“It’s too much.”
“For my wife, nothing is too much. You deserve to be spoiled and only by me.”
The prince pressed a brief kiss on the witch’s lips before standing back. “Now, I must leave you before I can’t. See you at noon. I will be the one at the front, waiting.” Without another word, Roman vanished from view.
Ella stood, her heart fluttering as she smiled at her friend. “Oh. My. God. I wouldn’t worry about the secretary. Roman worships you.” Ella marched over and lifted one of the seventeen chunky pear-shaped emeralds surrounded by a row of tiny diamonds that hung on the necklace.
Isabella opened her palm to reveal a pair of matching drop earrings. The witch pushed her locks back and hooked them into place. “Something old, the necklace; something new, my dress; something borrowed, your diamond clip for my hair; and the blue garter. I’m ready.”
Isabella smiled and her eyes flashed with an electrical energy Ella only saw in the vampire’s presence. How strange love could be.
The door swung open and in stepped Christa, aghast the minute she caught sight of Isabella. “After all that work,” Christa said.
Isabella and Ella chuckled. The novice witch clicked her fingers, uncorking the bottle of chilled champagne. She poured the liquid into three glasses, handing one to Isabella and Ella.
“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Magic is a gift and only to be used with discretion or when you have no other choice. Besides, you know, you could have created the look you wanted for me without applying the makeup, but you didn’t, because you gained more pleasure from creating it yourself. Magic isn’t the answer to everything. Some things you have to experience for yourself.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Standing in the front garden outside the stone cottage they were staying in while on the island, Marcus kissed Ella’s cheek despite Nate wriggling in his arms. His son stretched his arms out, eager for his mother. And who could blame him? But he held on tight to the toddler.
“It’s okay, I have a couple of minutes. Come here, baby.” Ella lifted Nate into her arms and planted a big kiss on the boy’s plump cheek. Holding him against her hip, she tickled his belly and he giggled with joy. Even in her elegant dress with her hair spilling around her shoulders, the love she had for their son was evident as she whirled him around in her arms, lost in their playful antics.
A fierce and protective pride for the woman standing in front of him caught him off guard. When they took their vows over a year ago, Ella was already pregnant, and one of her greatest fears was whether she would make a good mother, which proved unwarranted. He folded his arms, soaking up his delight and good fortune for the family he never believed he deserved or thought possible. One Josephine, his mother, had foretold.
His family fulfilled him in a way he never imagined possible. Realizing time was short before the ceremony, he wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist, burning this moment into his memory. Once, he almost lost Ella, letting his arrogance rule him and take control. But never again.
You were right all along, Josephine. Ella’s my family. My harbor. There’s no one else.
“Come on, my turn to cuddle Nate,” Dr. Elizabeth Davies said as she approached. “Aren’t you supposed to be walking down the aisle with the bride?”
Ella laughed as she handed Nate to the doctor. “You’re right. Be good, little one.” She turned to face him. “I’m delighted Roman and Isabella are getting married. But is it so wrong to want to stay right here with you and Nate?”
A whisper of a smile broke across his mouth. He tugged her closer, breathing in her sweet, familiar scent, equally reluctant to part ways.
“There’s nothing wrong with that at all.” He nudged his nose closer to her earlobe and planted a soft kiss in the hollow below. “In fact, if this was any other day, I would steal you away and this gentle kiss would turn into something far more wicked. But Isabella needs you.”
An expression full of wonder and wickedness consumed Ella’s face. Before he could ask what she was thinking, she danced away, laughing. Her stilettos tapped along the stone pathway, leaving her vanilla scent trailing behind. Dressed in her silky outfit, and with wildflowers arranged in her hair, she reminded him of a fairy right out of Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream, leaving him aroused and in utter torment, as she always did. Once she vanished from view, he spun around.
“Thanks, Liz, for offering to babysit. Nate should sleep for a couple of hours, but message me if you need anything, and I’ll be right over.”
Today, the quiet doctor had forgone her usual sensible slacks and shirt, wearing a soft pink dress. Her shoulder-length blonde hair rested neatly at her shoulders with not a hair out of place as she smiled, entranced with his son, paying him no mind at all.
“Are you sure you want to stay here? Weddings aren’t really my thing, and no one would miss me. I have my bride. Besides, you females enjoy these sorts of occasions, and you’re wearing a dress,” he said.
The doctor lifted her head and met his gaze, flashing a brief smile. “Thank you for noticing, but I’m happy to stay with Nate. Weddings aren’t my thing either.”
Marcus nodded and walked a short distance away. But he stopped, twisting back just as Elizabeth headed inside. “Give Jake time. He needs that before he can move on.”
The doctor glanced back, studying him
