“You look stunning,” Alex breathed out slowly as he watched Brielle descend the stairs. Stunning didn’t seem to be a strong enough word, but it was all he had at the moment. She was blowing him away with the beauty that just seemed to radiate from her and the red dress she wore fit her like a glove. The hem cut to mid thigh with a sexy little slit on one side and a draped neckline so if she moved a certain way he’d get teasing glimpses of her cleavage. Her eyes were so bright and seemed to cut right through him and make his heart pound a bit harder. It was so hard to believe that someone this beautiful and this wonderful and this good of a person was in love with someone like himself. But tonight wasn’t a night he was going to tear himself down. He was going to take out the most beautiful woman on a date she would never forget.

“Thank you,” the blonde beauty responded with once she joined him in the foyer. Reaching a hand up, she adjusted the updo she’d twisted her hair in then looked down and examined herself. “I don’t look fat, do I?”

Alex chuckled so softly it would be easy to miss and shook his head. He slowly let his eyes trail over her and felt his body temperature rise a few degrees. “You’re amazing and so beautiful. And I don’t see an ounce of fat on you.” Then he leaned in and kissed her cheek and inhaled her scent, liking the way it made him feel as if he were floating through the air.

Brielle blushed some at that. “Thank you. And you yourself,” she leaned back some and took a moment to let her eyes wander of his form, “you look handsome; very, very handsome.”

Alex had elected to wear a pair of dark pants with a white button down shirt and a black vest over that. The vest had little skull faces for buttons and the black fedora that sat angled on his head just right had a matching print to the vest. Of course, the jewelry he wore; bracelets, rings, necklace and earrings helped complete the ensemble and she couldn’t remember a time he’d been more handsome, but it was his cologne that made her go weak in the knees.

This time it was his turn to blush and he was slightly puzzled as to why. Alex wasn’t the type to embarrass easily, but when it came to Brielle he was realizing it was like he was a whole different person than he had been before. “Thank you,” he voiced softly before reaching for her hand. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded and he helped her with her wrap; black and silky to match the dress and then they stepped outside and the blonde’s eyes widened at the black stretch limo that was waiting in the drive. “Alex….”

He smirked and led her off the porch and down the walkway toward the vehicle. “Do you like?”

She tried to pause a few times, but he guided her along. “I…what’s this for?”

“Our date.” Then he stopped and turned to face her. “I told you I was gonna knock your socks off.”

“I…this,” Brielle looked the limousine over, noticing the chauffer that stood waiting ready to open the door for them once they were close enough, “I think you’ve succeeded. If I were wearing socks they’d most certainly be knocked off.”

That made him laugh and he kissed her cheek warmly then nudged her on and led the way down to where the chauffer was waiting. “Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet, baby.” Nodding toward the man dressed in a suit with a matching hat as he pulled the door open for the couple, Alex helped her inside then slipped in behind. “This is only the beginning.”

“Baby, you know you don’t have to do all this for me.”

“I know.” He reached and adjusted the radio settings then relaxed once the smooth sound of Jazz trickled from the speakers. “But I want to. We haven’t ever been on a real and official date and I want to spoil you like this.”

She watched him wordlessly for a moment then leaned and kissed his cheek so soft and sweetly it made his heart ache. With a smile, his hand found hers and their fingers laced together.

“So, can you tell me where we’re going?” She questioned once the limousine circled the drive and pulled back out onto the roadway, heading in the direction of the city.

Alex’s brown eyes twinkled with amusement. “Hm, no, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Nope.” He shook his head, pressing his lips together to keep the ear to ear grin that wanted to come out at bay.

Brielle eyed him for a moment then leaned in and kissed his ear before giving it a teasing nip. “Not even a tiny, little clue?”

He shivered down his spine then slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. “No, now stop trying to be sneaky.”

The blonde giggled and settled her body against his, inhaling his scent and allowing his warmth to invade her. “Alright, alright,” she finally relented.

Alex smiled then smelled her hair and shivered all the way down to his toes. The things he was feeling for this woman, the amount of love he had for her and how just her presence soothed him was like nothing before. This thing between them was real and genuine and forever and he couldn’t wait until the day she would give him their son and then the moment when they’d all three share the same last name.

