“Now, Lara,” Joshua said.“You may proceed any time you’re ready.”
After nodding, she blinked a few times.When she spoke, her words wobbled with unshed emotion.“Connor, I take you as my husband.I promise to work with you, to honor you, to show you the respect you deserve.”
A knot of emotion settled in his heart.
“I will make you proud.And just like we are in this moment, I will turn to you.And every day that we are married, I will show you my love and my utter devotion.”
“Now the rings?”
Connor took the two bands out of his pocket and gave them to Joshua.“I have the other for later,” he told her.
“Repeat after me,” Joshua instructed.“Lara, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow.With all that I am and all that I have, I will honor you.”
Connor said the words and slid the ring on her finger.
Then Lara recited them with no further coaching.His ring slipped into place and felt shockingly right.
“You may kiss.”
“Behave,” Lara mouthed.
He kissed her, gently and tenderly and not at all like he intended to later.
The woman who was married to Murph patted her heart as she walked from the room.The other woman shook their hands.
Joshua took care of the legalities and refused payment.He wished them well and promised to be there for both of them in the future.“See you at the club?”
“Maybe in the next few weeks,” he said.“I’m keeping Lara to myself for some time.”
Connor guided her into the hallway.After making sure they were alone, he had her against a wall.
“Connor!Not here.”
“Oh yes,” he countered.“Open your mouth for me, wife.”He had to have her.
He kissed her hard and deep.Having his ring on her finger had shifted something inside him.He’d had a similar reaction when he’d put that necklace on her before they’d gone to dinner Saturday night.He identified the feeling as possessiveness, and he’d never had it with any other woman.
Within seconds, she became softer for him.She met his tongue, and he tasted her surrender.It wasn’t enough to sate him.It was only enough to make him hungrier.
He ended the kiss and gave her a second to straighten her dress before taking her hand and guiding her to the elevator.
“Congratulations, Mr.and Mrs.Donovan,” April told them with a smile as she opened the car’s door for them.“Where can I take you, sir?”
“Home?”he asked Lara as she entered the car then slid across the seat to make room for him.
She nodded.
“Sir?”
“The Heights,” he confirmed.“You can take some time off.We won’t need you until next Monday.”
“Thank you, sir, ma’am.”
Afternoon traffic slowed them down, and the drive took an agonizingly long time.
“I was thinking about a soaker tub as a wedding gift to you,” he said.
“That would add value to the house.”She nodded.“So it’s a good investment.And I was thinking about a hot tub for the backyard.That’s an investment in us.”
