Exposed (Ethan Frost 3)

“Well, that’s such a short list that I guess it’s okay.” She pulls away and all but shoves me toward the dressing room.

I go, because this conversation is already ten times heavier than she normally lets things get—at least when we’re talking about her. Still, before closing the dressing room door, I turn to her and ask, “Is it really so bad?”

“What?”

“Having someone who knows what you’re going to do before you do it?” I can’t help thinking of Ethan, of how he anticipates what I need and gives it to me before I even know that I need it.

Tori, as always, seems to know what I’m thinking. “Well, not when you’re talking about that whole Vulcan mind-meld thing that Ethan does. That’s hot. Weird as fuck, but very hot.”

Because it’s her, and because I feel like I’ve pushed her far enough, I go with the subject change. “Ugh. Will you please stop lusting after my fiancé? Please. I beg of you,” I tell her as I shut the door and start changing out of what will be my wedding gown in just a few hours.

“Now where’s the fun in that?” she teases.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was my job to entertain you,” I snipe back.

“Umm, that’s always been your job. Why do you think I keep you around?”

I lift my hand above the top of the dressing room door so Tori can see me flip her off. Of course, she just laughs, but then so do I. Tomorrow is soon enough to start worrying about all the problems Ethan, Tori and I have among us. For now, for tonight, I’m just going to let them all go and enjoy myself.

After all, Tori’s right. If this is the only wedding we’re going to have between us, then we’re going to enjoy the hell out of it.

Chapter 8

“Hey, isn’t it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony on their wedding day?” Chloe asks as she walks out of the bedroom and into the living room of our suite at the Atlantis. “We probably should have thought of that.”

I hear her words, but for long moments they don’t register. How can they when I’m too busy staring at my soon-to-be-wife in her wedding gown. I haven’t seen her since she and Tori took off for shopping and beauty treatments and while she’s always beautiful to me—always beautiful period—right now that beauty is almost otherworldly.

I don’t know if it’s the way the dress hugs every one of her curves or the way her miles of hair are arranged in some kind of updo that holds her curls away from her face while still letting them cascade over her shoulders. Or maybe it’s the way she’s smiling, so openly and joyfully that she glows with it. Whatever it is, she takes my breath away. But then, that’s nothing new. She’s been doing it since the moment I first saw her in line at the smoothie bar in Frost Industries’s cafeteria.

“Ethan?” Her smile starts to fade, the happiness being replaced by an uncertainty I can’t stand to see. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re gorgeous,” I tell her, crossing the small distance between us to cup her face in my hands and press kisses to her cheeks, her forehead, her mouth. “Absolutely stunning.”

“Hey!” Tori squawks from somewhere in the background. “Don’t touch! Do you know how long it took the makeup artist to get her makeup perfect?”

I ignore her, focusing instead on the verdant green of Chloe’s eyes. “Don’t worry about old superstitions,” I tell her, in between pressing more kisses into her skin. “From here on out, we make our own luck.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Me, too.” I step back, hold my arm out to her. “Shall we go?”

This time, she’s the one who doesn’t answer right away. Instead, she closes those gorgeous eyes of hers, takes a deep breath. Then she takes another one and another one. A little niggle of worry starts at the base of my spine—I want this, want her, so badly that I can barely breathe with it. But not if she’s not ready for it. Not if she’s the least bit uncomfortable with the idea of being tied to me for the rest of her life. Despite everything she’s been through in her life, she’s still so young.

I clear my throat, start to speak, but then she’s opening her eyes. Stepping forward. Winding her arm through mine. “I can’t wait,” she tells me.

“To get married?” I ask as I lead her toward the door.

“To be your wife.”

I nod, but I don’t say anything else. I can’t with the knot that’s suddenly taken up residence right in the center of my windpipe.

The stretch limo I hired at the airport is waiting for us in front of the hotel and Chloe gasps as Geoffrey holds the door open for her. “When did you do this?” she demands, whirling back around to look at me.

“Do what?” I answer, feigning confusion.

“Oh my God!” Tori cackles as she follows Chloe. “Did you buy out every floral shop in Vegas?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I climb in after them, then give a satisfied nod to Geoffrey. The kid followed my directions to a T.