Smoothing a hand down to her small rounded belly, he let his fingers stroke it softly. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much longer before he would be able to feel the kicks and jabs and movement. And they would come up with the most perfect name and get the nursery finished soon. Just another four and a half months and then little baby McLean would be there for them to hold and cherish and love. Alex hoped he had his mother’s eyes and nose…and lips and ears. Oh yeah, and head. Not his head; he’d had a rather large head as a child. Fortunately he’d grown into it …but still, that was something he didn’t want for his child.

“What are you thinking about?”

Brielle’s voice pulled him from his thoughts and his eyes met hers. “Just about the baby and wondering what he’ll look like.”

“Mm, I think about that too,” she paused. “You know, we really need to keep thinking on a name.” Their name hunting from Friday had not been very successful and they’d ended it before either one could get too frustrated.

“I know,” he kissed her head and trailed his fingers along her belly, “but I don’t want either of us to get too frustrated tonight with that. Tonight is supposed to be date night and special and we have plenty of time after tonight to find the perfect name.”

She seemed to mull that over for a moment then smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “You’re right. Alright, no name talk tonight.”


Alex caught her cheek in his hand and turned her mouth toward his again, their lips meeting and the temperature in the car rising quite a few degrees. When they finally parted, both were breathless and flushed.

With a content sigh, Brielle settled against him once more and closed her eyes. She could stay like this forever and ever and ever and ev………….

“Brielle, Brie….baby.”

The voice calling her name and the gentle nudge to her shoulder jerked the blonde from the slumber she’d fallen into and she sat up straight. “Wh…huh, I wasn’t sleeping!”

Alex chuckled softly. “Sure you weren’t, though I think your snoring said otherwise.”

She blushed. “I don’t snore.”

“Uh huh,” he winked playfully at her, “but now that you’ve had a nice little refresher nap, you’ll be able to enjoy dinner. And on that note, we have arrived.” And he motioned toward the open limo door that the driver was holding.

“Ooh,” her eyes lit up and she anxiously peered out the door, “where are we?”

Alex slipped from the vehicle and offered his hand, carefully helping his fiancée out and allowing her time to smooth her dress and take in their surroundings.

They were at a lake it looked like; soft grass lead down to a tiny shoreline where glimmering water reflected the moonlight and spread out wide, though she could make out the dark background of the other side that seemed to be lined with trees. But it wasn’t the lake or the grass or the trees that took her breath away, though they all were beautiful, it was the gazebo that was out on the lake that was wrapped in hundreds of tiny white lights and twinkling and looking like something out of a movie. And there, in the middle of the gazebo, Brielle could see a table donned with a white table cloth and two chairs just waiting for them.

With wide eyes she turned to her fiancé. “This…wha….” but she was speechless.

Alex smirked at that and slipped his arm around her waist. “I figured you’d probably want something pretty private…so I hope this will do.” And then he was guiding her down to the shore and the dock that would lead them to the gazebo.

Brielle couldn’t find the right words. Everything she thought of just sounded too sappy or stupid and wouldn’t form correctly on her tongue anyway. And as Alex led her down the path and out onto the dock then down into the gazebo, tears began to fill her eyes and her shoulders shook slightly from it.

He didn’t notice until he was reaching for her chair and then he stopped, concern filling his face and his hands going to her shoulders. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

She shook her head then nodded and reached up to wipe just under her eyes. All she wanted to do at that moment was collapse into his arms and cry and she had no idea why.

Alex’s brow drew together and he tilted her head up some so their eyes could meet. “Did I do something wrong? Do you hate this? We can go somewhere else.”

But she shook her head and wiped at her cheeks then took a breath and finally was able to force something tangible from her mouth, “N..no, I…I love th..this.”

“Then…what is it?” He was more than a little confused.

“It’s just…” she closed her eyes and took a breath to try and gather her composure before continuing. Opening them again she met his brown orbs and a new set of tears began to fill her eyes.

Wordlessly, Alex pulled her into his arms and hugged her close and tight. He could feel her body tremble slightly against his and he held her protectively and without a word until she finally settled against him and the trembling stopped.

Slowly he released her and she pulled back and wiped at her face once more. Extracting a kerchief from his pocket he passed it to her and waited until she was ready to continue.

Brielle took it and pressed her to her eyes and cheeks, trying to clear the tears away. With a sniff, she wiped her nose then finally brought her eyes back to his and gave an embarrassed titter. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, “Don’t be sorry, baby. Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” She shook her own head at that and wiped at her nose once more before speaking again, “It’s just…” her lower lip trembled some, but she held strong, “no one’s ever…ever done anything like this for me before and…and it just…it makes me cry.”

