Authors: Glenys O'Connell
“You called them?”
“Yes, on my way here – I got stuck in snow and had to get towed out, and by the time I got here it was coming dawn. I thought they were the sort who got up early, so I called…” Jeez, was he ever babbling. Jed Walker, multi-millionaire businessman and veteran of many corporate battles, was stammering like a boy on his first date. Anna was staring at him as if she thought he was crazy. As if she didn’t want to be there with him. There was only one thing to do.
Swift as a cat he moved forward and pulled her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly to push that lost and angry look from her eyes. She responded to his kiss, his touch, just as he’d known she would. He kissed her neck and felt the pulse there fluttering.
When they finally broke apart, Anna said: “I thought you weren’t coming back – you said you’d be here yesterday and then I couldn’t get through to you – your office said you weren’t there and you’d left the hotel…”
“Honey, I had things to do in the city. Important things.”
The words were unspoken but her eyes telegraphed her thoughts –
more important than me?
Jed dropped down on one knee and pulled a small square package, wrapped in silver foil, from his pocket. “Anna, in a very short space of time you’ve become the most important person in the world to me.” He slipped the velvet covered box from its wrapper and flicked it open. Anna’s eyes widened as she saw the ring there. “Anna Findlay, I love you beyond words. Will you be my wife?”
Silence. He looked up at her and saw tears. His heart pounded – was she crying because the thought of marrying him was abhorrent, or because…
Anna knelt down on the floor beside him, putting her arms around his neck.
“Would it be a cliché to say that marrying you would make me the happiest woman in the world?”
“Well, thank goodness we’ve got that straightened out.” Sofia bustled in with a tray of coffee, Dan following behind her with a plate of muffins. “Let’s get some breakfast. We’ve got a lot to do – we can see the minister after church and….”
“Hold it, Sofia – give the two of them time to at least get the ring on her finger before you go rushing into wedding arrangements, “ Dan said, holding out his hand to Jed. “Welcome to the family, my boy.”
“I can’t believe how nervous you were,” Anna was fighting off a bout of giggles – part laughter, part relief, part overwhelming happiness.
“Wait until you get to meet my family. You’ll know how it feels,” Jed growled.
Jed’s parents welcomed Anna into their home with a warmth that made her feel at home at once. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jed as happy as he has been since he met you,” Jed’s mother, Mia, confided as she and Anna prepared dinner together in the Walkers’ spacious kitchen.
“Your son has made me very happy, too,” Anna replied.
“He’s grown into a fine young man,” Mia said. “But just remember, if he gives you any trouble, I’ll set him straight!”
“Set who straight?” Jed asked as he entered the room.
“Oh, nothing, dear – we were just talking about you.”
Jed raised his hands and backed out through the door. “I came to offer help, but I think perhaps its best I leave,” he said, and fled.
His mother had set Anna up in a prettily decorated room at the opposite end of the long corridor from Jed’s own childhood bedroom. In between were several other bedrooms, including his parents’ suite. Jed walked her upstairs but stopped at her door.
“I’d planned to creep to your room later but I’ll be darned if I can figure out a way to do it quietly enough that Mom or Dad won’t poke their heads out of their room as I pass. I’ll have to be content with this.” Jed lowered his head to capture her lips, and sparks as bright as the colored lights that decorated the trees in front of the house exploded all through Anna’s body and she moaned softly against his mouth.
At that moment his grandmother decided to pass down the corridor on her way to the bathroom. “She doesn’t have to do that, you know – she has a room with an ensuite bathroom. It’s like that damned No Sex Clause all over again.” Jed groaned and kissed her one last time before reluctantly heading down the hallway to his own room, giving her one last lingering look before disappearing inside.
* * *
They were to be married at the little country church that Anna had attended with her foster parents until, rebellious in her teens, she had refused to accompany them anymore. Sofia and the church women had done a beautiful job of the decorations, thriftily using evergreens and pink and white ribbons to turn the old-fashioned interior into a beautiful place for a wedding.
Jed felt like the epitome of the nervous bridegroom, standing at the altar unable to resist glancing down the aisle every few minutes. He felt also like the world’s luckiest man and, while he knew in his heart Anna wouldn’t let him down, there was always the possibility that his luck might run out. Again!
What if she changed her mind?
His younger brother, Simon, stood at his side as best man. “It’s getting late – do you think she’s decided not to come?” he muttered in Jed’s ear. Seeing the stricken look on his brother’s face, he added: “Just kidding. That woman loves you, Big Bro.”
Looking over at the pew where his parents and other family members sat, he thought how lucky he was to have their love and support. He knew they’d taken a liking to Anna from the moment he’d introduced her, and his Mom and Dad and Sofia and Dan had got along like a house on fire. His mother caught his eye and smiled encouragingly.
The strains for the traditional ‘Here Comes The Bride’ struck up and Jed’s stomach muscles tightened.
She was here. It was really happening.
A tiny girl appeared first, his cousin’s daughter, dressed in frothy pink and scattering pink and white rose petals from a basket she carried over her arm. She smiled at Jed shyly as her mother took her by the hand and pulled her into a pew. She was followed by a small boy holding
a white lace bridal pillow upon which two golden rings glistened. Simon waved the boy over to stand beside him and Jed.
Jed’s heart was beating faster now.
Hell, how I hate the tension of waiting!
He took an impatient breath as another figure appeared - the maid of honor, Alex, the publicity agent who’d become Anna’s closest friend, dressed in sultry, wine colored satin.
