Free After The One (The One Series Duet) by Danielle Allen

me for a long while and the subtle twitch of his eyebrow alerted me to his nervousness. He licked his lips. “Let’s say we can’t get out of the contract, what then? What do you want to do?”
    I opened my mouth to respond, but he interrupted before I could answer.
    “But before you answer, just know that I know I’m willing to do whatever you want to do. It kills me that I might not be able to give you the wedding you’ve always wanted. If you want to postpone, I’ll—”
    Pressing my lips against his, I stopped his flood of words with a kiss. “Julian, stop.” I searched his eyes until I saw the uncertainty receding. “You are going to give me the marriage I’ve always wanted; that’s what matters.” Ignoring the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach, I made a conscious decision to do what was best for our family. “We’re not going to postpone. Just like we said last night, we’re going to start the year as Mr. and Mrs. Winters.”
    Relief smoothed out the crease between his eyebrows as he sighed. “Thank God.”
    Capturing my lips with his, he kissed me with a tenderness that caused me to feel faint. My body heated, my brain flooded with emotions, and my heart skipped a beat. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him closer as he leisurely explored my mouth with his own. The kiss was gentle and reverent.
    I felt loved.
    Pulling out of the kiss, we stared into each other’s eyes. “January first,” I breathed, a bit of wonder in my voice. “We’re getting married in less than a month.”
    A slow smile spread across his face. “You sure you don’t want to push it to February or right before I leave in March, give us time to plan?”
    I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter if it’s January first or March first. Unless there’s a way out of the contract, we still couldn’t have the wedding we talked about last night.” I let my fingers play along his chiseled jaw. “So why delay having you as my husband?”
    “So we’re doing this?” Julian questioned, eyes crinkling happily.
    Scooping me up into his arms, Julian helped me off the island. “We’re doing this,” I giggled, unwrapping my legs from around his body and placing my feet on the ground. “So I guess I need to find a dress.”
    “You do that. I have to make a few calls before dinner.” His lips brushed against mine. “I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
    I watched his sexy ass leave the kitchen.
    “I love you,” I called out to his retreating back.
    “I love you, too.”
    He went to handle his business and I handled mine. Two hours later, we were sitting side-by-side on our laptops in the den as we listened to music and planned our wedding.
    Although they were unable to find a loophole to get us out of any kind of contractual obligation to The One , his team of lawyers found a wedding planner named Peri Moore who was available and able to execute in a few weeks’ time. We spoke to her briefly and told her our wedding colors were a twist on the classic black and white. She assured us we were in capable hands and that she would handle everything.
    Well, everything except for the fashion and the music.
    Julian and I made it clear that we were going to take care of those things and let her know what we decided when we met with her in a few days.
    With that out of the way, we contacted the rest of our wedding party and then worked on random wedding tasks. I’d just gotten off of the phone with Koko, who had received my email about her maid of honor dress, when Julian’s phone rang.
    “Hello?” he answered.
    We were sitting close enough that I could hear a man’s voice, but I couldn’t make out who it was.
    Julian pulled the phone from his ear to look at the number again. “This number is private. How did you get it?” he asked sharply. Although it was subtle, I heard the intimidating shift in his tone.
    I didn’t even pretend not to be listening as I turned my head to look at him.
    “Beverly has my