His face softened at that and he reached to brush his fingers across her cheek. “Well, I’m glad I can do this for you. And I’m gonna be doing stuff like this for the rest of our lives.”

She melted at that and folded herself into his embrace again. “I can’t believe this is my life.”

Alex smiled softly and kissed the nape of her neck, hugging her close once more. “Well, believe it, baby, cuz it is; you and me forever.”

Brielle stayed in his arms a moment longer then finally righted herself and smoothed her dress and touched her hair. “Ugh, I must look a mess.”

He reached out and caught her chin in his hand, forcing their eyes to meet again. “I think you look absolutely beautiful.”

She blushed despite herself. “I don’t know why I …got all emotional like that.”

Alex wasn’t sure why either, but then suddenly it hit him; the pregnancy, the hormones, the mood swings. “Uh…well I think I might have a tiny idea.” Then he reached and smoothed a hand over her belly. “I think it’s just all a part of having a baby; something all expectant mothers go through.”

“Oh,” she blinked some then shook her head like she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that, “that’s probably it.”

He smiled and then kissed her lips. “Alright, do you feel better?”

When she nodded, he took her hand in his and led her over to the table. “Then our dinner awaits, Madame.” And he pulled her chair out for her, letting her sit before helping her get it adjusted just right. Then upon taking his own seat, he gave a signal with his hand and a waiter seemed to materialize out of thin air and appear there at the table.

Brielle jerked just slightly at that and then thanked him as he set down two glasses of water and asked if they were ready to begin their dinner. He was tall and thin with salt and pepper hair and a nasally voice and he wore a black suit with a white vest beneath the jacket and white gloves on his hands. He reminded her very slightly of Lurch from the Adams Family and then she had to hold in a giggle at that thought.

Catching her eye, Alex winked and then nodded and thanked the server and soon dinner was being served.

They started out with salads as fresh and green as any the blonde had seen before and oh they were good. Bits of bacon and eggs and cheese and croutons gave it flavor and the dressing seemed to melt in her mouth. Next they were served smoked chicken cut into little strips that had been marinated with Chinese black tea and different spices all presented so nicely on a bed of lettuce. It was more delicious than it looked and Brielle wondered to herself where and how Alex was doing all this.

After the appetizers were finished, Alex signaled the waiter to give them a few minutes before the main course and then reached and took Brielle’s hand in his. “You enjoying yourself so far?”

She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. “I really am and it really does feel like I’ve stepped into the pages of a fairytale.”

“Well,” he smiled bashfully, “I’m just trying to give you the best date possible.”

“Oh, I don’t think anything could ever top this.” She glanced around to the water and the moonlight and felt the slight breeze that tickled her shoulders. “It’s amazing.”

“Good.” He relaxed some in his chair. “After our conversation on the phone, I got to thinking about it and you’re right; you didn’t ask for any of the attention and I don’t want to be the cause of the press harassing you or getting too close for comfort.”

“Oh, Alex-” She started to say, but he held up a finger and then continued his train of thought.

“And I do want to be able to take you out and romance you and spoil you and have those wonderful moments with you, but I know that right now you’d be uncomfortable out there so then I began to think of ways to do all that, but keep it relatively private. And well,” he paused some and drew up a shoulder, glancing around at their surroundings then to her once more, “this is what I came up with.”

She couldn’t stop the smile on her face and had the strongest urge to climb into his lap and get as close as she could. “I love you; I really, really do.”

He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “Good, because it’d really suck if you didn’t.”

“Well, no worries there.”

Alex winked at her then sat back and signaled and the server reappeared with the main course.

It was pasta; some kind of ziti bursting with flavors of cheese and sauce and meat and unlike any other kind of ziti Brielle had ever had before. It was delicious and made her feel like they had been transported somehow to Italy.

She shared her thoughts with Alex.

“Would you like to go to Italy?” He questioned after wiping his mouth and returning the napkin to his lap.

“Someday I’d love to.”

“Well, you know…we need to pick a honeymoon destination.”

Brielle returned her fork to her plate. “I hadn’t even thought about a honeymoon.”

He chuckled low at that. “We can go anywhere you want, baby.”

“Baby.” She blinked. “The baby; how are we gonna leave our baby and go on a honeymoon?”

