Page 56 of A Chance for Us
“But it was with the wrong guy.” The way his voice cracks at the end causes me to jerk my head back.
“No. It’s not that.”
“I just mean that I was not supposed to be the Oliver standing here.”
He’s right that he wasn’t supposed to be him, but that’s not what I was thinking. He is the right Oliver. He is everything, and if I had gone through with the wedding that was planned, it wouldn’t have been this perfect. Oliver Parkerson is warm and inviting. He welcomed my family, and while our being in love was all for show, the way he acted wasn’t.
Had I actually married my ex-fiancé, nothing would’ve gone as smoothly. He is nice, yes, but he’s not comforting. There’s no way he would’ve fit in with my uncles the way Ollie did, and my stepmother would have eaten him alive.
“Maybe not, but I know I married the best Oliver today,” I say softly.
Slowly, I raise my gaze to meet his, and the desire swimming in his eyes weakens my knees. He leans in, without anyone tapping on glass or analyzing our interactions, and presses his lips to mine.
It’s soft, sweet, and tinted with something more.
This is crazy.
Absolutely insane because I shouldn’t want him to keep kissing me, but God, I do.
He pulls back, rests his forehead to mine, and says, “I am in so much trouble,” under his breath as the song ends.
Me too.
Me. Fucking. Too.
We break apart and start saying good night to everyone.
“This was definitely the most interesting wedding I’ve ever officiated,” Mark says with a grin.
“Considering it’s only your second, that doesn’t say a lot,” Charlie, his wife, says.
“True, but you know . . .”
“Please don’t ever agree to do it for anyone else.”
“I make no promises. I have to uphold the rules so I don’t lose my spot in heaven.”
Charlie rolls her eyes. “Please, we all know you’re going to hell.”
He grins. “That’s life with you, my sweet.”
“Right. You’re in hell.” She scoffs and then gives me a tight hug. “We are so going to talk about this when you get back.”
“I know.”
“Mark is right,” she says, pulling back and smiling. “You would’ve made an excellent field agent.”
I roll my eyes and snort. “Please, I don’t do danger.”
“And you don’t think this was dangerous?”
“That’s a different kind of danger.”
She looks at Oliver and then back to me. “True, but it isn’t any less risky, my friend.” Then her gaze moves to her husband. “I know all too well how my story ended with a man I didn’t love and had to fake it with.”
So not going down that road.
Jackson and Catherine nudge their way closer, and Charlie whispers something in Oliver’s ear that causes him to laugh.
