“Yeah.” His expression hardened a bit. “I didn’t invite Dizzy. Didn’t want you to think I did and he didn’t show, but I also didn’t want to give him the chance to disappoint you. Kinda wrestled with that decision. Hope I made the right one?”
“Yes,” I told him. It was sad, but it was the right decision. “I just want to be surrounded by people who really love me right now.”
He gathered me tighter in his arms and lowered his face down to mine. “Like this?”
“Yeah,” I said, and kissed him softly on the lips. “Just like this.”
“Besides,” he said, “Dizzy was the only one who got to witness our first wedding. Figured it was only fair we give our other friends and family a chance this time.”
“Fair enough.”
“So where do you want to do it?”
I peered up into his eyes, where I glimpsed the evil gleam I knew all too well. “Uh, do it…?”
“Our vow renewal. I’m ready if you are.”
“Oh. Right. That…”
He grinned at me, and I grinned back.
In the end, we decided to renew our vows out on the balcony, under the moon and stars.
There was a long, beautiful balcony loaded with flowers that opened right off the ballroom, overlooking the city and the mountains and the dark of the waters beyond. It was a May evening, the flowers were fragrant and it was a little cool but not cold in my dress.
I was pretty sure no one could even hear us from the ballroom, but it didn’t matter. These vows were for us, a private moment between Zane and I.
And our impromptu wedding party. It was small, just two people, because making it any bigger just got us into a silly argument.
Jessa and Jesse; my oldest friend, and his oldest friend.
After that he wanted Brody and Jude, I wanted Katie and Talia, but then he wanted Seth, too, which meant he wanted Dylan, and then he wanted Ash… and I wanted Elle, but then I didn’t want to leave Amber and Roni out, or my female cousin… and the whole thing snowballed into a ridiculous negotiation over who would get left out, until we would’ve had the entire guest list crammed out here on the balcony to make each other happy.
So instead… just Jessa and Jesse.
And our vows?
We made them up on the fly.
Well, Zane had maybe a little more time than me to prepare his, but we improvised a lot.
“I love you, Maggie, and I’m always gonna love you, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it,” was how he started.
“Absolutely the same right back at you,” I said.
“And I’m never gonna promise you I won’t fuck up. We both know I’m gonna fuck up, but I’m never gonna give up on trying to do right by you.”
“Same here.”
“This marriage means more to me than any other thing in my life, and I’m gonna make sure you know that, every day.”
“Me, too.”
“You can’t just ditto your way through these vows, Maggs,” he said, a happy sparkle in his eyes.
“I know.” I squeezed his hands. “You just pretty much said it all. I love you. That’s where this all started, but that’s not where it ends. You know… Seth said something to me the other day, about love being a verb—”
He kinda rolled his eyes. “Fucking Seth.”
“Don’t roll your eyes at me. You hate it when I do that to you, Mr. Omura.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Mr. Omura?”
“Well, I’m not taking your last name.”
“I’m not taking yours, either. Mine’s pretty famous, Maggs.”
“Which is why I’m not taking it.”
The cocked eyebrow went higher. “Are you turning our vows into an argument?”
“As I was saying. Seth said love is a verb, and he’s right. I’m telling you right here and now at our wedding reception and vow renewal party that I love you, Zane Traynor. And to me that means I’m going to love you, actively love you, every day for the rest of my life. My love for you will be… you know, the wind beneath my wings and all that.”
“Holy shit. You are not gonna start serenading me with Sarah McLachlan…?”
“Holy Christ. It’s Bette Midler. What rock have you been living under?”
“Are you still talking? These are the worst vows ever.”
“Agreed. I didn’t have much time to prepare.”
“Maybe we’ll just have to redo them.” He grinned at me. “You know, again. In two more years.”
