Page 50 of Trick or Tease

GARRETT

One month later

A month later, I stood in the living room watching Billy adjust his tie for the third time in five minutes. The engagement party was in full swing around us, with what felt like half of Greenleaf scattered across our property, celebrating Billy and Lucy’s official engagement.

I was surprised Billy managed to wait as long as he did.

Since I had been away, my little brother had gotten himself completely, absolutely and madly in love.

It was strange to see him so committed. He was still the goofy little shit I remembered, but there was a calmness to him now.

He wasn’t trying to impress the girl anymore with stupid antics.

He loved her unequivocally and she loved him.

They were two halves of the same whole. There was just this knowing that they were going to be together forever.

I was so glad he was able to buy the ring he wanted. The ring he knew she would want. He wasn’t bragging about the carats, cut, or clarity. It was the ring he knew she would be proud to wear because it was special to them.

The ring had been worth the wait. Billy had used some of the farm’s newfound financial stability to buy Lucy a vintage sapphire surrounded by diamonds that looked perfect on her hand.

She had been showing it off to anyone who would look, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her.

My brother had good taste when it counted.

“You clean up nice,” I told Billy, straightening his collar. “Lucy’s going to lose her mind when she sees you in an actual suit.”

“Says the guy who’s been wearing jeans and work boots for a month straight,” Billy shot back, grinning. “I barely recognize you without a tie.”

He wasn’t wrong. The transformation had been gradual but complete.

My expensive suits hung unworn in the closet while I accumulated an impressive collection of flannel shirts and work pants.

My hands were callused now from actual labor instead of just gripping a pen, and I had never felt better in my life.

“Speaking of changes,” I said, taking a swig of my beer, “I wanted to run something by you. About the old house.”

Billy raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Sabrina and I have been talking about fixing it up. Making it livable again. I’m getting a little old to be sharing a bathroom with my little brother, and once you and Lucy are married…” I trailed off with a meaningful look.

“You want to move into the haunted house?” Billy asked, his expression caught between amusement and concern.

“It’s not haunted,” I said automatically. “Are you worried it’s haunted?”

Billy shook his head, then paused. “I never used to think it was haunted, but in October, I was walking by one night and I swear I heard moaning and creaking coming from up there. Really spooky stuff.”

I felt my face heat up as I realized what he probably heard. “Uh, that might have been Sabrina and me. That place is kind of our place if you know what I mean.”

“Gross!” Billy made a face like he’d bitten into something rotten. “Shit, Garrett. You should have let me think it was ghosts. That’s so much better than knowing my brother was?—”

“Dude, like I don’t hear you and Lucy all the fucking time. Why do you think we had to go up there? She lives with her parents and I live with you. I’m long past hooking up in my bedroom with roommates listening in.”

He grinned. “Good point. But a little weird, man.”

“Moving on,” I interrupted quickly, desperate to change the subject. “The only spooky thing I’ve actually noticed is this black cat that keeps showing up whenever things are about to go wrong. It’s been freaking me out.”

Billy started laughing, nearly spitting out his beer.

“I’m not kidding, man,” I said, getting irritated. “This cat has appeared before every major disaster in my life recently. Right before Ron showed up, before that whole mess with the contract. I’m starting to think I’m cursed or something.”

“Dude,” Billy said, still chuckling, “there are like thirty black cats living behind the barn. They’re everywhere. Mom’s been feeding strays for years, and they just keep multiplying. I doubt it’s even the same cat.”

I stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. We’ve got a whole colony back there.

Mom has been trying to trap them and take them to get fixed and release them, but you know how she is about animals.

She fixes them and they go find their friends and bring them back for the free meals.

She’s got all kinds of little cat huts back there so they stay warm in the winter. ”

I thought back to all my supposed supernatural encounters. “Are you sure I’m not cursed? Because I swear I saw one back in the city too, right before everything started falling apart.”

Billy shrugged, his grin widening. “Well, I don’t know about that. Maybe you’re cursed. Or maybe there are just black cats all over the place and you never noticed before.”

“Come to think of it,” I said slowly, “that cat in the parking garage might have been dark gray.”

“There you go. Mystery solved. You’re not cursed, just paranoid.”

I shook my head, feeling both relieved and slightly stupid. Leave it to my little brother to completely deflate my supernatural concerns with basic logic.

Lucy’s family was having a great time. They were a big part of the community.

The coming marriage between Lucy and Billy was about as much of a surprise as Christmas coming on December 25th.

Granny Mae had set up a dessert table that looked like something out of a magazine, and the high school kids we hired for the Halloween festival were helping serve drinks and keep things organized.

I spotted Sabrina in the kitchen, talking animatedly with Lucy’s mother about something that had them both laughing.

She was wearing a deep green dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, and her hair was pulled back in some kind of elegant twist that made me want to mess it up with my hands.

“Go dance with your girlfriend,” Billy said, nudging me with his elbow. “She looks incredible tonight.”

“She looks incredible every night,” I said, but I was already moving toward her.

I approached just as Mrs. Beaumont was saying something about wedding plans, and I caught the tail end of Sabrina’s response.

“Well, we’re not quite there yet, but who knows what the future holds?”

“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, slipping my arm around Sabrina’s waist. “Mind if I steal her for a dance?”

Mrs. Beaumont beamed at us. “Of course! You two make such a lovely couple.”

I led Sabrina toward the makeshift dance floor set up in the backyard under a tent with big heaters in the corners to keep people from freezing. Several other couples were already swaying to the music from the speakers we’d strung up in the trees.