Then she was there – his beautiful Anna, dressed in a simple white gown, trimmed with lace and pearls. An organza veil studded with pearls hid her face, and she held a bouquet of pink and white roses. Behind her, holding her train, were two tiny bridesmaids both dressed in the same frothy pink as the little flower girl..
Anna was clutching Dan’s arm tightly as they did the slow and traditional walk down the aisle, and all heads swiveled to watch. Finally standing alongside Jed, Anna handed her bouquet to Alex and Sofia stepped forward to help her fold back her veil. His heart leapt as his bride offered him a shy smile, filled with promise.
* * *
Anna couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d been so nervous – and so very happy. But all her nerves vanished as she entered the small church and saw Jed standing at the altar waiting for her.
Waiting for her to begin their new life together as man and wife. “I must have done something really good in a past life to deserve this joy,” she whispered to Dan. She had finally found it in herself to recognize how much love the Adams had lavished on her in their own special way, and Dan’s obvious pride when she asked him to walk down the aisle with her and give her away had brought tears to her eyes.
Aware that all eyes in the crowded church were on her, Anna had eyes only for Jed as she walked towards the altar where the minister waited with her handsome groom. She’d been trembling as she dressed in the pretty gown that Sofia had made for her, and even the small glass of sherry her foster mother had offered to still both Anna’s nerves and her own had done nothing to calm her. But the look of love on Jed’s face cemented her belief that this was the most perfect thing in her life.
I don’t think I can ever be afraid of anything ever again when he’s with me.
She smiled at him as Sofia helped her with her veil. The older woman then reached up to lay a gentle kiss on Anna’s cheek and moved back to her pew. The service had begun.
* * *
Jed’s parents had offered to pay for a lavish reception, but Dan and Sofia would not hear of it. Graciously, they explained that Anna was their daughter and they would cover the wedding expenses. So the adjoining church hall was filled with long tables groaning under food prepared by the church women’s group. Swathes of white organza, pink and white ribbons and rich greenery decorated the windows and walls, while vases filled with bunches of pink and white roses, the one item Sofia had let the Walkers supply, stood in profusion on the tables.
When the bride and groom took the floor for the first dance the band played The Last Waltz and Anna saw Sofia, Jed’s mother, Mia, and a number of other women wiping sentimental tears from their eyes. There was so much love in the room, Anna thought she’d burst with happiness, especially when Jed bent his head to whisper in her ear: “I want to dance every dance with you.”.
When the bride and groom were ready to leave, a cluster of women gathered around her begging her to throw her bouquet. So Anna turned and following tradition, closed her eyes and threw her bouquet over her shoulder. The young women, some of whom had called her Mouse so
long ago but were now friends, scrambled to catch the bouquet as it arced towards them amid cheers.
“Oh, my God – it’s me! I caught the bride’s bouquet, so will I be the next to marry?” Maria Wilson squealed. Catching sight of Joey’s face as he beamed down at the country singer, Anna was pretty sure that Maria’s wish and the prophecy would come true very, very soon.
Then she and Jed were alone at last. He drove carefully through the February snow to the hotel where she had rented the honeymoon suite on the same day she met Jed – the same suite they’d stayed in on their very first night together on the night of the high school reunion. They had both agreed there would be something satisfyingly symmetrical about staying there for the first night of their honeymoon.
Pushing open the hotel door, they passed into the warmth of the lobby where, sweeping her effortlessly off her feet and past the smirking receptionist, Jed carried her up to their room. As the elderly elevator creaked slowly up to their floor, he kissed her thoroughly on her lips, her neck and her bare shoulders until she tingled with anticipation as her legs went weak.
“Just one thing, Anna,” he said when he raised his head, as the elevator bell announced their arrival at the penthouse honeymoon floor. “You remember the last time we were here?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied, languorously.
“Well, this time I want you to forget about that damned No Sex Clause.”
Anna laughed. “I don’t think that applies to us anymore, do you – and besides I seem to remember you saying that some rules are made to be broken,” she teased.
“And I intend to break that one many, many times during all the years we’ll have together,” he told her, his voice full of promise.
Glenys O'Connell is a former crime journalist on a daily newspaper and publisher of a community newspaper. Covering serious crimes led her to a degree in psychology and a career as a counselor. She is the author of a number of published romantic suspense and comedy novels and children’s’ books. She has shared her writing skills as a creative writing teacher in third level and online. She has also published several books on mental health issues and is an award winning playwright. After years of travelling and working abroad, she now makes her home in rural Ontario, Canada, with her husband, four grown up children and two spoiled cats. You can read more about Glenys & see her other books on her
Amazon page
or write to her by
email.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading The No Sex Clause. I hope you enjoyed Anna and Jed’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you had time, it would be wonderful if you would consider putting a review up on Amazon – every writer gets a boost out of seeing reviews by readers!!
Chapter 1
The woman in the sexy little red convertible looked perky from behind. Her glossy long hair was pulled up in a careless ponytail and swayed from side like a cobra charmed by an Indian flute as she bopped to the music from the car radio.
Even at a car
’s length away, the driver behind her thought this was the sort of hair a man could run his fingers through and grasp playfully. He wished now he were piloting his own expensive roadster rather than the sedate brown sedan he’d rented especially for this trip. His own car was the sort that would impress the kind of girl who drove a bright red convertible with the top down on a windy spring day.
He imagined himself overtaking her, seeing her look over at him, her eyes widening in admiration as she took in his expensive ride and wealthy, groomed good looks.
Then she’d remember him and smile…