Free Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Two (BWWM Romance Serial) by Mia Caldwell Page A

didn’t
realize it. Ha!” Her spirits soared with the knowledge that the holiday might
guarantee her one more day with Ian.
    “None of that matters, Monty,” her mother said. “Listen
honey, you have a good time. Enjoy yourself. Get to know the billionaire. I
mean, get to know Mr. Buckley. Ian. It was Ian, right?”
    “Fine,” her dad said. “But remember, Jada. You’re a good
girl. Don’t let some high-flyer take advantage—”
    “Shh! Don’t be ridiculous,” her mom interrupted. “I’m sure
Ian is a lovely man. And we’ve got to take advantage of opportunities when they
present themselves.”
    “Kenya!”
    “Ignore him, Jada,” her mother said. “We love you, honey.
Enjoy your picnic. And have fun.”
    “But not too much fun,” her father added.
    “I love you both, too,” Jada said. “Drive safely, back to
wherever you were going before you had the idea of coming to get me. Okay?”
    Her mother laughed, her father grumbled, then they all said
goodbye. Jada ended the call relieved it had gone as well as it had.
    “How are your parents?” Ian asked, sitting up. “Are they
worried?”
    “They were, but I think they’re okay now.”
    “You going to tell me what was funny?”
    “Funny? Oh yeah. So, I think we may be stuck together a
little longer than we’d thought.”
    “You don’t say. How so?”
    She searched his face, hoping he’d be as pleased with the
news as she was. “Well, it’s kind of silly that we both forgot. The courthouse
won’t be open tomorrow. It’s Memorial Day.”
    A big smile stretched across his handsome face. “You don’t
say.”
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    IAN HAD BEEN MORE DISGRUNTLED than he’d shown when the deer
and Jada’s cat interrupted his tryst with Jada. Hearing that Monday was
Memorial Day helped soothe the ache in his loins. More time with Jada was
exactly what his body ordered.
    Jada chatted gaily about her parents, but Ian had difficulty
following the conversation. That had been happening more and more each time he
talked with her. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interesting. She was. It wasn’t that
she wasn’t clever. She was. And smart. And funny, too. The problem was that
each time he saw her she got more beautiful, and it was damned distracting.
    He’d watch her full lips move, the way she quirked up the
corner of one side of her mouth when she was teasing. She had a tiny dimple in
her left cheek that only showed up when she smiled widely. And the bridge of
her cute nose scrunched up adorably when she was unsure or thinking hard about
something.
    Then there were her eyes. He understood now what it meant to
be lost in someone’s eyes. How could he hear the words she spoke when her
sparkling eyes were already speaking volumes? Everything she felt was projected
there.
    Today, when the passion in her eyes turned them nearly
black, it had taken every ounce of his self-control not to strip her naked on the
spot, tearing off every little button on her pretty dress, and doing to her
magnificent body everything those gorgeous eyes were telling him she wanted.
    He was glad he held back as much as he did. Romantic as this
picnic spot was, he didn’t want their first time to be on a blanket on the
ground.
    And there would be a first time for him and Jada. He had to
have her. Soon. There’d be no stopping it. Let all the deer, cats, parents,
fake fiancées and publicists in the world descend on them at once, but they
would not be stopped.
    Ian Buckley didn’t lose. Not to anyone. Period.
    He watched Jada’s lips close over the rim of the champagne
flute. She drank the last of the champagne and let the strawberry at the bottom
of the glass bump against her lips. She took it in her teeth and wrapped her
sweet lips around the plump, red fruit, and—
    Ian looked away, down at the cat napping beside him. He
couldn’t watch Jada eat that strawberry, not with Ms. Kitty still around. Damn.
    He offered Jada some more champagne, but she declined. He
put the