Instant Regret by Hazel Parker

Epilogue

Luke

“Okay, so what do you think about this line of sleepwear?” Carly asked me just as Emma toddled into the room, her blonde hair tied up with a little bow on her head.

“I like it,” I said, noting the princess doting design. “But not nearly as much as you,” I turned to Emma as she gave me a big grin.

“Da da!” she called, holding up her hands for me to pick her up.

Carly smiled as I picked her up, setting her on my lap. “I swear, she’s such a daddy’s girl, isn’t she?”

“Of course,” I laughed, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “But so are you.” I shot her a wink that made her cheeks flush with redness.

That never gets old.

“I can’t believe she turned one last month,” Carly said, her smile slightly fading. “I wish that she’d just slow down. She’s not even a baby anymore—she’s considered a toddler.”

“We have a toddler.” I widened my eyes as I looked up Carly, meeting her gaze. “Just think, in twelve years, we’ll have a teenager.”

“Oh, stop,” Carly swatted my arm. “You’re such a mess. So do you like this?” she pointed back to the design. “Paige wants to release it in the next month or so.”

“I do like it,” I said, taking in the light grays and pinks. “I’m proud of you for all this, you know. You’ve built a million-dollar company in less than a year. That takes some real talent—all the while raising our sweet little girl.”

“Well, there’s no way that I could’ve done it without you, Luke,” she remarked, her full smile returning. “We’re really a great team.”

“We’re the best team.”

“True,” she laughed before picking up the design from the table. “And are we still on for tonight?”

“What’s tonight?” I asked, pretending not to remember.

“Oh my gosh, you’re the one who scheduled the date night,” Carly groaned, shaking her head at me. “I thought you were taking me to the beach for dinner or something.”

“Oh yeah, that,” I laughed, shooting her a wink and standing to my feet. “I thought you were talking about something else.”

“Again, you’re seriously such a turd sometimes.” Carly narrowed her eyes at me, setting the designs down on the counter and holding her arms out for Emma. “It’s time for her to take a nap, though. We don’t want her being too cranky when Paige comes over to watch her. She already gets away with more than she should when Paige is here, anyway.”

“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes as I handed Emma off to Carly. “If Emma is cranky, she’ll just let her stay up and sleep on the couch or something.”

“Or give her a ton of candy and snacks,” Carly grimaced, giving me that knowing look. “And to think that Paige is going to be a mom in just a few months.”

“I’m more concerned about Ryan being a father,” I pointed out, a chuckle escaping my lips. “I mean, it was his idea for them to elope in Vegas, and I think that was about as ballsy as it was stupid.”

“Their little boy is going to be just like him, I already know it,” Carly laughed, shuddering. “A mixture of jackass and dumb and dumber. He’ll love them, though.” 

“Exactly that, but yeah, he will. He’s a good guy, just a little different.” I pushed myself back from the kitchen table as Carly headed back toward Emma’s room. I smiled as I watched the two of them head down the hallway before disappearing into the nursery. My heart had never been more full, and things had really worked out when I quit working for the university.

Janet had enough respect for me to support my decision to leave—and surprisingly, she didn’t blab the reason for me leaving, when I had told her the truth about Carly. In fact, nothing at all came out about the reason I left. It had been the perfect timing, too, allowing Carly and me to work on the brand that she wanted to build.

And man, had it exploded.

She was featured in multiple retail stores, including the large chain ones. It was exciting, but it was more exciting to see Carly thriving to the extent that she was—all the while being the best mom in the entire world. She always made time for Emma, and worked out of the house as much as she could, while Paige ran the office space they had bought downtown.

Everything was perfect...

Except just one thing.

I still had yet to pop the question that I had been thinking of since the moment that she had walked down those steps at graduation. The ring had been picked out and bought only a couple of weeks later, but in the midst of her building her business and raising a baby, I hadn’t wanted to throw in wedding preparation...

But I just couldn’t hold it back anymore. It was time to really make her mine, for the rest of our lives. Besides, I was still hoping she would be open to expanding the family in a couple of years. She talked about it all the time, so I knew she would be open to it...

Once we were married.

I walked through the bedroom door, the nerves building in my chest as I pulled out my top drawer, sifting through my socks to the small black ring box hidden in the corner. I had offered to do all the laundry for the last nearly ten months...

Just to keep her from stumbling across it.

Nearly laughing at myself, I took a deep breath. My mind was made up for sure...

I’ll propose to her tonight.

“How does this look?” I asked, stepping out in a flowy, beachy black maxi dress. “I know that it’s summer, and so maybe I shouldn’t be wearing black...”

“I think you look fucking gorgeous,” Luke said to me, pulling me into his arms and planting a kiss on my lips.

