by Amelia Wilde
“What are you—how did you get here?” I pick up the hem of my dress and go to them, letting Gunnar circle me in his arms. “I thought you were out on a training exercise.”
“I weaseled my way out of it at the last moment. I’m here in time for the reception.” Gunnar releases me. “You look beautiful, Soph. Just gorgeous.” Then he looks around for Clayton. “Where’s the lucky man?”
My cheeks burn. The luckiest man of the day is standing next to Gunnar right now. “About the reception…”
“The wedding didn’t happen,” Mallory blurts out. “Clayton got cold feet. And a hot redhead.”
Gunnar blinks. “What?” Then he turns and punches Ash lightly on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Wasn’t my news to deliver.” Ash’s eyes are on mine, dark wells of an emotion I can’t name. “I didn’t want to speak out of turn.”
My brother rolls his eyes. “Of course you didn’t. Honorable to a fucking fault, man.”
“Not that honorable,” Mallory jokes under her breath.
“You are the worst,” I mumble out of the side of my mouth.
But Gunnar’s eyes are back on me. “Are you okay? Do you need to get the hell out of here? You don’t…you don’t seem that shaken up.”
Ash shifts his weight from one foot to the other. Mallory bites her lip.
“I had people who were here for me.”
Gunnar squints, like the light in here is several magnitudes too bright. “You’re not heartbroken?”
This is, at the very least, a good practice run for what’s going to happen inside the reception hall. Most of the invited guests are extended family members from the Langdon side, so I can act sad for anyone on Clayton’s side who hung around after he bailed.
“No,” I admit. “I’m not heartbroken.” Over Clayton, anyway.
Gunnar thrusts his fist high into the air. “Score.”
This is—what? “What do you mean, score?” I stab a finger at Gunnar. “You too?”
He puts his fist down by his side. “Me too what?”
“You all hated him?”
Gunnar folds his arms over his chest. “Look, I’m sure he had some good qualities. He was there in some of our tougher moments.” A curl of his lip is a dead giveaway. “But he wasn’t my top pick for you, Soph. Never has been.”
“And you kept silent all this time why?”
“Because it’s your decision who you want to be with.” Gunnar says this like it’s as obvious as the blue of the sky. “Who am I to tell you who to love?”
“You sure about that?” Mallory cocks her head to the side. “Like, a hundred percent sure? Because—”
“Shut it,” I tell her, then return my attention to my idiot brother. Would I have listened to him? No. But maybe a critical mass of my loved ones—
“What’s going on?” Gunnar looks from me to Mallory and back again. “Did something else happen? I know you didn’t send everybody home, because my so-called best friend let that slip. “If you want somebody to go in there and take the heat, I can—”
“No, that’s not what I want.” A tide of misery rises in my throat and cuts off my airway for a sickening second. I want Ash. I want more of Ash. All I want is Ash. I could go on, and on, and my brain wants to, but the longer we stand here the harder this is going to be.
“Honestly, I wanted to have this wedding that I planned. Look at me.” My voice trembles. “I look awesome. I felt awesome, too, except for the part where Clayton is the wrong man.” I can’t help it. I look into Ash’s eyes. “And the worst part of it all is that I know who the right man is.”
Ash
Gunnar is my best friend, but the man can be surprisingly dense.
Sophie’s voice quavers, on the verge of tears, but she doesn’t let a single one fall. Gunnar rocks back a step. “Who, then?”
She doesn’t look away from my eyes. You, her gaze says. It’s you.
I’m not a perfect man. I wasn’t brave enough to ask her on a date. I put my friendship and my loyalty to her brother first.
It’s not me, I try to tell her. I’m just a fucking fool, like any other man.
Never mind the way we fit together in bed.
Never mind the way her hands on me feel like heaven.
Never mind all of it.
“Are you going to say, or is it a secret?”
