Page 99 of Runaway Bride’s Husband

“Excuse me,” she said, meeting Holden’s eyes with a smile that was going to get him in trouble. “Do you know anything about wine?”

“I do.” He held her gaze intently. “Just enough to be dangerous to your plans for tomorrow.”

I let my eyes slide shut. Of course. Of fucking course he’d throw out a line like that without skipping a beat.

As she laughed and pointed toward the shelf, one of her friends came up to me. “How about you? Do you know anything about wine?”

“I know how to open it.”

Holden snorted and the girls laughed, but I just stood there and waited for it to be over. Unfortunately, he leaned into their attention like flirting between boxed spirits and Pinot Noir had been a lifelong dream, and by the time they eventually moved on, I was considering selling him to be able to pay for the alcohol.

All the alcohol.

“You could at least pretend you’re interested,” he said as he watched them go. “Interested in something other than leaving, that is.”

“I was interested in something other than leaving.”

He perked up. “You were?”

“Yeah, I was also interested in paying for the wine we already picked so this one errand could take less than a whole hour.”

“You’re pathetic.” He sighed, his head shaking as he glanced at me on our way to the counter. “I miss the days when you were a real boy.”

“Same.”

He laughed. “At least you’re admitting it. That’s the first step toward recovery, I hear.”

“I’ve been willing to admit it all along, which means recovery might be a problem.”

Seriously, I should’ve been all over those girls, just like him. Instead, I’d quietly spent at least ten minutes analyzing the many ways in which the blonde’s hair hadn’t been quite the right shade.

It wasn’t like Maggie’s.

“I’m so screwed.” I paid for the wine and headed back to my car with Holden in tow. “Maybe we should just drop off the bottle at Jane’s and go out tonight.”

“I’m game,” he said immediately. “As long as you tell me why you won’t go to the wedding.”

I gave him a pointed look. “Why the hell would I go watch the girl I love marry someone else?”

“Okay, fine. It was a stupid question.” He looked at me across the top of the car. “Maggie is going to want you there, Ryan.”

“What she wants isn’t my problem anymore.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does that count even if what she wants is you?”

“We don’t know that,” I reminded him. “Besides, even if she does want me, Daniel is the groom. Nothing is going to change that.”

After I pressed the unlock button on my key fob, Holden opened the door but didn’t get in. “Was there a plus-one on your invite?”

I hesitated before nodding. “Yeah. Why?”

He grinned. “Excellent. I shall accompany you to this wedding and together, we shall⁠—”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You can’t be my plus-one if I’m not going.”