Carol couldn’t stop giggling.

She giggled all the way up the aisle, clinging to Patrick’s arm as they walked together back up the aisle while everyone in the sanctuary watched them.

She giggled as Emma and Ginny hugged her in the foyer, and she giggled as they all went together into the big dressing room so guests could be dismissed to the reception.

She was still giggling as Patrick pulled her into a fierce hug once the dressing room door had closed.

Hugging him back, she buried her face in his shoulder, torn between her giggles and tears.

He loved her.

He’d told her that he loved her, and it was perfectly obvious that he meant it.

She still hadn’t told him that she loved him back, although he had probably figured it out by now.

When she finally straightened up and pulled away from Patrick, she realized that the others were all staring at them, smiling.

Carol was a little embarrassed that her special moment with Patrick had been witnessed by the entire world but not enough for it to bother her. “Why are you staring at us?” she asked as Patrick reached for her hand, twining his fingers with hers. “Emma and Noah are the ones who just got married.”

Noah had both arms around Emma, and he was smiling like he was never going to stop. “Sure, but this wedding was planned for months. We didn’t know this was going to happen.” His nod toward Carol and Patrick made it clear what “this” he was referring to.

“I knew,” Emma said, her eyes soft and laughing. “I knew it would happen eventually, if Patrick could ever get his head out of his ass. I just didn’t know it was going to happen today.”

“My head wasn’t in my ass,” Patrick muttered.

“Did we hog the spotlight?” Carol asked, momentarily worried. “We should have waited until the wedding was over. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you dare be sorry. You waited long enough,” Emma replied, no trace of resentment on her face. “I’m not some sort of bridezilla, you know. And nothing could make me happier than seeing you and my brother finally happy together.”

Carol gave her friend a wobbly smile and sniffed a little.

“Okay,” Patrick said in his typical grumpy voice. “Carol and I need to talk for a minute before you make her cry from sappiness.” He tightened his grip on her hand and started to pull her out of the dressing room.

“Just get her back in time for the photos!” Noah said.

Carol laughed and waved at the others as Patrick dragged her away, down the hall and into an empty Sunday school room.

“Patrick,” Carol said, still overflowing with giggles. “What are you doing?”

He backed her up against a side table on which paintbrushes and child’s scissors were piled up with stacks of construction paper. “I told you. We need to talk in private for a minute.”

“About what?”

His eyebrows shot up. “About what? I came out and told you that I love you an hour ago, and you haven’t said a thing in return.” His voice was mildly outraged, but his brown eyes were incredibly soft.

“I didn’t have a chance to say anything,” she replied primly. “If you hadn’t noticed, we were in the middle of a wedding.”

“Well, the wedding is over now,” he grumbled. “And you still haven’t said anything.”

“Oh. Well.” She paused for a minute, reaching up to take his face in her hands. “I love you too, you stubborn, clueless, adorable man.”

She could see the response on his face, how something inside him was suddenly set on fire. But he kept control of his expression and muttered, “Adorable? I thought you said I was sexy.”

She still couldn’t quite keep from giggling. “You are sexy. And adorable. And the most infuriatingly stubborn man I’ve ever known in my life.”

“I can live with that,” he murmured, just before he kissed her.

The kiss was soft and deep and absolutely delicious. Carol pulled away flushed and melty.

Patrick stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I never really believed you could love me for real.”

She shook her head. “I know that’s what you thought. And I know it’s because you still see yourself as something that you’re not. But I love you for who you are all the way down to your soul. And I happen to really like the outside package too.”

He chuckled and nuzzled her hair. “Do you?”

“Yes, I do.” She sighed, releasing a kind of tension she’d scarcely been aware of. “I liked it back when I was thirteen too, you know.”

“I was pretty pathetic back then.”

“You were not pathetic! Don’t you say that about yourself. I thought you were really cute, and I loved that you were smart, and I got happy every time you smiled at me.”

He shook his head, clearly amazed to hear that such a thing was true. “You made me smile, even back then. The only reason… the only reason I didn’t answer you when you asked me to that dance was because I was too nervous and embarrassed.”

Her eyes widened. “I thought you just didn’t want to go with me.”

“I couldn’t get any words out. Girls scared the crap out of me back then. Maybe they still do.” His lips quirked up wryly. “The only reason I didn’t answer was because I didn’t know what to say, and I was too scared to say anything. And that’s the reason I kept pushing you away recently. I know I was wrong. I know I hurt you more than once. I don’t deserve for you to forgive me.”

