“It’s beautiful,” Lydia said fiercely, pressing her thumb against the band to hold it in place in case he tried to take it away.
Case’s smile was even brighter than the diamond. “Well, I’m glad you like it. I should have given it to you earlier, since that’s more of an engagement ring. But I’ve got the wedding one too.”
Of course you do, Lydia thought again. She felt like she was going to melt.
The wedding ring was a shimmering white gold, the mellow moonglow to the diamond’s starlight.
It was technically less eye-catching than the sparkling engagement ring, but for some reason it meant even more to her. Maybe because no matter how short-lived their marriage would ultimately be, this was a symbol of it. The engagement ring represented the promise to go through with this, but the wedding band stood in for whatever would come afterwards. And if it wasn’t as obviously glittering as its counterpart, it meant standing in line at the DMV together. Turning down the thermostat at night because you knew you’d want to spoon. Having all the time in the world, for the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.
“I love it,” she said softly. “Thank you.”
“They suit you,” Case said. He sounded as wonderstruck as she felt, and this time, Lydia didn’t think she had to give any of the credit to the dress.
In fact, if she had to guess, she’d say the dress was only getting in the way of what they both wanted right now.
She wanted to give him everything, but she couldn’t. Not here. But ....
“Wait!” she said, before Judge Abner could wrap things up. “It’s not even remotely a ring, but I do havesomethingfor you.”
She dug into her purse and brought out a rectangular package swathed in a thrift store plastic bag. No one else would have been excited about it, but Case knew instantly what it was.
“That’s what you snuck back there for!” he said, his smile changing into a goofy, adorable grin. “You bought me a book!”
He tugged it out of the bag. Not only was it missing its dust jacket, it was missing nearly any clue to its contents. Lydia had deliberately chosen a book with a title so ambiguous and generic that he would be able to go in with no expectations whatsoever.
“Shadows,” Case read off the cover. “This is amazing. I have no idea what I’m getting into.”
“I figured you could call almostanybookShadowsand have it sort of work, so you’d really get the grab bag experience.”
“It’s perfect. You’re going to have to listen to me tell you about it as I make my way through.”
She liked the mental image that created: the two of them sitting up in bed at night like an old married couple, with Case making his way through his mysterious book and occasionally pausing to read bits of it out loud to her.
“I’d like that,” she said quietly.
He met her eyes, and now she was back to thinking about the two of them in bedwithouta book involved. She was pretty sure he was too.
Judge Abner had to clear his throat to get their attention back on him. He gave them an indulgent look, like he was constantly running into newlyweds who almost had breakdowns over wedding rings, enthused over used books, and then looked like they were on the verge of tearing each other’s clothes off.
“You may now seal your union with a kiss.”
He refrained from adding,And you seem like you want to do a whole lot more than that, but try to stop there,but Lydia could almost hear him thinking it.
Then Case kissed her, and she lost track of the judge completely. All she could possibly think about was Case’s mouth on hers, warm and passionate andsure. It was a chaste kiss, even if it was a long one, because a tiny bit of residual dignity was keeping them from openly making out in front of poor Abner, but that didn’t matter. This wasn’t about sex. (Well, it wasn’t entirely about sex, even if she couldn’t deny that was where her mind kept going.) This was about ...everything.
We sealed our union, Lydia thought as they reluctantly let the kiss draw to a close.We made vows, and they meant something to him like they did to me. Iknowthey did.
What if Case wanted this to last just as much as she did?
Lydia touched the tip of her tongue to her lips, which still felt like they were tingling.
“So that’s done,” she said. “Do you want to get started on our honeymoon?”
14
Did he want to get started on the honeymoon?
As far as Case was concerned, they could get started on it in thecourthouse bathroom.