Mallory whips her head toward Gunnar. “Look, I know it was a long flight, but really?” She motions with her bouquet between Sophie and me. “These two. They have a thing going on.”
“What?” Gunnar’s voice echoes through the hall, bouncing off the high ceilings and back down at us. “You two? You and you?”
“That’s—” Sophie dabs a knuckle to the corners of her eyes. “That’s very misleading, Mallory.”
“They do. Sophie’s loved him for years, and this guy—”
“Hold on.” Gunnar holds up both hands. “You’ve had a secret thing going on for years, and neither of you told me?”
“No, the crush has been going on for years,” Mallory answers. “The fling…I’d say that’s been going on about two hours.”
Gunnar does a double take, then a triple take. “Am I having a stroke? What is happening, Soph?”
“I liked him,” Sophie says, her voice just above a whisper. She clears her throat and tries again. “I liked him from the moment you brought him to the cottage. But I never did anything about it, because you’d have a problem with that. You never wanted me to date your friends.”
“Well, no, not when we were in high school. You were a freshman. It would have been gross.” Gunnar looks over at me. “You didn’t try anything, did you?”
“I didn’t go to high school with you, jackass.” My voice feels rusty, like I haven’t spoken in a hundred years.
Gunnar steps in closer. “Why didn’t you, man?”
“Why didn’t I try anything in high school?”
“Why didn’t you ask her out?”
“Are you kidding?” Sophie squeaks. “You wanted him to ask me out?”
“No,” thunders Gunnar. “I didn’t want him to ask you on a date. I don’t want to think about you and him—” He waves a hand between us.
“They already did,” supplies Mallory helpfully.
“Christ,” Gunnar groans, slapping a hand over his face. “Man, if you liked each other, I’d rather have seen you at all the get-together over the years. Are you fucking with me? You really think I’d kick you to the curb for making my sister happy? That jagweed didn’t, and I had to put up with him for way too many dinners.”
Sophie laughs, probably at jagweed, but I’m fuming.
“I didn’t know. You want to stand here and blame me for not being a dick?”
“Oh, don’t get pissed now.” Gunnar shakes his head. “I couldn’t give you my blessing when there was nothing to bless, if you know what I mean.”
“This is ridiculous,” says Sophie.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “It is ridiculous. Because even if we—” I’m not going to give a full rundown of what happened in that honeymoon suite. Not now, and not ever. “What do you want us to do, Gunn? Get married?”
There’s a moment of silence.
“Because god fucking help me, I will do it.” The second the words are out of my mouth, I know it’s true. “I’ll marry her right now. In front of your face. And I’ll make you stand up there with me, just so you can see it all happen.”
“You say that like it’s a dire threat,” says Gunnar.
I turn to the only person who matters in all of this. “Sophie, do you still want to get married today?” A beam of light shines down from the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bay, illuminating every bit of the hope written on her face. “Because if you do…” I reach for the lapels of my jacket and give them a sharp tug. “I’m ready.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mallory steps between us like she’s breaking up a fight. “Do you two love each other?”
�
��I’ve loved her since the moment I saw her.”
Sophie’s eyes well, but she gives a crisp nod. “Same.”
“You always said it was a crush,” jokes Mallory.
“I’ve said a lot of things.” Sophie’s gaze never leaves mine. “I’m also saying, right now, that this is my dream wedding. I want my dream groom, too.” She lifts her chin, and the determination in her eyes steals what little of my heart was left.
“All right.” Mallory tucks her bouquet into her elbow and claps her hands. “Let’s do this.”
Sophie
The music is different, this time around.
The string quartet has an endless repertoire, and they didn’t hesitate when I asked them to play Home. It’s beautiful, all in a string arrangement like this.
The walk down the aisle is different, too.
All eyes are on me.
I’m not alone.
Gunnar stands tall and proud in his dress blues, head held high.
