Page 14 of Kissed in the Dark

“I am gonna stay far away from her from now on.”

He huffs out a breath and I sigh. I don’t think he’s as good with all this as he’s pretending to be and I think he’s lost his mind to be going back to the venue to have some kind of peacemaking session with Jess. That’s nuts.

But we walk in the door and he whistles under his breath and it’s the wedding march. I cringe.

What the hell?

We turn into the large room that was filled with guests earlier and I freeze in my tracks when I see that it’s still filled with guests. I lean over and mutter at Chris. “I think we’re interrupting someone’s wedding.”

He laughs and shoves me. Hard. “Get moving, buddy. She’s waiting.”

I look up to the front of the room and right in front of a smiling, sparkling Elvis is the woman I love. I let my eyes drift down her curvy body, stunned. She looks beautiful. Glorious. A vision in white holding a bouquet of pink and red roses.

Wait…I turn to Chris. “What the hell is going on here?” I hiss under my breath.

He grins cheekily but it doesn’t reach his sad eyes. “I’m doing you a favor, man. If I can’t be with the love of my life, you sure as hell still deserve to be with yours. Go get her, Jude.”

I cock my head at him, my lips tightening. “Are you sure?”

He grins. “For some damn reason, she loves you and you love her. Go…be happy.” His smile fades. “But don’t you ever tell me anything about the bedroom or anything else of the sort or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

I nod my head. “Noted.” Then I turn to look at the woman I’ve dreamt of my whole life. And she’s smiling and waiting patiently in front of all of our friends and family. Her parents who were devastated when Chris was dumped are happier than I think I’ve ever seen them, her mother crying into her father’s shirt while he pats her back and grins at me.

My parents are glaring daggers at each other but take a quick break to smile at me. They’re still married but hopefully one of these days they’ll give it up and finally go their separate ways before they kill each other.

I smile at everyone and make my way to the front of the room. Heather holds out her hands to me and smiles. “You said you love me.”

I nod my head. “I did. I do.”

“Good.” She gets down on one silken knee and holds out a ring. “I’ve done all the paperwork and everything else we need but there’s just one more thing to do besides the ceremony. Will you marry me, Jude McHenry? Will you make me happier than I’ve ever been in my life and promise to never leave me, even if I piss you off and ignore your advice or argue about how to do something? And will you always love me for the rest of our lives?”

I stop her right there, dropping down to the floor and pulling her close, my lips locked to hers, fighting the need to tangle in her perfect hair and tug her closer. I pull back. “I promise that I will love you to my dying day. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved and you always will be. I want to be there when you wake up in the morning. I want to watch you fall asleep in my arms at night and I want to knock you up and give you so many babies that we’re tripping over all of them every time we move.”

Everyone laughs and she giggles, her cheeks flushing pink. “I think I like the sounds of that. Let’s do this, Mr. McHenry.”

“Absolutely, Mrs. McHenry.”

Elvis clears his throat. “Uh. Not until I marry you she’s not.”

Everyone laughs again and I stand up, pulling her to her feet. “Then let’s do this, Elvis. I’ve got a bride to get all shook up tonight and it’s now or never.”

Heather groans and covers her eyes. “That’s awful.”

But she follows me up to stand in front of the officiant and hands her bouquet to a tiny woman that her brother is glowering at. I lean over and whisper, “who is she?”

She grimaces. “Jess’s little sister. I’m afraid I didn’t tell Chris that she was going to be here but she helped me and I like her.”

I grin. This should be interesting.

Elvis smiles at us. “Sometimes a man meets a woman and he just can’t help falling in love. You can’t stop thinking about her and come what may you know she’s the one. It’s now or never and you hold her tight and ask her to be your only one tonight. If that isn’t love I don’t know what is.”

Music plays in the background and I can’t stop staring into Heather’s gorgeous blue, sparkling eyes, barely believing that we’re here and she loves me. She wants to be mine. Her lips curl up into the little smirk that tells me she’s planning something and my dick jerks in my pants. I hope she’s planning what I’m planning because I’m gonna make love to my new bride all night long. I can almost hear her screaming in my ears and it takes me a second to realize that everyone is staring at me. Including Heather.

“Ummm. I’m sorry. I do?”

Elvis glares at me but his lips twitch. “Is that a question or an answer, son?’

“I do.” I nod my head and Heather grins. I tug her closer as the officiant smiles and says.

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