by K. C. Crowne
My mother sat in the front row, turning when she saw me. Grant and I were both in suits we’d rented at the last minute, and I thought we looked pretty damn good. My mom seemed to think so as well. Tears welled in her eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hand. I stopped in front of her, and we hugged before I went to my place in the front. Josie’s mother sat in front too, on the other side, with Milo in her lap.
I tried to make it as close to a real wedding as possible. Not just for appearances, but also for Josie. I knew she’d imagined this day differently, and I felt bad that we had to rush as we were.
But under the circumstances, that couldn’t be helped. Grant stood by my side. The only real friend I had. Ben was also in attendance, which surprised me a bit. I recognized a few other faces as well - including the sheriff, Teddy, and Kellen, Leah’s husband.
Kellen, in fact, was the one who started the CD player near the door, which I knew one of Josie’s friends had dug out so we could have music. He started the music and the doors opened. Josie’s friends walked in first, as her bridesmaids, one by one. They wore matching black cocktail dresses, the closest they could get to bridesmaids’ dresses at such short notice.
Grant patted my back again as the doors closed and the music changed.
This is it.
When the doors re-opened, Josie stepped into the room and it was like a light emanated around her. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw her in the dress. For a last-minute shopping trip, she’d somehow found a dress that fit her perfectly - showing off her beautiful body. The veil fell around her shoulders. Her hair was pulled up into a fancy updo, but some tendrils fell around her face. As she got closer, I noticed she was wearing a touch of makeup, just enough to enhance her natural beauty.
My heart nearly pounded out of my chest as she walked toward me.
Everyone else in the room disappeared. It was just her and me. She locked eyes with me and smiled, and I thought my heart might explode.
She stepped up to the altar with me, and the music stopped. We stared at each other, oblivious to the fact that the Justice of the Peace was speaking to us.
“Excuse me?” I asked, shaking my head to try and clear the haze. Everyone in the courthouse giggled, even Josie.
The Justice of the Peace re-read the vows to me - the traditional wedding vows. Would I take Josie Parker to be my lawful wife, to have and to hold, yada yada.
“I do,” I said before he even finished.
This too brought out a bunch of chuckles from the people in the room.
He read the same to her, but Josie actually waited until he stopped talking before saying, “I do.”
Then it was time to exchange rings.
I stared at her with a look of panic on my face.
“The rings?” The Justice of the Peace asked again.
“Um, we don’t have any.”
How the fuck did that slip my mind? We’d remembered everything else, but we forgot the damned wedding rings?
Josie’s cheeks flushed, and she looked down.
“That’s alright. We’ll move on,” the Justice of the Peace said softly.
I whispered, “We’ll get some. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said, though I didn’t believe her. I knew it wasn’t okay. “I forgot too.”
I reached for her hands and gave them a firm squeeze. I’d wanted this day to be perfect for her, and I forgot one of the most crucial elements.
Then my mother stood up from the crowd and walked over to us. She leaned in and handed something to me. I stared down at a vintage ring with an emerald stone.
“Grandma’s ring?” I asked in disbelief. My mother had worn that ring every single day of her life, for as long as I could remember. It had been passed down from generation to generation, going all the way back to Ireland, where her side of the family came from. I knew it meant a great deal to her.
“Yes. She wanted you to have it, to give to your future wife one day,” Mom said, patting my hand.
She returned to her seat, and I mouthed, “Are you sure?”
She nodded and smiled, and I could see in her eyes that she was sure. I couldn’t be sure about what changed her mind about Josie, but something had definitely changed since the conversation the night before.
I slipped the ring onto Josie’s finger, and while it was a little big for her finger, it came very close to fitting. She stared down at in awe, her eyes wide and filled with tears.
“It’s gorgeous,” she murmured.
“I’m glad you like it.”
The ceremony had seemingly stopped just for us, and we stared at the ring, then into each other’s eyes for a moment before I heard the magic words.
“You may kiss your bride.”
I took Josie’s face in my hands and pulled her to me. Our lips met and the people around us erupted into cheers. When our lips touched, a surge of electricity coursed through my veins.
We’re married, I thought. And the idea didn’t scare me nearly as much as it should have.
Ooo000ooo
The reception was just a simple catered dinner. Felicity’s diner provided the food and we sat for a relaxed meal.
Kellen and Leah were working the music, whatever they’d managed to compile on a laptop. I let Josie handle that. So when she took my hand and pulled me to the middle of the floor, I was taken somewhat by surprise.
“What’s going on?”
“Our first dance, silly,” she said. “I mean, you do want to dance with your wife, don’t you?”
“Truthfully, I haven’t danced since maybe the eighth grade, and even then I wouldn’t exactly call it dancing. More like swaying to the beat of some cheesy ballad.”
She laughed. “Well, let’s sway to the beat to some cheesy ballad for the first time as husband and wife.”
“Alright,” I said, pulling her close. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. “Let’s dance, Mrs. Whitaker.”