“Well, it’s been a month and a half. Exactly how long do you expect me to hold a grudge?”

“I know you weren’t holding a grudge. You were living your life without me, exactly as you should have done. And let me tell you, I was miserable the whole time, having finally admitted to myself that you were the one I wanted, just in time to lose you.”

“You didn’t lose me.”

“Well, remind me to never lose you again—because I just can’t make it without you.” He was smiling as he leaned into another kiss.

This kiss was just deep and tender, and it lasted even longer. Carol was starting to get into it, rubbing her body against Patrick’s and clawing at the back of his jacket. Patrick was getting into it too, if the bulge she could feel at the front of his pants was any indication.

Then there was a loud tap at the door. Ginny’s voice called from the hallway, “Just a general announcement that we need to take photos pretty soon, in case anyone in the vicinity is interested in that piece of information. So if any carnal activities are occurring in the surrounding rooms, that would be completely understandable, but maybe they could be put on pause for a little while!”

Carol and Patrick broke apart, both of them breaking into helpless laughter.

Patrick had to take a minute to get his body back under control, but then he nodded at her to indicate they could go.

He smiled and reached out for her hand.

She took it.

He was hers.

Patrick Stevenson and all his brilliance and heart and grumpiness and stubbornness was finally hers.

They walked out of the room together, returning to their friends and family to take the rest of the photos.

Carol hadn’t known it was possible to be as happy as this.

***

A week later, Carol was humming to herself, straightening the tins and boxes of tea and coffee on the shelves in Tea for Two.

Business was pretty slow for a Friday afternoon, and she hoped it would pick up a bit when five o’clock hit and the downtown offices got off work for the day. Days earlier in the week were often slow, but Fridays were usually better than this.

She reminded herself not to worry too much. There were always fluctuations in business, and overall the shop had done better this first year than she and Ginny had ever dreamed of.

Carol was smiling when she turned around as the bell to the shop jangled.

The woman who entered was Jill, the little blonde who lived upstairs. Today she wore a short, pleated skirt and thigh-high argyle stockings Carol loved but could never have gotten away with herself. Jill was beaming as she approached the counter.

“Hi, Jill,” Carol said. “I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks.”

“I know. I was in California for work, but that’s the last work trip I’ll have to make. I got it! I got the job!” Jill looked like she was about to burst with the news.

“You got the job with Patrick?”

“Yes! He just called me fifteen minutes ago. I start two weeks from Monday!” Jill clapped her hands together.

“Oh I’m so happy for you. You’re going to love working for him.” She’d mentioned Jill to Patrick when the job ads went out last month, but she hadn’t even thought about it since. If Patrick had hired Jill, then it was on her own merits. Emma had said he had a really good applicant pool, so Jill must be really good at her job to have gotten the position she wanted.

“I can’t believe it worked out. I really didn’t want to move. I’m so happy here in Blacksburg. And now I get to just walk down the block to my job every day.” Jill paused to put in her order—tea and a red velvet cupcake to celebrate the job—and then she said, “Hey, you’re not looking for a new place to live, are you?”

“No. Why?”

“One of our roommates moved out, so we’ve got an empty room and are looking for someone to take it. It’s a three-bedroom loft just upstairs, and it’s really nice. And obviously a great location. You could just walk downstairs every morning.”

Carol smiled. “That would be convenient, but I’m pretty settled. I’m sure you can find someone easily.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. We just prefer to have someone we already know rather than having a stranger move in. But one of my other roommates has a friend who’s moving to the area, so we’ll probably go with him. I’d rather it be a woman, but I can’t find anyone who’s looking to move.” She sighed and shook her head. “Women tend to be neater.”

Laughing, Carol replied, “I would imagine. So how many roommates do you have?”

“There are three bedrooms, so right now it’s me and then the couple in the second room—they’ve been dating for years—and then the empty room. It’s a really great place. Are you sure you don’t want to look at it?”

Carol shook her head. She and Patrick had spent every night together for the past week—either at his place or hers—and the last thing she wanted to do was move right now.

Obviously, she didn’t want to jump the gun, but she was hoping that eventually she and Patrick might move in together.

“I’m sorry. It just wouldn’t work out right now.” She slid Jill’s card to pay for the food, and then handed it back to her.

“That’s okay,” Jill said. “It was a long shot. I’m sure this guy, whoever he is, will be fine. Are you still doing the dating thing?”

“Oh, uh, no. Something else came up.”

