She saw his expression fall slightly and knew she needed to take a different approach.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”
“It’s not like I spend all my time dreaming about the wedding,” he mumbled, and he was just the cutest thing in the world when he pouted like this.
“But…?”
“But…I want to marry you, Mia. Hell, I’d marry you today if I thought you’d say yes.”
“Austin, we’ve talked about this. You know I’m anxious to marry you too, but weddings take time. We’ve both been so busy with building the house, and the books, and the movie…” She sighed. “And we just found the wedding planners. Our appointment is this weekend with them, so what are we going to tell them?”
He squeezed her hand. “I want to get married over the holidays.”
“Um…what?”
“Yeah, I want us to get married sometime between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.”
“Austin, Thanksgiving is only…it’s a month away!”
“Then we’ll do it closer to Christmas,” he reasoned, totally unfazed that he essentially just dropped a bombshell on her.
“You have to be reasonable,” she said, gently pulling her hand from his. “The holidays are chaotic enough without trying to throw a wedding in the middle of them!” Jumping down from her stool, Mia began to pace. “And…and…I can guarantee that half the people we wanted to invite who don’t live locally won’t be able to make it! How is that fair?”
He stood and blocked her from pacing, gently grasping her shoulders. “I don’t care if it’s just the two of us and a handful of other people. None of that matters. The only thing I want is to say our vows and make you my wife.” Moving in close, he slowly wrapped his arms around her and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you so damn much. You know I’m not big on patience…”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” she teased.
“Mia, tell me what you need to convince you that we can do this,” he pleaded. “We can do a video call with the planners today if you want. All of my cousins have gotten married here and on short notice. It’s sort of our thing,” he added with a laugh. “We can get them all over here to help.”
“Austin…”
“Imagine how beautiful everything will look decorated for Christmas,” he went on. “Ask my cousin Mallory to show you their wedding photos. It was amazing.”
“They were married on Christmas?”
“New Year’s Eve,” he corrected. “But everything was still decorated.
“I just don’t see how…”
“I’ll take your last name,” he blurted out.
Mia pulled back. “Excuse me?”
Nodding, he said, “I’ll become Austin Kingsley.” He shrugged. “Everyone calls me Mr. Kingsley already because you’re so famous and I’m…you know…not.”
Groaning, she rested her head on his chest. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. No one does that.”
“Trust me. They do.” He hugged her close again, kissing her softly. “And I’d do it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Mia.”
And that’s the thing. He was telling the truth.
He’d put up with so much in this last year with her crazy publishing schedule, all her moods while she was writing, and the craziness of her book being made into a movie. He’d handled all of it without asking for anything for himself.
Wait…am I considering this? Really?
A six-week timeframe for a wedding was pushing it. However…it would mean a lot less opportunity for her mother to harass her over the plans.
Now that had merit.
Pulling back, she looked up at him. His expression was so hopeful that there was no way she could say no.
She just prayed she wouldn’t regret it.
“If the wedding planners can pull something together in your timeframe, then I’m in.”
“Yes!” Austin lifted her off her feet and swung her around until she was dizzy and laughing hysterically. “You are not going to regret this!” He kept her in his arms as he strode across the room and toward their bedroom.
“Wait! I’m supposed to be writing!” she said, still laughing.
“The words can wait. We need to celebrate right now!” And when he lay her down on their bed and smiled down at her, she had to agree. Everything else could wait.
Three pairs of eyes blinked at him like he’d suddenly sprouted horns.
Skylar Sullivan, Leanna Baker, and Josie Sullivan-Alexander were the owners of Meet Me at the Altar–a wedding planning business out of Raleigh. A few weeks ago, Austin had accompanied Mia to a signing at a hotel in Chapel Hill. There was a wedding going on in one of the ballrooms and they sneaked in to take a peek and get ideas. That’s when they were caught by the wedding planning trio.
Not their finest moment…
Either way, they had talked, and once Mia explained that they were getting married, all seemed to be forgiven. They made the appointment to get together and talk about their plans, and now…here they were at the Meet Me at the Altar office after a three-hour drive.
“Um…”
“Mr. Coleman, that’s a tall order you’ve presented us with. When we first spoke on the phone, we were told that the wedding would be next summer.”
Austin looked at Mia and she just smiled sweetly at him and waved her hand for him to continue. The three wedding planners continued to focus all their attention on him, making him feel mildly foolish.
“Look, Ms. Sullivan,” he began.
“Please, call me Skylar,” she replied.
“Skylar, our original plan may have been for either this summer or next, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.” He glanced at Mia before he went on. “We realize it’s short notice, and if it can’t be done, it can’t be done. All I know is that I knew I’d regret it if we didn’t ask.” Reaching for Mia’s hand, he gently squeezed it. “We can easily wait until the summer to get married, but…I like the thought of having this beautiful girl as my wife as soon as possible.”
“Aww…that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard during one of our consults!” Leanna crooned with her hand over her heart.
Austin was good at reading people, and he knew if he was going to convince them to be on his side with a holiday wedding, Leanna was the one to win over first.
He smiled at her. “I feel like we’ve already waited so long…”
“It’s been less than a year, Austin,” Mia corrected with a small laugh.
Turning, he gave her his most endearing, loving smile. “And I would have married you the day you said yes.”
Her gaze narrowed because she knew exactly what he was trying to do. Fortunately, she also didn’t stop him.
Josie seemed to be the most no-nonsense of the group, and as she leaned forward in her seat, Austin knew this was going to be the make-or-break moment. “The list of things that would have to fall into place on such short notice is a bit overwhelming,” she said, and Austin had a feeling they were going to turn him down. “However,” she went on, “if you are prepared to hammer out as many details as possible right now…”