“Yeah. I’m thrilled.” I pulled up and parked. “And a little nervous. I mean, what if I trip? What if he doesn’t like the dress?”

“What if it all goes perfectly?” She snorted and got out of the car. “Come on, Princess. We need to get you all dolled up before we put you in your dress and send you down the aisle to your forever.”

My forever. I liked the sound of it. Too bad it was a damn lie.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Gavin

"You sure you're ready for this?" Ron glanced my way, the look in his eyes telling me that I should be scared shitless.

It was comical. He was the one with commitment issues. The only feeling I had racing through me was regret.

I glanced down at my mother as she sat in the front row of a small group of family and friends. The smile on her tired face made it all worth it, and yet I couldn't stop thinking that I was going to burn in hell for lying to her.

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At least she would die happy.

The idea that she wouldn't be around when I really got married pained me. A deep ache that caused the warmth to flood from my system.

"I'm okay. I'm looking forward to it. Maddie is a special woman." I glanced over at my friend and cleared my throat as the wedding march began, and everyone stood up.

It was hard to see her from where I was standing, and it was weird that her father wasn't walking her down the aisle. My mom would have questions about that later, but we've figured out another lie to spew. Hopefully, Maddie would jump in and answer that one, leaving me to spare myself from one more untruth.

Several soft gasps lifted up from the crowd, and I could see why.

Never in my life had I seen a more beautiful woman. Whoever had denied Maddie the right to model was a fucking idiot. She should have been on the front cover of every magazine. She was stunning. Beyond gorgeous.

The white lace of her dress dipped down in her pert breasts, and my cock hardened just thinking about how good she worked me every time I relented to her.

It wouldn't be long and we would be making love instead of fucking. That really turned me on. I was far too deep for my own good, but I wanted love above lust any day of the week. Our arrangement just led to a different answer, one I was fine swallowing for the time being.

The smile on her pretty face was subtle, but the look in her eyes told me she was terrified.

The older guy walking beside her as a friend of Ron's daddy. He'd seen all of us raised up and was a good friend to my momma back when she used to go to church. When she could...

"This is you." Ron touched my back, urging me to walk toward my bride.

I took a shallow breath and walked down to meet her, stopping beside her and letting my eyes take in her beautiful face. The makeup she normally wore was nowhere in sight. She had a little bit of pink here and there, and her lips were glossy and alluring. She could make a princess from a Disney tale run in shame of not holding a candle to her.

"Hey," I whispered and smiled, losing myself in the moment. How fucking amazing would it have been if our ruse wasn't a lie at all, but a hidden love story?

The writer in me itched for my laptop. I felt the swell of inspiration and found it so ironic that it would end up being Maddie. The woman who'd sold her soul for money.

"Hi," she whispered back and slid her arm into mine.

I nodded at the older man beside her and offered him my hand. "Mr. Mills."

"Gavin." He glanced down at Maddie. "I knew the two of you would end up together. Fate always has a funny way of doing stuff like this."

I forced a chuckle. "Thank you, Sir."

We turned, and the pastor from my mother's previous church walked out, stopping in front of us. I hadn't told the poor guy that we weren't really getting married but lied about not having the marriage license. He wasn't thrilled about getting up in front of a group of people and performing a ceremony that he didn't have the license for, but I gave him a sob story about my mother, and he relented.

We could deal with the technicalities later.

But later would never come.

Tags: Claire Adams Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net