“This,” he murmured, “is what I tried to protect myself from. I’m a bloody fool.”
Gaby smiled faintly. “And I’m very glad you failed.”
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Best failure of my life.”
Both their phones chimed at once. Rhys reached for his without loosening his hold on her.
“Group text from Dev,” he said, reading aloud. “Dominoes are falling—arrests underway. You two did one hell of a job. Take the rest of the week off. See you Saturday at the wedding.”
“That was generous.”
He dropped his phone on the nightstand and gathered her close again. “He can be,” he said, fingers tracing lightly down her arm. “But give credit where credit’s due, love. It’s Thursday.”
“Oh. Well, then…”
Rhys laughed softly and rolled them until he was on top. “Which gives us forty-eight hours to ourselves.”
“Huh. Wonder what we can do with all that time.”
He grinned down at her. “Let me give it some thought.” Blue eyes bright with mischief, he lowered his head. “Wait. I know.” Then his lips met hers.
Chapter 28
There were no pews or stained glass. No distant relatives filling rows out of obligation. No music, no procession, no scripted grandeur. The setting was church enough.
Palms swayed in the warm breeze as late afternoon sun skimmed the water beyond the lawn, where forty of their closest friends gathered in a loose semicircle of white chairs.
Beneath an arch draped in gardenias and bright red mandevilla, the couple joined hands.
Emily stood barefoot in the grass, wildflowers woven through her hair, her gauzy white dress shifting softly with each breath of wind. Across from her, Alec waited steady and unflinching, Rhys and Leland at his back. Cari and Gaby flanked the bride, both blinking with suspiciously bright eyes.
Their voices rang clear as they spoke their vows, simple, honest promises offered without hesitation, their gazes locked on each other as if no one else existed. For the childhood friends who had somehow found their way back to each other, when Dev pronounced them married, the kiss went on and on… and on. So long that someone muttered, “finally,” a champagne cork popped too soon, and everyone in the crowd grinned like fools.
When they finally broke apart, Emily blushed while Alec looked completely unapologetic. They turned to their guests, hands raised, as everyone cheered.
“We want to thank Dev for doing the honors,” the beaming groom announced. “We extend those thanks to Cari for opening up their home once again. We have food, champagne, and music. Please stay and celebrate with us.”
Guests rose, smiling and applauding as the bride and groom walked past. The rest of the wedding party followed. Leland passed close by Julia’s seat. He didn’t look at her. And, when he didn’t seem to notice her at all, the air left her lungs.
There were forty people here, she reminded herself. He couldn’t look at everyone.
But as she rose at the end of the gathering, her pulse unsteady, her thoughts even more so, the excuse felt thin and unconvincing.
***
Music drifted across the patio as dusk deepened, the club lights flickering to life. Servers wove through the crowd with trays of food. Not to Gold Coast standards but charming in their own rustic way. Alec had insisted Emily not work her own reception, and Julia couldn’t help mentally noting every garnish, every plating choice, every tray that should’ve been swapped sooner.
Julia lingered near the edge of the lawn, greeting friends and fellow members as they passed, smiling when she didn’t feel like it. Her eyes kept drifting again and again toward the dance floor.
Rhys guided Gaby into a smooth turn with a confidence that made her laugh, breathless and bright. Julia smiled, warmth spreading through her, that they had finally given in to what everyone else had seen coming for months.
Alec and Emily swayed together at the center of it all, wrapped around each other as if the rest of the world had fallen away. Dev dipped Cari so deeply her hair brushed the tiles, their laughter ringing out like something private and joyful.
Everywhere Julia looked, she saw love—hard-won and cherished. She was genuinely happy for her friends, but their happiness didn’t ease the ache inside her.
She found herself wondering, not for the first time, if she’d ever have that. If she’d ever be someone’s first choice, someone’s safe place, someone’s future.
Her gaze drifted to the edge of the patio.
