Page 106 of Unraveling the Truth About Love
Max and Treat had fallen in love in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and it was only fitting that they wed at the Wellfleet Inn. The two-story inn overlooked the bay. Treat owned resorts all over the world, so it came as no surprise when he purchased the inn and added it tohis collection.
“You’re such afactgirl,” Kaylie whispered, looking at the altar. “Excited?”
Nervous, Lacy mouthed. She’d waited more than a year to see Dane Braden, Treat’s younger brother, in-person again. More than a year of sharing emails, texts, intimate phone calls, sexy video chats, and too many unfulfilled fantasies to count. Months of working twelve-hour days seven days a week, vyingfor a promotion at her job, and long nights spent dreaming of Dane. She reached for Danica’s hand and—deep in conversation with her husband, Blake—Danica took Lacy’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. She’d met Danica and Kaylie just before their double wedding, in a Nassau resort owned by Treat Braden, the six-foot-six, darkly handsome man now standing at the altar, gazing intotheir friend Max Armstrong’s eyes. Max’s dark hair fell in gentle waves over the spaghetti straps and soft lines of the beachy wedding gown that Riley Banks, Treat’s brother Josh’s fiancée, designed for her. Weddings had a way of making the beautiful even more glamorous. Max and Treat were a striking couple, and they should have held Lacy’s attention as Treat held Max’s hand and looked lovinglyinto her eyes, promising her a lifetime of adoration, but Lacy’s gaze shifted to his right. To the line of Treat’s four striking brothers, proudly standing as his groomsmen, each one more handsome than the next. Each brother’s dark eyes were trained on their eldest brother as he vowed to love, honor, and cherish his soon-to-be wife—each one except Dane. Dane’s smoldering dark eyes stared hungrilyat Lacy, sending a shock of heat right through her.Oh gosh! He’s so sexy.Lacy couldn’t blink. She couldn’t look away. She couldn’t even breathe.
“Careful,” Kaylie whispered, “you’ll drool on that pretty dress of yours.”
Lacy felt her face flush, but she still couldn’t tear her gaze away. Each of the Braden brothers had thick dark hair, and while Treat and Josh wore their hair short and Rexwore his cowboy-long, covering his collar, Dane’s hair fell somewhere in between, as if he’d missed his last trim; it brushed the tops of his ears, with sides that looked like he’d just run his hands through them.No.Lacy narrowed her eyes.That’s not it at all.As she watched Dane’s lips lift into a smile, she bit her lower lip and thought,He looks like he could have just come from the bedroom—or,like he’s ready for it.
He winked, and Lacy caught her breath.
“Behave,” Kaylie warned.
“Oh my,” Lacy whispered, drawing her eyes to her lap. “He’s so…”
“Sexy? Gorgeous? Hot?” Kaylie offered, arching a brow.
“Shh.” Danica shot a harsh stare at them.
Lacy and Kaylie drew their blond heads together with a silent giggle. Danica shook her head, and though Lacy couldn’t see her face, she knewthat her eldest sister was rolling her eyes at them with her lips pinched in a tight line.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Treat Braden.”
The announcement sent a shiver of nervous energy through her stomach. Everyone stood as Max and Treat walked down the aisle hand in hand. Max’s smile lit up her eyes, and Treat walked with his shoulders back, his eyes on Max, beaming with pride.Kaylie’s blond hair tumbled down her back as she reached her sinewy arms around her husband Chaz’s neck and kissed him. Lacy watched Danica smile lovingly at Blake; then he took her chin in his hand and kissed her. Lacy turned away, thinking about Dane.
As Treat and Max approached, Lacy and her sisters tossed rose petals.
“Congratulations!” Lacy shouted, but her eyes had already left Treat andMax and had settled on Dane once again. She hadn’t remembered how broad his chest was, and the wanton look in his eyes hadn’t seemed quite as strong over Skype and FaceTime. Her pulse ratcheted up a notch.
“You’re so beautiful!” Danica said to Max.
The groomsmen made their way down the aisle next, and Kaylie squeezed Lacy’s hand so hard that Lacy winced.
“There he is,” Kaylie said.
“Stop,”Lacy said under her breath. “I’m nervous enough.”
Dane walked toward her, his perfect pearly white teeth visible through his wide smile. His broad shoulders swayed slightly, and those dark eyes of his never wavered from hers. Her legs turned to Jell-O, and she gripped the back of the chair for stability. The man in the aisle in front of hers reached for Dane.
“Hey, buddy. I haven’t seen youin months. Good to see you,” the older man said.
Dane embraced the tall, thin man, his eyes still pinning Lacy in place. “You, too, Smitty. We’ll catch up at the reception.” Dane took a step closer to Lacy’s row. He embraced his cousin. “Blake, great to see you.” Then he pulled Danica into a soft hug and kissed her cheek. “You look as gorgeous as ever,” he said. He reached for Kaylie next.
Lacy’s heart slammed against her chest as Blake and Danica moved into the aisle, following the rest of the guests into the reception room. She had forgotten how tall he felt when he was near, and as she watched him wrap his arms around Kaylie, she realized that she’d also forgotten how large his hands were.Big hands, big—Stop it!
“We need to call our sitter before the reception. Good to see you,”Kaylie said. She gave Dane a quick hug and pulled Chaz behind her, leaving Lacy alone with Dane.
IT HAD BEEN four hundred and fifty-seven days since Dane had seen Lacy in person.Too long.He reached for her hands and then drew her close, placing one soft kiss on each cheek and inhaling the sweet smell that he remembered:a combination of citrus and floral with an underlying hint of musk. To anyone else, it was Chanel Coco Noir. To Dane, it was the smell of Lacy that he remembered from the day they’d met, and their only afternoon together, the day before her sisters’ double wedding in Nassau. The smell he’d dreamed of, which had carried him through those long afternoons out at sea when they were tagging sharksmiles from shore.
“Lacy.”
Her slim fingers trembled against his palms. A shy smile lifted her supple lips and sent Dane’s pulse into overdrive.
“Hi,” she said softly.
Her blond curls fell in thick spiral ropes across her tanned, lean shoulders. She wore a royal-blue halter dress that fell to the middle of her thighs, revealing her long, toned legs. It just barely covered the edge of the scarDane knew held the worst of her fears. Dane lowered his lips to one of her slender hands and pressed a soft kiss to it. All those months of emails, phone calls, and video chats came rushing back. They had never been enough, but his demanding travel schedule as founder of the Brave Foundation made it almost impossible to steal away for a weekend, and Lacy was working day and night in hopes of obtaininga promotion, so even if he had found the time, she probably wouldn’t have been able to break away. Brave’s mission was to use education and innovative advocacy programs to protect sharks, and in a broader sense, the world’s oceans. Dane’s passion for saving and educating had begun right after college and had only grown since. He’d created a life around doing what he loved, and now he livedon a boat on the coast of Florida, where Brave’s headquarters were located. He had a small administrative staff and was well connected enough to have temporary staff and volunteers in the areas where he worked. When he wasn’t in the water, he could be found running the foundation, which required heavy travel, a busy social calendar, and a boatload of butt-kissing. Unfortunately, over those months,his and Lacy’s schedules hadn’t come together.
“Are you going to introduce me, or just block the aisle?” Dane’s younger brother Rex pushed in between them.
