Page 75 of Nothing to the Wedding
“I am,” she said, relishing his astonishment.
“You’re wearing lingerie?”
“For one night only.All you had to do was wait eighteen months, buy me lots of jewelry, fuck me a few hundred times, oh, and marry me, to see it.”
“Shit, are you a doppelganger?Did I marry the right Lola?”
Once again, her life choices paid off.See how much more effective it was because she didn’t do it every day?
“Special treat, just for you.From Lola Bunny upstairs to leather and lace in the ballroom.Not bad, huh?”
“There’s leather involved?”he asked, arching a brow as he leaned in.
“You’ll have to wait and find out, won’t you?”
Instead of a kiss, he left her hanging and stood, sweeping up a flute of champagne and a spoon.The ting of the two coming together, surprisingly, did its thing to silence the room, eventually.
A tech guy hurried over in a crouch to give Zairn a microphone.Yep, their wedding was so crazy that it required tech people.
“Thank you,” Zairn said, putting his champagne on the table by hers.“I told Lola once that the groom doesn’t give a speech at the wedding reception.And she loves proving me wrong so… my gift to you, baby…” Laughter rippled through the room.Damn, did he have to be so fine and funny too?Someone should marry that guy.“I’ll be brief, talking for too long about my relationship tends to get me into trouble.”
Oh, so long ago, man, was she glad for every second with him.
He continued.“You may be surprised to learn that the world-at-large doesn’t know the full truth of our relationship.Shocking, right?Sometimes feels like you can’t turn around without seeing one or both of us…”
“They see more of me, Casanova, they prefer my cleavage to yours.”
Zairn took the microphone closer to his lips.“So do I.”Haha, oh, so proud of him.“I couldn’t let today go by without thanking the most important person in my life.”It didn’t matter who else was there.When he looked down at her, he beheld only her.“This day last year…” And she’d hoped they might get through the party without recalling this day last year.“I broke your heart.”
“I broke yours first.”
She had no microphone, but he would hear her.
“Walking away from you was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.”On an exhale, he addressed the room again.“Roxanna and I fit together from the minute we met.Touching her, being with her, as far as the world was concerned, crossed some line.With women, before Roxanna, in business, in family, there were uncrossable lines.”
“Boundaries,” she said almost behind her glass.
His head didn’t move, but his lips betrayed he’d heard her.
He kept on going.“It’s never been like that with her.It’s cliché to say I knew from the minute we met, and that wouldn’t be completely true given the first thing we did was argue.”
“Shocker!”came a call from the crowd.
Rourke, that was Rourkey-Baby, and he was sitting there all smug, enjoying his laugh.
“We’re solid and that’s no exaggeration.You’ve seen the news reports, things written about us… Things we may have accidently streamed…”
“My fault,” she called to the room and held up her glass in admission.
Though it came up so regularly that the masses already knew.
“I’m not sorry,” he said, once again looking at her.“Not for a second of it.”Because each of their seconds together brought them to that moment, to their love, their happiness, their forever.“For that brief spell, when I walked away, I could never free myself.Even if you hadn’t come back to me, I’d still have loved you, then, now, forever.What we have, Lola, is bigger than just you and me.Being with you… I thank whatever fate set me on this path.Without you, life would have no meaning.With you, I know there’s nothing I can’t face, that we can’t face or overcome.As long as we have each other, everything else is meaningless.Nothing has power over this except you.Your heart, your love, it fuels me every day.I want to make you proud, baby, to make you happy.
“This is just our first step.Today we’re renewed and can finally tell everyone the truth.”Uh, no.About their marriage?No!“We can confess to our friends and families that… you made the first move on me.”Phew!The room’s laughter echoed again, it kept going until her cheeks ached with the grin that plumped them.“Okay, okay, but seriously…” he quieted the room.“You saved my life with that kiss, Roxanna Kyst.Who I was, the way I was going then, everything was about to fall apart.I was shattered, broken, and you sailed on in with that incredible smile and the caboose I can’t resist…” See, she knew him.“You’re pure energy, pure light, and every single thing I’ve built has been for you.Doesn’t matter that I didn’t know you then, I know you now, and I know it’s for you.All of it, Roxanna.I get out of bed every day for you.Eat, drink, sleep you.There’s no tomorrow, no yesterday, only what we have right here and now.And as long as you’re happy, nothing else matters to me.”
Rising, she cast her glass aside and moved the microphone to free his mouth for hers.Their guests had gotten more than one show that day.Hell, did she care?This was her guy and she’d take every available chance to appreciate him.
His tongue touched hers one last time before retreating.