She gasped at me using my last name, but she seemed pleased. The music began. It was a classic, a song I’d at least heard before. Etta James’ At Last.
“The song makes it seem like we were waiting forever,” I teased.
“Well, maybe I was,” she whispered. “Waiting for the right man to come along all these years.”
“Are you sure you’ve found him?”
She slapped me playfully on the chest and chuckled.
But there was some doubt in her eyes that I hadn’t seen before. My joke might have gone a little too far. I wanted to push away all that doubt from her eyes and her heart. Seeing her that day, in her dress and walking down the aisle toward me had sealed the deal. I knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do.
“I love you, Josie.”
She stopped moving for a second and stared up at me with wide eyes. “You do?”
“Yes, I do.”
I didn’t really expect her to say it back. If she did or didn’t, it didn’t really matter to me. After all, it was about sharing my feelings with her.
“I love you too, Cyrus,” she said softly.
I leaned down and we kissed, and again, it felt like everyone else in the room disappeared. I held her close to me, staring deep into her blue eyes and feeling like this was really it, like I’d found the one for me. The circumstances were crazy, but I couldn’t deny my feelings for her, and I’d do everything in my power to make it work.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” she asked as the song ended.
“What is?”
“That we got married first, then said we loved each other.”
“Yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “Everything about this situation is a little weird. Like how I became a dad before we’d even met.” I winked at her and she smiled.
We stood in the middle of the dance floor for several seconds with no music playing. Then a more upbeat song came on and the dance floor was flooded with people, surrounding us and celebrating us.
I wasn’t one for crowds, but I had to admit
, it was pretty exciting. I got caught up in the feeling just as my mother pulled me aside to talk. I excused myself but didn’t take my eyes off Josie, who was dancing with her friends to some silly pop hit.
“What is it?” I asked my mom.
“I just wanted to explain why I gave you the ring,” she said with a bright smile. “I saw the way you looked at her when she walked down the aisle. If that’s not love, well, I don’t know what is.”
“Oh, I definitely love her.”
“Good, I’m glad you realize that now,” she said, patting my hand. “And I can’t wait to meet my new grandson.”
“He’s around here somewhere, with Josie’s mom.”
I scanned the room and found Milo on the dance floor with Josie, and I pointed them out. My mother gasped. “He’s adorable.”
My gaze moved past them to a man standing in the doorway with a camera. My mom saw him too.
“I didn’t know you hired a wedding photographer.”
“We didn’t,” I growled as I recognized him.
I took off across the room, hoping Josie hadn’t seen him yet. I wanted to get him out of there before he ruined her special day. As I got closer, the man smirked at me, and I lost my shit.
I shoved him against the wall. “Get the fuck out of here. Now.”
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Chuck said, continuing to smirk. “We all know this is a ruse.”
“You don’t know anything. Now get the fuck outta here before I throw you out, and I promise you, you won’t be leaving without at least one broken bone.”
I stepped away, giving him room to leave, but he picked the camera up and snapped a picture of the dance floor. “Wade is really going to love these. He’s always wanted to get Josie in a wedding dress.”
I smacked the camera from his hands, and it fell to the ground with a crash. It shattered into a hundred pieces, and it felt good. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of folks nearby.
Grant was the first to reach me. “What’s going on?”
“This asshole works for Wade,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “And since he’s refusing to leave, I think we need to show him the door.”
Grant stepped up alongside me, and Chuck looked nervous now. Two big men, both ex-military, made a formidable opponent. Still, he didn’t back down.
“Does he know this marriage is fake?” he spoke louder this time, shouting the words. “Does anyone here know this whole wedding is a sham, that you’re not Milo’s father?”
Before I knew what was happening, I blacked out. I slammed my fist hard into his face, and something crunched under my knuckles. I wasn’t sure what. I wasn’t even sure where I hit him, but when I came back to reality, I had him pushed against the wall and blood was spilling down his face.
Teddy managed to push between us, with Kellen and Grant holding me back. I was ready and rearing to hit him again. I wanted to make him bleed. I wanted to make him hurt for hurting Josie.
Josie.
As soon as I thought about her, I turned and searched the crowd. I saw her on the dance floor with Milo, alone now. Everyone had rushed over to watch the fight, leaving her and her son in the middle unprotected. She had tears in her eyes, and when she caught sight of me, she broke down.
I pushed through the crowd, trusting Teddy and Grant to handle the rest.
Chuck was a lunatic, clearly, as he continued yelling as I walked away. “Wade is more powerful than all of you. You’re not going to beat him.”
I flipped him the bird as I made my way to my bride. She was all that mattered.
I heard Teddy escorting the man out, and I prayed he’d actually keep him behind bars. This time, it wasn’t a public street. There was no denying that he was stalking Josie, and everyone heard the threats.
I got to Josie and she fell into my arms, sobbing and shaking. Milo was crying too, probably freaked out that his mother was upset. The entire day was ruined and Wade had won a round
It wasn’t right.
