Unwanted Bonus Epilogue

Susie Tate
 Contents

Bonus epilogue v
 Bonus epilogue
BDE

Verity
“This is how I always pictured you, you know, Lady
Markham,” Harry’s teasing voice interrupted me mid-chapter,
and I looked up from my book.
He was standing on the deck of the yacht looking incred‐
ible – tanned, dark hair just about long enough to have that
slight bit of curl at the ends that reminded me of teenage-
Harry, white shirt with the "rst few buttons undone, muscled
arms crossed over his chest, jeans rolled up and bare feet
planted wide. I rolled my eyes and dragged them away from my
husband to look back at my book.
“I don’t know what you’re on about, you loser, but you
know that I’m in hiding. Bugger o# before the rest of the bajil‐
lion friends and family members we’re on holiday with
"nd me.”
We were on a two-week sailing holiday. Now, that might
sound relaxing, but add in twelve kids, eight parents, two young
adults and four grandparents, and you start to realise just how
hectic things were out here . Also add in the fact that Heath,
Harry and Yaz had insisted we didn’t need any crew because of
their awesome sailing skills, and the chaos intensi!es. The
unfortunate reality was that the only one of them who actually
understood the wind and the rules of the bloody sea was Yaz,
which made things tricky as she was breastfeeding (those two
would simply not stop having babies), and there were four
bloody boats that needed steering.
However, right at this moment things were blessedly peaceful
as we were anchored in a gorgeous bay. I could hear the screams
of the kids as they jumped off the boats and into the water to use
the paddleboards and various other bits of equipment that Yaz
had brought along. Our eight-year-old, Aubrey, was on the jet ski
with Teddy, his life-jacket firmly clipped in place after I’d deliv‐
ered stern warnings to Teddy to concentrate on safety and not on
impressing his new fiancé who was watching from one of the
boats. Once I was sure that Teddy had got the message, I’d taken
the opportunity to sneak off for some time on my own. My L P
Mayweather book was completely addictive and there was barely
any time to read on a holiday this mental.
“What I’m on about,” Harry replied, “is that this is how I
pictured my aristocratic wife – on a yacht, lying back on the
deck in a glamourous bikini, living the high life.”
I arched a brow at him. “The high life? Harry, I had to shift
a massive sail and a smelly old coil of rope to lie on this deck,
and I’ve only just removed the smushed cheese sandwich I sat
on from my arse cheek. You’ve got the wrong woman if you’re
looking for glamour.”
He smiled and stalked towards me, put a hand either side of
my head then lowered himself down, dislodging my book as his
delicious weight settled on me. I hu#ed as the book fell to the
$oor.
 “I’m trying to read, hedgehog.”
“I know,” he said against my neck, before kissing up to the
angle of my jaw. “I’m helping.”
“On what planet is this helping?” I muttered, suppressing a
smile as his mouth moved to mine before covering my lips
with his.
“I think this is super helpful,” he said against my mouth.
His body moved against mine and I let out a small moan.
“Harry,” I gasped, “the kids!”
“They can’t see us,” he said, kissing down my neck now to
my chest. Just as he started to pull my bikini top to the side I
heard the roar of the jet ski suspiciously close and we both
froze.
“Mummy! Daddy!” Aubrey shouted and we turned to see
him and Teddy astride the jet-ski, bobbing in the water next to
us. “Did you see that? I drove it!”
I cleared my throat. “That’s wonderful, darling. Just as long
as it’s safe.” I gave Teddy as stern look, or at least as stern as I
could make it with my husband lying on top of me.
“Daddy, why are you lying on Mummy like that?” Aubrey
asked, his head tilted to the side.
“Mummy was cold,” Harry put in, not missing a beat.
“Cold?” Aubrey frowned in confusion. “But it’s boiling!
You guys are weird.”
“Yes, little man,” Teddy said, ru!ing Aubrey already
