Page 78 of Cherish

“I can send someone to put the fear of God into her. Five minutes is all he’ll need.”

“All who will need?” I ask, appalled yet intrigued at what my father just said. He doesn’t respond, though. He only smirks and arches one eyebrow.

Jason stills beside me and looks from him to Tina.

“He’s joking, right?” Jason asks Tina.

“He most certainly is not.” It’s my father who responds, and not Tina.

“I’m afraid not, kiddos,” Tina says to me. “Never complain about your problems to Alexander Reilly unless you want him to fix it.”

“I’d rather you not put the fear of God into a pregnant woman, Alex,” Jason says to him. “But I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

My father slaps him on the shoulder and laughs. Alexander takes Jason out of the room and guides him onto the deck, closing the sliding glass door behind them while Jake and Sandy clean the kitchen. With all the kissing they’re doing, it’s going to take them all night to load the dishwasher.

“So,” I say to Tina when we’re finally alone, “this sibling and father thing is working out better than I’d ever imagined.”

“But,” she says.

“But how is this affecting you and the rest of your family? How come you’re not mad at our father for having a baby with another woman while married to your mother.”

Tina doesn’t speak at first. She helps me wipe down the dining room table and takes the rest of the dishes back to the kitchen. When she comes back, she takes a seat at the table and waits for me to join her. “So,” she says as she reaches over and takes my hands in hers, “I’ve learned a long time ago not to judge. It took me a while to get there, but it’s a great place to be now that I’ve arrived. And I was mad at our dad for a long time. We were estranged for a few years even. Bruce went into remission, and he has thankfully been healthy ever since. Our dad left my mother the day after he dropped him off at college. I knew that my parents weren’t in a happy marriage, and despite being an adult, I was hurt and upset when dad walked away. It didn’t help that my mother badmouthed him to me. She told me about the affair and how horrible he treated her. I felt Dad was abandoning us. I stopped taking his calls, but you know what? He never gave up on me. He never stopped calling or showing up. A friend of mine convinced me to see a therapist, and it was eye opening. My parents just didn’t make each other happy. My mother is no saint either, but that’s a whole other story. The point is, they were not a good match. I don’t condone cheating, but I thought back to those years and remember Dad was happy. I love both of my parents. They both have flaws and made mistakes, and I refuse to side with one over the other. Dad has never said a cross word about my mother to me, and I told Mom that I won’t listen to her badmouth him anymore either. I’m Switzerland as far as they are concerned. I’m just happy to finally have a sister.”

She pulls me into a hug, then pulls away and grabs my face. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Come on.” She gets up and pulls me with her. “We have a wedding to plan and only about a month to do it.”

CHAPTER 52

JASON

SIX WEEKS LATER

I pull Alex closer to me and feel her hot skin against mine. She giggles when I throw a leg over her body, pinning her to our bed.

“It’s time, Dr. Dupree,” she purrs, her voice husky with sleep.

“No,” I complain. “I don’t want to leave our bubble, Mrs. Dupree.” I kiss her naked shoulder and squeeze one of her breasts. I’m rewarded with a moan and a sigh. I move my hand down her body to her flat stomach and below. She opens her legs for me, and I stroke her clit.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, opening wider. She’s wet and willing. Just as I flip her on her back and climb on top of her, my stupid alarm goes off. The unexpected sound causes her to shriek and cover her head with a pillow.

“What the hell? Since when do you use an alarm?” she asks.

“Since today is our first day back. Honeymoon hours are different than regular hours.”

Our wedding, though put together quickly, was perfect. Alexander pulled some strings and we were able to get married on Alex’s bridge in the middle of the Boston Gardens surrounded by fall flowers instead of summer. I hadn’t known what to expect, but she’d looked beautiful in a white knee-length dress. The front was all lace with long sleeves, but it was the back that left me with a hard dick for the duration of the wedding and reception. The entire back had been open, showing off her flawless skin.

Our vows were simple, pledging our love for eternity. The minute she opened her mouth to repeat after the justice of the peace, my eyes filled with tears that refused to be contained. My best man, Jake, had no tissues to offer me, but my best person did. Mellie was there to wipe my tears as well as her own. Despite my parents being there, everything turned out beautifully. Not surprisingly, they loved Alex the minute they laid eyes on her.

After I finally got to kiss my bride, we celebrated our new marriage at a downtown hotel.

“No time, babe. To be continued. We don’t want you to be late on your first day back at work.” I moan and roll my hips, letting her know what she’s passing up. After kissing her on the lips, she slaps my bare ass as I walk to the bathroom.

“I’m going to miss you,” I say to her twenty minutes later as we stand in the kitchen. She’s in a silk robe she received at her bridal shower. “It’s unfair to have to get back to reality after a week of uninterrupted bliss. I wish we could have stayed in Amsterdam longer.”

“Well, you can take me back when we have more time, but it was everything I could have asked for in a honeymoon. I’m happy to be home with you.”

“And me,” Mellie says, walking into the kitchen uncaring about me holding on to my wife as if she’s a life raft. “You two better not even think about kicking me out. And Jase, tell your mother to stop calling me. She seems to be under the impression that I want to deal with her.” She reaches for the coffee pot and pours herself a generous mug. “And can you believe this guy? What does he think this is? A prison yard?”

We’ve been back for two days, and each morning, Mellie gets up at this ungodly hour to watch my new tenant exercise in the yard.

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