“That’s what the walk is for, to get it together.Just walk, that’s all you have to do.”
“I… I can’t right now.”Squeezing her lips together, her cheeks puffed before her admission came out in a long breath.“If I go out there now, like this…” Her volume dropped.“I’ll laugh!I can’t keep a straight face.”
“Oh my God,” Jane said.
Toria was less help because she did laugh.“I love it!”
“You can’t—I can’t… I can’t laugh.Stop.Curse you, champagne!Oh, I have to take this seriously.All those people want…”
Reverence.Awe.Dignity.Fuck, why was she her?
“You can do this…” Though it didn’t help much that Toria still struggled with her own amusement.“Take your own advice, just look at Zairn.”
She huffed.“Are you crazy?That’s not going to help.If I look at him, I’ll laugh for sure.He’ll be up there, all somber, smooth operator, smoldering and respectable and… I’ll be thinking of the last time I had his cock in my mouth.”So inappropriate.Seriously.Seriously.She could take this seriously.“Okay…” She rolled her shoulders and tipped her head side to side, limbering up for the prize fight.“I can do this… Easy… Somber.”She cleared her throat and blanked her face.“Okay, good, I’m good.Take two.”
Jane fluffed at her hair a little.“You’ve got this.”
Roxie stepped out into view of the aisle again.“Okay,” she called.This time her father came to her, no chance of backing out again when he snagged her arm.“We’re good.Music, maestro.”
Cam and Ballard flanked the aisle, waiting to escort Toria.Judging by the looks on their faces, they’d heard some of her exchange with the girls.One smiled and the other scowled, enjoying her in their own ways.
After passing the duo, the room opened up.There were people.Many, many people.As she walked, the true grandeur hit home, it was humbling.That man up there, the one smirking at her—yes, he was smirking—he’d done this for her.This all existed because of them.
Did it matter he hadn’t made the calls or attended every planning session?No.The wedding was nothing compared to the life they shared, what they’d been through together, what they’d endured.
He’d done all this for her.Not the wedding, the relationship.He was the reason they made it.Him.Every time he tolerated her flippancy, every time he was patient, he was kind, generous, willing to overlook her failings.He could’ve walked away any time, could’ve done better than her for sure.Not “better” per se but definitely easier.On a different path, he could’ve been with a straightforward woman, someone like Kesley who’d be demure and sophisticated.But no, he put up with her eavesdropping, with her meddling, he enabled her bad habits and her independence.Gave her the latitude to prop up her girls, to fight for them, to win.
The guests smiled and whispered at her, but she didn’t acknowledge them, just kept on going, one foot in front of the other.She barely heard the music over the sound of his heart calling to hers.
His smirk faded to something much more profound as he stepped down from the elevated altar to meet them.Her father lifted her veil, it took her a real effort to tear her gaze from Zairn’s to accept her dad’s kiss.The men shook hands and shared a few words.
When her father went to his seat, Zairn ran the back of his finger down her cheek.“Nice to finally see you.”See?Yes, because they’d done feel and hear last night… taste too, mmm.“What was the delay?”
The ball of hilarity she’d squashed down into her gut still hopped and bounced.Man was playing with fire asking for an explanation.If he kept loosening that valve, laughter could explode out of her at any second.
“I was going to laugh.It just hit me, this urge to…” because being with him was filled with surreal moments like this.“I still might so, you know, brace yourself.”
His lips curled, lighting his eyes until his own laugh cascaded around her.The most incredible sound…
He cupped her face in both hands to angle her head back.“You want to laugh, Lola Bunny?Laugh,” he murmured against her mouth before joining them.
Mm, she could’ve used a taste of that tongue before her journey down the—
“Not yet!”Jane’s voice echoed from the foyer.
They couldn’t see her, maybe Jane had spies.How else would her friend know they were…?Maybe because the room was smiling and clapping.Well, hell, it wouldn’t be their wedding without a little drama, would it?
Jane was her own kind of wildcat and took this stuff seriously.Serious enough for all of them.They’d respect that.She really wanted to respect that.
Zairn linked their fingers and led her onto the altar to wait at the side as Toria took her trip down the aisle.
“How’s Jane doing?”Zairn murmured, still doing his duty of being focused on Toria though his hand slid down her back to stop just before the ample ruffled skirt.
“Maybe a seven on the Jane scale.Though that’s before she’s walked out to all these people.”
“You’re a vision, Roxanna.As stunning today as you were in your Lola pajamas the night we met.I’m one lucky sonofabitch.”
She rocked her hip against him.“Smooth talker.”
