Elise was smiling so brightly at Sed, she could have lit the heavens. And even though it meant he had to wait a while longer to see the star of his show, he was overwhelmed by the pride he felt at seeing her. He wasn’t sure when his baby sister had become a woman, but that red dress was showing entirely too much skin. He would have words with Jessica later about why Elise wasn’t wearing the dress he’d liked. The one with the high neckline and matching jacket. Elise winked at him before taking her spot. Sed actually groaned aloud when his other—usually more sensible—sister came into view. Kylie’s dress was even less nun-like than Elise’s. If any of those guys from Jessica’s law practice so much as looked at his sisters, he’d be having lawyer gonads for his wedding feast. The guys in his band knew better than to make a move on his sweet sisters, though he was glad they were all hooked up with women of their own so he could let his guard down a little. But just a little. There were other rock stars in the crowd that could stand a close eye. Especially that Dare Mills character. Sed knew firsthand what Dare’s little brother was like and he didn’t want his sisters having any part of that.
The first notes of the wedding march sounded, and Sed straightened, his head whipping around to catch sight of the only person he needed to see today. His heart. His Jessica.
Two ushers swept the gauzy white curtains aside to reveal the bride to the standing crowd.
As he stared, Sed’s breath escaped him in a rush.
His heart shattered into a million pieces and all the light went out of his life.
Jessica wasn’t there.
Chapter Four
Jessica yanked her bouquet out of her mother’s hand. “I’ve had enough,” she said. “You have been making me crazy for months. If you want to watch the ceremony, fine, but this is my day, not yours. I don’t even want to look at you right now! I don’t give a flying fuck that Johnny Depp didn’t come, and no, we are not going to wait a few more minutes to see if he arrives late.”
In the brief pause of her tirade, Jessica heard the unmistakable sound of the wedding march scrambled by the blowing wind. Eyes popping wide with panic, she gathered her skirt in both hands and dashed into the tent where she was supposed to be standing before the march began. The curtains had already been drawn back, so her entrance had been completely ruined.
None of that mattered when her gaze landed on her groom.
Sed’s jaw was set in a harsh line, his stare fixed on the ground before him. She could tell by the look of devastation on his face that he thought she’d stood him up.
No. No, no, no. This was not how this was supposed to go.
The ushers were supposed to sweep the curtains aside and her eyes would meet Sed’s from a distance and she’d slowly take her practiced steps in his direction, her gaze never leaving his. The love would flow between them as they anticipated touching, anticipated becoming physically connected, just as they were psychically connected.
But he wasn’t even looking at her.
“Sed!” she called.
Jessica was running down the aisle toward him even before he moved. His head popped up and when his gaze landed on her, he staggered against Brian as if his knees had given out. She wanted to apologize for making him worry. She wanted to yell at him for thinking she’d leave him at the altar. But mostly she just wanted to stare at him in adoring awe. He’d never looked more handsome. More loving. More hers.
She stopped dead as she reached the front row of the carefully decorated chairs with their bows all blowing flat and the flowers crumpled, the ribbons flying in every direction in the punishing breeze. But that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the man. The man was perfect.
The wedding march faded to silence, allowing her to hear the whispers discussing the scene she’d just made. But these people knew her. They should be used to her causing scenes.
“Who gives this woman to this man in wedlock?” the chaplain said, as if he were going through the motions and not really part of what was going on.
The murmured conversations quieted as everyone stared at the empty spot beside Jessica where her mother was supposed to be standing and giving her away. At least that’s how they’d rehearsed.
“I give myself to him,” Jessica blurted. “My mother doesn’t own me anyway.”
Sed chuckled, his dimples flashing in his cheeks. He held out a strong, masculine hand in her direction. Her heart thudded, as it always did when she was near him, and she took his hand, stepping to his side. She didn’t know which of them was trembling more, but neither of them was at all steady as they waited for Myrna to arrange Jessica’s train as best she could in the wind so they could have their picture-perfect exchange of vows. The backdrop was far from the perfection she’d imagined: the sky was near black with clouds, the ocean churned with angry waves, the wind caught her carefully chosen veil and whipped it about her in chaotic plumes, and her poor bouquet would never look the way it should. But the man....
The man was gorgeous in his tailored black tux with his smile unending and his eyes full of love and a bit of humor.
If he laughed at her for this, she would, she would… laugh right back. Actually, she was moments from breaking into hysterics and she couldn’t figure out why. Her perfect day was far from perfect and for some unknowable reason, she didn’t care. Not as long as Sed recited his vows and meant them as much as she meant hers.
She could scarcely hear the chaplain over the howling wind, but since she and Sed had written their vows, she didn’t need the cues. She knew them by heart.
“You are the reason I breathe,” Jessica said, lost in Sed’s striking blue gaze until a piece of sand found its way into her eye and she had to rub at it, undoubtedly smudging her make-up into a one-eyed-raccoon look.
“What?” Sed yelled. “I didn’t hear you.”
“You are the reason I breathe!” she yelled.
“Yeah, I feel the
same way!”
Had he forgotten the words? Understandable. He was probably nervous, and it wasn’t as if either of them could hear the drone of the chaplain. She blinked the sand out of her eye and then squinted up at him. He had his lips pressed together as if he was barely able to hold it together. She continued. It was important that they recite their vows to each other even if they were the only ones who could hear them.
“I love you more with each passing moment!” she yelled.
“Me too!” he returned.
“I promise to stand beside you always, weather any storm—”
“Any storm?” he yelled.
“Yes, any storm. Even this one.”
“I love you!” he yelled. “You matter to me more than anything. I don’t want to live a single moment without you in my life.”
“I love you too!” Those weren’t the words they planned, but considering that she was getting hoarse from yelling, they would have to do.
“Do you want to be my wife?”
“Yes! For always. Do you want to be my husband?”
“Of course I do, or I wouldn’t be here.”
Sed flung out a hand toward Brian, who started.
“Rings!”
Brian hurriedly unlaced the rings from the pillow on Malcolm’s lap and handed them to Sed.
“This ring tells the world you’re mine and no one else’s,” Sed said, then he slipped the ring onto Jessica’s finger.
“This ring tells horny bitches that you’re off-limits,” she countered and slid his ring over the knuckle of his left ring finger.
She couldn’t even remember what they’d planned to say. These words were organic. Real. They were both jealous and possessive of each other, so why not just get that all out in the open and into the ceremony?
They both looked at the chaplain, who stared at them as if they were raving lunatics. Jessica was pretty sure they were at that moment.
“Uh, is that it?” the man said.
Jessica and Sed nodded in unison.
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss your bride.”