Page 69 of Nothing to the Wedding
“You sure that thing doesn’t have quick access?”
Tipping her head, she met the mischief in his eye.“Get Tripp’s permission, did you?”
“No, I thought I’d take a swing at screwing you all by myself.”
“I’m a bride,” she said as the music changed to Jane’s fanfare.Good thing their friend was so eager to marry, she’d talked about her wedding so often that she and Toria knew the details by heart.“You don’t screw a bride.”
“Bang?Bone?Or am I sticking with the traditional and just fucking you senseless?”
And there was that urge to laugh again.
“You make sweet love to your bride,” she teased in a mock player voice.“If she lets you.”
“Mm?Bit late to play hard to get when you’re wearing the ring, the dress.I’m sure all these people are here for something.Any ideas what they’re waiting for?”
“Yes,” she said, her shoulders rising with her inhale.Breath held, she anticipated… “For her.”
TWENTY
TALK ABOUT A VISION and what a gown.Jane’s voluminous full skirt beneath the diamond-encrusted bodice—yes, they were real diamonds—completed the fairytale look.
Roxie went one step closer to the perfection and delight of her friend emerging from the foyer at the head of the aisle.
This was it: Jane’s wedding day.Of every memory in life, now and in the future, this would be a pinnacle snapshot.Beautiful, precious, incredible Jane.Fulfilling her dream was a humbling moment.
Hand tucked in the crook of her father’s elbow, Jane glided down the aisle, smooth, effortless, buoyant, luminescent.
One.Two.Pink spots fell from above.Another.Another.Dozens.Hundreds.What the hell was… The whole room was being showered in… cherry blossoms.My God, the man was good.That wasn’t her or Jane, it had to be Knox.Astounding.Outstanding.
Her friend’s delight came in a gasp and slight falter.Basking in the romance raining down upon them, her joyful laugh floated through the room.
They’d come a long way from their early days in Chicago eating cereal for dinner and drinking cheap wine from a box.She pulled her and Zairn’s joined hands to her belly, gaze never leaving Jane.
Knox was there, descending to receive the hand of his bride with such pride, love bloomed in her heart.It was something.Getting this view, from this angle, being up close, was poignant, like living in a movie.A tear tumbled from her lashes as Toria blocked her view.
Right.Wedding.
Why was her friend so—
“Flowers,” Toria whispered.
Flow—the bouquet, yes.Toria took both her and Jane’s flowers and went to stand on the other side of Jane.Zairn’s finagling reminded her to turn her back on the room.They’d gone through all of this.Rehearsed it.Her, Jane, and the other women yesterday before her bachelorette party.Funny that her groom wasn’t the one knocking her on her ass, Jane had delivered the real killer blow.What a picture.
Happy to take the lead, her guy was there, still holding her hand, poised to direct.Wherever the maneuver, she’d go, so long as it was with him.That shifted her wonder.Casanova, there, at her side, intent on the officiant’s opening speech.From the backstreets of Chicago to Pleasantropolis, New York City.Okay, maybe not Pleasantropolis for everyone, but no one could deny her life these days was pleasant.
“…if anyone objects to either of these unions, speak now or forever hold your peace,” the officiant said.
Damnit, why hadn’t she been thinking?What a perfect moment for drama!They should’ve set something up to make sure—
“I object!”
Ooo, that got the place roaring instantly.Whispers joined their turn to the congregation and, who was on her feet?Yeah, that was Roux.Rourke slouched at his wife’s side, finger curled over his mouth, yeah, good try, that didn’t hide his laugh.What were the chances he’d prodded his wife into it?Pretty good.
“You object?”the officiant asked, flummoxed.
Fair response.These objections couldn’t come every day.Presumably.How would she know?Crimson should get into the wedding game.
“I love them both,” Roux declared.