“Yeah.” I grinned back. “But they’re the best vows ever, okay? Because they’re ours.” I squeezed his hands again, pulling him closer to me. “Seriously. You’re the love of my life and my best friend, and you’re kinda my life in a way that, as a strong, independent woman of the now, I don’t like to admit. But you know what? I couldn’t be who or what I am without you, and I swear to you I will fight for that. I’ll fight for you and for us to my dying breath, because you are it for me, Zane.” Suddenly the humor had faded and this shit had gotten real. My breath hitched and his blue eyes softened.
“Maggie…”
“I love you in ways I never knew I could love until I met you. And to quote your vows from our first wedding, ‘I’m never letting you go.’”
“You remember,” he murmured.
“I remember.” I blinked back the tears that were glittering in my vision. “Yes, I remember.”
“I love you, Maggie May Omura.”
“I love you, Mr. Omura.”
He cracked a smile. “Don’t start.”
Then he kissed me.
When he pulled away, he said, “I love you so much it fucking hurts, Maggie. In the best way possible. The only thing I can really promise you is the most important thing there is, as far as I’m concerned. I’ll never leave you fighting alone.”
I smiled and the tears sparkled in my eyes. He knew how those words would hit me, because he knew it was a promise no man had ever made me before; not even my dad.
“I’ll be here for you whenever you need me,” he said, “and even when you don’t… I’ll be hanging around just in case. I’m fucking crazy about you, and I’m pretty damn sure, if the past is any indication, I’m gonna spend every day of the rest of my life loving you more than the last one.”
Then we kissed.
And we kissed… Until my pussy started throbbing so incessantly it sucked all my attention downward with its gravitational force, and I started calculating the quickest way to get his dick inside me…
“Uh… Maggie,” he whispered. He’d stopped my hand, which was on his dick, squeezing him through his pants. “I’m all for that, but maybe we get rid of Jesse first?”
“Nice vows,” Jesse said, and I glanced up to find our tiny little wedding party standing patiently by, watching us. Both of them with a little sparkle of happy tears in their eyes.
Shit. I snatched my hand back. They heard all that?
Totally forgot they were here.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, as Jessa swiped a tear from her eye. She was holding her brother’s hand.
Both of them moved in to hug each of us, then Zane took my hand in his and we all headed back into the ballroom. Jesse announced loudly, “PRESENTING MR. AND MRS. MAGGIE OMURA!”
To which Zane punched him in the kidney.
“Ooph. I mean, MR. AND MRS… ZANE TRAYNOR…?” He threw me a look, covering his vital organs with his arms like he was expecting another punch.
I just shook my head.
“Uh, ZANE AND MAGGIE! Let’s eat.”
So we ate. And we mingled.
And then we sat down and just enjoyed the feeling of being in this room together.
Our wedding reception.
There was no formal dinner, but the small army of catering staff circulated the room nonstop with loaded trays of food, and there was a massive buffet table of desserts. There was also a chocolate fountain, because my husband loved me like that.
And there was a full bar of exotic non-alcoholic dri
nks.
Fortunately, our friends were fucking cool and they knew how to party without alcohol. Although I was pretty sure more than a few people snuck out onto that gorgeous balcony for a toke throughout the night…
Zane didn’t seem to mind.
He took it all in stride, happy that his friends were happy. That I was happy.
“You’re really good with all this?” he asked me, leaning over to speak close in my ear as we snuggled on one of the antique velvet loungers. “I know you love planning and being in control. I was hoping you’d still have fun tonight.”
“It’s amazing. You did a great job, and I love it,” I assured him.
“You’re happy?”
“Yeah. Hells yes, I’m happy.” I kissed him softly, and then we toasted with our cranberry mocktails. “Here’s to many happy years together, okay?”
“Okay.” His eyes twinkled at me over his glass as we sipped. “You know, you’ll be able to drink again. If you want, you can take off with the girls later to the bar and celebrate. I won’t be mad. A little jealous, maybe…”
“Fuck that. I’m screwing you later until we both pass out from exhaustion.”
