With a deep, grounding breath, she stepped out of the limo. She didn’t want to miss a single moment of what happened next.
“Auntie Lia, Auntie Lia. We both have buttons on our dress,” Petal said, running up to her. “We are matching.” She twirled around over and over. Her excitement was contagious.
“Yes, we are. Are you ready to do your very important job?”
Petal’s face switched from joy to solemn. “I am. Timing is very important, and Daddy says I am good at timing.”
“Very good. And what else are we going to do?”
Petal pulled her shoulders back. “I’m going to walk like a young lady and not be silly like a baby.”
“And?”
Petal’s brow crumpled in thought. “Oh, be my super-special self and smile.”
“Well done.”
Trent and Cujo walked down the stairs to meet her. Cujo pulled out his wallet and removed some cash before handing it to Trent. “He said it would be red. I guessed black.”
Lia laughed. “How do I look?” she asked. She wasn’t fishing for compliments. It just suddenly mattered that the two men she loved above everyone bar Reid approved.
Trent kissed her cheek. “Glorious, as always.”
Once upon a time, she’d thought Trent was the man for her, but as she glanced towards the open doors of the church, she knew the man inside waiting for her was the one she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with.
“Better than I expected, to be honest,” Cujo said.
Lia laughed and slapped his arm. “You are such a dick.”
“Ready to do this?” Trent asked, offering her his elbow.
Willingly, she took it. The combination of the spectacular red Jimmy Choo’s covered in crystals, the huge layers of underskirt to the dress, and the stone steps up to the entrance was a recipe for disaster.
Once at the top, Lia let Harper take over. The details would be what they would be, at this point. It was too late to change a single thing. She ignored the number of white rose petals already thrown over the carpet thanks to Petal’s exuberant swinging of the basket.
Reid was waiting for her.
“Ready?” Harper said, and Lia became aware that Cujo and Trent had gone to their places with Reid.
Lia took a deep breath and nodded.
The organ music soared through the church. Oh, Holy Night. Her favorite Christmas carol. And she heard the shuffle of feet as people stood.
Petal went first, her little head nodding to the beat. Lia couldn’t help but be touched by the dedication with which the nearly five-year-old was carrying out the task. Step, stop, throw petals. Step, stop, throw petals. Her little head bobbed in time as she counted out her routine. A quick glance up the church showed all five men of Preload, exaggerating the nodding of their heads to show Petal when to step.
Harper and Drea followed Petal together. The two best friends turned to smile at each other.
“I love you,” Pixie said over her shoulder before starting her solo walk as Matron of Honor.
“I love you, too,” Lia called out.
And then it was just her in the cavernous stone entryway.
A slight pang of being alone hit her. Her mom was there, down at the front with her new friend, Fredrick. They’d met at an art class.
But the church was filled with the people she’d made her family.
And Reid was waiting for her so they could make their own.
Yeah, she was really blessed.
She straightened her shoulders and stepped into the church. It was too full to see Reid immediately, but she knew he was down at the front somewhere. Of course, she smiled, taking in the gasps of response to her dress. The layers and layers of tulle swished as she walked.
She felt it, the moment his eyes were on her, and she looked toward the altar and found him. Damn, he looked so unbelievably handsome in his black suit it took her breath away. All fears and worries about whether she would be a good wife fluttered away. He was hers and she was his and that was all that mattered. He wanted to marry her regardless of whether she could cook a pot roast or clean a toilet. The only thing that mattered was getting through every day of the rest of their lives, being happy, loving each other.
Tears glittered in Reid’s eyes as she arrived at the front of the church. He reached out his hand for her and she took it, giving herself to him as he gave himself to her. Equal partners in marriage and life.
“Damn, Babe,” he said, gruffly.
“You like?”
He raised an eyebrow, the one that meant, isn’t it fucking obvious?
She grinned and turned to face the priest.
While the church was large, she felt as though she were cocooned in a snow globe. Lights and sprays of white flowers surrounded them as they said their vows in front of their friends.
When the service was over and photographs taken, Reid helped her climb into the limo and then walked to the other side to join her.
As soon as the car pulled away, his hand coiled around the back of her neck and he pulled her to him. Their lips met, his tongue searching hers. The speed at which he was able to turn her on never ceased to amaze her.
“Do you remember what I said to you in Vegas before Cujo and Drea’s wedding?” he asked.
She did. The words made her shudder. But she played dumb, willing him to repeat them. “You said this would be us one day.”
Reid grinned. He knew she remembered. “I said that, but I also said that when we got married, somewhere between the church and the reception, I'm going to lift that dress over your hips and take you in that goddamn limo, and I'm going to call you Mrs. Kennedy the whole time I'm doing it."
Lia checked over his shoulder to make sure the privacy screen was raised between them and their driver. “It’s a fifteen-minute drive to the reception.”
Reid pressed a kiss behind her ear. “You should know I asked the driver to make sure it was at least thirty minutes.”
“I like the way you think.”
“So, are you ready, Mrs. Kennedy, because I’d really like to fuck my wife?”
Her insides turned liquid. Lia loved nothing more than when Reid was at his dirty-talking best.
His hand reached for the hem of her dress, his calloused fingertips slid along her calf, paused at the back of her knee, and attempted to slide further. The tulle bunched up between them.
“Babe, you look great in this, but it’s a lot of fucking dress.”
Lia laughed. “Help me get the underskirts off.”
“This thing is detachable? Fuck, I should have asked the driver for an hour.”
She lifted the skirt of the dress to reveal the waistband of the underskirts. “Pull this off,” she instructed.
Reid reached for them as she lifted her hips. “Good thing this is a fucking limo and not my truck,” he grumbled.
“Good things come to those who wait.”
“Babe, I’ve been waiting an hour to come since I saw you walk down the aisle, taking in the fucking light you are.” He battled with the underskirt, ending up on the floor of the limo between her legs as he wrestled with the yards and yards of tulle. Once he’d got it free of her heels, he flung it down the length of the limo. He ran his hands up her calves, and when he reached her knees, he pushed her legs apart. “Now, where was I, Mrs. Kennedy?”
She loved the glint in his eye and bit her lip. “We were talking about coming.”