Page 114 of Irresistibly Wicked

“That sounds questionable,” she said as they climbed down.

“As much as I’d like to do dirty things to you in this field, I think Cap would have my ass in a sling if I tried.” He pulled her in for a kiss, then smacked her ass and said, “Turn around, darlin’.”

“What are you up to?” she asked as she turned around.

“You’ll see.” He took the chocolate-frosted cupcake with rainbow sprinkles out of the cooler and put it on a plate, then stuck a sparkler in the center of it and lit it. “Happy birthday, Angel.”

She turned around, and her face lit up brighter than the sun as sparks flew. “A sparkler! I love it! Can I…?” She reached for it.

“Go for it. I brought a whole box of them.”

She snagged the sparkler and let out a little squeal as she ran across the grass drawing shapes in the air with it. “Look! Zan!”

The truth he’d been trying to deny hit him like a punch to the gut. He wanted more of this. More of her. He didn’t just want to see her smile or hear her laugh as she experienced the shock and delight of discovering new things. He wanted to be the man who brought her those experiences and earned those stunning reactions. He wanted to be the man who made her coffee and ate her burned casseroles, and he wanted it every day of their lives.

He wasn’t sure what to do with those feelings, given everything between Shauna and Brian, and the end of their arrangement closing in on them, so he shoved them down deep to deal with another time, and pulled out his phone, taking pictures and a video of his excited girl. He may not have forever figured out, but she was his wife for now, and he wasn’t going to let anything ruin it.

“Light two more!” she called out. “One for each of us!”

He did, and for a little while, Zander set everything else aside and became a kid again with her, dueling with sparkler swords, drawing pictures in the air, and laughing like his heart wasn’t growing too big for his chest.

When she’d had her fill, they headed back to the truck. “That was so fun!” she exclaimed. “What a perfect birthday.”

“I have one more present for you, Angel.”

“Another one? You’ve already spoiled me rotten.”

“Hardly.” He opened the back door of his truck and grabbed the large gift box with a red ribbon tied around it.

Her eye widened. “That’s huge.”

He smirked.

“You have such a dirty mind.” She whispered, “I like it!” as she took the box and set it on the tailgate to untie the ribbon.

She lifted the top, and her breath caught, those pretty eyes moving over the fabric cover of the memory album with Shauna and Zander’s Excellent Adventure embroidered on another piece of striped fabric with rough edges made to look like a torn piece of paper. A shaky laugh fell from her lips, and “Zander…?” followed, an incredulous whisper. Her gaze flicked to him as she lifted the thick memory book out of the box.

“You know all those nights I said I was working on a project?”

“Yeah.”

“This was the project. I was at Maverick and Chloe’s. She helped me put it together. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I didn’t want to order a memory book online or let Chloe make it on her own. I wanted to decide what went on the pages, and all the rest.”

Her eyes went glassy. “I love that you did that.”

She opened the album, running her fingers around the pictures, four on each page, decorated with items from each event. They weren’t posed photos, but real-life candid shots of Shauna cuddling Kitty when she’d first moved in, already looking like she belonged with them, and of her sitting on the counter tiling the backsplash, which he’d taken when she wasn’t looking. She lingered on a picture he’d taken of them lying on a lounge chair in the early-morning light, Shauna’s cheek resting on his bare chest beside the number four charm around his neck. Above the picture he’d written Our Lucky Charms. On one side of the page, he’d written Yours with an arrow pointing to the necklace, and on the other side of the page he’d written Mine with an arrow pointing to her. On the same page was a picture of his hand covering hers, the tattoo of her initials on his finger and the tattooed number four on her hand, as clear as day.

There were pictures of glitter between couch cushions taken weeks after the Kitty debacle, and of the two of them having ice cream the day they’d bought their wedding rings. He’d glued the napkin that she’d written Prenup on to the page, which made her laugh.

Her fingers trailed over pictures of their wedding—Shauna walking down the aisle with Cap, looking nervous in one picture, and in the next, the two of them standing before Preacher with something akin to hope in their eyes. Zander’s chest burned when she touched the picture of them kissing. Man, that kiss. He felt the same burn in his chest as he’d felt then.

She lingered over candid shots of her rubbing noses with Marybelle, one of his favorites, and laughing with the girls. There were pictures of her with his parents and his grandfather, and pictures of her and Zander talking with his brothers and cousins, his arm slung over her shoulder and so much pride in his eyes, he wondered if she could feel it.

She admired page after page of memories he’d never forget. Shauna drenched and gorgeous on the boat by the falls only moments before they’d given in to the unrelenting heat between them. She smiled at the pictures of their suite, one room messy with their belongings, the other untouched, and the basket on the table with sparkling cider instead of champagne, which she’d found out Zander had requested. Above the pictures he’d written Your room or mine? He’d taken a picture of their suite number, which she hadn’t noticed until he’d pointed it out. 404. Shauna laughed at a picture of a pile of empty French vanilla creamer cups stacked like trophies on the table in the café where they’d had breakfast on their honeymoon.

When she came to pictures from the amusement park, she pointed to one of her behind the wheel of the go-kart, grinning like she was queen of the track, and said, “I don’t remember you taking this.”

“That was the point.”