He grinned. “Yeah, mostly the color pink, but I’m confident enough in my masculinity to tell you I have a whole new appreciation for it, because it makes me think of you. And believe me, I tried not to think of you while you’ve been away, but it was no use.”
She cracked a smile. “Is that why you look so rumpled and exhausted?” And sexy as hell.
“Kinsley told me the exact same thing.”
“Your sister is an observant woman.”
“Yeah, she is,” he said with a quiet intensity. “She helped me realize what an idiot I’ve been, hiding from my feelings.”
She lifted her hand to touch his cheek. “I know you did it because you were afraid of getting hurt again.”
“I don’t want to hide them anymore. I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see every night. I love you the way I never thought I could love anyone again.”
Her throat thickened. She stared into his eyes, hardly able to believe she was hearing him speak those words.
“And I just want you to know,” he continued, “that I don’t expect you to come home from New York now. I want you to do whatever you need to do for your business and stay as long as you like. I know how important it is to you. Besides, I’ll come up on the weekends and visit. But only if you want me to.”
She laughed, her head still spinning. “Of course I want you to! I would love that. I love you.”
His mouth came down on hers and he kissed her long and deep. When he finally lifted his head again, it felt as if they’d kissed forever. “Will you wear the engagement ring again?” he asked huskily. “But for real, this time.”
“Yes. Absolutely.” She grinned as he lifted the ring from the box and slid it back on her finger.
“I don’t want to wait,” he said, showering a trail of kisses along her face. “I want us to be married as soon as possible. When you get back from New York next week.”
She couldn’t answer. It was like a dream. She was so happy her emotions momentarily clogged her throat.
Brows furrowed, Wade pulled back to look at her face. “Hey, is that okay with you?”
She chuckled. “Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck. “Lucky for you, I happen to know a darn good wedding planner.”
Epilogue
Six months later
Arden stood back in the corner of the ballroom and watched Milena and Vance have their first dance as husband and wife. The way they were gazing at each other had goose bumps running up and down her arms. Arden knew exactly what they were feeling at that very moment, and she let out a contented little sigh as she glanced at the two rings on her own left hand.
She and Wade had eloped in a private ceremony at the mayor’s office a few months earlier with Kinsley and Damon as witnesses. Their “public” wedding was planned for next June. Since business had been booming thanks to the great publicity of Milena’s wedding, Arden had a hard time putting her own wedding on the schedule. Plus, she wanted to take her time and have it done perfectly. Wade, on the other hand, just plain didn’t want to wait.
Which was why they compromised.
Kinsley came over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Oh my gosh, Arden, you have to check out what’s going on at the beach right now.”
Arden followed Kinsley out onto the boardwalk. Elena was standing by the steps several feet away taking pictures with her phone. Milena lucked out with a lovely day. The sun was shining, and the ocean air was still warm for October.
Shielding her eyes from the sun, Arden gazed out onto the beach and saw Wade, Violet, and a few other board members from the shelter trying—unsuccessfully—to corral the animals Milena had had for her bridal party pictures earlier. Several of the dogs were barking, chasing one another, and not listening to the commands Wade and the others were calling out.
“Oh dear.” Arden raised her hand over her mouth to cover her laugh. Thank goodness the animals weren’t needed for the pictures any longer.
Kinsley smirked. “I know, right? This is priceless. Elena got some hilarious footage on her phone, which you can be sure will be played at your rehearsal dinner to torture my brother.”
Just then they witnessed Wade lunge for a teacup Yorkie, miss, and slide face-first into the water. A wave rolled over the top of him and his baseball hat flew off.
Kinsley and Arden threw their heads back in laughter. Arden wiped a tear from her eye and noticed that Elena wasn’t laughing. Elena just sighed and continued to stare out into the ocean. Poor thing. Even though it had been six months, Elena was obviously still taking her breakup with Scott pretty hard.
Arden drew closer to Kinsley and elbowed her. “Hey, I think watching all these weddings happen at the hotel is not helping Elena get over her broken engagement.”
