I step onto the makeshift dance floor with a huge lump in my throat. Juno looks through the space between two sisters’ shoulders and her lips lift into a smile the closer I come.
Part of me wants to run to her, and another part wants to savor this moment. A moment I’ve waited years for. We’re finally going to step over that line she drew so long ago.
“Colton!” Kingston steps in front of me, and Juno’s smile disappears.
He pushes on my chest until we’re out of the tent, away from everyone else—and where apparently all the rest of the Bailey brothers are waiting for us. Austin’s hands are in his pockets. Rome’s arms are crossed. Denver’s open palm has his other fist in it.
Kingston grabs my shoulder and squeezes. “You call off your wedding and now you give our sister googly eyes? What the hell is wrong with you, man?”
“Do you really think we trust you with our sister after you almost married someone else?” Rome asks.
Denver just stands there, hammering his fist into his open palm over and over, glaring at me.
“Think about it, Colton. Give us one reason we should be okay with you and our sister?” Kingston says.
They cannot be serious. I never thought I’d have to worry about them being okay with me and Juno. Shit. I underestimated them. “I’m in love with her.”
“You’re in love with her?” Kingston echoes my words back at me. “Do we believe him?”
Austin rocks back on his heels. “I do.” A smile breaks his serious facade.
“Fuck yeah. About time.” Denver pretends to punch me in the stomach.
“I wondered what the hell you were thinking.” Rome puts me in a headlock and his knuckles rub my scalp.
“But in all seriousness, if you hurt her, we’ll fuck you up,” Kingston says with a smile.
“I’m not going to hurt her.”
“We know,” Austin says and nods toward the tent. “As messed up as this situation is, go talk to her.”
“Thanks.”
I walk away from the four Bailey brothers and step into the tent for the second time. Now Juno is standing with Calista, Dion, and Phoebe, dancing in a circle.
“The Difference” by Tyler Rich comes over the speakers, and I hold my hand out to Juno. “Dance with me?”
Rome’s three kids stare at me as if they don’t recognize me.
Juno slides her hand into mine and I pull her toward me.
“Is this weird? Do you think people are staring?” she says, her gaze darting across the room.
I place my finger under her chin and raise her head until our eyes meet. “All I care about is us.” I put one hand around her small waist and hold her hand between our chests. “I’m sorry for earlier.”
She shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes. “I should apologize. It was your wedding, and I ruined it.”
“Thankfully. Otherwise I might have been dancing with the wrong girl right now.”
“Colton, what if…”
I shake my head. “Just live in this moment. Forget everyone. It’s just me and you. No one else.”
She lays her head against my chest. “I love you.”
My chest swells and feels as buoyant as a helium-filled balloon. I kiss the top of her head. “I love you.”
No other words have ever felt so good leaving my mouth. I hold her tighter—and now that I have her, I’m never letting her go.
Twenty
Juno
Colton guides me out of the tent after we danced. Everyone snapped pictures, and you can be sure one of them will probably end up on Buzz Wheel.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“We’re going to my house.”
“But what about…”
He stops us a few feet from the B&B, his large hands cradling my cheeks, his tender eyes examining mine. “Everything is taken care of. My parents will handle any loose ends. But I’m not spending the night with you at my canceled wedding reception. Where’s Jason?”
“I sent him home. Told him I couldn’t see him anymore.” I step closer so that our chests meet. “Kiss me, Colton.”
Other than saying he loved me and holding me like a cherished gift on the dance floor, we haven’t stepped over that line.
“Words I’ve wanted to hear for too long.” He smiles and bends down, placing his lips on mine.
I wind my arms around his neck, our bodies pressed together. The night has grown colder, and all the insects that call Selene’s garden home chirp and buzz around us. The music flowing from the tent—where we left Grandma Dori doing the cha-cha—can’t cover all the noise as nature comes alive at night.
His tongue slips against mine and his hands fall from my face, wrapping around my waist. I’ve kissed Colton many times before. At thirteen, when neither one of us knew what we were doing. At eighteen, when we’d each had some practice. At twenty-six, when I realized he’d grown up and knew how to kiss a woman. But none of those kisses felt as right as this one. And just like that, his lips on mine make my knees almost give out.
He breaks it off too soon and his hand slides into mine, tugging me across the yard. “We need to get home.”
“Colton.” I stop him as he fiddles in his pocket for his keys. “How is Brigette? Is she upset?”
When Colton said he couldn’t marry her, I felt guilty that my first reaction was joy. Because with my joy came her hurt, and if I’d owned my feelings earlier, she would have never been caught in the middle.
“She’s good. She understood, and I think she might have been a little relieved. Dr. Murphy said he’s going to talk to a friend of his at the immigration office.” He unlocks his truck and puts his hand on my hip. “But that’s the last time I want to hear her name tonight, okay?” He tucks a loose hair behind my ear. “I’ve waited too long to have you here with me like this.”
I rise up on my tiptoes. “Okay, but if you ever omit information from me again, we’re going to have a throwdown. Got it?” I push my finger into his chest.
After I laid all my hidden feelings at Colton’s feet, a despair I haven’t felt in a long time filled my chest. Add on the fact that he was marrying her for a green card, and it made my pain worse. But then, how can I be that upset? His fake marriage forced me to get my head out of my ass.
“I’ll never keep another secret from you.” He kisses me. “Now please get in the truck.”
I giggle and climb in. He rounds the front, shrugging off his jacket and loosening his tie. As he climbs in, he tosses his jacket into the back seat, starting the truck. Our situation is no different than all the other times I’ve been in his truck before, but at the same time, it is. His intention this time is to take me to his house so we can have sex.
He pulls out onto the road and I watch the scenery go by.
“This is weird, right?” I look at him and he turns his head, but I can’t read him. “I mean, you were going to marry someone else and now we’re going back to your house to do it.”
He pulls to the side of the road and puts it in park. “Do you not want to go to my house? Would you rather take this slower?” My nerves set in as he takes my hands. “You can run this. Hell, I’ve waited this long. A few more weeks isn’t going to make my balls any bluer than they already are. But if you have some stipulation about so many dates we need to have before we sleep together, then you better free up your calendar for the foreseeable future.”