“Well,” he set his own fork down and leaned toward her some, “I guess it depends on when we get married.”

She thought on that a moment. “When do you want to get married?”

“I’d marry you tonight if I could.”

Her cheeks tinged pink. “For serious.”

Alex didn’t bat an eye. “I’m being serious. If we were in Vegas, I’d say, let’s do it now.”

“Don’t you want a wedding?”

He nodded some. “Well, yeah, a wedding would be nice, but I’d much rather just be married to you.”

Brielle smoothed her napkin through her fingers; it was cloth and heavy. “I’ve always dreamt about my wedding. You know, every little girl does. I’d look like a princess with a beautiful gown and my hair done so nice and pretty with little flowers in it. And we’d dance together under the stars.” She paused and then a frown fell over her delicate features. “But I don’t really have anyone I’d invite…well other than Lily and Jordan …and Laurel and maybe a few of the girls from the office.”

Alex reached for her hand. “We could have a small wedding; something intimate with just our close family and friends.”

“You’d really be okay with that?” Her eyes settled on his face. Alex was grand and flair and had lots of friends and business contacts and knew more people than Brielle thought she’d ever known in her lifetime. “I always thought you’d want a big wedding.”

He shrugged some. “In the past, I thought I did…but now, here in this moment with you,” he nodded toward her, “I would marry you with just the priest and a witness. In jeans and a tshirt if that’s what you wanted.”

She giggled softly. “I think suits or tuxes would be more appropriate.”

Alex kissed her fingers. “Me too, baby. So, I think we just need to figure out when we want to get married and then we can work on the kind of wedding we want.”

“Okay,” Brielle’s smile grew at the thought, “that sounds good to me.”

Alex kissed her fingers once more then returned to his food. “So, when you’ve thought of your wedding…what time of year did you always see yourself getting married in?”

The blonde resumed her own dinner, pausing at the question to think it over. “This may sound kind of weird,” she began as she selected another garlic stick and dipped it in some of the ziti sauce, “but I like the idea of a winter wedding; deep reds and blues and silver and snow and pink cheeks and a sleigh ride.”

Her fiancé lifted a brow. “Really, a winter wedding?”

“Mhm,” she shrugged some, “but if you don’t like that we don’t have to do it.”

“No,” Alex shook his head some, “it’s not that I don’t like it…I’ve just never thought about something like that. With weddings you think warmth and sun and the beach or an open field of flowers or-”

“Oh!” She sat up straight, cutting him off with her exclamation. “That would be so beautiful!”

He blinked. “What? The beach?”

“No,” excitedly she reached for his hand, “an open field of flowers with a sky so clear and blue.”

He couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his lips. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” her head bobbed, “let’s do that. I can already see it in my head.”

He grinned and just watched her a moment, imagining what she’d look like on their wedding day, coming down the aisle to meet him with their son in his grandmother’s arms watching from the side. The open field surrounding them filled with flowers of all colors and a wreath of white ones done up all nice in her hair. It was perfect and he suddenly wanted it very badly.

“Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll get married in a field of flowers with only close friends and family there to celebrate with us.”

Brielle felt so warm inside just filled with love for him and for their baby. Everything was so right and wonderful and she finally felt like she belonged somewhere. She was really, truly home. “Now we just have to figure out when.”

“And where.” He set his fork down and wiped his mouth once more.

“And what your schedule is going to be.”

At that thought, Alex made a face. He’d temporarily forgotten about his career and the crazy, hectic scheduling they’d have sometimes. “Ugh, that just brought reality crashing back down around me.”

Brielle laughed softly and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I just remember you saying that you’re gonna have a busy year with the album and the touring.”

“That’s true, but hey,” he caught her hand in his and looked her in the eye, “I’ll make time for our wedding and honeymoon and time for you and little baby boy McLean.”

She smiled then leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I know you will.”

“Maybe we could get married sometime in the late fall. Our tour’s probably going to wrap up in September.”

“Do fields of flowers bloom in the late fall?”

He really had no idea. “Um…” a chuckle, “I’m not sure, but they have to bloom somewhere in the world. I’m sure in the south they do.”

“Okay,” she smiled and his heart melted, “we’ll look into it and find out when and where and then pick a date. How’s that?”

“That’s perfect.” Alex leaned in and kissed her softly. “Absolutely perfect.” Then he kissed her again and again before finally sitting back. “Now, how do you feel about dessert?”