The grin spread across his face. “That sounds like a way fucking better plan. I knew I married you for a reason.”
“And what reason would that be?” I asked, as he set our drinks aside.
“Because you’re fucking smart, Maggie,” he said, lounging back and taking me with him. “You always know where it’s at.”
“Of course I do,” I said. “It’s in your pants.”
He laughed, pulling me into his side as he wrapped his arm around me. He held my hand, drawing it into his lap and brushing my knuckles very purposefully against his dick. Teasing me. Reminding me exactly where it was gonna be at later.
His ice-blue eyes said it all.
I just licked my lip and stared.
Zane’s eyes darkened… Then he smirked and looked away. I watched him looking at our friends, laughing and carrying on around us. It was loud. The music had gone up, the lights had gone down and people were dancing.
But all I wanted to do was stare at Zane.
My man wasn’t perfect. But he was definitely… epic. He was sexy and smart and devoted, and he still made the backs of my knees sweat.
Our relationship wasn’t perfect, either. But yeah… it was pretty fucking epic, too.
I stared at his gorgeous blond hair, styled in an edgy fauxhawk… His strong, defined, slightly crooked nose… His broad shoulders in his black shirt and vest. His strong hands with all the rings… and his bare ring finger, which bore the tattoo of my name.
My tattoo was visible, too. I’d stopped covering it up once we went public with our relationship.
And as it turned out, things did change once our marriage was totally out in the open. For the better.
We’d had all kinds of reactions from all kinds of people, both good and bad. Though mostly good. Anyone who really mattered to us, whose opinion really mattered, had been supportive, in the end.
And Zane was right. When our relationship went public and everyone weighed in on it, the fans had their say and the media swarmed all over it… it really didn’t change us.
Instead of heaping the pressure on, it had taken the pressure off.
No more secrets. No more little lies.
No more sneaking around.
I ran the tip of my finger over his ring tattoo and he looked at me. Our heads were close together as I leaned into him, our cheeks practically touching.
“I’m sorry your mom’s not here to see this,” he said, sincerely. I knew he meant it, deeply, because he loved me that much.
He loved me enough to know what I needed and where my heart was at. To pay attention to all the little things, and the big things, too.
And God, I loved him.
I squeezed his hand and shrugged, knowing exactly what my mom would say to that. “Maybe she is.”
Zane didn’t say anything, but he kept staring at me.
I kept staring right back.
“What?” he asked, softly.
“Is it weird,” I asked him, “that this is the first time I’ve truly felt like we were a married couple?”
He smoothed his thumb slowly over my ring finger, back and forth. “I know what you mean. I feel it, too.”
“I think something happened out on that balcony under the stars, Zane.”
“Yeah, Maggie,” he said, gazing into my eyes. “We got married.”
Epilogue
Ash
We were all set up in front of Summer’s DJ platform at the far end of the dance floor, ready to go. Jesse, Seth and me.
The crew was pretty slick getting us all hooked up, like a bunch of rock ’n’ roll ninjas. Jesse and Seth had guitars and I had a mic stand, and the three of us were all seated in a row like gentlemen; not my usual way to perform.
The last time I’d performed a song sitting down was at Jesse’s wedding.
Summer was playing The Miracles’ “Shop Around,” not a remix, just the regular old Motown classic, and she had all the old people dancing. Brody was dancing with grandma Dolly—carefully; that woman was getting old. Elle’s parents were dancing. Matt was dancing with Dylan’s mom, Katie was dancing with Seth’s foster father, and Piper, of all people, was dancing with Katie’s mom while Katie’s dad danced with Jessa.
It was kinda nice seeing everyone cut loose… and all the people Dylan cared about so much under one roof.
Jesse poked me and pointed out Amber, who was dancing with Shady—or at least, trying to dance with Shady. The man couldn’t dance for shit, but she was doing her best to keep him shuffling his feet around while not breaking her toes.
