What is it about weddings that put everyone in a good mood?  Is it the anticipation of two souls joining together? Or perhaps it’s the nostalgia of those who remember when it was their special day? For me, it’s about finding the one special person who brings out the best in you. The one who will let you laugh at yourself, and holds you when you cry.

When I woke up this morning, nestled deep in Logan’s bed, I knew today was going to be spectacular. Last night, as I watched my brother jog down the steps, something told me Logan was my one. All his recent endeavors had a common goal, keeping me happy. Helping my brother surprise Amanda, solidified what a great man he is. He could’ve woken me, testing the waters to see if I was willing to sleep with him. Instead, he ignored his own desires and tucked me into bed, holding me all night.

As midday approached, I dragged my feet, not wanting to leave his house and pop the bubble he’d created. I wanted to thank him, let him know his generosity and selflessness had not gone unnoticed. But I had made a promise, and by extension, so had he.

Avery and Cole had chosen St. Luke’s Catholic Church as the place to start their new beginning. While the church wasn’t the newest or the grandest inside, it was perfect for them. She wanted the ceremony to be simple yet elegant. With the church’s high ceilings, marble tile and stained glass windows, I think she chose well.

The ushers were dressed in Navy dress uniforms, each so young, I found myself questioning if they had started to shave yet. With the low number of invites, Avery and Cole chose not to have the traditional bride and groom division of the room, allowing everyone to choose their seat. The handsome usher who showed me to my pew called me ma’am and wished me a good day. I winked at him and told him I planned to.

As the light filtering through the stained glass windows grew dim with the setting sun, the ornate lights and glowing candles increased the romantic setting of the church. Surveying the room and admiring the way couples sat together, my heart sank, I knew Logan was about to sit down to the dinner portion of his ball. How I wish I could’ve joined him, sat beside him and held his hand.

But I reminded myself, this is the beginning, and another wedding will surely come our way. I tried not to think about who he chose to go with him tonight. Which leggy blonde would raise the eyebrows of the men he would be working with? Penelope would have an opportunity to remind him of the life he had in New York and Lisa was comfortable for him, someone he knew like the back of his hand. Tonight was for sharing in Avery's happiness, I would deal with the aftermath tomorrow.

Cole and his groomsmen came out from the side door, each dressed handsomely in their Navy uniforms. The priest, whom I was not familiar with, took his place at the end of the aisle. As the music began, one by one Avery’s attendants came down the aisle, each wearing a pale yellow dress and carrying bouquets of white daisies.

Finally, the priest motioned with his hands for everyone to stand, and a murmur floated across the guest’s eager to catch a glimpse of the bride. Turning to look at the back of the room, the doors to the foyer now closed. Anticipation built in my chest as the organist began the wedding march. With a nod from the priest, the two ushers opened the doors revealing an angelic looking bride. Even on my best day, and with all the magic in the world, I couldn’t have looked as beautiful as Avery did.

 Marrying Lance would have been one of the worst things I could have ever done. He allowed me to remain stagnant, never growing, never failing, and never living. I shivered to think of what would have happened to me had I continued in the relationship. Maybe someday, he too will find happiness, preferably not at the end of a line of cocaine .

As Avery passed me, her bright eyes and white smile reflecting every ounce of happiness she had in her tiny body, she blew me a watery kiss. Had I not met Logan, I would be green with envy right now, saddened by the lack of a true companion. But all I could feel was immense joy. She glided as if on a cloud, her dress flowing behind her just as I had pictured when I purchased originally it. There was no sadness for me, the right girl was wearing that dress.

Avery took her place beside Cole, handing her bouquet to her maid of honor. I wasn’t sure if I could decide whose smile is bigger, his or hers?

“You may all be seated.”

The priest took the couple's hands, guiding them to the steps on the altar. After instructing them to face one another, he opened his massive bible and began to read.

“Dearly beloved—”

I nearly screamed as a hand touched my right shoulder. Looking up into the owner's eyes, I came face-to-face with suit-clad Logan.

“Hey, beautiful. Anyone sitting here?” He whispered as he moved around the end of the pew, forcing me to scoot to the left.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m attending the wedding of a friend.” His blue eyes danced, as he pulled me into his side. Crossing his right leg over his left, his ankle resting on the opposite knee.

“Seriously, Logan, are you crashing this wedding?”

I hissed,  looking around as if the wedding police would come marching up the aisle to arrest him.

“No, Harper, I’m an invited guest.”

“Who?”

The priest had begun the exchange of vows, and the woman seated three pews ahead of us looked over her shoulder and scowled. Logan pulled me closer, leaning down into my neck, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear.

“I have to give credit to your brother. When I mentioned we each had plans tonight, he suggested I contact Cole and see if I could persuade him to invite me. It just so happens, my father needs some supplies in Thailand. Cole has volunteered to take the needed supplies to him and Avery will tag along with him.”

