Page 72 of Requiem for Love

“Eesh?” Joel eased out of bed, went to her side, and kneeled. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

The weariness she’d worn on her face seconds before disappeared.

“I can’t give you the ring yet,” he began. “I’m saving that for our wedding day, but I hope you know how much I love being with you and the boys and how much I’m looking forward to finally being your husband. When I think about what you’ve had to face for us to get here, it makes me feel sick with guilt, but know that I will honor you, our family, and my vows for as long as I live. Ayesha Savea, I’m in love with you.Soin love with you. I want you to be my wife and not for one year or two. Will you be my wife for the rest of our lives?”

She searched his face, his eyes. Gently, to avoid waking Theo, she slipped away, scooted to the edge of the bed, closed her eyes, and touched her forehead to his.

“Yes. One hundred million times, yes.” She buried her face in his neck. “And I love you too, Joel Lattimore. I love you so much.”

CHAPTER16

There were knots in his stomach, just like the first time. Only, this time, part of his nervousness didn’t come from having over five hundred guests attending his wedding, some of whom he’d watched on movie screens as a child. It was strange that he was nervous at all, considering how much he wanted this, wanted her.

Truthfully, very little would change.

They would get married and then hop on a plane to Malmö. That way, they would only be gone for the days they’d said they would be gone to finalize the sale of his condo, which he’d sold right before their trip. Everyone suspected they’d flown out to get married, and while they fully intended to come clean, there was something kinky and erotic about keeping the secret.

Ayesha’s voice sounded through the speaker on his phone. “Can I be honest? I don’t like what this makes me think of. I don’t like thinking about…you know. Death benefits. Yours, specifically.”

“It’s just a precaution.” He cocked his head to the side, studying himself in the mirror. “But I understand how this could affect you, considering what you’ve gone through.”

“Promise me you’ll never die?”

He smiled. “I can’t—”

“Pretty please?”

He imagined her, her hands clasped and her lovely eyes wide and pleading as she looked up at him. Ayesha looking up at him was lethal, which he’d learned a long time ago, but it was reinforced that night in the bathroom.

“Because it’s your wedding day, Ayesha,” he began, “I promise you that I’ll never die.”

Uneasiness settled in his stomach. It was as if the minute the words left his mouth, something changed trajectory. As though, simply by making that promise, he’d guaranteed her heartbreak.

“Joel, you there?”

He adjusted his tie. “I’m here. I was just thinking about how much I can’t wait to see you.”

“I’m all done,” she said. “What about you? I feel like I did too much.”

“I doubt that. And yeah, I’m done. Be there in a sec.”

He took one last look at his outfit, took a deep breath, and headed for the door to his hotel suite; they’d gotten separate rooms to preserve the mystery of revealing themselves to one another before heading to the courthouse.

When he opened the door, he was expecting, at most, the hallway. Maybe someone from the cleaning staff. What he didn’t expect was to find Ayesha standing there, waiting for him. The minute their eyes met, she smiled, but it took him a moment to return the gesture.

His lips parted, but no words left his mouth, although he didn’t know what he would have said. Beautiful didn’t cut it. Neither did stunning. Not this time. Not with her standing across from him wearing awedding dress, to marryhim,that hugged her silhouette and flared at her hips. Then she’d gotten boho box braids—he’d learned just about all the style names—and her makeup enhanced her natural beauty.

She spun. “Too much?”

His brain checked out a second time as he gingerly touched the embellishments on the dress.

“Joel, Joel, Joel.” She slid her palms over the front of his jacket. “The way you fill out a tux…good lord.”

It was ironic because he loved her no matter what she was wearing, though he did have a preference for half-naked underneath him on a bed in Fiji. That “outfit” never left his memories.

“You look incredible,” he said, finally. “Perfect.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t say that.”

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