“I’ve thought of you nonstop for five years, and this morning you turned your back on me to marry my asshole cousin. You’re going to have to give me at least a couple of hours of clinginess to calm my anxiety.”
“Then if you want to be clingy, I have the perfect idea for how we can make use of a few of those hours.”
His hand dug into her hip, his eyes full of longing. “I need to find a car.”
They showed up at the reception about an hour later, arriving to the cheers of Blair’s friends and family and some of Garrett’s family. Blair was still wearing her wedding dress since she didn’t have anything else to change into, but she’d let her hair down and removed her veil. “I like the idea of you not having a wardrobe,” Garrett had teased while he nuzzled her neck in his room when they were supposed to be getting dressed, “but it might not be a bad idea to keep a few articles of clothing around.”
He wore his tux, and she warned him that this was the only wedding reception they would get, so he’d better dress the part.
They ate and danced, and she found herself feeling more relaxed than she’d been in years. She looked up into the face of the man who had refused to leave her side all night, amazed that he was really there with her.
He glanced down at her, a warm smile spreading across his face.
“When you look at me like that,” she said, smiling coyly, “all I can think about is you naked.”
His eyebrows rose, mischievousness dancing in his eyes. “Is that so?”
“What are you doing next week?”
He brushed his lips against hers, and that was all it took to make her blood hot. “Hopefully spending every minute with you.”
She tilted her head. “How about spending the week with me in Costa Rica? I paid for a week at an all-inclusive resort for the honeymoon. Non-refundable.”
His eyes twinkled. “So this is a practical invitation?”
“I’m a practical woman.”
“Only one of many things I love about you.” He lowered his head to kiss her, then he pulled back to look into her eyes. “So . . . if we’re going on a honeymoon, I think we should actually be married first.”
Her breath caught, and she tensed. This was getting very real, very fast. Somehow the prospect of marrying Garrett was so much more frightening than her engagement with Neil had been. She had so much more to lose.
But for once, she was going to ignore the voices of caution in her head. They had kept her from living for the last ten years, and Garrett had been the only one to truly quiet them. It was time to let her heart take the lead for a while.
“Okay.”
“Really?”
“You thought I’d say no? You already proposed this morning. Trust me, that’ll be hard to explain to our kids if we have them.”
He laughed. “When I proposed this morning, we didn’t discuss dates. I know how you like to plan things out. We can wait if you’d prefer. The last thing I’d want is for you to feel pressured.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No more waiting. We’ve wasted five years, and we’ve got some making up to do.”
“Then how about we get married on the beach in Costa Rica? Just you and me. Are you okay with that?”
“That’s exactly how I want it,” she murmured as she kissed him. “But I want a different ring. This ring has been nothing but trouble.”
“I’ll get you a new ring, but I’ll be forever thankful for my family heirloom. I wouldn’t be here right now if not for this stupid ring.”
He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her close. “Mrs. Blair Lowry. Or maybe Mr. Garrett Hansen.” His eyes twinkled. “Or is it Myers? Who can keep up?”
“Shut up and kiss me, player.”
“Gladly.”
***The Gambler (Libby’s Story)***
The Wedding Pact #3
ONLY YOU (Kevin’s story)
(Bachelor Brotherhood #1)
June 14, 2016 eBook
October 2016 print book
Read the the first two chapters now!
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The Gambler
The Wedding Pact #3
Chapter One
No one had ever accused Libby St. Clair of being a practical woman. Not that she cared. The practical choice was often the safe one, the boring one. Libby St. Clair had also never been accused of being boring.
She firmly believed in living life to the fullest.
Ironically enough, the fact that she was now preparing to walk down the aisle toward a man she didn’t intend to marry was the first practical choice she’d consciously made, even if no one else realized it. Especially her two best friends.
“Libby,” Megan gushed, staring at Libby’s reflection in the mirror. “You look gorgeous.”
Blair gave her a warm smile. “She’s right, Libs. You’re stunning.”
“And just think,” Megan said, fluffing Libby’s tulle gown. “Not a single mishap.”
That was the part that shook Libby’s faith in her plan. Why was her wedding going so perfectly?
Blair put her hand on Libby’s arm and stared into her eyes in the reflection. “I confess, when you called last month and told me you were marrying Mitch three days before your thirtieth birthday, I had my doubts. I thought this might be some scheme related to that stupid wedding curse, but I’m happy I was wrong. Mitch seems like a great guy.” She cringed. “Even if he’s gone a little overboard with the football theme.”
Libby gave her a weak smile. “He is pretty great.” There was no denying it. Mitch was a fantastic guy in social situations. Of all the many boyfriends who’d come and gone in the past fifteen years, he was the only one who was both fairly dependable and accepting of her quirkiness. He even tried to understand her close friendship with Megan’s brother-in-law, Noah McMillan, which was more than she could say for Megan and Blair. That had to count for something, right?
But something was missing with Mitch. It hadn’t really mattered at first. She’d never intended to marry him. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that the woman in his life would always take a distant second to his sporting activities. But she’d needed a date to Megan’s wedding, and then Blair’s, and the fact that her friends kept expecting her to break up with him, that they were always so utterly shocked she was still with the same guy, started to chafe. And so she stayed with him, at first wanting to save face and prove she wasn’t as flighty as they thought. Then, because she had seen the curse come to life with her friends’ weddings, and she fully expected it to do the same with hers.
Back when they were kids, the friends had made a pact to find husbands before their thirtieth birthdays. They’d formed the agreement while in line to see a fortune teller, and mere moments later, Madame Rowena had assured them they would keep the pact, but their weddings would be disasters and each of them would marry someone other than their intended. The curse. Only Libby had taken it seriously, but there was no denying that Megan and Blair had both gotten married before their thirtieth birthdays, and neither of their husbands were the men who’d originally proposed to them. And God knew, the days leading up to their weddings had been filled with disaster after disaster.