“Oh, Maxim.” She threw her arms around my neck and sent us both to the ground.
“Youareabnormally strong for your size.”
“I keep telling you I have four brothers. I can hold my own. Now, gimme my ring. Oh, I love it. I love you. I love this engagement story. I love us.” She peppered my face with kisses, her hands clasped to my cheeks, making it hard to slide the ring on her finger.
I caught her hand and settled our ring on her finger, above her sparkling wedding band. She cooed, joy radiating off her, the sun glinting off her blond hair, creating a halo around my love. I drank her in, along with the contentment and sheer joy exploding from my every pore. Then, Ida Jane leaned down and kissed me. I never wanted this moment to end even though I couldn’t wait any longer to sink inside her sweet, wet heat.
Marriage was going to be a wild, wild ride.
Chapter24
Ida Jane
“Krasivaya, I adore you, but I don’t want to be late for our party,” Maxim called from the other side of the bedroom door. “I hate being late.”
The sneaky jerk thought he’d pulled one over on me, but I hadsources. People who wanted me to have the best possible experience, and therefore, had helped me changetonight from an engagement party to a wedding. Those were my girls: Keelie, Naomi, Mimi, and Nicole.
“You think this is a good surprise for him, right?” I asked.
Mama nodded. “It’s good to keep some tricks up your sleeve, daughter-mine.”
“I don’t want Maxim to be overwhelmed.”
“He’ll be fine. Better than fine. He told Amos just last night he can’t wait to marry you again.”
I nodded as I turned to look in the full-length mirror.
“You don’t think the veil’s too much?” I asked.
Mama shook her head. “How could the veil be too much? And why is Maxim thinking he’s taking you over to Cormac’s? That boy is stubborn. And lovesick. I swear, he keeps better tabs on you than Blade.”
The dog perked up at the sound of his name, lifting his giant head from his paws. My mama was as smitten with the dog as I was and had taken to giving him bacon every chance she got—which had been often this week.
She patted the dog’s head, cooing at him, before she cracked open the door and slipped out.
“Amos called. Cormac and Cruz had some issue. You need to get over there to make sure it’s all sorted,” Mama said.
“But I planned to take Ida Jane—”
“I’ll get her there, son,” Mama said.
I could picture Maxim puffing out his chest and lifting his chin. He loved that Mama called him son. He loved that she included him in our family group text messages and that she called to talk to him. She made him feel like he belonged, and Maxim lapped up the mothering.
“I want this to be perfect,” he fretted. “I promised—”
“It’s okay, Maxim,” I called through the door. “I still need to get in my dress and shoes.”
“I’ll see you soon,” he called.
Mama slid back into the closet, chuckling. “He left, muttering about how long it takes to put on a dress. Oh, he’s in for a surprise.” Her eyes lit up with expectation.
I pressed my hand to my stomach. “Daddy’s ready to walk me down the aisle?”
“More than ready,” Mama said. “Ooh, this is going to be so much fun.”
* * *
The CATS knewhow to decorate. Thousands of fairy lights wrapped around trees and the porch area. The ladies had bought out what had to be every florist in the city because flowers seemed to drip off every surface. And what wasn’t covered in flowers, flower petals, or lights was wrapped in icy blue ribbon—the exact color of Maxim’s eyes.
