“I need a minute with Kate, Lena.”
“No! Cooper. It’s bad luck.” She tries to shoo him out and shut the door, but she doesn’t really have any idea who she’s dealing with.
“It’s okay, Mom. It’s fine. He can come in.”
Her eyes go wide as saucers. “Really? But it’s bad luck.” She can’t believe what she’s hearing. Oddly, me, the person who doesn’t step on a crack for fear of breaking my mother’s back, is actually okay with seeing the groom ten minutes before the wedding. It’s kind of shocking even to me.
Cooper opens the door and my mother leaves the two of us alone. He eyes me in the mirror I’m still facing. “You look … gorgeous.” I may not be the most beautiful woman in the world, but to him, I am at this very moment. He leaves no room for anyone else.
“Thank you. But you could have told me that in ten minutes.” I turn, placing my palms on the lapels of his swoon-worthy tuxedo. “It must be important if you’re willing to risk bad luck, knowing how I am.”
“You know that none of that’s true. You’d beat me at cards whether you had a lucky chip or not and we’ll grow old together fifty years from now.” He wraps his arm around my waist.
His nose nuzzles in my hair. “You smell good too.”
“Cooper?”
“Hmmm.”
“Did you come here for a reason? Because I am not having sex with you ten minutes before we are getting married.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” he says and I see that look growing in his eye. The one that both of us know I can’t resist.
“Cooper …” I warn. “I’m kicking you out.”
He takes a step back, his hands scrubbing the hormone-induced haze from his face. “No. I came to give you something.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
He grins. “Get your dirty mind out of the gutter, soon-to-be Mrs. Montgomery. I’ll give you that after the ceremony. In the coat closet, on the way to the reception.” He winks. I wouldn’t put it past him for a second.
“Close your eyes.”
“Seriously, Cooper, we …”
“Just trust me. Close your eyes.”
I do as he asks. I feel him move around the room and then he’s back in front of me. “Open your eyes.”
He’s kneeling down in front of me.
“Lift.” One hand on my ankle, he guides me to lift my foot, then slips off my shoe. His finger goes to the toe and he removes the four-leaf clover I’d stashed there, but never told him about.
“But … I already tempted fate by letting you see me before the ceremony.” Panic starts to rise.
Cooper lifts my bouquet placed at the floor next to him. I hadn’t even noticed he put it there. He hands me the simple bundle of roses with a few silk ribbons cascading from the bottom. “Look underneath.”
Confused, I turn the flowers upside down. Something sparkly affixed to the top of the ribbon captures my attention. It couldn’t be. How could he ever find them?
“Are these …”
He nods. “They’re mine now. But I thought you might need something borrowed.”
My eyes sting with tears I desperately try to hold back. “I can’t believe you got these back for me.” Securely fastened to the ribbon under my bridal bouquet are my father’s lucky four-leaf clover cufflinks, the ones he had made when I was born. He wore them to all four World Poker championships—firmly believing they brought him luck each time he won. Sometime between his last win and next loss at the national championships, he lost them in a “sure thing” bet he made. A year later he died of a heart attack.
“I don’t even know what to say. I love them. You found my father’s lucky charm.”
“I’m glad you love them. But you’re wrong. I’m marrying his lucky charm in a few minutes.” He kisses my lips softly.
“You’re going to make me cry.”
“No. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making you smile and giving you orgasms.” He pulls me flush against his body. I have no doubt he’ll do both. This man is a royal straight flush. A field of four leaf clovers. He’s red skies at night. I need no other lucky charm, as long as I have him.
“Thank you, Cooper. I love them.”
“And I love you.”
Ten minutes later, at exactly eleven-eleven, on the eleventh day of November, I married the love of my life. As my husband said when he kissed me for the first time as his wife, “There’s nobody luckier than me.”
And just like that, the game was finally over.
Dear Readers,
If you liked Cooper and Kate’s story, then please check out Flynn and Lucky’s story! BEAT is coming summer 2015!
Dimpled smile of a boy
Hard body of a man
Sings like an angel
Fucks like the devil
I was stuck between a rock(star) and a hard place.
—Lucky Valentino
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acknowledgements
Thank you to the incredible community of bloggers that support Indie Authors! Without your help, my books would never have reached so many new readers.
A special thank you to some amazing ladies—
Penelope—for 6am chats almost every day.
Julie—for always keeping us snorting and never sleeping.
Dallison—for rocking it old school with a real dictionary!
Lisa—for putting up with my obsessiveness.
Sommer—for making the amazing cover that is Throb.
Carmen, Beth and the TF chicks—for friendship and support, always.
Finally, a huge thank you to all the readers. With so many incredible authors out there, I can’t extend my gratitude enough for picking my story to read! I love your notes, emails and reviews, so please keep them coming!
Much love,
Vi
other books by vi
MMA Fighter Series
Worth The Fight
It didn't matter that the ref called it a clean hit. Nico Hunter would never be the same.
Elle has a good life. A job she loves, a great apartment, and the guy she's been dating for more than two years is a catch and a half. But it's boring...and she strives to keep it that way. Too many emotions are dangerous. Her own past is living proof of what can happen when you lose control.
Then Nico walks into Elle's office and everything changes...for both of them. But what can the tattooed, hard-bodied MMA fighter and the beautiful and always steady attorney have in common? A lot more than they bargained for.
***Author's note*** THIS IS A STAND-ALONE NOVEL. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.