“Sometimes you say the sweetest things.”
“Sometimes?”
I grinned at him.
“Wait until you hear the wedding vows I’ve written.”
I went shock still. “We were doing that?”
“Writing our own vows? Yes. You said you wanted to. Don’t you remember?”
“I…yeah. Heck yeah. I totally remember.”
I did not remember. Should I panic? I was thinking I should panic.
He studied my expression and seemed to make up his mind about something. He set the heavy binder aside and came over to sit next to me on the couch.
He rested his arm behind me, his fingertips brushing the top of my shoulder. “We don’t have to.”
“But you already have.”
He made a considering sound. “Just because I have doesn’t mean you need to.”
“It’s both of us together or not at all. I know how weddings work.”
“Sure,” he said. “That’s how most weddings work. But this isourwedding. We can make it anything we want it to be. Personal vows, no personal vows. Formal, casual. Just you and me and a couple witnesses, or the whole dang town. It’s our wedding.”
He gently turned my face so he could catch my gaze. “This is ours. Our promise to each other. We do it how we want to do it.”
“No, I got this. We still have a week. I can write vows in a week.”
He waited, I think, hoping I would reconsider. But I tipped my chin up. “Mine will, of course, be more romantic than yours,” I said.
And there was that smile. The smile that had caught my heart when I’d been just a little kid. The smile that had teased me when I was a teen, the smile that had hooked my soul once I was grown, and whispered to me in my sleep, asking if I was there, asking if I was the one, waiting for my reply.
“We’ll see about that,” he said. “My vows are pretty darn romantic. Jean says I’ll have you crying before the first line is done.”
“Jean? You told Jean? You…youreadJean my wedding vows? Jean knows what you’re going to say to me?”
“Yes,” he said, unrepentant. “I needed to get someone’s opinion, and I can’t ask you, can I?”
“You could.”
“Nope. They’re a surprise too. But if you need any help rhyminghandsomeorcharmingorbest man I’ve ever known, just say the word. I’d be happy to help.”
“If I can write amazing crime reports,” I said, “then I am going to kick ass on wedding vows.”
He laughed, and I loved the look of it on him, his head thrown back, mouth open, joy stretching all the lines of him. “Two things that are absolutely the same skill set,” he said.
“What?” I said. “Writing is writing.”
“Oh, I cannot wait for this.”
I pushed his hand away from my shoulder. “You are going to be dazzled, Ryder Bailey.Dazzled.”
“I bet I am,” he said, dropping his hand back in place. “Totally dazzled. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
The dragon-pig grunted, reminding me that I hadn’t sealed the deal yet.