“What about your ball?”

“Well, my Captain said we had to attend, but he never stipulated how long.”

“My God, Logan, you’re going to get in trouble.”

“For what? Following orders? He said to attend, he never said stay.”

“What about Penelope and Lisa? Where did you leave them?”

“They left me, jumped back on a plane headed for the south of France. They have a house there.”

Looking at him through confused eyes, I had the feeling he wasn't telling me the whole truth about his relationship with the two of them.

“Lisa and Penelope have been in a relationship for the past three years. Jillian likes to pretend her daughter is straight, hoping she’ll grow out of this phase of liking girls. She tolerates her relationship with Lisa, because of who her parents are.”

Never in a million years would I have suspected Lisa and Penelope were lesbians, as they showed no connection when they were around me.

“Then why didn’t you tell me? I could have waited for you or gone to the ball with you.”

“Because I wanted to see the surprise on your face.” His voice dropping low, the base of it wrapping around my soul and stealing my breath. “Seeing those eyes sparkle and the way your face flushes, makes me forget who I am.”

I turned back to the front just in time to watch the priest pronounce them husband and wife and for Cole to kiss his bride. I wouldn’t question how Logan was here, but enjoy him, all of him.

The reception was held in the church rectory. Logan held my hand as we walked along the broken sidewalk leading to the party. Several of Cole’s friends stood meandering around outside the doors smoking cigarettes and telling jokes. Logan had changed out of his uniform and passed by them with a simple nod. How many of them would call him ‘Sir’ when he returned to work? Regretting any words spoken with the help of alcohol and a lose mind.

The rectory was as old as the church, its character bleeding through the cracks in the paint. A small kitchen sat opposite the entry, a bar to the right, and several tables had been decorated with Avery’s colors.

Strands of Christmas lights flickered from the ceiling, draped between flowing sheets of sheer organza and tulle. The simplicity of the room made me smile, until I noticed a team of men finishing a parquet dance floor. I knew this had to be a mistake, as Avery had commented on having a friend download music to play during dinner, as there was no money for a formal DJ.

“There has to be a mistake,” I mumbled, trying to locate the person in charge.

Logan pulled at my arm, once again leaning over to whisper in my ear. “Harper, I couldn’t sit back and let them have their first dance and not have it done correctly.”

There were no words for the way I felt about this man. His endless generosity, never ending compassion, and it appears he is a romantic at heart.

“You did this?” I questioned, the emotion of the moment threatening to strangle me.

Shrugging his shoulders, “Well, I didn’t know what else to get them for a wedding gift.”

Wrapping myself around him as tightly as I could, I rested my cheek against his, the prickly stubble from his morning shave lightly scratching my skin.

“Do you know how wonderful you are?” Closing my eyes, I wanted to commit everything about this moment to memory.

“Care to dance with me?”

Not allowing me to answer and taking our still clasped hands, he leads me onto the dance floor. Raising our joined hands above my head, spinning me twice as the music began to play, a soft melody filling the small amount of space around us. The last time I danced with a guy, was with my brother at Ashton and Stacy’s wedding. Ross was more of a prom sway kind of dancer, where Logan knew a variety of steps, moving me around the floor with ease. With his hand on the small of my back and his eyes fixed on mine, I could feel the shift in the air around us. I could almost taste the sweetness of something wonderful.

Logan spun us to the center of the dance floor, tiny squares of light danced off his features. “Harper,” gently gliding his hands to either side of my face, his eyes bore into mine. “You have to know, everything I’ve done; moving here, Horizons, this wedding...” Shaking his head, a glimmer of a smile dancing on the edge of his lips. “It was all for you. All because I love you.”

A smile I had no control over broke out on my face, as incredible jolts of pleasure grew in waves over my body.

“I love you, too.”

The air around us shifted, growing thick with the desperation we shared for one another. Logan’s hand caressed the skin on my face as his eyes held mine in a measured gaze. He dropped his hand and reached into his jacket pocket, his footsteps never faltering as he dangled a silver chain from his index finger.

“I picked this up the other day as I was shopping, it reminded me of the way you make me feel when we’re this close.”

The delicate chain held a tiny heart, the left side of it dusted in what I assumed were diamonds. “I wanted you to hear the words before I gave this to you, having something to remind you of how deep my feelings are for you.”

All those years I unintentionally helped single souls find their other halves, giving a gift there isn't a big enough thank you on the planet to express, until now. Now it was my turn, as I too had found my match.

“Put it on me?”

Logan stopped our progression, ignoring the couples who danced around us. Unclasping the closure, he walked behind me, grazing his warm fingers along the tender skin of my neck. Welcomed chills floated across my skin as the cold of the metal came in contact with my heated flesh. Once the latch was secured, he placed his hands on my shoulders, pressing his pelvis against my back, his lips ghosting along the side of my neck.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered in that husky voice I loved so much, pressing his taught body to mine.

