Epilogue
Trace
Several Months Later…
Any man who thinks getting married isn’t stressful for the groom is a damn idiot!
I was a nervous wreck as I waited in the ante room assigned to the groom and groomsmen, waiting for what seemed like forever to be called to take our places.
Dane looked uncomfortable in his black tuxedo that was very similar to mine, but he wasn’t complaining. I knew it wasn’t easy for him to leave his island to stand up for me at my wedding, and I was damn grateful he was there. I knew he was doing it for me…and for Eva. My youngest brother had become very fond of Eva, and since she called him several times a week, he was starting to become a little more social. My sweet Eva could be stubborn, and she had been pretty damned determined to see me, Sebastian and Dane become as close as we were when we were young.
Little by little…she was accomplishing her goal.
I’d kept the wedding small since Dane was acting as my best man. Sebastian was walking Eva down the aisle, a responsibility he was taking very seriously. In fact, my middle brother had become a model partner, which was giving me some extra time to spend with Eva before she started culinary school in the fall. We were departing for a very long honeymoon shortly after the wedding, a vacation where I hoped we’d spent a lot of time naked.
Even though I was nervous, I smiled just a little because I knew Eva. She’d be determined to see the sights in places she’d never been before. I’d be just as stubborn about wanting us naked and fucking until I could get rid of the constant erection I sported whenever I was near her.
We’d reach a compromise.
We always did.
“I’m off to go find the bride. It’s almost time,” Sebastian mentioned anxiously.
Hell, he sounded almost as nervous as I was. I looked at my middle brother, grateful for all the discussions we’d had about the past. We didn’t talk much about it anymore, and I think we were past our differences. I hadn’t known what he wanted, and he hadn’t spoken up. We’d both taken our share of the blame and came out closer because of it.
“Don’t scare my bride off,” I grumbled as I looked at Sebastian who was dressed almost the same as me and Dane.
“I’m actually hoping she’ll dump you at the alter and run away with me,” Sebastian said mischievously.
I glared at him, but refused to let him goad me. There was nothing he enjoyed more than watching me get irritated and possessive. Honestly, I knew Eva was safe with Sebastian. He didn’t poach in another man’s territory, and he wasn’t about to steal away with my bride. Besides, I knew that Eva loved me. Still, I didn’t appreciate his humor right now.
“Just go find her and Isa, smart ass,” I growled.
Sebastian just grinned and ambled off to find my bride and her Matron of Honor.
I’d gotten to like Isa and her husband, Robert. They’d both come over to the house for dinner several times now, and I found myself looking forward to those casual nights with company. Isa was a sweet woman, and her husband was a rich guy with a sense of humor. The two of them were always welcome, pleasant guests.
“Are you okay?” Dane asked curiously.
“Fine,” I answered abruptly.
“You’re looking a little nervous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you anxious before.”
“I’ve never gotten married before,” I replied drily. “I just want to get this over with. I just want Eva to be mine.”
“Do you think she’s going to run away? She’s already yours, Trace. Relax.”
Easy for him to say. He’s never had a woman who had him by the balls. Not that Eva ever took advantage of that fact. But sometimes it was fucking terrifying to love someone that much.
“We’re ready gentlemen,” the wedding planner said from the doorway.
“Showtime,” Dane said unhappily.
I followed the wedding planner, with Dane close behind me. We stepped into our places in the front of the church, and I finally looked out at the attendees.
Many of them were casual friends or distant relatives, but my gaze landed on an elegant woman in the front row, an older female. Nora Mitchell. She was sitting with her three stepchildren near the front of the church, and I knew Eva would be happy they were here. I couldn’t say that everything was perfect in the relationship between Eva and her grandmother, but they were slowly working through the pain of the past. I was pretty sure that they had more happy times together than they did sad ones, and I knew that Eva had become fond of Nora’s stepchildren.
My cousin, Gabe, and his wife, Chloe, were both grinning in the front row. I was wondering if my cousin wasn’t enjoying my nervousness just a little since I’d teased him about how intense he was with Chloe before they’d gotten married. Now, unfortunately, I understood exactly how he’d felt. I glared at him unhappily before I shot Chloe a weak smile. Really, I was grateful to my cousin’s wife, and the fact that her friend had gotten caught up in the holidays and hadn’t showed up at my office to talk about being my fake fiancée. Indirectly, Chloe was responsible for me being with Eva now.
My heart started to speed up as the music fired up and Isa made her way gracefully down the aisle, shooting me an encouraging smile as she took her place across from me and Dane. As the guests stood for Eva, my gaze never left the door that I knew she’d enter from.
I held my breath as I saw her walking elegantly beside Sebastian, looking incredibly beautiful in the white wedding gown she’d chosen.
I didn’t release my breath until Sebastian had brought her to me and she was safely at my side. I felt a strange, poignant ache in my gut when I saw that she was wearing the pearl necklace and earrings I’d given her. It had taken a while, but she’d finally learned how to accept the jewelry I bought her, taking one step further away from her fears of the past.
Strangely, my bride didn’t look nervous at all, and her face was lit up in an enormous smile.
We turned forward, and I reached for her hand. “You don’t look nervous,” I said in a low voice that only she could hear.
“I’m not,” she whispered. “This is my fairy tale. I’m going to enjoy it.”
I grinned as I remembered that Eva considered herself some kind of Cinderella. And I continually reminded her that I was no Prince Charming.
I felt myself relax. I might not be some hero in a fairy tale, but as long as Eva kept looking at me like I was, it didn’t really matter.
“I’ll get my wish later,” I said into her ear.
“Pervert,” she said in a hushed voice, admonishing, but so full of teasing affection that I was no longer nervous.
Hell, I was marrying the woman that I loved more than anyone else in the world. Now that she was beside me, everything was all good.
“Are we ready?” the minister asked with a smile.
“Yes,” we both said in perfect unison.
Eva and I turned our heads to smile at each other. Happiness was a heady feeling, but I was pretty sure I could get used to it. Neither one of us had experienced that emotion very much in the past. Maybe I’d had money and Eva hadn’t, but we were profoundly connected in so many other ways that we understood each other’s pain.
Now, we were learning to accept happiness as it was due, and we savored every minute of it.
Hell yes, I was ready.
“I think I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life,” Eva whispered as the minister opened his Bible and fumbled for the pages he wanted.
My heart soared at her words because I knew exactly what she meant. Every bit of pain and sorrow we’d experienced in our life had brought us to this moment.
I squeezed her hand to let her know I understood. “I’m waiting rather impatiently for the honeymoon.”
A laugh escaped her mouth, totally destroying the solemn atmosphere, but for me, there was no better sound in the world. I smirked as she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle her amusement at my irreverent comment.
She failed.
I caught her body as she threw herself at me and chortled with abandon, “I love you.”
“I love you back, sweetheart,” I whispered in her ear as I hugged her to my body, savoring her sweet smell.
The minister coughed, obviously a sign that he was now organized, but I ignored him until I was damn ready to let her go.
Finally, we broke apart, and I took her hand again, nodding at the gray-haired man to start the ceremony.
Maybe it wasn’t how a fairy tale wedding should start, but this was us, me and Eva, and I thought laughter was a perfect way for our life together to begin.
The End