Sweet Reflection (37 page)

“Don’t worry so much. I’m fine, the company’s fine. I can spare them for a week. But only one. So we better get to work.”

I nod my submission, and get back to sorting out all the supplies I bought. I’m one hell of a lucky bastard to have such great friends.

Laurel

Fashion week was
amazing
. Cassie and I met so many cool people and saw some very weird and wonderful outfits at the catwalk shows but I’m so happy I’m back in Stamford and get to see James again. A week is way too long; I missed him like crazy. I park in the side road round the corner from the high street and walk to the café where he said he’d meet me. I’m late because I went the long way round which meant I didn’t have to drive past the store. I can’t face it just yet. I’ve been living in a bubble for over a week and I don’t want anything to burst it. I’ve just been pretending I’m on one long holiday.

My breath hitches at the sight of him sitting down talking on his phone. He looks tired, and his stubble is longer than it was a week ago, but he’s still so sexy I can’t take my eyes off him as I walk to the back of the room. He sees me and grins, his eyes looking me up and down which gets my pulse racing. The confidence puts a little sway in my hips.

He ends the phone call and gets up to wrap me in his arms.

“I’ve missed you.” He says simply into my hair.

“I’ve missed you too. I still can’t believe you did that though.”

He cups the back of my neck and strokes my cheek slowly with his thumb.

“Just wanted to make you happy,” he replies as he leans in closer, so close that I can feel his breath against my lips. He tugs on my neck to bring my lips the rest of the way and my head spins when they fuse together, the accustomed tingle shooting straight through me. He breaks away after a few seconds, reluctantly, and chuckles when I pout.

“Later, babe. I promise. So you had fun?”

“Oh, it was so much fun. We sat right on the second row for all the catwalk shows. I can’t believe some of the things they call fashion though. Freaky.” I say with a shudder, remembering the Philip Treacy hat with a whole flippin’ circus on it.

“Well I have something to show you, so give me your hand, and let’s go.”

“What is it?” I ask excitedly, then tug on his arm and flutter my eyelashes hoping I can charm it out of him.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’ll find out in a few seconds,” he promises as we leave the café and turn to walk up the street. Then it hits me where we’re going and my legs stop moving.

“James I can’t do it.” I shake my head vigorously, feeling my heart racing against my chest so hard it’s difficult to breathe.

“Babe, come on. You need to face this.”

“Please just give me a few more days. I’ve had such a fantastic week, and I’d rather bury my head in the sand for a few more.
Please
.” I beg desperately.

“Laurel. I’m right here with you. You need to do this,” he insists, kissing my hand. I know he’s right, of course he is. I have to stop being a baby and get it over with. I have a lot of money now, but I still want my dreams to come true. And that’s making Proposals a success. But everything was such a mess and just thinking about seeing it again is bringing the tears out.

“Come on,” he whispers, “I’m here.” And I feel stronger with his touch. I grip tightly onto his arm as we walk towards the store.

Just before it comes into view, he stops and moves behind me. He reaches round in front of my eyes and pulls a silk scarf over them so I can’t see anything.

“Just trust me,” he whispers when he feels me shaking. Of course I trust him, I just wish I knew what was going on. Maybe the front has been damaged even more and he doesn’t want me to see it. There are a lot of kids round here that like to make trouble. He puts his hands on my shoulders and steers me forward. It’s a short walk so I don’t have much time to actually think about what’s happening until the door opens and I’m guided through. The strong paint smell hits me hard first and then the blindfold is whipped off and my eyes see all the friendly faces in front of me. My mum’s grinning with a mug in her hands, Cassie, Jen and Emma are huddled together, and all my staff have stopped their chatter to watch me. There’s a load of guys inside I vaguely remember seeing before too. My eyes dart around the room so quickly, there’s too much to try and focus on. James’ hand rubs my back gently which brings out a loud sob and then he’s pushing me further inside, urging me to look at everything.

The store’s been completely refurbished. The room’s done up in golds, creams and browns, there’s plush cream carpet under my feet, rails full of new gowns; they must all be new, all the others I had were ripped up. To the right hand side I glance at the huge waiting area with three comfy sofas for family to wait, a coffee maker, water cooler and coffee table and I’m shocked at the sheer size of it. It all looks so much bigger and grander than it had before. I’m vaguely aware I’m walking around with my mouth hanging open and friends and family are in front of me laughing but I can’t snap out of it. As I peak round the corner, and pull a curtain back I see four big fitting rooms with silk drapes and ornate mirrors. This means I’ll be able to have a few appointments going on at the same time and I won’t need to turn people away anymore. I look to the other side of the room and there’s a small bar installed. No need for the crappy little fridge I had out back now. It’s lavish and luxurious, but I had always wanted the whole experience to be like a fairy-tale for the bride and this is it, completely. It’s surreal to see James’ plans play out in real life and my next thought is how proud I am of him. He’s taken my breath away and the tears haven’t stopped the entire time. There’s so much more I want to look at and I know it’s going to take the whole evening for every last detail to really sink in.