“I’m sorry,” I said, cupping her face in my hands and kissing her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
I’d tried everything to make this day as special as possible for her, and Wade had ruined it.
One way or another, he would pay for that. Josie was my wife now, and nobody - not even the father of her son - would get away with making my wife cry on her wedding day.
Chapter 19
Josie
I was a bit dazed on the drive home. After Teddy escorted Chuck from the premises, the party was essentially over. I was both relieved and saddened to be pulling into the driveway of Cyrus’s house at such an early hour. Our house now, I reflected internally.
I couldn’t help but wonder, was that it? Was that really my special day? At the end of it, yes, it was special because Cyrus and I were married, but the celebration had ended so abruptly and both Milo and I had cried ourselves out. I didn’t want to remember our wedding day as this horrible event where my husband had to beat the shit out of a private eye hired by my stalker. My life was chaos lately, and I hated it.
Not to mention, on top of everything else, my period still had not come. No surprises there with all the drama. It was one thing after another. There was never any respite from it.
“You okay?” Cyrus asked, taking my hand in his.
We pulled into the driveway and had been sitting there for a few moments. I had been completely lost in my head and had made no attempt to get out of the truck.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, turning to check on Milo. He was asleep in his car seat, the excitement of the day having worn him out.
We climbed out of the truck and Cyrus helped me with Milo, carrying him in the car seat so he didn’t disturb him. He sat him down in the living room, and I collapsed onto the couch. I was still in my wedding dress, and it poofed up around me, bringing out a mirthless chuckle.
“I should probably change, but I’m just too tired.”
“Here, let me help you,” he said, offering me his hand.
“I don’t even want to move.” I rested my head back against the couch and closed my eyes. The corset on my dress was digging into my side a bit, making it hard to fully relax. I gave in and took his hand, and he helped me up.
“Come on, let’s go to the bedroom.”
He grabbed Milo’s car seat and carried him into the bedroom with us. He sat him down on the bed.
“Let’s get you out of this dress and into the shower where you can relax.”
“Mmm, that does sound good. Maybe a bath instead though.”
Cyrus’s master bath had a massive bathtub, big enough for both of us to fit comfortably. After everything we’d been through, a nice hot bath with jacuzzi jets was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Cyrus fumbled a bit with the corset ties but eventually managed to loosen them enough that I could slide the big, heavy dress down. It wasn’t until it was down around my ankles and I stepped out of it that I realized how itchy it had been. I scratched my skin, feeling both relief and sadness to be out of the dress, much as I had been when we’d pulled into the driveway earlier.
I didn’t need to wear a bra with the dress, but I had on panties and stockings. He dropped to his knees and pulled down my panties, taking the stockings too. His rough hands over my smooth skin put me in a calmer mental state immediately. I could almost forget everything that had happened, as well as my fears about my period being late.
Cyrus walked me into the bathroom, turning on the tap and checking the water for me. Once it was perfect, he helped me get into the bathtub and turned on the jets. I laid back against the side and closed my eyes. “This is heaven.”
He laughed.
I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “And it would be even better if you joined me.”
“Of course.”
He stripped down in front of me, taking off layer after layer of his suit. My mouth watered as he lost the final piece of his ensemble and stood before me naked and beautiful.
His body wa
s truly a work of art. He appeared chiseled from stone, all fine lines and curves and angles. There was a hardness to him, of course, but there was a softness too. Or maybe that was me seeing what was inside him more than just the outside.
Cyrus was a lot more complex than I’d ever given him credit for.
He gently guided himself into the tub, our legs touching as he sat across from me. There was plenty of room for me, and technically it was a tub big enough for two, but I’d temporarily forgotten just how massive Cyrus was. He couldn’t stretch his legs out fully, bending them at the knee.
“This went better in my head,” I chuckled. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No, don’t be sorry. I’m the problem, not you. You’re just a tiny little thing compared to me.”
His fingers trailed down my thighs underneath the warm water, and it sent shivers throughout my body. His touch had a way of doing that to me. I became very aware of the closeness of our skin touching and found myself wanting even more of it.
I sat up and helped straighten his legs a bit as I climbed on top of him. He helped me until I was straddling him.
“This is better, right?”
“Much better,” he said, pushing a strand of hair from my face. He reached around and slowly began removing the bobby pins from my hair, until it fell around my shoulders and surrounded us like a curtain.
His hands moved around until they were holding my face. We kissed each other, our mouths devouring the other as I rubbed against his body. His hardness pressed against me and rubbed against my clit as I rocked back and forth on top of him. Water splashed from the tub with every movement, but we didn’t care.
I reached down and clasped him, stroking him with my hand and watching the look of pleasure wash over his face.
This was it, this was our honeymoon. We were consummating our marriage, and even after everything went to hell, it felt right.
I guided him into my entrance and lowered my body, taking him inside me. The water had washed away my natural lubrication, so he didn’t slide in as easily as he should have. I felt every inch of him, and it stung a bit as he stretched me open, but the fullness and the closeness were more than enough to make up for it.
