Page 66 of Love in Fine Print

I glanced in the direction she was looking and saw a man who could have easily walked off the pages of GQ. He was close to Ben’s height, meaning he was probably around six-four. Had a strong jaw that was peppered with stubble. Black hair and piercing blue eyes. It took a lot for someone’s appearance to impress me. Intellect, humor, kindness, work ethic, those were traits I valued in people, but even I had to admit, this man was objectively perfect.

Still, he had nothing on Ben. He was objectively good-looking. That was it.

“I don’t.” He was with Charli, which didn’t surprise me because she was physically perfect herself. “Why? Who is he?”

Bailey shook her head. “I don’t know but I’ve seen him ateightother weddings this year.”

“With Charli?”

San Francisco was a large city, but the social circles were fairly small. It shouldn’t surprise me that he and Charli had been to eight other weddings.

“No.” She shook her head. “He’s always with a different woman.”

“I mean, if you look like that, it doesn’t surprise me that he has an active dating life.”

“Hmm,” Bailey made a non-committal sound.

I was going to follow up on what that meant when the DJ announced, “Okay, the time has come for the bride and groom to have their first dance.”

The crowds parted and I saw Ben walking toward me. His strides were long and confident and there was a predatory gleam in his eyes. That gleam had me tingling in places that were not appropriate in front of a room filled with people, half of whom I worked with.

We met in the middle of the dance floor and without saying a word, his hands wrapped around my waist and I placed my hands on his shoulders. Since he had taken care of corresponding with the DJ, I realized I had no clue what song we would be dancing to.

When I heard the opening notes of “The Way You Look Tonight” I smiled up at him. “Our song.”

“Our song,” he repeated before kissing me on my forehead as we swayed to the music.

My body melted against him as his hands ran up and down my back. “You really do look so beautiful tonight. You look like an angel. My angel.”

Angel.That was what my dad always called me.

I sniffed as I rested my head on Ben’s shoulder. I closed my eyes and for just a moment, just a brief moment in time, I allowed myself to pretend that this was real. That Ben loved me and that he’d kissed my forehead because he loved me not because one hundred and fifty people were watching us.

Just for this song, one song, I wanted this to be real.

28

BEN

The crowd cheeredas Olivia and I made our grand exit. My hand was firmly on Olivia’s lower back as I guided her out of the venue. Our guests were lined on either side of us, waving sparklers in the air. The car that I’d hired was waiting just outside the entrance. He held the door for us as I held Olivia’s hand, assisting her as she climbed in the back, then got in after her.

When the door shut, I realized this was the first moment we’d had alone the entire day. I turned toward her. She was staring straight ahead. I could see the pulse point on the side of her neck beating visibly. I’d noticed it at the altar as well. I wondered if it was something that happened to her when she was nervous.

The driver got into the front, but there was a privacy screen between us, so he couldn’t hear or see anything in the back.

As the car pulled away from the curb, I opened my mouth to ask how she was, but instead of the question I’d planned on posing, a statement came out. “You look so fucking beautiful.”

I’d told her about a hundred times today. I never planned on saying it. I just couldn’t seem to stop myself.

Her eyes sliced toward me. “There’s no one here. You don’t have to keep saying that.”

“I wasn’t saying it for anyone’s benefit. I was just stating a fact.”

I could feel the tension between us. Tension that hadn’t been there before. I wasn’t sure if it was because we’d actually gone through with our crazy plan or if it was the kiss we’d shared at the altar. Or if it was all the other kisses we’d shared tonight. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d kissed her. Each time the guests clinked their glasses, on the dance floor, and basically any time I could sneak one. I took full advantage of our PDA clause.

Now that we were alone, I knew that was off the table.

Her phone rang and she closed her eyes before answering it.

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