That dress. I moaned to myself. Why did I buy her that dress?

Or the form fitting shirts and skirt and jeans…

She was even more stunningly beautiful than I’d realized. Tabby rivaled the hollywood starlets you saw on magazine covers. But those starlets didn’t have her sinful curves.

I was going to spend the rest of my life beating off men with a stick.

A big stick.

I bounced up and down on my heels then resumed pacing, trying it with the cane and without. I was practicing, to see if I could walk down the aisle without assistance.

Though I thought I might bring it anyway. Tabby said it made me look dignified. The guys said it made me look like a bad ass.

Either one sounded pretty good to me.

Topher and Lyle watched me from the other side of the room. They’d abducted me from our hotel room this morning and dragged me to theirs. Thankfully, they’d had my uniform handy and lots of coffee.

Maybe too much coffee. I was climbing the damn walls. I hadn’t wanted to leave Tabby alone either. But they’d all ganged up on me. Jackie and Maryann too.

The girls had showed up early to get Tabby ready. They’d started squawking like birds when they saw me still in the suite.

Something about bad luck to see the bride on the wedding day. What they didn’t know was, I’d hadn’t just seen her.

I’d seen her puke.

I had a feeling that she was either nervous as hell about my semi-surprise wedding or she was pregnant.

I was praying for option two.

“Hey G-Man you are making me dizzy.”

“Shut up, man. He’s just nervous” Topher punched Lyle’s shoulder. “Gabe, we’re supposed to tell you to turn on your laptop in five minutes.”

He glanced at his watch.

“Four actually.”

I glared at them and went to get my bag. I pulled out the laptop and set it up on the desk, searching for the hotel’s wifi. I leaned against the desk, too nervous to sit down.

Blooooop.

I knew that sound. It was a secure line. I grinned as the entire crew came into view.

“TORP!”

I grinned at the screen, my nerves momentarily forgotten.

“How are you guys?”

“Top secret, Torp. No can tell.”

“SHOW US THE BRIDE!”

Donnelly was goofing off, waving his ass at the computer. I pulled up a photo of Tabby on my phone and held it up to the screen. They went nuts, as expected. I laughed, waiting for the whistling and hooting and hollering to calm down.

“How’d you land her? Holy hell!”

“Can I have one? I’ll take a hit if I can get one!”

“Dry land! I want dry land!”

Lyle tapped my shoulder after a few minutes of joking around with my crew. They looked good. It warmed my heart to see them all safe and sound and smiling.

“Uh, Gabe, I think they’re ready.”

The guys waved goodbye, still commenting on my bride and her tatas. Dave shouted to lay pipe and Donnelly told me to knock her up.

“Impregnation on the wedding night is a longstanding tradition!”

I laughed, thinking it was a good thing Tabby couldn’t hear them chanting ‘breed her’ over and over again. She would not be amused. But hell, it was kind of funny.

I signed off and checked the bathroom mirror. I gargled with mouthwash and gave myself the nod. I looked damn good, if I did say so myself.

“Let’s do this.”

I followed the guys down the stairs to the lower level. Lyle went ahead to make sure I wouldn’t accidentally bump into the bride. When he told me the coast was clear I walked in and shook hands with the judge. Lyle took my cane and stood beside me. Topher had the rings.

I had two best men. And hell, that was just fine.

My mom was beaming at me from the first row as the music started.

It was time.

I was getting married.

The doors opened and Tabitha took one step into the room. Everything stopped. The music seemed to pause. No one spoke. I was pretty sure the world stopped turning.

I definitely stopped breathing.

She was stunning in a simple long white dress. It had short cap sleeves and was relatively modest up top, but her curves were still on display. It skimmed softly over her cleavage and the indent of her waist, then out over the gentle swell of her delicious hips.

She stood straight and proud as she walked towards me. She was perfection. Her hair was long and subtly curled, her pink lips were smiling, her gorgeous golden eyes shone brightly with love.

This must be heaven. Because I was surely marrying an angel.

A series of images flashed through my mind. Tabby when we were just kids in junior high. Tabby in high school. Our eyes meeting time and time again.

She’d always looked away first. But this time, she held my eyes proudly. For all to see.

It was really happening.

The most beautiful girl in the world was about to become my wife.