West

Cooper wore an expectant expression on his face, as if he were waiting for an answer to a question I hadn’t heard. My mind was on Lily, who was in the bridal suite down the hall. Which was where I’d rather be.

I snuffed, making a sound ambiguous enough that it could be taken for either a yes or no before taking a sip of my scotch.

“Thought so. Told you he wasn’t listening,” he said to Patrick, who sighed.

“All right, well, when it’s your turn,” I said, eyeing them, “I’ll be sure to take notes.”

Cooper’s smile drew up on one side. “Who says I’m getting married?”

I laid a look on him that could defrost an icebox. “You’ll make an honest woman out of my sister, or I’ll break your nose again.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. You didn’t break anything but some capillaries.”

My eyes narrowed to slits, and his smile broadened.

“If you think I’m letting Maggie go, you don’t know me at all.”

I relaxed by only the smallest degree. “You’d better fucking not.” I took another drink, nearly emptying the crystal glass in my hand.

Cooper started talking again. It was one of his gifts—keeping conversations going. Bastard was the most charismatic man I knew. But my mind wandered away almost immediately. My eyes scanned our suite, which looked like some old boys’ club with wood-paneled walls the color of deep cherry, leather furniture the color of a saddle with brass tacks, bookshelves stacked with classics and first editions.

But I couldn’t hold still. I brushed a fleck of lint off the thigh of my deep cobalt pants. Inspected the intentional weathering on my new rusty-brown leather shoes. Smoothed my tie. Checked the big watch on my wrist for the time. Again. And all the while, my mind was on her.

I wondered what she’d been doing. We’d texted a bit off and on, but she was busy. I knew that—I did, and I tried to respect it—but I was very much not busy. Cooper, Tricky, and I had been killing time all morning, and I hadn’t seen much of anybody but the two of them. It seemed like everyone else had something to do except me. Which was maddening.

I needed something to do worse than anyone.

The most I could eek out of the day was the three of us going to a swanky barbershop Cooper frequented on the Upper West, where we had been shaved and styled for a price Cooper wouldn’t let me in on, saying while he paid the bill that I didn’t want to know.

I imagined her standing in front of the mirror with my sister and Rose, my mom and hers behind her, all of them misty-eyed and smiling. I wondered if her hair would be up or down, if the long locks would be twisted and piled up or free for my fingers to slip into the strands. I wondered about her dress. Would it be modest or revealing? Would it hug the curves of her body, curves I knew better than I knew my own reflection, or would it have a shape and bell like a princess, hiding her body from me until I could take that dress off her tonight?

Tonight. It seemed so far away—too far away. I wished I knew what she looked like so I could imagine her exactly how she was instead of not knowing. I hated not knowing.

But she’d kept it all a secret anyway. Hidden the dress and whatever she’d be wearing underneath it—because, yes, I’d looked for that, too—and kicked me out last night when all I’d wanted to do was stay. I got what she was saying about anticipation—I really did—but I wanted to see her.

In truth, I needed to see her. If the first time I saw her was when she was walking down that aisle toward me, I might not be able to compose myself in front of all those people. Not that they’d be looking at me anyway. Not when she entered the room.

I shifted in my seat again, checking my cuff links, then my watch again, huffing when I noted that four minutes and thirty … six seconds had passed since I checked it last.

Patrick laughed. “Man, you look like you’ve got snakes in your pants.”

I gave him a look, frustrated and annoyed. “Well, what the hell? I don’t understand why I can’t see her for just a minute.”

“Because she said you couldn’t.”

“Well, she also said I couldn’t get the cow-skin rug, but I got it anyway.”

Cooper snorted. “She made you put it in your office.”

I shrugged. “Still won. I’m just saying, she’s wrong this time.”

Patrick gave me a sympathetic look. “I get it, man, but this isn’t just a Lily thing. It’s a thing, thing.”

That boiling frustration spilled over. “Well, it’s bullshit,” I shot, my face pinching in agitation. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday, and this is the biggest day of our lives. We’ve been waiting for this day for over a year. Hell, we’ve been waiting for this day our whole lives, and the first time I see her is gonna be in front of everybody. I can’t … I don’t know how to keep it together. I can’t let that be the moment, man. I can’t! I need to see her and hold her and tell her I love her before she appears at the end of that aisle on her father’s arm.” I clamped my mouth shut and drew a noisy breath through my nose to try to temper my outburst. It didn’t work. So I finished my scotch and stood instead. “I need another fucking drink.”

