Page 143 of Lies Like Love

“I know.” And I only had eyes for him.

No one was ever going to live up to Jude in my mind or in my heart. The memory of him was a breathing force inside me, hibernating until I saw him again. He was the hope in a dark world when I was younger, and he’s the heart of my future.

“This is it.” Maren squeezes my hands, and I almost think there’s a burst of excitement. “Let’s go make you a bride.”

Thisisit. The pinnacle of so many things. Unlike any moment between him and me before. It takes everything in me not to rush around the corner and run to him. But I steady my breathing and nod.

“I’m ready.”

Maren smiles and waves a hand out. “Then let’s do this.”

Following her around the corner, I’m not sure what to expect. But the moment my eyes meet Jude’s, I lose myself in the stretch of space between us.

A path of peacock feathers guides my way, and it’s something that only Jude would do. The holder of my secrets in our past life and this one. The man who sees the girl beneath the red hair and bloody past. Stories only him and I share.

Pages we ripped out so no one else can read them, living on only in our hearts.

I take a deep breath as Maren walks the aisle first, stopping beside the small group gathered with the city lit up behind them. The only people here are from the shop and Maren, which is perfect.

Jude knows this is all I need because as long as I have him it doesn’t matter who else shows up.

I run my fingers over my dress and start walking forward, feeling his eyes on me every step of the way.

Maren was paying attention when I was online searching for a dress because I remember flagging this one and making a comment that it was perfect, even if it was double what I was willing to spend.

Still, he made it happen. And I feel like a goddess as his eyes scan me from head to toe.

The white lace is delicate and simple, hugging every inch of my body before flowing out past my hips. It allows me enough room to walk, while still managing to melt over my curves. It cuts low in the front, just enough to tease but not enough to actually show anything. And the thin straps secure it over my shoulders.

When Jude’s green eyes once more meet mine, I think he might take a knife to the fabric later.

Not that I’d mind.

I walk across the rooftop toward him, and I should probably be hearing the loud city raging around us. Car horns and chaos that make white noise. But my heart is thundering, and the music drowns out anything else as I make my way forward.

Every moment of the last eleven years closes between us, and I wish we’d have never let them pass us by. We wasted so much time we could have spent together.

When I finally reach Jude, he catches me in his arms and pulls me to him, dipping his mouth by my ear. And I can’t help but laugh at the fact that he can’t control himself when it comes to me, even in this situation.

“You look stunning, Red,” he whispers.

Pulling back, he looks me over, and even though there’s lust in his gaze, that’s not what I focus on. It’s the pain melting away with every second.

I want him to look at me like this forever, so I can get lost in those eyes. In his green gaze seeing all the things I couldn’t.

Jude steps back and nods to the man officiating, who starts reciting vows. It’s clear, yet somehow foggy as the words come out. Because we’ve ended up here of all places. Together, when it shouldn’t have been possible.

Jude rubs the backs of my hands with his thumbs, tingling my skin the way only his touch does. My body igniting for the only man with the power to draw life to my bones.

I’m safe with him, and I don’t want to be anywhere else.

“Do you, Felicity Alcott, take Jude Carlisle to be your husband, now and forever?”

I nod, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “I do.”

Tears burn behind my eyelids, but I try to hold back, and he grips my hands tighter, sensing me at the edge of falling apart.

Jude is my home. In a world where I have no family or safe space to belong, he made himself that for me.

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