Harry and Virginia, along with a teenager he’d never met, were filling an iron archway with a random assortment of flowers they pulled from grocery store bags.
Don, Horace, and Eliana’s dad had showed up with four sheet cakes just a few minutes before and hustled toward the building behind the elephant enclosure. Asher frowned. Something had definitely gone wrong.
He’d decided to go find Eliana when Logan ran into the enclosure, his face red—and was that a streak of grease on his face? He raced to the front and stood under the just erected archway out of breath.
“Car trouble,” he called out, and everyone chuckled, releasing the tension that had built with every minute that had ticked past the starting time. “We’re ready. I can’t wait one more minute to marry Julia.”
Lydia stood with a handkerchief that she’d gotten wet with her water bottle, and everyone paused as she shuffled toward him to dab at the dirt on his cheek. He smiled sweetly down at her and then gave her a kiss on her cheek. Asher’s shoulders relaxed at seeing the interaction. He’d been worried about Lydia since their conversation that morning, but it was a good reminder that she had people who loved her, even if she was going through some rough times.
The music began to play, and everyone straightened as the wedding party walked down the aisle. Logan’s niece was the flower girl, followed by his nephew who held the rings. Then Kai and Logan’s sister walked down the aisle together, arm in arm.
Asher held his breath as Eliana came into sight with Cameron. Her long, blue dress brushed her ankles and hugged every curve. Her hair was curled around her shoulders, the strands woven through with sprigs of delicate white flowers.
But it was her expression that made him wonder if he’d ever be able to fully breathe again. She looked absolutely radiant. If he thought she was sunlight before, now she was a supernova. She looked happier than he’d ever seen her. And he knew with absolute surety that he was completely in love with her.
Eliana walked straight toward him when the wedding ended, her gaze locked on his in a way that made his heart skip.
“Ready to be my fake, fake boyfriend?” she teased as she sidled up beside him.
He brought her knuckles to his lips. “You look beautiful.”
She blinked in surprise, and her cheeks turned a bright pink. He’d clearly caught her off guard.
“Thank you,” she said, sounding as flustered as she looked.
“Are you needed right now?” He hoped to steal her away for a visit to Miss Havisham.
“Pictures,” she said. “And then dinner. And the reception. And cleaning up.” She looked as reluctant to leave him as he felt watching her go.
He sat beside her at the outside dinner, the stars twinkling on one by one as night overtook the day, but he couldn’t even say what they ate. He was so wrapped in Eliana. The long curve of her neck as she tipped her head back to drink. Her full laughter that made her eyes shine. Her glowing smile as she watched Julia and Logan sneak kisses in between rushed bites of dinner and conversation, and soon dancing as they stood for their first dance as a married couple.
“What?” she asked, catching him staring at her.
“I can’t take my eyes off of you,” he said quietly.
“Stop,” she told him with an eye roll and a shoulder push.
“I’m serious.”
Logan and Julia finished their slow dance, and a fun, silly song played that enticed at least half of the guests to go out on the dance floor. Cameron and his date, Shayla, topped everyone for enthusiasm. Eliana tugged at Asher’s hand, a ball of fiery energy that he couldn’t keep up with as she danced in circles around him until she was breathless and her hair stuck in hot, humid tendrils to her neck and around her ears.
The DJ played another slow song, and Asher tugged Eliana close to his chest. “Dance with me?” he whispered.
She swallowed hard but nodded, and his breath caught as she wrapped both of her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest as they swayed to the soft piano in the romantic song. He placed his hands on her hips, and then slid them around her waist to hold her close to him like a hug.
She sighed against him. He could stay like this forever. If only she’d let him.
Chapter 36
WinniewatchedAsherdrawEliana closer to him while they danced and held her breath until Eliana sank into his arms as if she’d belonged there all along.
Winnie knew Eliana had developed feelings for Asher. Her granddaughter was so caught up in what everyone else might think that she wasn’t taking into account her own desires.
Winnie pulled out her phone to record them, catching a moment just as Eliana looked up at something Asher said, and laughed. Her fingers twisted into the hair at his nape, and her eyes glowed as bright as her smile. Asher’s adoration was written all over his face—clear for anyone who took a second look at them.
She pulled up the secret seven’s Wedded Bliss account and uploaded the video, just as Eliana had taught her. Hopefully that would make someone else’s night, just as it had made hers.
Since her phone was already out, she sent a thank you text to the Secret Seven group chat. They couldn’t have pulled off the wedding without them. Between the flowers and picking up the groom and even the wedding cake—which was plain sheet cakes from the grocery store stacked high with fake flowers—the night had come together into something beautiful.