“Really? What’s that?”

Carol opened her mouth to reply, but as if on cue, the bell to the front door jangled and Patrick walked in, wearing jeans and a wool jacket, his ever-present computer bag slung over his shoulder.

He smiled as he saw her, striding over in her direction.

Carol started to say something when he reached her, but he slipped an arm around her and leaned into a kiss. She was flushed when she pulled away and turned to see Jill’s eyes nearly popping out of her head.

“Patrick,” Carol said, “I guess you know Jill. She said you just offered her a job.”

Patrick’s eyebrows arched. “Oh, yeah. Hey there.”

“Hi.” Jill was smiling, but her expression was different now, as if she couldn’t be fully relaxed.

For obvious reasons. Patrick was going to be her boss.

“Jill lives in an apartment upstairs,” Carol explained, leaning into Patrick, who still had his arm around her. “She comes in here for tea all the time.”

“I didn’t know that, although Carol did mention that she’d met you when you first applied. The office should be pretty convenient for you, I guess.”

“It definitely will be. I can’t wait to get started.” Jill reached over to the counter to take her cup and the paper bag with her cupcake in it. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks then. Thanks for everything, Carol.”

Carol and Patrick both said goodbye and watched until Jill walked out the door.

Then Patrick leaned down to kiss her again.

Carol laughed against his lips. “You’re very touchy today.”

“I’ve been thinking about you all day.” Patrick leaned into another kiss, but Carol stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“You have not. When you’re working, you don’t think about anything else.”

“But I have breaks here and there during work. And those breaks were full of thoughts of you and what I’d do to you when I finally got done.”

Carol fisted her hands in the front of his jacket. “And what are you going to do?”

Patrick moved his mouth to her ear, and he told her.

***

A month later, all of them gathered at Noah and Emma’s house for dinner.

They’d eaten dinner at the big dining room table, but now they were finished and were sitting around in the living room—Nan in the recliner, Noah and Emma on one of the couches, Ginny and Ryan on the other, and Carol and Patrick squeezed into a big chair. This resulted in Carol to have to half sit on Patrick’s lap, but neither of them were complaining.

At least Patrick wasn’t. Nothing felt better to him than to have Carol’s warm, soft body pressed up against his.

He still couldn’t fully wrap his mind around how it had happened, how he’d managed to become Carol’s boyfriend.

His teenage self would never believe it.

But here he was, twenty-eight years old with a woman who was a wet dream come to life. A woman who was more loving and sweet and generous than any man could ever deserve.

A woman who was also the best cook in the world.

A woman who would never let him get away with hiding himself in work or retreating in himself where it was safe.

Emma had put together a pretty book of photographs from their honeymoon, and she was showing it off to everyone. Patrick had already seen it, so he wasn’t paying much attention. His arm was wrapped around Carol’s back, and his hand had quite accidently ended up at her hip. It was sliding down, hidden by the cushion of the chair, slowly edging toward the luscious curve of her ass.

Carol was obviously aware of what he was doing. She gave him a sidelong look.

When he laughed softly, she leaned over to press a lingering kiss against the side of his jaw.

“Hey,” Ginny objected from the other side of the room. “Keep the PDA to a minimum. We’re in mixed company here, including my grandmother.”

“Your grandmother isn’t bothered by a little canoodling,” Nan said with a smile. “I’m happy you’ve all managed to find someone special. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.”

The last sentence was obviously a quote from the Bible, as was Nan’s habit, and it reminded Patrick of an old Sunday school song they used to sing.

Carol was obviously thinking the same thing. “Isn’t that verse about God?”

Nan chuckled. “No, my dear. It most certainly is not about God, except in the most general way the whole Bible is about who God is and who he made us to be. That verse is about a man and a woman in love. The Good Book is quite a steamy read at times, you know.”

They all stared at her. Then she tittered with laughter, obviously pleased by their surprise.

“Oh my God,” Noah muttered. “Please go back to quoting from the New Testament. And maybe the Psalms. The Psalms aren’t steamy, are they?” He looked around at the others for support.

They all laughed at that, and Carol adjusted beside Patrick so she was cuddled up in the crook of his arm. His hand wouldn’t reach her butt now, but he had no objections to the way she was nestled against him.

Like she trusted him.

Like she loved him.

Like she never planned to let him go.

That was exactly right, as far as Patrick was concerned.

Now that he had her, now that he knew for sure how much better his life was with her beside him, he was never planning to let her go either.