Audrey shifted toward me, saying, "We have some time before the big entrance."
A brow arched. "Big entrance?"
She squeezed my fingers. "You know, when everyone's seated in the tent and they announce the bride and groom."
I'd have to trust her on that. "Then let's take a walk."
"No one's going to chase after you with a steamer if you get that dress wrinkled," Grace said.
"I can live with that," Audrey said as we broke away from them. "Oh, and could you check on Jamie? She's not feeling great and really needs to sit down for a bit."
"We're all over it," Ben called.
We headed up a narrow path connecting the gardens to the main house. The roar of the party seemed to fade the minute we reached the Victorian's front porch. Florists, servers, and security guards still buzzed around the property though it allseemed less chaotic now. Maybe it was exactly as it'd been earlier andIwas less chaotic now.
"Your friends," I started, "they adore you."
She laughed as we passed a pair of tire swings hanging from a tree that looked older than time. "I guess the good news is that not everyone thinks I'm an antacid."
"Those women from the reunion hate their lives and they hate you because you don't." Before she could argue with that, I added, "Your friends' husbands are drawing straws to see which one gets to kick my ass first."
"I'm sure that's a bit of an exaggeration."
"Not as much as you'd think. Ryan Ralston offered to personally rip my spleen out if I so much as inconvenience you."
"He didnotsay that."
"Strongly implied," I said.
"I know they can be overprotective but they're some of the best people," she said.
I stopped, pulled her toward me and held her close. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Really? You're not bothered by low-key death threats?"
"I fucking love that these people would do anything for you. That's the way it's supposed to be." I kissed her, slow and gentle. I wanted her to taste the relief on my tongue, the absolute peace that came with knowing she had a family here. That she'd filled the empty spaces around her where her biological family should've been with people so much better than them. And that she'd wanted me to join her here.
"I'd do anything for them too," she said. "That's just what people do for the ones they love."
Like flying across the country and pretending to be my fiancée?
I couldn't bring myself to ask. I wasn't prepared to watch her deflect. Wasn't prepared to deal with the loud, galloping feeling inside me and what it would do if she saidyes.
"This way," Audrey whispered, leading me across the gravel drive and around to the far side of a massive yellow barn. A hedgerow of sunflowers greeted us, their faces bright and bold and humming with bees. "No one will find us back here."
It felt like we'd stepped into a different world, one completely cut off from the enormous party underway. "Good," I said, steering her toward the yellow shingles. "It's my turn to have you."
Her back met the barn and she reached for me, her hands smoothing up my chest and around my neck as our lips met. The kiss was urgent, a little vicious. Guttural noises sounded low in my throat. She bit me twice and I had to believe it was intentional. I liked it. I also deserved it.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you," I said to the corner of her mouth. "I tried. I fucking tried but it only made me think about you more."
I pushed a knee between her legs as she yanked my shirt loose and skimmed her hands up my torso. Her fingers scraped along my neck and into my hair, drawing a shiver from her touch.
"Why did you try so hard?"
"I'll explain why I'm an idiot later. First—" I dropped my hands to her hips. "Is it actually okay to wrinkle this dress?"
"No one here is looking at me or my dress."
