Page 31 of Seaside Cowboy's Marriage of Convenience

Austin could breathe again. He didn’t have a good track record around Kennedy. Apparently, it seemed contagious.

Marina had caught a stomach bug that had been successfully passed to her husband and the rest of the family. Caramel had discovered the same fondness for leather shoes her sister Buttercup used to have. Austin had to buy a new pair of expensive ones for the wedding—then he had to watch them like a hawk. Thankfully, the shoe-chewing feast hadn’t happened right before the wedding. The florist had difficulty delivering the needed number of cream-colored orchids. Then the lead singer of the band they’d booked had broken a leg, and the band had to cancel.

Austin’s mom and Kennedy’s uncle argued repeatedly about the wedding and pretty much everything they talked about. Yet they talked to each othera lot, and Mom started wearing makeup again and making regular visits to a hairdresser.

Kennedy had persevered through it all and didn’t even blink when her trusted hairdresser had gone on vacation at the most inopportune time.

Finally, the music started playing, and a smiling Skylar walked down the aisle. Kennedy had chosen to have only a matron of honor and one bridesmaid and didn’t ask for any specific dresses or even a certain color theme. Skylar was wearing three seashell bracelets, a seashell necklace she’d made herself, and a long sleeveless golden-hued dress and matching kitten-heel sandals.

Marina appeared after that, in a similar dress but instead of kitten-heel sandals, she wore low-heel loafers. Both women had their hair flowing over their shoulders, but Marina gripped a posy of white and canary-yellow orchids tied up with flowing golden and white ribbons. Similar flowers and bows decorated the church pews.

The faint, sophisticated scent of orchids also drifted from his lapel, and matching boutonnières, as Kennedy called them, graced his groomsmen’s lapels. Now Austin knew orchids were her favorite flowers—not the hibiscuses she was allergic to!— he’d corrected his initial mistake by gifting her orchid bouquets several times.

Joy and concern warred inside him as his gaze swept over the church he’d been going to since he’d been a little boy. For years, he could only dream that one day he’d be standing near the altar, waiting for the most amazing woman in the world to marry him. But this was a marriage of convenience, something he’d never dreamed of and never thought he’d consider.

While the dear, familiar faces in the pews comforted him, three unfamiliar ones unnerved him. Those people were part of the security company Kennedy hired. They had a job to do here.

No new incidents had happened since they’d started wedding preparations, and both Mason and Emma had recovered and were among the guests. Some of Austin’s worries had eased up. But not all of them.

When Kennedy started walking down the aisle, his heart expanded, and everything else faded. It all felt surreal. Unlike his brother who often played a pirate, Austin never pretended to be someone he wasn’t. But since he’d proposed to her—well, after she’d proposed to him—he’d felt like he was cast as the lead character in some spectacular movie.

Yet the more he’d gotten to know her, the more he’d felt she was the one God meant for him. To him, this was the real deal. A real marriage. But she’d never asked him for his feelings. She’d asked him for his signatures on a contract with so many pages it looked like a book. He wanted to marry her,notthe heiress.

Then he winced. Was he one of those people who stereotyped her and made her become a recluse? He was so much more than a veterinarian, and she was so much more than an heiress.

A gentle smile lifted her pink lips. She carried a bouquet similar to Marina’s, but larger. A long white silk dress nearly reached her high-heeled shoes, all elegant and classy. No lace or beads or any decorations on the dress whatsoever. But it suited Kennedy and fit as smoothly as if he’d poured paint over her again, as did her elbow-length opera gloves. The entire image, the entire person was just that. Perfection.

The only other thing he could wish for was for her to love him, but would that be asking too much?

As they approached the altar, her uncle beamed like the proud father he’d been to her. Then, near the altar, she stumbled, and her arms flailed as she released her uncle’s arm, probably so as not to take him down with her.

People in the pews gasped.

Her uncle tried to catch her, but she shifted away. Maybe to stop her fall, she let the bouquet go, which flew to the side and smacked Saylor’s face before Rachel Arvidson reached to snatch the flowers.

As Austin leaped to catch his falling bride, several people muttered, “I thought the bride threw the bouquetafterthe wedding.”

Lord, please don’t let me and Kennedy roll down the aisle.

He’d never thought he’d be sayingthatkind of prayer. Surely, Kennedy would be terrified to become a public spectacle. Holding her in his arms, he was surprised and grateful to find they were both still standing. So was her uncle. So was Rachel who’d rushed to Kennedy. Flanked by that three-sided wall, Kennedy remained unharmed and on her feet.

Thank You, Lord.

Kennedy looked up at him, her smile widening. “You caught me. Thank you for not letting me fall.”

“Frankly, the best I hoped for was to cushion the fall.” His heart shifted. “Rachel and your uncle deserve more credit than I do.”

Her uncle pinned Austin with a stare. “In giving you the biggest treasure and the biggest joy of my life, I intended to trust you with her safety.” Based on his tone, the guy didn’t sound too persuaded.

Austin didn’t blame him. It was like choosing a golden retriever to guard the house instead of a German shepherd. “Yes, sir. I’ll do my best.” His heart constricted, something cold wringing the blood from it. What if his best wasn’t enough?

Rachel handed Kennedy the orchid bouquet, but not before sneezing in her elbow. Oh no. Was Rachel allergic to flowers, as well, in her case to orchids? She slipped back into the pew while Austin let his beautiful bride approach the altar first, doing his best to be a gentleman. Seconds later, he realized his mistake. Not being a gentleman but not looking where he walked.

The terrifying sound of the fabric ripping reached his ears as Saylor screamed, “You stepped on her train!”

People in the pews gasped again.

He leaped back as if a wounded Doberman pinscher was about to attack him. Everything in him went cold, and he hoped and prayed Kennedy still had her entire dress on. In a church wedding!

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