Love, Doctor (Inner Harbor 1)

“Wait, I’m here!” Johanna rushes the alter carrying flowers jogging breathlessly toward us.

“Oh god.” My wife to be groans, her cheeks turning pink.

I squeeze her hands drawing her attention back to me.

“Piper?”

Whispering she leans in to explain. “Sorry, it’s Johanna. I didn’t think she was coming. She had to work and well, never mind. Her boss is a jerk and she must have skipped out during her lunch.”

The explanation briefly put my mind at ease. At least it wasn’t the immigration officer, right? I glance at Beck who looks pissed for some reason and then back at Johanna who is staring at the floor picking at her bouquet. They’ve never met before but this is weird even for them and I make a note to ask Beck about it later. Father Lassiter continues with our vows enlightening us about the joys of holy matrimony.

“Do you Piper Jane Scott, take thee Milo Aleksander Dimas Lazare to be your wedded husband.” Ah, so that was her full name. She certainly pulled off Jane nicely.

“I do.”

I slide a platinum band onto her finger. The matching band is thinner and has small diamonds laid into the metal flush. Her hand is cool and the metal warm from being in my pocket. Her eyes soften and Father Lassiter tells me to kiss my bride.

And do I ever.

7

Piper

“Ready to go wife?” The timber of his dark voice has me turning from my conversation with Jax and Diana .I look over my shoulder at Milo. His white dress shirt is crisply pressed under his navy suit and pink tie. It’s unexpected and stylish. My husband is without a doubt a handsome man, one whose dark eyes like my own haven’t stopped staring at me. I have to force myself to stop staring at him les

t my cheeks set on fire.

“Go?” I find myself stuttering in the new status of our relationship. I can’t explain why I feel so unsettled. Sure it’s only on paper and barely twenty minutes old but what else is there to do after conversing with our meager wedding party? I need to call my sister and find out what crawled up her ass that had her acting so weird during the ceremony and had her rushing to leave. She at least owes me an explanation. Johanna left immediately after the “I dos” and the kiss that still has my toes curling inside my sandals.

“Yes, I uh arranged a little something.” A nervous Milo isn’t something I ever thought to see. His cheeks darken under his tan skin and his hand runs through his hair while he diverts his eyes from mine. Impishly I wonder if he’s thinking about later when we’re alone. We’ve been alone before but somehow this is fundamentally different.

“You should go. Have fun.” Diana winks at me while my goddaughter is draped over her shoulder snoring loudly, tummy full from cake. She will sleep soundly tonight and maybe Diana will rest a little easier.

The plan was to finish up the work week and jump into married life with me moving in organizing utensil drawers and my boxes in a spare room. It seems my new husband took it upon himself to make other plans. Kind of like the extravagant ring weighing my hand down like a ten pound dumb bell weight.

“I’ve got the gym covered, love.” Jax busses me on the cheek taking his leave and leaving me speechless.

“The gym?”

“No worries, Will is flying up. He’s going to help me and run a 10k race while he’s here.” Jax waves his hand practically skipping out on me.

“Wait Will is town?” I feel Milo’s arm come around me.

“Piper, go enjoy your weekend off.” Jax says it like an order and beckons Diana to follow him. Huh, so I would miss seeing the older Holden brother. No fair.

“Pip, I love you and thank you. Both of you.” Milo steps back to let Diana and I hug with Maisy’s warm almost healthy body between us. My jaw clenches and I hold back tears. Milo’s hand touches my back softly, sweetly as we separate.

“Have fun.” Diana winks at me and leaves. Now I’m alone with Milo. All alone. I shift from leg to leg and chew my bottom lip turning to look at him. All six feet of the handsome swimmer’s body on my husband. My mouth dries and I swallow it down like sawdust.

“What is this something? I thought I was moving in?”

“Oh you are, in fact I think the movers are right on time dropping things off at my place right now.” He goes from looking anxious to smug and I feel like the important people in my life just threw me under a bus.

“What did you do?”

“I organized them packing up your stuff from your parents house. Johanna helped.”

My eyes strain with the roll I give him, of course my sister helped. Traitor. I take that back. I wanted to marry Milo, and in fact did so, but this still felt all new and weird no matter how much I wrapped my head around it.