I turn back round to look at the man who has just made my dream a reality.

“What do you think, babe? You like it?” He asks, then adds quickly, “We can change anything you don’t like though. Don’t worry. Just let me know.”

I don’t know how he could think there would be
anything
I didn’t like. It looks bloody amazing. People are going to want to come here from the other side of the country. Fact.

“I can’t believe you did this.” The waterworks are back on in full. “Thank you so much.” I hiccup loudly and laugh through the tears.

“No problem babe. Blake and his team did most of the labouring. I know you’d already signed the contract for next door’s unit too, so we went ahead and knocked through.”

“Where is he?” I look around at the crowd of people behind me and flash quickly over all the faces to find him.

“I’m right here.” He appears from the storeroom out back and grins at me.

I walk back over and throw my arms around him. “Thank you, thank you. It means so much to me.”

“My pleasure, sweetheart. I’m just glad we could help you out.”

I turn my gaze back to James and take a few steps forward. My dad may not be around, but I have two amazing men in my family who have proved they’re willing to look out for me and that fills my heart with joy. I stand up on my tiptoes as he captures my face in his hands.

“I love you, angel,” he whispers against my lips and I’m conscious our friends and family are here but it won’t stop me from showing him exactly how I feel about him. I help brides every day with their fairy-tale weddings but I didn’t believe in happily-ever-afters. Now, this man may just be mine. Our lips meet gently, but eagerly, the rest of the room fades away and I lose myself in the hunger his kiss awakens in me. He pulls back breathlessly and I can’t strip my gaze away from his. His eyes show me fierce, protective, passionate love and I revel in the feeling of absolute bliss as his lips cover mine once more.

Sweet Reflection Playlist

I love putting my earphones in and getting completely lost in a song whilst tapping away on my laptop so I thought I’d share with you some of the many songs that have played a massive part in James and Laurel’s story. Some were actually mentioned in the book and some have just given me a huge amount of inspiration.

• Olly Murs Ft Flo Rida ‘Troublemaker’
  

• Fuse ODG ‘Million Pound Girl (Badder than Bad)’
  

• Etta James ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’
  

• Beyoncé Ft Jay Z ‘Drunk In Love’
  

• Kodaline ‘High Hopes’
  

• Sam Smith ‘Latch’ (Acoustic)
  

• Imagine Dragons ‘Radioactive’
  

• Rita Ora ‘How We Do’
  

• Icona Pop ‘I love It’
  

• Robin Thicke ‘Give It To Me’
  

• Ed Sheeran ‘Kiss Me’
  

• Jason Derulo ‘Trumpets’
  

• Maroon 5 ‘Moves Like Jagger’
  

• Justin Timberlake ‘Drink You Away’
  

• Sam Smith ‘Nirvana’
  

• Sam Smith ‘Lay Me Down’ (Acoustic)
  

• Beyonce ‘XO’
  

• Beyonce ‘Upgrade U’
  

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I’d like to say a very special thank you to my husband. Without his continued support and reassurance I wouldn’t be fulfilling my dream. There have been so many late nights and days off that I’ve ignored him completely to focus on this, but he’s always been there with words of encouragement and never-ending cups of tea. Thank you.

To Viola Estrella for a beautiful cover.

To Wendy and Claire at Bare Naked Words for hosting the Cover Reveal and Blog Tour. Thank you so much for the help and guidance.

A big thank you to my beta readers. Without their critique this book wouldn’t be what it is now. I cringe when I think about the first drafts they had to read! They gave me so many ideas, notes and comments and I feel so lucky to have found opinions I can trust.

To the amazing bloggers that give up their free time to pimp out, review and recommend indie authors, including those they haven’t even heard of before.

And finally, to all the readers who have taken a chance on reading this book, THANK YOU!

If you would like to get in touch or have any feedback at all, don’t hesitate in getting in touch! I love to hear from readers.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Henderson-Author/177253969115810

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ghendersonbooks

Email: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Six

Chapter Twenty Seven

The Following Week

Sweet Reflection Playlist

Acknowledgements