Cooper and Patrick exchanged a look, but I barely noticed, moving instead for the crystal decanter on the sideboard.

“All right,” Cooper said, resigned with a side of determination. “We’ll help you.”

I turned, still holding my empty glass. “Do not fuck with me,” I warned. “I am in no mood.”

Patrick stood, smoothing his tie. “We mean it. We’ll get you in there.”

“But we’re blaming you for all this when Lily asks. You, she’ll forgive. We, on the other hand, will never live it down,” Cooper said.

I set my glass down, beaming. “I accept full and complete responsibility. What do we do?”

Patrick was on his phone, shaking his head. “Rose is pissed, but she’s on board.”

I frowned. “I thought we were keeping secrets.”

“If you think we can pull this off without Rose and Maggie’s help, you’re dumber than I thought.” Patrick’s fingers flew as he typed out a message. “Okay, Rose is clearing out the room.”

I shook my head. “How the hell did you manage that in a couple of texts?”

“Easy. I just told her if we didn’t, you’d cry in front of God and everybody. No one wants to see the fabric of the universe torn today.”

My face flattened. “You’re a real pal, Tricky.”

“I’m here for you, man.” His eyes were on his phone. “Okay. Come on.”

Cooper opened the door a crack and scanned the hall, holding his hand up at us behind the door like a SWAT team leader. “All clear.”

“Thanks, Batman,” I muttered.

He shot me a look over his shoulder. “Want our help or not?”

I put my hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. This sneaking around pisses me off.”

“I know you prefer a good smash-and-grab, but this requires a little more finesse. Now quit bitching, and let’s go.”

I followed them through a series of hallways, ignoring Patrick’s amusement at my discomfort. We paused at each juncture, and when we reached a wide hall where guests passed through to the bar and holding area, Cooper turned to me, his face serious.

“Okay, here’s the deal. We’re moving for that door,” he said, pointing. “Do not make eye contact with anyone. Look like you’re on official business, not like you’re sneaking around.” He paused, assessing me. “I mean, stand up straighter and stop looking annoyed.”

“Well, I am fucking annoyed.”

He rolled his eyes. “No shit? Just stop looking annoyed.”

I tried to smooth my face.

“I guess that’s passable. You lead.”

I took a breath and locked my eyes on the door before stepping into the open.

Three steps, and I heard my name.

“It’s your aunt. Act like you didn’t hear her. Hurry,” Cooper managed to somehow bark from under his breath.

I did as he’d said, reaching the door after hearing my name again. Twice. I whipped the door open and darted inside.

Rose was waiting, looking nervous and mildly annoyed. “She’s gonna kill me,” she said flatly.

But then she saw Patrick, and they locked eyes like a couple of lovesick fools. Not that I was anyone to judge.

He stepped into her, his face shining as he took hers in his hands. “You’re beautiful.”

And she was. Her dress swept the floor, a blush chiffon affair that made her look like an angel.

It only made me want to see Lily more. If Rose looked like that, Lily was going to give me a heart attack.

I stepped around them with single-minded focus.

“Hang on,” she said, snapping out of her Tricky-in-a-suit-induced haze. “Let me get Mags and Astrid. There were a hundred people in there ten minutes ago. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get rid of everyone?” she asked no one as she typed away.

I waited, my nerves and impatience rippling under my skin. I grunted. “How long?”

“They’re coming. God, West. You’re a mess.” It was a joke and an observation, but she didn’t wait for me to pop off like I started to—she turned and waved us on. “Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

I followed her around, meeting Astrid and my sister, Maggie, who whispered and smiled and slipped into Cooper’s arms. Rose pointed to the door and squeezed my tricep, smiling her encouragement.

For a brief, inexplicable moment, I was afraid, locked to the spot now that I had the freedom to go.

But I was nothing if not determined. So I gathered myself up. Stepped to the door. Grasped the doorknob. Opened the door.

Lily stood on a platform in front of a triptych of mirrors, the sunshine pouring into the room in a wedge of light that touched the hem and train of her dress, the white glow blinding and brilliant. I cataloged a series of details in the span of a few seconds. The deep cut exposed her back in a sweeping curve that ended at the small, right where my hand loved to rest. The dress itself highlighted the shape of her, the bend of her waist, the swell of her hips, the curves of her breasts without being tight or blatant, the shimmering fabric falling to the ground from her hips. The light caught bits of the fabric that I realized were embellished with beads or pearls or jewels. I couldn’t tell from where I stood just inside the doorway, not remembering closing the door behind me.