“You’re dressed up,” I pointed out as I stepped back from him, gesturing to the kaki dress pants and white button-up shirt. “I thought this was just a beach picnic?”

“Well, it is,” he reasoned, giving me a funny look. “But I thought you might appreciate the little bit of extra effort. I know you like it when I try.”

I laughed, tipping my head back and letting my blonde waves fall down my back. “You’re so ridiculous, Luke.” I followed him out of our bedroom, heading to the living room where a pregnant Paige and not pregnant Ryan were camped out on the couch.

“You guys look hot,” Paige greeted us, wiggling her eyebrows. “Mommy and Daddy are having a well-deserved date night.”

“Thanks,” I struck a silly pose before shooting Luke a wink. “If Carly wakes up, you know the drill.”

“Yes, yes,” Paige waved me off. “We’ve been watching her since she was a tiny little thing—I think we can handle her.”

“Well, we know she can,” Ryan motioned to Paige as he sunk deeper into the couch. “I think she prefers Paige over me. She only wants me when it comes time to swing, because obviously I can swing her way higher.”

“Hopefully, not too high,” Luke grunted, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, not too high,” Ryan chuckled, rolling his eyes. “You two go out and have some fun, though. We got this.”

“Deal,” Luke said, giving them both a nod before placing a hand on the small of my back and guiding me out to the garage. He opened the passenger door of our Mercedes SUV, the new family vehicle that he had purchased for me as a graduation present.

“Thank you,” I said up to him as he gave me a wink and shut the door. The way he jogged around to the other side had me laughing, his quick movements surprising me. He was usually extra laid back, but tonight he was acting like we really had somewhere to be.

Must be desperate to get out of the house.

“You ready for this?” he asked me as he started the car and began to back out of the garage. “I don’t know about you, but this has been a long time coming.”

“What? A date night?” I laughed, shaking my head at him as I pulled my seatbelt across my lap. “I mean, it has been a couple weeks, but we’ve definitely gone much longer without having one. But I’m flattered by it.”

“Right,” he said, his voice going a little sheepish. “I guess I am just a jealous guy. I want date nights every night.”

“Well, I mean, you do get something nearly every night,” I pointed out, shooting him my most seductive look. “I’d say that’s better than most guys.”

“Oh, I am very thankful for that,” he said back to me, reaching over to squeeze my upper thigh as he headed south out of town toward the beach. “I’m thankful for a lot of things, though.”

“You are? Like what?” I turned to look at him, enjoying the moment of sweetness coming from him. He was always endearing toward me, but we didn’t have a ton of time to really absorb the connection we had since my brand had really exploded.

“Well, for starters, I’m just thankful that I was able to land such a woman as yourself,” he began, his eyes flickering to mine ever so often as he drove. “I’m thankful that I accidentally knocked you up, and we got the best little girl in the world from it. I’m thankful for the business that we’ve built, and what our future is looking like.”

“I’m thankful for you, too,” I said, smiling my head off as the ocean came into view. “I’m just thankful that it’s all worked out for us. It’s crazy to think of how we started over a year ago. I had no idea that some stupid TikTok was going to lead me to the love of my life. I mean, I thought I would be killing it up in New York City, but this is way better. I literally could not be any happier.”

“Really?” he questioned me as he pulled into a parking spot. “So there’s nothing that would make you happier than you are now?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I said, tilting my head and narrowing my eyes at him. “Why?”

“Well, I don’t know, really,” he replied, his voice and demeanor hard to read. “But anyway, I need you to put this on.” He pulled out a blindfold from the console. “And trust me.”

“Are you going to push me into the water?” I teased, taking the blindfold from him as my heart picked up its pace.

“It’s just to add to the excitement,” he smirked, shooting me a wink. “Now, come on.”

I nodded, fastening the blindfold over my eyes as he got out of the car and walked around. I heard the passenger door open, and the salty warm air wrapped filled the car. He took my hand and led me out. I followed along, taking a deep breath, all the while trying to figure out what the hell he was doing...

What kind of picnic is this?

The excitement built as I felt my sandals hit the sandy shores of the ocean. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Almost there,” he replied, his own voice wavering a little. He led me a little farther, and before we came to a stop he let go of my hand. “Okay, go ahead and take it off.”

I reached behind my head and untied the blindfold, my eyes widening the moment I could see again. Spelled out on the beach with shells was ‘will you marry me,’ surrounded with rose petals and a picnic all set up for us. My hands flew up to my mouth as I spun to look at Luke, who was already down on one knee.

“I love you more than life, Carly,” he began, his voice wavering as he grew emotional. “And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my days with you. Will you marry me?”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I nodded. “Yes, a million times yes.” I fell into his arms, kissing him and hugging him tightly. The second-best day of my life...

All because of that stupid TikTok.

THE END

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