The lady returned to the room, and that was enough to distract Rowan for the time being. Simon decided to take it as an opportunity to make his exit. He no longer had any appetite for his friends’ questionings.
He rose from his seat, wincing at the manner in which the lady was already trying to gather the attention of his friend.
“I’ll leave you to your distractions,” he said, seeing the moment as the perfect exit.
He was only halfway across the door when Rowan spoke again.
“Simon,” Rowan called after him, laughing now, “do try to enjoy being married. Who knows? You might even like it.”
Simon didn’t bother responding. Would he like it? His guess was no. But then again, it would be unfair to close himself off to all possibilities. Still, it was not something that he wished to spend his time pondering over. After all, it wasentirelyunproductive.
CHAPTER FIVE
Simon did not know what a groom was supposed to feel like when he stood at the altar, but he had a feeling that this was not it. His expression was unreadable.
To the audience, he appeared calm. But in earnest, he was anything but. He was trying not toreact, but it was proving impossible, and he could hardly stop himself from staring at the woman walking toward him.
The bride had arrived.
Rachel made her way down the aisle. She wore a basic gown, yet somehow the simplicity of it made it much more alluring. It fit her perfectly, and Simon’s eyes ran over the contours of her body.
God.
It was not the most polite thing for him to be having these thoughts, but somehow all he could think about was how he would like to see her tremble with pleasure under his hands.
Rachel seemed quite oblivious to his own wayward thoughts, however. There was a shyness to her, which he noticed when she finally reached him and looked up to face him.
He had not expected himself to react in this manner, but his breath caught at the sight.
This was one thing that he could not deny. The woman was beautiful, and she looked even better up close.
Better, and all the more tempting. For a moment, he considered that staring would seem a bit out of place, but then he reminded himself that he was at his own wedding and this was his wife.
He could not help staring at her.
Rachel had expected disinterest; she had not expected him to stare. It was unnerving, to say theleast.
It took Rachel every ounce of willpower not to trip on her way there.
“Miss Montrose,” he said simply.
“Your Grace.”
The clergyman began the ceremony, his droning voice providing a background hum that Rachel barely registered. Her focus remained on Simon.
Why was he still staring?
“You look…”
She waited for him to go on.
Simon sighed. “Lovely.”
The words sounded entirely too stiff for what was meant to be a compliment.Is this simply a formality?
Surely, it was a very awkward one.
“Thank you.”