We stop inside the doorway to the reception hall and shutters click. There was a brief scramble with the photographers—they had to change out their memory cards—but other than that, it turns out that starting a wedding ceremony over with a different groom isn’t all that difficult.
“You’re taking this really well,” I whisper to him.
“You’re an idiot if you thought I’d throw a hissy fit,” he whispers back. “I saw your face light up when he made his little speech. You’re into him.”
“You don’t think this is crazy?”
“I think everything is crazy,” Gunnar answers. “It’s all crazy. Life is nuts. And I wasn’t lying. You look beautiful. You might as well have a wedding, and it might as well be to my best friend. Now stop talking to me and look at him.”
I do.
Ash waits under the canopy in his tux, one button missing from his dress shirt. I can still feel the place where he grazed his teeth against my thigh. It’s sexy as hell.
Was it weird when I announced that the ceremony would go on? No, not really. The weird part was announcing the new groom. One of Clayton’s aunts gasped audibly, and Mallory went rushing over to that contingent, which was about six people.
They left, I think. I wasn’t paying much attention. I was busy getting ready for a second walk down the aisle.
Mallory waits to one side of the canopy, beaming.
It takes no time at all to get to Ash.
He comes down the shallow steps and shakes Gunnar’s hand, then takes mine in his. Together, we climb the steps and stand in front of the officiant. I give him the nod.
Our ceremony is going to be…a little non traditional.
“Ash Montgomery, do you take Sophia Langdon to be your wife?”
“I do.” Ash’s voice rings out like a bell, and my heart sings.
Three years ago, when I saw Ash out on that dock, my heart did the same thing. Then it leapt forward into the future. A hazy, barely there future where Ash would keep coming back to the cottage and swim in the sun.
And I would keep coming back. Over the years, we’d get closer. The little hip grazes in the kitchen would turn into lingering hugs. The hugs would turn into chaste kisses. The kisses would turn into a frenzied leap into bed one night, during a summer thunderstorm. One night, we’d find ourselves alone there, and we wouldn’t be able to resist saying the words out loud: I like you. I want to be with you. I want more of you, consequences be damned.
I had no idea we’d take a running leap over all of that and start with a wedding night in the middle of the afternoon.
Life is crazy, as they say.
The officiant turns his attention on me. The guy has managed to pull a poker face out of his back pocket, because he doesn’t look at all concerned that I might pull a runner like my ex-fiancé.
“Sophia Langdon, do you take Ash Montgomery to be your husband?”
“I do.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” We made it to the finish line. There aren’t rings, since I didn’t want to use my tainted engagement ring over again, and I don’t have a secret ring to pull out of my cleavage for Ash. As I’ve learned, rings don’t make the marriage. Nothing does, except for the people in it. And I want Ash all up in my marriage from now until death do us part.
My heart skips a beat, shocking itself back into compliance on the next as the officiant’s words sink in.
Husband.
Wife.
Then he says the words I’ve been dying to hear:
“You may kiss the bride!”
Ash
Sophie stands at the window of our tiny Manhattan apartment and takes in a big whiff of the summer air. “This is city living,” she says, spreading her arms out wide. Then she wrinkles her nose. “Yikes.”
I go up behind her and slide an arm around her waist. “Shut the window, love of my life. You’re letting the garbage stench in.”
She turns in my arms and rises on tiptoe to press a kiss to my cheek. “I wanted to be sure we really appreciate Bliss.”
“I think we would appreciate it even if we didn’t suffocate ourselves on New York City garbage,” I offer. “But sure. Whatever makes you happy.”
“You make me happy.” Her voice is filled with a genuine love, and I get a strange kind of happiness vertigo. It’s been a year since our wedding. I’m still head over heels for her. I’m more in love with her than ever before.
It turns out you can learn a lot about a person in a single year. You can learn how resilient they are, going from teaching kindergarten at a scrappy neighborhood school to teaching fifth grade at one of New York City’s elites. You can learn how filthy they are in bed. Who’d have thought Sophie Langdon would like a little spanking now and again? Who’d have thought I’d be into that?
