Page 155 of Exposed

“Yes, baby. The wedding dress you’re wearing in my bedroom. Where did you get it?”

“I like to thrift. I got it from Mom. She could tell if something had a good or a bad vibe. She taught me that just because someone is done with something, doesn’t mean it can’t be something new for someone else. A new life, you know?”

“A new life,” I mutter, thinking of my own since the day I met her. “Yeah, I know something about that.”

“Anyway, I was thrifting for my apartment when I moved here and saw this. I wouldn’t call it vintage or couture, but it’s definitely classic. Probably a dupe for something that was made in the fifties. Though showing this much skin back then was probably taboo. Anyway, it just felt right and it was on clearance. It needed to be mine. I’m not sure this is what I want to wear to be married in, but it was my size, and I thought it would be fun. I’ve never even tried it on until today. I had Rocco bring it over in case I needed a dress for tomorrow. Do you like it? It is our fake wedding day.”

I finally come unstuck from my spot at the threshold. My untouched beer lands on the dresser, and I go straight to her. When I take her face in my hands and pull her mouth to mine, she presses into my chest like she does every time we’re like this.

But this is different.

Seeing her in a white dress.

Hearing her talk about our wedding—and I don’t give a fuck if it’s fake. I know there will be a real one as soon as she plans what she wants.

And as soon as I can buy her a ring.

“Baby,” I murmur against her lips. “Take off the dress.”

Her brown eyes crinkle. “You don’t like it?”

I shake my head. “I fucking love it. But if I’m going to take awhite dress off you, it’s going to be after we’re married. And not a fake wedding hosted by a damn cartel. The real one.”

The crinkles disappear, and her eyes shine bright.

“I hope you’re efficient at your job,” I add.

“Of course, I am. Why?”

“Because I’m not waiting a year to marry you. I’d marry you tomorrow if you agreed.”

The most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen settles on her face. “We’re sort of busy tomorrow.”

I pull in a breath. More than anything, I want tomorrow to be over. “It’s settled then. Sometime after tomorrow but before a year, you’ll be my wife.”

Her slim fingers dance down my chest and fit themselves at my sides. “You know, I’m a dreamer. The day dreams I’ve had about meeting the love of my life, getting engaged, and my wedding have danced in my head since I was a little girl spinning in circles in my attic bedroom.”

I hold onto her tighter. “Why does this not sound like it’s about me?”

“Because nothing—and I mean not one thing about you, Kingston Jennings—is what I dreamed of.”

I hike a brow. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”

She softens her voice as she keeps on as if I didn’t say a word. “You’re better than anything I ever dreamed. Falling in love with you has been a rollercoaster. It’s the wild ride I didn’t know I needed. Had I missed this, I have a feeling I would’ve lived a mundane, boring life.”

I lean in and kiss her. “I can promise you a life that’s never boring. I would like to live it without a cartel chasing us, though. But other than that, never boring, baby.”

“I don’t know what I’d do if I had to face the rest of my life without you. I’m glad I don’t have to.”

I kiss the tip of her nose and let her go, taking a step back and crossing my arms. “Now, off with the dress.”

Her tongue sneaks out to wet her upper lip, but she reaches behind her. The only sound in the room is a zipper on her dress sliding down and my heart pounding in my chest.

The tips of her fingers touch the tops of her shoulders to slide the thin jeweled straps away.

Slowly.

Too fucking slowly.

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