy, so we got you a little something to start him off, and there's
something in there for you too.”
He
handed them a box. Lisa unwrapped and opened the box. Tears filled
her eyes immediately. She pulled out a t-shirt that said “Future
Hero Inside Firefighter Baby”, and another that said “My
Heart Belongs to a Hot Firefighter.” Josh laughed and lifted
out the tissue paper from the box. His eyes widened as Lisa pulled
out tiny turnouts. There were even boots and a little helmet. Lisa
burst into laughter as she took the microphone.
“You
all have plans for our boy already. Baby Jack is going to love these.
Thank you all so much. I am proud to be a part of your amazing
family,” she said.
Josh's
mom was next to them. Lisa noticed tears in her eyes. She realized
that she had said the baby's name, without even realizing it. Josh
took the microphone from Lisa.
“Since
my beautiful wife just let it out there, we would like to let you
know that we have picked the name Jack for our precious baby. He will
be name after my father,” he said, as he looked over at his
brother. “Not after my brother, who tried to steal my girl.”
Lisa
smacked him on the arm and laughed. Josh hugged his mom tight.
Lisa
and Josh looked at each other and smirked. He nodded to her.
“Could
we please have our amazing friends Gavin and Becky come and join us.
They have been so good to us. When I was hurt, they were both by my
side and helped Josh take care of me. We really do love them so
much.”
She
waited until they both were there. Becky had a huge smile on her face
as she held Gavin's hand.
“Today
is a very special day for us. One of the best days of our lives. We
are so happy to share it with them. Today is a special day for them,
as well. They have a secret that they aren't sharing, because they
didn't want to take away from our day. But, they both made a mistake
this morning. Each of them told that secret to one of us,” Josh
said.
Becky
shot Gavin a look and he grinned.
“We
would like to congratulate them both. They are having a baby. We love
the three of you very much,” Lisa said. “Please help them
celebrate this day with us.”
Everyone
clapped and congratulated Becky and Gavin. Julie ran over to hug
them. She was happy to have another baby to care for. Her nephew or
niece would be spoiled.
The
DJ started a slow song and couples began dancing again. Julie and her
date were on the dance floor. They looked stiff and uncomfortable.
Lisa was used to seeing Julie happy and cocky. Ethan sat at a table,
and Lisa walked over to him. She saw him staring at Julie and her
date. Lisa reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Come
on, let's dance,” she said, as she pulled him to his feet.
“I
don't really feel like it,” he replied.
“Why
is that?” she asked.
“I
don't know. Been feeling strange today.”
“You
can't turn the bride down for a dance. Don't be a grump. Dance with
me,” she said.
He
danced with her. She heard him growl as she watched Julie laugh at
something her date said.
“Do
you really like her?” Lisa asked.
“Who,
Julie? Hell no. I just mess with her to get under Gavin's skin.”
“Then
why did you just growl?”
“I
need some air,” he groaned, as he pulled to walk away.
“Let's
go sit at the table. You're not running out the door again.”
She
pulled him over to sit down. A fast song played and Julie sat back
down with her date. Ethan walked over to the table with Lisa on his
heels.
“Get
up and dance Julie,” Ethan said.
He
had a few beers already. Lisa wasn't sure what he was going to say.
Julie looked over at her date and asked if he wanted to dance. He
shrugged and remained still.
“You
going to let your girl sit there with this party music on. Dance with
her. Show her how special she is.”
The
guy sat silent and shook his head. Julie looked over at Ethan and
smiled a fake smile.
“Come
dance with me and Lisa,” Ethan told her, as he held his hand
out to her.
“I'm
going to stay here. I don't feel like getting out there.”
“Suit
yourself,” he snapped. “Come on Lisa.”