Page 28 of Needing Happily Ever After

“It isn’t really what I was picturing.” She shrugged. “I mean, even if it were real.”

“Of course.”

“But I guess I thought all of our family and friends would be there. I mean, my family and friends.”

He winked at her and she laughed before continuing.

“And there’d be a big dance and we’d all eat.” She mulled it over. It was the most honest thing she could have said, despite the confusion of feelings flooding her head and her heart. Katie’s gaze flicked over his shoulder to the dress hanging in the garment bag behind him. That dress was everything. Her eyes once again focused on Damon, on her best friend. The best man she knew. “But all of that being said, this wedding will be everything.”

For a moment, Damon didn’t respond. But then he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a warm, deep kiss that both froze her to the spot and at the same time caused every sensation within her to come alive. This was different. No one was watching. This wasn’t for show. This was…real?

It sure as hell felt real.

Katie leaned into the kiss and deepened it. His arms came around her and held her tight as she melted into him and gave herself over to the moment. Whatever questions she had about what was going on could wait until later.

Much later.

“I really am proud of you, you know?” Damon broke the kiss, but kept his arms around her. “I think it’s amazing that you went to school all on your own and now…well, it’s pretty impressive.”

There were so many other things he wanted to tell her, but if his brain couldn’t even begin to make sense of anything, how was he going to actually verbalize it? “And I do think we should celebrate.”

“Celebrate?” Her eyebrow lifted and she tilted her head in question. “Is that what we were just doing?”

“No.” He shook his head. “That was just me, showing my fiancée how proud I am of her.”

She grinned, but he didn’t miss the flash of disappointment in her eyes as well. “Well, then…that was—” She moved to turn from his arms, but Damon spun her back and kissed her again.

This time, the kiss was deeper and more intense.

She responded with a small groan that made Damon’s dick instantly hard. Since when did Katie provoke these kinds of feelings in him? The answer didn’t matter, because the only thing that mattered was how he was feeling, right then. And judging by the way she kissed him back, she felt it too.

But then it was over.

Her lips were gone from his and she stood on the other side of the room so quickly that Damon didn’t even realize what had happened for a few seconds. He blinked hard and shook his head. “What…did we…did you...what…”

Nothing coming out of his mouth made sense, but she still seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“Maybe we should just slow down?”

“Slow down?”

She nodded. “Just…well…everything is changing so fast and with the wedding in only a few…”

“Right.” Right. The wedding. He nodded, although his body definitely didn’t agree with what his mouth was saying. “Let’s slow down a little. That makes sense.”

It didn’t. Nothing made sense. But he nodded anyway. “We should just focus on that.”

Damon turned and walked to the other side of the kitchen, needing a moment to himself. He took a breath before he turned around to face her again. “You’re exactly right. But we also need to focus on the fact that you just finished your exam. And that is absolutely incredible. Oh, and I almost forgot. I planned a little surprise for you.”

Katie’s face lit up. “You did?”

“I did.” Damon grabbed his own glass of wine and tipped it back, drinking deeply. “I spoke with Faith a few hours ago, and we’ve arranged some mountain biking tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Really?”

He laughed at her surprise and poured himself some more. “I did. She called to go over a few expenses on her way home from the city and she said you seemed a little tense. I thought it would be nice to go do something fun. So…mountain biking it is.”

She shook her head, but there was no mistaking the smile on her pretty face. “Was it Faith’s idea?”

“Busted.” He laughed. “She said something about you and her discussing it the other day. And she thought it might be—”

“So fun!” She cut him off. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Damon. I can’t think of a better way to unwind and have a little fun.”

He could think of a few other ways he’d like to unwind and have a little fun. But having sex with Katie would probably be a bad idea. Well…it would be a very good idea, but…he’d just have to settle for platonic fun with her…for now.

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