“Having fun?” I asked, pulling her into my arms as a slow song started playing.

“The best,” she said, settling against my chest like she belonged there. “Your brother looks so happy. They both do.”

I looked over at Billy and Lucy, who were in their own little world despite being surrounded by dozens of people. Billy was whispering something in Lucy’s ear that made her giggle and blush, and the look of pure adoration on both their faces made my chest tight with emotion.

“They deserve this,” I said. “After everything that almost happened, seeing them get their happy ending, it’s everything.”

“What about us?” Sabrina asked quietly, tilting her head back to look at me. “What’s our ending going to be?”

I spun her slowly, buying myself a moment to think about how to answer that.

We had been taking things day by day since the night I’d groveled in the corn maze, rebuilding trust and learning how to be partners in every sense of the word.

But lately, I had been thinking about forever more and more often.

“I don’t know about endings,” I said finally, “but I know what I want our beginning to look like.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“Us in that house on the hill. Waking up together every morning, working on the place together, building something that’s completely ours.

” I pulled her closer, lowering my voice so only she could hear.

“I want to marry you, Sabrina. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon. I want to make this official in every possible way.”

Her eyes went wide, and for a moment I worried I pushed too hard too fast. But then she smiled, the kind of radiant, joy-filled smile that made me fall in love with her all over again.

“I want that too,” she whispered. “All of it. The house, the farm, the future. You.”

“Even if it means living in a supposedly haunted house?”

She laughed. “Especially if it means that.”

“We’ll make it the least haunted house in the county.”

The song changed to something more upbeat, but we kept dancing slowly, lost in our own world. Around us, the party continued, but all I could focus on was the woman in my arms and the life we were planning together.

“I love you,” I said, the words coming as naturally as breathing now.

“I love you too,” she replied, standing on her toes to kiss me softly. “My reformed corporate lawyer.”

“Still reforming,” I corrected with a grin. “But I’m getting there. You might come home one day and find Heineken in the fridge or maybe a new pair of Gucci’s in the closet.”

She laughed. “I think I’ll survive.”

As we swayed together under the canvas tent, I thought about how different my life looked now compared to just a few months ago.

The expensive apartment, the corporate ladder, the relentless pursuit of success that had consumed me for years—none of it mattered anymore.

What mattered was right here in my arms. It was all about the simple satisfaction of honest work and genuine community.

“You know what I’m excited about?” I said.

“What?”

“Working with my hands. Really working, not just signing papers and making phone calls. I want to strip the floors in that house, rebuild the kitchen, maybe even learn how to do some electrical work.”

Sabrina pulled back to look at me with mock concern. “Electrical work? Should I be worried about you burning the place down?”

“I’ll hire professionals for the dangerous stuff,” I assured her. “But the rest of it, I want to do it myself. With you. I want to know that every board we replace, every room we restore, was done with our own effort.”

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” she warned. “That house needs everything. New plumbing, updated wiring, probably a new roof eventually.”

“Good,” I said firmly. “I want it to be a lot of work. I want us to earn it.”

The song ended, but we didn’t separate. Instead, we stood there holding each other as the party continued around us, both of us lost in dreams of the future.

“Since it’s the off-season, we’ll have plenty of time to work on it before things get busy again in the spring.”

“Perfect timing,” I agreed. “By next Halloween, we could be hosting the party from our own front porch instead of Billy’s.”

“Our own front porch,” she repeated, like she was testing how the words sounded. “I like that.”

“Me too. More than I ever thought possible.”

Billy appeared at my elbow, slightly drunk and grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry to interrupt the dance, but Lucy wants to do a toast, and she specifically requested that all four partners be present.”

We made our way over to where Lucy was standing on a chair, a champagne glass raised high above her head. The crowd gradually quieted as people noticed what was happening.

“Thank you all for being here tonight,” Lucy began. “Billy and I are so grateful to have all of you in our lives, celebrating this next step with us.”

She looked down at Billy with such love that I felt my throat tighten with emotion.

“But tonight isn’t just about us,” she continued. “It’s about family, chosen and blood. It’s about the people who stand by you when things get tough, who help you build something beautiful, who remind you what really matters in life.”

Her gaze found Billy, Sabrina, and me. “To our partners, our family, our future. Thank you for making our dreams possible.”

“To family!” Billy called out, raising his own glass.

“To family!” the crowd echoed back.

I pulled Sabrina closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, and we drank to the future.

***

If you loved this book, don’t miss out…

Check out book 1 in A Wedding Bells Alpha Novel called Say You Do .

My brother is an idiot—he’s getting married.

And I’m in charge of getting things together since our folks are gone.

Lucky me. The guy who thinks love is for the birds and worn-out 80s songs.

I honestly don’t have time for this drama. I run a billion-dollar company, have women to entertain, and am working on my plans to rule the world.

No, seriously.

And yet, when you least expect it, life kicks you in the balls.

The beautiful, snarky woman that runs the flower shop is perfect to help me pull off this wedding.

Just seeing her sends my head spinning with possibilities.

She’s perfect. To play my fake wife for an event I have coming up as a side deal.

My ex-wife will be at the event, and I sure could use someone to show her how well I’ve done since she ripped out my soul.

So my curvy new friend gets my ring and a chunk of my wallet before agreeing to the deal.

Funny thing is, I’m not so interested in taking it back by the end of the adventure.

I’m willing to go all in on what might be the best decision of my life.

And I’m demanding the same of her. No maybes. No I-don’t-knows.

No fear of what might be or might not be.

Open your pretty pink lips and utter the words.

Say you do.

I gotta have THIS