And my questions were answered. Her hair was up, exposing her long, beautiful neck, earrings swinging like pendulums. Her dress was exquisite, reminiscent of the twenties or thirties without being old-fashioned at all. It was timeless. It was sensual, from the whispering fabric to the span of her naked back, offset by fluttering, beaded sleeves that brushed her arms a handful of inches below her shoulders, giving a feel of modesty in an otherwise revealing dress.

Our eyes met in the mirror for a moment of absolute relief and awe and overwhelming emotion, one that squeezed my throat closed, stung my eyes and nose, stopped my heart and lungs and time.

And then her face shot open, and she flew off the platform. For a split second, I thought she was running for me, and I braced myself to catch her, but she cut off to the side to dart behind an elaborate, French-looking room divider.

“Oh my God, West! What are you doing in here?” she squealed.

I found myself smirking. “I thought that was obvious, Lil.”

“Ugh, you are impossible!” she said, exasperated. “I’d say I can’t believe you, but I can absolutely believe that you finagled your way in here after I explicitly asked you to stay away.”

My smirk fell, dragging my lips into a frown. “I know, but—”

“No buts! You are not allowed to see me for another—” A pause. “—hour!”

“I know, Lily,” I started, all kidding aside, all joking done and through. “I had to see you. I—”

“One thing! I asked you to do one thing! That’s all you had to do today other than, per your schedule, shower and put on your damn suit. But you didn’t!”

I stepped toward the screen. “I know, but I had to see you.”

“Ah-ah! You stop right there, Weston.”

I didn’t. “Or what?”

“Do not test me right now!”

I reached the screen but didn’t make a move to look behind it. “Lily,” I said gently, listening to her breathing on the other side, “I needed this moment—seeing you—to be just mine. Not with a hundred forty-three people as witnesses. You and me. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it before so we could have planned it out better. I thought I could handle it.”

“I shoulda known better,” she said to herself, though the bite in her tone was gone.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve technically already seen you.”

She groaned. “Oh God. Everything is ruined.”

“Come on, you don’t really believe in all that, do you?”

“Well, kinda!” she argued.

I paused before coaxing her out. “Come here, babe.”

Silence. Then a sigh, a shuffling of skirts. Half of her face peeked out from behind the screen, her long fingers clutching the edge.

“You really wanted to see me that bad?” she asked hopefully.

I smiled, lips together, eyes thirsty for the rest of her as I stepped toward her. “I’ve been losing my mind. I haven’t had a goddamn thing to do but think about you. I mean it when I say I had to see you. Now, come here.”

Her cheeks flushed, her eyes holding mine as she stepped out.

Up close, she was even more beautiful. Her makeup was soft, her lips dusky rose, her lashes long and ebony, contrasting the cornflower blue of her eyes. They were so blue in fact, the color so deep and rich, they nearly looked violet.

But the best part was the way she looked at me, her face full of the love and adoration and possession and hope I felt in my own heart for her. And for a long moment, we stood there and soaked in the sight of the other, the vision heightened by the depth of emotion.

Wife. Mine. Forever.

In the span of a few hours, all of that would be fact, not future.

She was in my arms, her face turned up to mine. I didn’t know how she’d gotten there, only that she was. The weight of her body against mine was so familiar, the feel of it beneath my hands, the way she smelled of lilac and springtime and woman.

“Never have I seen a woman so beautiful.”

The color in her cheeks rose, her eyes shining with tears. “You clean up nice, too,” she joked, but the words wavered with emotion.

“I love you,” I said without levity. “I love you more than I knew I could. More than I knew a man could feel. Your life, your happiness mean more to me than my own.”

“Unless that includes following simple instructions to stay away from me for fourteen hours,” she said on a chuckle.

“It’s a silly tradition.”

“It is, but if this brings us bad luck—”

“It won’t. And I’m not sorry I came here because goddamn if I don’t feel calmer than I have since I left the apartment last night. Don’t you?”

She nodded, smiling. “I’m glad you did, too. I’ve been crawling out of my skin waiting. And now I’m not scared. I’m not nervous. Can we just stay together until then?”

It was my turn to chuckle. “I wish we could. But we’ll have to settle for this.”

She arched into me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and lifted up onto her tiptoes, angling for my lips. “Kiss me, West.”

