Rock (Beautiful Book 4)

by Lilliana Anderson

  “OK, but I still think Mrs Bailey is responsible for all this,” Lisa grumbles.

  “Stop it, OK? She isn’t responsible. And I know you worked hard to make this wedding work Lisa. I’m going to be forever grateful to you for all your help. But right now, I need you calm and positive – OK?”

  She lets out her breath. “OK. I’m sorry. I won’t say another word about it. I’m just freaking out a bit.”

  “I know. But if you don’t believe in omens and bad luck then none of this really matters,” I say.

  “All you need is love and all that,” Paige adds as she stands up and checks herself over in the mirror, the red and yellows of her Phoenix tattoo stretching out around the low v-cut in the back of her dress.

  “The Beatles are so wise,” Stephanie agrees before she breaks into song which for some reason gets us all singing that love is all we need.

  A loud boom cracks through the air outside, causing the lights to flicker and our sing-a-long to come to a halt. “Everything’s fine,” I say, more to calm myself than anyone else. “Everything is perfectly fine.” Although, I have to admit even I’m starting to worry that disaster is about to strike.

  “Cue the music,” Gail says into her mouthpiece as she stands with us, ready to pull the curtain to the side that separates us from the aisle and our guests.

  My heart beats in my ears in nervous excitement as the strains of a melody I haven’t heard completely filters out of the sound system. I recognise part of it from Theo’s frustrated scratchings. He’s obviously finished it.

  I listen to the music, knowing that Theo finished it especially for today and wait for Gail to give us the signal to walk down the aisle.

  My dad gives my hand a gentle squeeze and leans over to kiss my cheek. “You look beautiful,” he tells me as Gail pulls the curtain apart and ushers us through as the first lyrics of the song in Theo’s smooth recorded voice flow through the air.

  I’d sacri–

  The sky flashes and a loud boom shudders the building, as the thunder seems to rumble through the earth. The music and the lights cut out and we’re plunged into a grey world with nothing but the glow of storm clouds flashing with lightning to aid our vision.

  “Oh no,” I gasp, feeling as though perhaps I was wrong to shun the wedding superstitions. Maybe Mrs Bailey does have the power to curse us. And as preposterous as that sounds, right now, it seems as though if it wasn’t her, then it’s the gods above us, telling us that we shouldn’t be getting married.

  “Hurry.” I hear Theo’s voice over the murmurs of the gathered crowd.

  “There’s a generator. We’ll be back up in no time!” A male voice calls from behind us while other voices around me offer me reassurances. They’re all assuring me that everything will be all right. But how can it be, we have no lights. No music. I can hardly see. How is this going to work?

  I frown suddenly, wondering what Jack and Lachlan are doing as I watch them walk up the aisle, talking quietly to guests on their way toward me.

  When they reach the end, Jack says, “It’s going to be OK, Nomes. We’ve got this.” And with a wink, he moves quickly up the aisle and takes his position beside Theo once more.

  “Ready, now,” Marcus commands, and suddenly, the aisle is lit by the glow of mobile phones and those in the front row are using their phone’s flash light as a spotlight on Theo as he begins to play a guitar.

  My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I try not to cry and ruin my make up. But it’s a losing battle, the tears flow anyway.

  “Where did he get a bloody guitar?” my dad asks in amazement as he urges me to walk toward Theo as he begins to sing.

  I’d sacrifice eternity to have you

  Because perfection is here for us now

  You're my angel, my heart, my life and my breath,

  And you found me, you chose me somehow

  All I can see is your beauty

  And all I can feel is your heart

  When times get tough, you’re there for me

  We belonged together right from the start

  His eyes lock with mine as I slowly move toward him, tears streaming unbidden down my cheeks. All my hopes have been restored. Walking down the aisle to my man, singing a song he wrote for me is the most perfect wedding I could have hoped for.

  His hands strum out the chords I recognise as he moves toward the chorus and he belts out the words.

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  And when your tears are flowing

  I’ll be there to dry your eyes

  And when your heart is shining

  The darkness inside me dies

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  As the song ends, I’m standing in front of him, my lip between my teeth, my face probably red and covered in mascara from my happy tears. He hands the guitar to Marcus as my father kisses my cheek and offers my hand to Theo.

  “Are you OK?” Theo asks as his hands reach for my face and his thumb brush over my cheeks to wipe away my tears.

  “I’m perfect,” I tell him. “Absolutely perfect.”

  Seventeen

  The rest of the ceremony goes off without a hitch. Theo and I say our vows, and as he slides a ring on my finger that is engraved with the notes of the song he wrote, I cry even more.

  “I’m such a mess,” I tell him as he takes a hold of my face, ready for our first kiss as husband and wife.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmurs, wiping at my tears before kissing me soulfully while cameras flash along with the lightening behind us.

  As we walk back down the aisle, all of our friends and family congratulate us with tears in their eyes.

  “Congratulations guys. This was probably the best wedding I’ve been to,” David tells us, as he stands with his arm around a weeping Katrina.

  “That song Theo!” she sighs. “It was just beautiful and such quick thinking to use peoples phones for light.”

  “That was Lachlan’s idea actually. People use phones at concerts all the time, so…” Theo shrugs as if he didn’t just pull off the best wedding save of the century.

  “Well, it was great. I’m sure we’ll all remember it for years to come,” David adds, as he shakes Theo’s hand and kisses me on the cheek.