Kinsley looked over at Elena and nodded. “I know. I feel awful. I even tried to convince her not to come in today, but she insisted, since she knew I needed all the staffing I could get for such a big high-profile wedding.”
“It’s only going to get worse as Christmas gets closer.”
Elena had always wanted to be a December bride and that’s when she and Scott were supposed to be married.
A thought occurred to Arden, and she snapped her finger. “Hey, I have a client with a house in the Poconos. Maybe you could give Elena a little vacation time after Thanksgiving and we can send her up there to get away. Maybe a change of venue would do her some good.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll order her on vacation. Maybe I’ll broach the topic now with her.”
Just as Kinsley left to talk to Elena, Wade appeared next to her. He was out of breath and his clothes soaked. “No animals at our wedding,” he announced, ringing out the ends of his shirt.
She laughed. “I never thought I’d hear those words from a veterinarian.”
“Those dogs need some obedience training.”
“Look.” She pointed back out to the beach. “They seem to be listening to Violet.” Violet had managed to put a leash on two of the dogs and as a result was giving them each a treat.
Wade shook his head. “I swear, she’s been brainwashing those dogs against me.”
“I’m sure she’s still upset that she missed her chance with you while you were on the market. And I can understand why. You’re awfully cute when you’re wet and disgruntled, Mr. Roberts.” She patted his wet cheek, biting down on a smile.
Wade threw his drenched arms around her, making her squeak. “And you’re awfully cute when you’re wet and trying to be professional, Mrs. Roberts.”
He leaned in and kissed her then and it seemed almost five minutes went by before she was able to speak again.
“Uh-oh, now we both have to change,” she said, looking down at her damp suit.
He kissed her again. “Think you’ll be missed if we slipped away and put on something dry?”
She glanced at her watch. The wedding was pretty much on cruise control until Milena and Vance said their final goodbyes to everyone, but she didn’t want to be gone too long in case an emergency popped up. “Maggie can handle things for just a bit. Fifteen minutes is all I have.”
He grinned. “Fifteen minutes is more than I need,” he said, mimicking what he’d told her that morning he and Roxy had run into her on the beach.
“More than enough for what?”
His gaze turned wicked as he took her hand and led her back toward the hotel. “Oh, you’ll see.”
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Acknowledgments
As per usual, my total appreciation and love goes out to the women of my critique group: The Passionate Critters. In particular, Keri, Bethanne, Nina and Cyn. If I didn’t have you ladies I would be handing in some really awful manuscripts. Your advice, suggestions, and encouragement are PRICELESS.
More ki
sses to my husband and daughter who put up with me being holed up in my office for a good chunk of the day (especially when I’m trying to make deadline!!!)
Even more THANKS and ADMIRATION and PRAISE to my favorite editors in the world, Stacy Cantor Abrams and Lydia Sharp. (P.S. Lydia made this book even funnier with their suggestions!) Thank you both for taking my coal of a story and turning it into a diamond. You are both a complete joy to work with.
Lastly, thank you to my wonderful publisher Entangled Publishing and the entire team (AKA village) it takes to put my book out into the world: Crystal, Debbie, Riki, Shayla, Heather, and of course, Liz.
About the Author
Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor degree in pharmacy—which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations.
She is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Montlake Romance and Entangled Publishing. Her novel, Fiance by Fate, a 2015 Readers’ Crown Finalist, became an Amazon #1 bestseller for Series Romance. And recently, Wrong Brother, Right Match, WON the Sweet Traditional category of the 2017 Golden Quill Contest and became a #1 Amazon bestseller for Holiday Romance and USA Today bestseller.
She serves on many volunteer boards in her community, but is most proud of her work on the Ocean City Free Public Library Board of Trustees, where she has served as President for over 3 years. She resides in a beach resort in NJ, and when she’s not involved in all the above, she’s taking care of her most treasured possessions: her husband, daughter, and dog (Sox).
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