Page 41 of Destined For Forever

The ceremony was absolute perfection. Lily sat in the front row, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue while Evie and Jasper shared the vows they’d written. One thing that Jasper said really struck her.

I promise to never allow either of us to hold back from our dreams, no matter how terrifying they may be.

Wasn’t that the essence of dreams? The bigger they were, the harder you could crash and burn. Lily felt that with her creative work. It was almost like she’d cleared some huge hurdle by breaking into the film scene in LA, and now that success made the thought of pursuing other things—like her novel—feel even more terrifying.

How could she clear that kind of hurdle twice? What if she’d used up all her good luck and karma on Wave of Love? What if she walked away from scriptwriting to pursue novel writing and it was a total disaster and she ended up with nothing?

Opportunity cost.

Sean caught her eye from the front of the room, and he flashed her a cheeky smile. They’d been making eyes at each other the whole time. He looked impossibly handsome in his black tuxedo. Jasper had treated himself and the guys to an old-school barber, who’d come to the inn and cleaned them up. This was the most polished that Sean had ever looked and… wow.

She didn’t even know it was possible for him to be more wow than he was before.

They were kept busy after the ceremony with all the photos—both inside and outside the inn—and then everyone returned to the main room to watch the newly married couple enter together. It was a cocktail function, with free-flowing champagne, canapés galore, and an incredible dessert buffet that Monroe had put together.

Lily had forced herself to have a few savoury bites first before turning her attention to the sweets. But she was more than prepared to consume her bodyweight in sugar this evening, because it would be a crime not to indulge in literal dessert perfection. Monroe, Katherine and Zoey were all standing in a huddle, talking business. It made Lily smile to see three talented women in the food industry sharing tips and tricks.

Biting down on her lip, she wriggled her fingers over a display of Christmas-themed mini cupcakes when a hand landed on her wrist.

“Can I tempt you with another kind of dessert?” Sean’s breath was warm against her ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “There’s a walk-in pantry with our name on it.”

“You’re bad,” she said in mock admonishment. But excitement fluttered inside her like butterflies.

He led her out of the main room, toward the kitchen. They passed Jasper’s friend from Melbourne and another guest on the way out, and when they got to the kitchen, he tugged her toward the generous walk-in pantry.

“Oh my gosh, you’re serious? Sean, we can’t go in there,” Lily said in a harsh whisper. “I thought you were joking.”

His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Why not? Doesn’t look like anyone else is in there.”

“That’s because it’s a food storage area.”

That didn’t stop her following him, giggling as they tumbled inside and pulled the door shut behind them. It was made of slatted wood, and when someone entered the kitchen a few seconds later, they went stock still. They could see the vague shape of a man through the slivers of visibility between the slats. The squeak of taps was followed by rushing water, then footsteps faded away. They were alone again.

Sean pressed Lily against the shelving, his lips finding her neck. “Still don’t think we should be in here?”

It was hard to grasp logic or sensibilities when he kissed her like that. Even though something was poking into her back, she didn’t care. Nothing but the feel of his hands slipping behind her and the warmth of his breath at her neck mattered.

She let her head roll back with a soft thud. “Wha…?”

His responding chuckle was dark and delicious. “Now I know the secret to making you speechless.”

“Canned goods and a musty aroma.”

“Hey, I showered.”

She giggled and clamped a hand over her mouth as someone else came into the kitchen. Sean didn’t freeze this time. Instead, he squeezed her backside.

“I’ll say it again, you’re bad,” she whispered.

“You love it.”

She did. These past three days had been like something out of one of her movies.

They’d woken in each other’s arms, and he’d kissed her slow and easy, like it was naturally how they started every single morning. Yesterday, they had breakfast with her family and Sean had kept everyone in peals of laughter with stories of bar patrons behaving badly. Then they’d teamed up for the gingerbread competition—narrowly missing out on the win, which was stolen by the dynamic duo of her mum and Aunty Patricia. They’d almost gotten caught stealing a kiss by the Christmas tree, and Sean had coaxed her into slow dancing with him to Michael Buble’s ‘It’s Beginning To look A Lot Like Christmas’.

It felt utterly magical. Utterly real.

You’re hoping for a job offer and he’s never going to leave Patterson’s Bluff.

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