  “We’ll see you inside,” Katrina says as she gives us both a quick kiss and heads inside with everyone else.

  Gail moves over to us to quietly tell us that the generator isn’t working as the basement has flooded and as much as that should be a disaster for us, it isn’t. By now, we’ve realised that we can conquer anything the world has to throw at us.

  “But, when you go inside, you’ll see that we’ve been working hard to make sure the room has enough light,” she tells us with a smile.

  Tea light and pillar candles are set up around the reception hall and with the bevy of musicians we have on our guest list, a wonderful unplugged concert has already begun for everyone to enjoy.

  “This is fantastic, Gail. I think it’s worked out even better than planned,” I tell her.

  She touches my arm lightly. “I have very high hopes for you two to have a very long and happy marriage. Problems are only as big as we make them.” She gives Theo and I a congratulatory hug and admires the beautiful rings Theo chose before excusing herself to go and check on the food. “Thank goodness for gas cooking,” she says as she leaves us to our guests.

  Drinks flow. People
talk, and dance and sing. And when it’s time for our first dance as bride and groom, Theo asks Lisa to be the one to sing a rendition of Natalie Cole’s version of ‘The Very Thought of You’.

  “Dance with me,” Theo asks, holding his hand out to me as all of our guests stand by and watch as the band plays and Lisa sings about a love that at the very thought of it, causes the singer to forget everything in the world besides their love. It’s soft and melodic and it’s absolutely the way I feel about Theo – my husband.

  “We pulled it off,” I say to him as we sway around the dance floor, lost in our own world. “Actually, you pulled it off. That was some pretty quick thinking with the phones and the guitar.”

  “Happy wife, happy life,” he tells me again with a smile as he steps back and twirls me under his arm.

  “Is that your new motto?” I ask, looking up into his beautiful dark eyes.

  “Seeing you happy makes me happy,” he murmurs, his face soft and beautiful as he looks down at me. He seems perhaps even happier than I am in this moment.

  “You know, I was worried that all the bad luck I don’t believe in actually existed for a moment there.”

  “We make our own luck, babe,” he assures me.

  “Well, I feel very lucky to have you. Your song was amazing.”

  “Of course it was. It was about you.”

  As his lips move toward mine, our guests cheer and before we know it, the dance floor is full with other couples dancing with us as Lisa and Marcus continue to entertain us all with their musical talent.

  I look up into Theo eyes, the candles in the room dancing in the dark iris’s of his eyes like tiny flecks of gold, and I feel sure that with this man by my side that every up and every down in this life will be because of him and his love for me.

  “This is the start of something very big,” I say to him as we sway together.

  “That sounds like a good title for a song.”

  I grin. “It does, doesn’t it?”

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  Next in the Beautiful Series - Star

  A rock star walks into a room and chokes a movie star before throwing a chair through the window...

  Sounds like the start of a bad joke. But it’s my reality when I get caught up in the midst of a paparazzi storm brought on by my best friend and her secrets.

  As a journalist, I’m normally on the other side of the news. When I spend a night hiding from the cameras with Australia’s hottest commodity, movie star Jonathan Masters, I’m thrust into the spotlight and it’s not a fun place to be.

  I want my life to go back to normal, but that won’t happen for three reasons:

  1.Jonathan Masters thinks he owes me for saving his life.

  2.Jonathan Masters keeps showing up uninvited and the cameras follow.

  3.Jonathan Masters is engaged.

  Maybe it’s only one real reason - Jonathan Masters. And he’s ruining my life.

  I’ll admit that with his God-like looks, charming personality and sex appeal by the bucketful, he’s hard to ignore. But his reputation precedes him, and since I’ll never be the other woman, he’s wasting his time and mine. Besides, I’m already taken. I’m dating a celebrity chef...

  Sandra fights desire with logic when a movie star swoops in and tries to steal her from the chef in Star: Beautiful Series, five. Containing new and extended scenes from A Beautiful Star in this breathtaking novel that can be read as a standalone.

  https://www.lillianaanderson.com/about-the-beautiful-series

  Also by Lilliana Anderson

  Preorders

  Star

  Lying Game

  Cartwright Brothers

  Fool Me Twice

  Fools Rush In

  Foolish Games

  Fool’s Errand

  Fool’s Paradise

  47 Things

  47 Things

  One More Thing

  Standalones

  In the Wind

  Till There Was You

  Never Again

  Darcy Comes First (Love is a Beach)

  Drawn Series

  Drawn

  Drawn 2 – Obsession

  Drawn 2 – Redemption

  Drawn to Fight

  Zac & Evie

  Hugo & Meg

  Beautiful Series

  Struggle

  Forever

  Melody

  Rock

  Star

  Taste

  Danger

  Destination

  Entwined Series

  Our Hearts Entwined

  Our Lives Entwined

  Fire and Lies Series

  Partners

  Played

  Deep Cover

  The Confidante Trilogy

  Confidante: The Brothel

  Confidante: The Escort

  Confidante: The Madame

  For more information on upcoming releases visit

  www.lillianaanderson.com/preorders

  About the Author

  Bestselling Author of the Beautiful Series, Drawn and 47 Things, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.

  Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters with all the quirks you’d expect from those born Down Under.

  Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in a city and suburban setting.

  When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and five children.

  Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.

  Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.

  For more information on Lilliana and her work:

  www.lillianaanderson.com

  info@lillianaanderson.com

  To join her Facebook reader group and talk books

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/438800699591852