She looked pretty in her pale yellow dress with a flower in her hair, her pointy little eyeteeth flashing as she laughed.
I smiled a little.
Was good to see her happy. It didn’t make me unhappy like I thought it might. And I wasn’t all that nervous about seeing her anymore.
I wasn’t nervous about the song, either. It was a pretty vocally-intense and emotional song, sure. But for some fucked-up reason, I was actually a little nervous about singing in front of Dylan.
I just had to breathe and maybe forget he was in the room.
As soon as “Shop Around” was done, Summer would introduce us—but it felt like the longest song in history right now. She might as well have put on “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” and called it a night. I was sweating a little, and it had nothing to do with the heat in the room.
It wasn’t hot.
The doors along the balcony were wide open, and I could feel the fresh air.
Just had to breathe…
And remind myself that this thing was gonna be beautiful.
Was definitely gonna get Zane laid tonight.
Luckily, Maggie hadn’t noticed us sitting here. The full dance floor helped. Plus, Zane was doing a good job keeping her distracted at the other end of the ballroom. As soon as “Shop Around” started playing, that was his cue to redirect her.
I’d seen them circling the dessert table; pretty sure he had her dipping into the chocolate fountain right about now.
Then “Shop Around” finally came to an end. I didn’t even have to look at Jesse or Seth. They sat on either side of me, and I could feel them shifting in their seats, getting ready.
We’d rehearsed to perfection. I didn’t need a cheat sheet for the lyrics or anything. The lyrics were pretty simple. Zane had chosen the song; it wasn’t a new song, but it was new to me, and I’d made sure to commit it to heart this week.
“Zane? Oh, Zaaaaane,” Summer purred over her mic. “Where’s that beautiful wife of yours? Bring her on out to the dance floor, would ya?”
Everyone started looking around for Zane and Maggie, and the crowd parted as they made their way onto the dance floor. Zane in the lead, drawing Maggie along by her hand.
“And the rest of you lovely people,” Summer called out. “Can you
clear the dance floor for this gorgeous couple?”
Everyone did as instructed, and the crowd got pretty thick all around the dance floor, everyone gathering to watch as Zane steered Maggie right into the middle of the floor, under the mirrored ball.
She’d seen us by now.
A smile lit up her face, and when she looked at her man, he pulled her close.
“I’d like to welcome some dear friends of Zane and Maggie to the floor,” Summer said. “This is Ashley, Jesse and Seth, and they’re going to play a song for Maggie right now that Zane chose for her.”
There was some applause and some happy shouting and whistling, and when everyone finally died down, Jesse started the song, leading on guitar. Seth joined in… and then I started to sing.
The song was “You’re My Star,” the acoustic version, by Stereophonics, and if you asked me we did a pretty killer cover of it. Judging from the tears I could see running down Maggie’s cheeks by the time I got the first line out of my mouth, I’d put money on it.
According to Zane, the song was important to Maggie somehow.
Seemed that was true.
Eventually, the two of them started dancing slowly in the middle of the floor, wrapped tight around each other. I got kinda lost in the song myself, but somewhere well before the end I noticed they’d stopped dancing to just stand there again and listen, watching us play.
When the song ended, Maggie pulled Zane right on over to us, and before I was even on my feet she’d launched herself into my arms.
“Ash! That was so beautiful,” she sobbed, and yeah, she was definitely crying like a baby. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Congrats, Maggie.”
“Thank you.”
She finally let me go to hug the other guys, and Zane pulled me in for a hug. I already knew he was grateful; I knew he would’ve liked to serenade Maggie himself, but this night wasn’t about him taking the stage. I was honored he’d asked me to step in, and he’d already thanked me about a thousand times. Now, he patted me on the back and told me, “You have no idea, man.”
“Anytime.”
Dirty Like Zane: A Dirty Rockstar Romance (Dirty, Book 6) Page 34