I am into that.
“You know,” she says. “Someday, we’ll have to get all the Warriors to vacation at Bliss.” Sophie’s been going to some of the get-togethers with the guys down at Mack’s Bar. I never thought I’d bring somebody to one of those. It always seemed too intimate, somehow, and anybody I brought wouldn’t have been the real deal.
Sophie is the real deal.
I snort. “Those guys at Bliss?” I’ve spoken too soon. “Actually, I’m sure you could convince Dayton and Summer. They love the beach.”
“Couples’ vacation! And they could bring the kids.”
“Wouldn’t that be weird?” I pull the window shut in front of us and take her in my arms. “We don’t have any kids.”
Sophie clears her throat, pressing her face against my chest. She mumbles something that I can’t make out.
“What was that?”
“I said, we don’t have any kids yet.”
“It’s a long way off.” I rub my hands down her back. Sophie has embraced the city life with both arms, making friends up and down the block.
“I’d say…about eight months.”
She waits.
The words land.
And then I’m lifting her in my arms, holding her tight. “Are you—did you—are you saying—”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers. “With your baby. I was going to tell you when we got to Bliss, but—”
“Why are you whispering?” I shout. “This is the best news!”
Relief breaks over her face and then she’s laughing, I’m laughing, and there are tears. Happy tears. I kiss her like I’m kissing the mother of my child and the love of my life, which I am.
“How long have you known?”
Sophie drapes her arms around my neck and I set her back on the floor, still holding her close.
“Yesterday. I could hardly keep it a secret. And now I’ve spoiled the surprise.” She pouts, and I kiss it away.
“We’ve got to get out of here.”
Sophie startles. “That sounds urgent.”
“You can’t be near garbage. We have to get to Bliss.”
She taps my nose, then presses one last kiss to my lips. “Don’t you know, Ash? We’re already
there.”
Thank you so much for reading Kiss the Bride! Things at the Bliss Resort are just heating up, so hold on to your garter belt…
Jenny London has always had a crush on Roman Bliss. Now he’s her new boss at the Bliss Resort.
Falling for your boss is totally forbidden.
Isn’t it?
➤ One-click CRUSH ON YOU and read now!
Ash Montgomery, irresistible heartthrob of KISS THE BRIDE, is one of the Warriors, a group of Army vets based in New York City.
Their most famous member? Dayton Nash, hero of BEFORE SHE WAS MINE.
Dayton Nash was never allowed to love Summer Sullivan. He went to war to try and forget her.
But now he’s back in New York.
And his best friend’s little sister is all grown up…
➤ One-click BEFORE SHE WAS MINE today!
If you loved Kiss The Bride, please consider leaving a review on your favorite site to let other readers know! <3
Something old
Something new
Will you say “I do”?
Sixteen bestselling Flirt Club authors are headed down the aisle with a new collection of sweet, steamy stories!
Always a Bridesmaid by Dee Ellis
At Last by Tessa Blake
Fake Plus One by Arlo Arrow
Garters & Groomsmen by Kim Loraine
Kiss the Bride by Amelia Wilde
My Wedding Knight by Alexis Adaire
Something Blue by Fiona Starr
Something Borrowed by Tracy Lorraine
The Bridal Auction by Vivian Ward
The Worst Man by Rebecca Norinne
Three Weddings & Forever by Laney Powell
Wanderlust Wedding by Rebecca Gallo
Wedded and Finally Bedded by Olivia Hawthorne
Wedded Miss by Angel Devlin
Wedding Wishes by Dori Lavelle
With This Ring by Alexx Andria
Amelia Wilde is a USA TODAY and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of steamy contemporary romance and loves it a little too much. She lives in Michigan with her husband and daughters. She spends most of her time typing furiously on an iPad and appreciating the natural splendor of her home state from where she likes it best: inside.