“My house is four blocks away.”

* * *

Clothes landed haphazardly as we tripped through the back door. Logan wrapping his body around mine and devouring my neck, as I silenced the alarm and reset it. Once secured, Logan leaned back long enough to unzip my dress.

“You have no idea how bad I wanted to rip this dress off you.”

His fingers felt hot against my skin as the satin of the dress fell from my hips and gathered around my feet on the floor. Sarah had taken one look at the dress and claimed something that sexy deserved to be on the floor of an expensive hotel.

Wet lips, followed by nips of perfect teeth found the flesh of my collarbone, eliciting a hiss from me. Mouths colliding, tongues battling for dominance, as Logan’s strong hands took hold of my bra cover breast, kneading and creating a fire deep in my core. Reaching for him, I discovered somewhere along the way his jacket and tie had been removed.

Knowing he wouldn’t give a shit about his shirt, I grasped the seam and tore with all my might, the buttons rick-a-shay off the walls surrounding my stairs. My actions spur Logan on as he picks me up, my legs wrapping around his waist, while his hands grasp my ass at an almost painful level.

“Which way?” He pants into my ear, his lips continuing their assault on my neck and shoulder.

“Left, end of the hall.”

Until this point, my father and brother had been the only men ever to come up here. Until now I had preferred it that way. I’d always left the lamp on my bedside table on, not wanting to trip as I clambered into my room at night. The warm glow of the light showed the hunger in Logan’s eyes, his usual light blue eyes now dark with primal need. Laying me down gently in the middle of my bed and climbing his way to join me, he continues to shed his clothing.

“I’d hoped to love you for the first time in my bed. The one I bought for the two of us.”

Sliding his hands behind my back, his fingers finding the clasp of my bra and in a single attempt, the offending garment is flung over his shoulder as his lips find my nipple.

“We can stop and do this another time.”

Arching my back as his teeth scrape the sensitive bud, the action traveling to the junction between my thighs.

“Next time.”

Breaking away long enough to answer me, his hands taking over for his mouth. Lowering his mouth to my lips, his knee between my thighs, giving me enough of a solid surface to create some needed friction for my aching core.

“It’s been a while for me.”

“Me too, almost a year.”

“I’m clean, and I take birth control because of my periods.”

Logan accepted my admission with a nod of his head, lowering his face to trail kisses from my shoulder to the top of my lace panties. Hooking his thumbs on each side, he slowly drags the fabric down my legs, his eyes never wavering from mine.

I rise up on my elbows, not wanting to miss a second of being with him. My legs fall open automatically revealing his steely erection, long enough to reach the center of his ripped abs. I recalled watching him at the gym as he used the bar to climb the wooden planks, a surge of heat erupts inside, and I want him to touch me, to help turn this inferno to smoldering ash.

Using his index finger he blazes a trail along my lower lips, dipping inside as he reaches the bottom, and then circling my clit. Lifting his finger to his lips, he slides the digit into his mouth, closing his lips around and moaning while he hollows his cheeks as he sucks. With a pop, he removes the finger and his eyes open slowly, a mischievous grin growing on his face.

“I’ve always preferred to sample from the source.”

Without warning, he dives into my pussy, his tongue lapping at my clit. I cry out in ecstasy, my head falling back against the pillow as I give myself over to him.

Feeling the pressure build in my belly, the painful tingles starting as I feel my orgasm just out of reach. Logan suctions his lips around my clit and begins to hum as he shakes his head violently. It’s the final shove I need to fall over the edge, shouting his name as white spots cloud my vision and my limbs feel as if they weigh a thousand pounds.

My breathing is as rapid as it would be if I had run a marathon, and I hear the faint sound of foil ripping. I can feel Logan kissing me from the middle of my thigh and progressing higher, laying his body between my legs as he continues to worship my skin with his mouth.

“I love you, Harper.”

Feeling the head of his cock just outside my entrance, I raise my hips hoping to push him in further.

“I’ll go slow, so I don’t hurt you.”

He whispers with truth wrapped around each word. Excruciatingly slow, he begins to push into me, spreading me and leaving the most delicious burn behind. Logan Forbes is blessed with so many things; a kind heart, abundant muscles, and thankfully, a big fat cock.

“I love you, too.”

I confess, taking hold of the back of his neck, driving my tongue between his parted lips. When he is balls deep inside, he shifts his hips, giving me the friction I need to bring on another orgasm. He pumps in and out several times, each stroke hitting a new angle, bringing me closer to the finish. My world shifts on its axis as Logan brings my hips off the mattress, the angle causing my world to shatter and his name to echo off the walls.

“That’s two,” he says, looking down at me from his extended arms, the muscles straining with the position. “Let’s see how many more I can find?”