Page 26 of Mine To Honor (Southern Wedding)

“Good call,” I agree while the man is declaring us husband and wife.

“You may now kiss your bride,” he invites and Levi steps forward.

“Your lips had better be clean,” I say right before he smiles and leans in and kisses my lips.

It’s very quick but long enough for the photographer to get the picture. The crowd is on their feet clapping for us.

“Well, husband,” I say, reaching up and wiping the gloss off his lips, “only three hundred and sixty-four days to go.”

He laughs when I say that, shaking his head and slipping his hand into mine, leaning sideways to me. “But who’s counting?” he replies.

Chapter Twelve

Levi

“Shall we?” I look down at her hand holding mine as we take our walk down the aisle. Everyone is on their feet. I look over at her and I swear on everything that I have she is the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. When the doors opened and I saw her, my heart stopped in my chest. It felt hard to even breathe. Her eyes looked at all the people there like a deer in headlights. Until she saw me and it was like she calmed down.

When we finally make it into the reception space, there is a server there holding a silver tray with two glasses of champagne on it. I grab them both and hand one to Eva. “Shall we toast to our wedding?”

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” she accuses, and it looks like she’s about to say something else when the photographer comes over and starts taking pictures.

“Smile.” I put a big smile on my face as she glares at me, but at the same time planning my murder, it’s a beautiful sight. She finishes her champagne in four gulps before placing it on the silver tray. I add my empty glass to the tray also when the rest of the guests come out of the ceremony space.

“Congratulations,” Stefano says when he walks into the reception space, shaking my hand and then slapping my shoulder. “You pulled it off.” He turns toward Eva. “Were you surprised?” he asks as he bends to kiss her cheek.

“That’s an understatement,” she replies, still holding her bouquet in her hand. “I can’t believe we forgot the rings.” She puts her hand to her head and I see the ring I bought for her yesterday.

“I can’t believe you didn’t freak out about it,” Stefano states, shaking his head laughing, and it’s at that moment she looks down and sees the ring I slid on her finger. I glare at him for bringing it up. I mean, I know eventually she would have seen it, but I was hoping she would have had a couple more drinks in her before she did.

“What the fuck is this?” She looks down at her ring, her eyes huge before she looks up at me. “What is this?” She studies her hand for a second before looking back up at me.

“I think that’s what they call an engagement-slash-wedding band.” I put my hands in my pockets to stop them from reaching out to grab her hand and study the ring on it.

“This is,” she starts and looks around seeing the photographer there, “this is too much.”

“I wasn’t going to let you get married with a cheap-ass ring,” I inform her. “I’m not an asshole.”

“Um, you could have gotten me a plain gold band,” she suggests. “This is—”

“It’s a four-carat, pear-shaped diamond ring with an eternity band,” Stefano fills her in. “Even I was impressed.”

“Four carats,” she repeats, looking at me and then down at her hand. “Can you get a refund when you return it next year?”

“I’m not returning a wedding ring; that’s like bad karma,” I tell her, nodding at people who are smiling and shouting congratulations as they come into the reception space.

“Can we have the bride and groom pose for pictures, please?” the photographer asks. “If you would come over here.” He points at the outside of the barn.

“This discussion isn’t over,” Eva states between clenched teeth as she walks in front of me and I get a view of the back, or actually the lack of her dress back. She swings her hips right and left, and I blink a couple of times before I look to the side to make sure no one has caught me trying to check her out. We walk outside and the heat hits you right away. “Over there is perfect.” He points at the side.

I start walking when Eva stops beside me and quickly slips out of her shoes before walking on the grass. We walk over to the side where there are piles of rocks right before the field starts. He points at the rocks. “Eva, can you climb up there?” I hold out my hand for her as she climbs on the low rock. “Levi.” He points for me to stand behind her. I follow his lead, stepping up and standing behind her. “Very nice,” he says, taking a test shot. “Levi, put your left hand on her hip so we can see your wedding band.” I grab her hip in my hand, pulling her to me at the same time.

“Getting frisky there.” She looks up at me and I can’t help but laugh at her. “But if you go any lower, I’m going to break that pretty little hand of yours.” This really makes me laugh. “You may have paid for the cow but there will be no milk-giving.”

“Perfect,” the photographer says, capturing the moment. “Eva, hold your bouquet down on one side.” She does as she’s told. He takes the picture and looks at it. “Nice,” he says as the wind picks up and blows her dress to the side, her hair tickling my nose. I move her hair to the side with my spare hand, her neck is now on display. “Okay, bend down and kiss her neck.”

“Um,” I start to say, “I think we should just stick to standing side by side.” I look at her, waiting for her to say something to him.

“It’s one picture,” she states, “just pretend.”

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