sticking up curly hair. “Adults are weird. Let’s us go do the fun
stu" and leave them to their boring adult stu".”
“That’d be great,” Harry said in dry voice, and I punched
him in the arm. But as soon as Teddy and Aubrey tore o" again,
Yaz appeared on a paddleboard with her three-year-old sitting
on the front. “Come on, losers. No time for canoodling. Get
your arses in the water.”
 “Arse!” shouted her daughter from the front of the
paddleboard.
“Stellar parenting as always, Markham,” Harry said.
“Er, I’ve literally just heard your kid drop the f-bomb when
he fell o! the jet-ski so pot–kettle, York.”
“Aubrey fell o! the jet-ski?” I said, pushing against Harry’s
solid chest. He grumbled but moved back so I could sit up.
“Chill!” Yaz told me as she started paddling away. “That’s
the fun of jet-skis.”
“Ugh, I told you that we shouldn’t have brought that thing,”
I said to Harry, swatting his shoulder. Yaz was out of sight
around the boat now, so Harry took the opportunity to pull me
onto his lap. “I need to go check on him,” I muttered, trying to
pull away and stand up but Harry’s arms kept me locked in
place, and when I frowned at him he just grinned before kissing
my nose.
“He’s "ne,” he said. “And anyway, we’ve got to have at least
one fast, powerful bit of kit. Toby’s relentless piss-taking is bad
enough already.”
While Harry and I had opted for the DIY, sea-faring
option, Toby had had no intention of sailing himself anywhere.
No, instead he, Naomi, their six-year-old daughter Lily, and
Lanie were on a massive powerboat, complete with hot-tub, a
full crew, and catered meals. Harry was ready to explode the
"rst day they motored past us, their massive wake causing our
boats to rock precariously as we pootled very slowly through
the water, relying on the puny motor as there was no wind that
day to put the sails up. To add insult to injury, by day two of the
holiday Harry’s parents had defected from our boat to Toby’s
after we’d arrived much later than him at the harbour we were
all mooring in.
“Mum, Dad what the hell?” Harry had said, scowling at his
parents as they waved from the powerboat.
 “Sorry, darling,” said Jean from the hot-tub as one of the
crew members brought her a gin and tonic. “It’s just your
father’s back. They’ve got proper beds on here.” Harry had to
move out of the way as a couple of Naomi’s bodyguards
emerged from the galley with Jean and Martin’s luggage.
“These guys are meant to be guarding Noo, not helping
you swan o! to be pampered!” he shouted. “What happened to
not wanting sta! and staying true to your roots?”
“Oh, darling, you always were so dramatic,” Jean said
dismissively. “And Naomi’s just "ne.”
“Yes, I’m "ne, Hazza,” Noo put in, toasting Harry with her
own gin and tonic from the hot tub next to Jean.
Aubrey’s face popped up next to Lanie and Lily from the
sundeck above.
“Mummy, Daddy, I’m gonna hang out here with Lanie and
Lily,” he shouted down. “They have like the best food.”
“Verity,” Toby said in a smug voice from the bow of the
ship. “Care to join us?”
Harry’s arm clamped around me and pulled me into his
side. “Bugger o!, Evans,” he growled then pointed at his
parents and Aubrey in turn. “This is mutiny you know. You’ve
all abandoned the family ship.”
“Okay, darling,” Jean said brightly.
“Alright, Dad,” said Aubrey through a mouthful of what‐
ever they were feeding him up there.
“Bloody Toby and his bloody Big-Dick-Energy powerboat.
He’s such a prick,” Harry grumbled as he pulled me further
into his lap.
“Er, you’re not exactly a stranger to the BDE, big guy,” I
said as I gave in and slung my arms around his neck.
“You love the BDE,” he said through a grin.
“I love you,” I replied, and kissed him.
Thirty seconds later we were both knocked o! the bench
by a massive wave from the wake of Toby’s BDE boat. After
that we decided to abandon our attempts at !nding peace and
quiet, and go have fun with the others. Giving in to the chaos,
the craziness and, most of all, the love.