Page 114 of Something Borrowed

“I didn’t want to be like my parents, or I think I would have come to my senses about you much sooner.”

“And yet you’ve done all this, even so.”

“Of course,” I say simply. “It’s you. You’re my exception in life. The exception to all the rules because you’re mine.” I shakemy head. “Artie was right all along,” I say slowly, and then something occurs to me. “So why the hell did Bennett come and ask me to arrange your fucking wedding?”

He jumps to his feet. “He didwhat?” he growls, his brows meeting in a frown.

I get up, hovering close to him. “He said it was a secret and not to tell you.”

“Thatmotherfucker,” he whispers.

I shake my head, dismissing Bennett without a second thought. Happiness fills me so suddenly that I’m dizzy, and I raise my hand, pushing his curls back from his tanned forehead. “I can’t believe you’re free.”

He hesitates. “And does that mean something to you? I mean,” he says quickly before I can interrupt, looking suddenly shy. “I know you said things in the heat of the moment to Bennett, but if you don’t mean them, then it’s fine.”

“Is it?”

He shakes his head, his white teeth tugging at his lower lip. “No,” he finally whispers. “I need to hear them said to me again now it’s just us.”

I step closer, and his hand comes up, finding my wrist and drawing me nearer.

“Do you remember when we first slept together?” I ask.

He cocks his head, seeming confused by the change of subject. “Yes, of course.”

“We always agreed that we’d sleep together until we met someone special.”

A ghost of old heartbreak crosses his face. “Yes?”

“The idea that it would happen for me was ludicrous because there’s no one more special than you.” His face relaxes a little, and I carry on talking. “Then, when we stopped, I was always looking for a way back to you, wanting us to go back to the way we were.” I bite my lip. “I was such atwat. Because I got scaredwhen you asked me about dating Bennett. I wanted you so much, but the idea of being with you and then going through hell like my parents did just paralysed me. I couldn’t have borne hurting you. Not you, Stan.Neveryou.”

His breathing is shallow. “You are not them, love.”

I cherish that tiny endearment—four little letters that mean the world to me when he uses them. “I know, but it took me far too long to work that out, and then I realised something much more important.”

“What?”

“The difference from me being like my parents is you, Stan. You make me a better person. And if someone as good as you thinks I’m okay, then I must be.” I lick my lips. “You won’t let me fuck up. It’s not just me in this, and you’ll be my guide.”

I stop talking because he’s kissing me, and the sun is hot against my eyelids. I don’t know whether the roaring in my ears is the surf or my blood—maybe a bit of both.

When Stan pulls away and laughs, his high-boned face is gilded by the late afternoon sun as if nature decided to highlight it.

“What?” I ask. “Is my courting funny, Stanley? I can’t say I’ve had any complaints so far.”

“How on earth did they find the time to complain in the twenty seconds between you hitting and quitting?”

“Everyone is a critic,” I huff, pulling him close and loving that I can. “What were you laughing about?”

“It just occurred to me thatweare now the scandal du jour of the wedding season.”

“What?”

He snorts. “I’m pretty sure we’ve taken over from the groom-shagging woman of last year’s wedding circuit. I am now the engaged best man who was shagging the wedding planner.”

I wind my arms around his neck, feeling his silky curls on my fingers. “Theformerlyengaged best man. Bennett never really had you,” I say fiercely.

“Oh really?”

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