And so I did.

Her lips were soft and pliant, sweet and open, her body winding around mine and mine around hers, sparking first only appreciation and relief. But her arms tightened, her mouth widening to give herself deeper access, which we both took. And the spark of appreciation began to smolder, then flare with desire.

I broke the kiss. “Lil …” It was a warning and a request for permission.

She mewled, pressing her hips against mine as best she could. “I should have let you come over for naked napping.”

I laughed. “Yes. Yes, you should have.”

A needy hum settled at the base of her throat. “How much time do we have?” she asked breathlessly.

My hands slipped down her thighs and gathered the material as I leaned forward to nip her lips. “Enough.”

I kissed her, sweeping her behind the screen, my hands roaming her body before hurrying with her skirts.

She halted the kiss, breathlessly saying, “Hang on. As much as I want to see you in that suit while you do what you’re about to do to me, there’s only one way we won’t ruin my dress.” She kissed me again and let me go. “Unbutton your pants,” she ordered as she turned around and hinged at the waist, back arching.

I’d just gotten my belt unnotched when I momentarily lost all ability to function.

Her dress rested like an ivory curtain in the small of her back, exposing the curve of her naked ass from cheek to cheek and the cleft in the center where they met.

I thumbed the slick line of her and breathed, “Goddamn, Lily.”

“I love you, too,” she breathed back. “Now, touch me before I die.”

I freed the aching length of my cock, my eyes on the tails of the shining silver necklace that dangled between her shoulder blades. And then I wrapped my arm around her waist beneath her dress to keep it away from the place where our bodies were about to meet. My free hand tested the center of her, which was warm and welcoming, slick and ready.

She hummed beneath me at my touch, bracing her hands on the wall, her breath quick and shallow.

“I missed you,” I said as I fisted my length, bringing my hips closer, pressing the very tip of me to the very edge of her. “I woke up needing you.” I breached her, and she gasped, her hips shifting to settle herself onto me, but I wouldn’t let her. “In the shower, I held my cock just like this, imagining you in this dress. This day.” I slipped in incrementally, and she whimpered a plea. “But damn if you aren’t more beautiful.” Another inch, painfully slow as her body made way for mine. “Damn if you aren’t more prefect.” It was barely a whisper, my control faltering. “Damn if I don’t love you,” I said as I filled her up.

And she sighed with relief as I spent a heart-thundering moment right there, so still but for a pulse of my body inside hers and a pulse of hers around mine in answer. I angled to press a kiss to the center of her back. And then I pumped my hips.

“Oh God,” she said, her fingers flexing against the wall.

Every nerve in my body reached for the center of her, and as I braced her with one strong arm around her waist, my free hand skated from her ass to her hip to the point where her legs met. When my fingers found the swollen flesh and circled in time with my hips, she hissed a swear.

I was already close—the sight of her in that dress like I’d dreamed, on this day I’d been waiting for, wife, wife, wife, love, forever—and I throbbed inside her, my senses dimming as I tried to hang on to my wits long enough to give her what I knew she wanted. With the flats of my fingers, I pressed her hood, rolled the flesh until she gasped from deep in her lungs, reached for my wrist to brace herself, and came with a thundering squeeze, flex, pulse of her body.

And my awareness was gone, my body its own, the feeling of her drawing me into her, the sound of her panting her yeses and her body shuddering under mine, and with a strangled groan, I came as she was still falling, eyes slamming shut, hips slamming her ass, heart slamming my ribs.

She sagged against me, her shoulders heaving and head dropped as I held her up.

“Why haven’t we been doing that all day?” she said, her voice rough and sleepy.

I chuckled and kissed her shoulder, her neck, the space behind her ear that smelled of her perfume. “Because you told me to stay away.”

“Well, I am stupid and cannot be trusted. Don’t listen to me.”

“I’ll remember you said that.”

She straightened up a little. “Shit, what do we do now?”

“Get married.”

Lily looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “I mean about this?” She shifted her hips and me inside her, sending an echoing throb through both of us.

I frowned, glancing behind me as best I could into the small wedge of the room that was visible, which was useless—the view mostly consisted of a corner.

I took stock of my person, tallying what I had in my pockets. “Here, take my pocket square.”

She made a frustrated sound. “I am not using your wedding pocket square to clean my vagina!”

“Hey now, don’t get mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you,” she snapped. “I’m mad at your dick and my desire for it.”

I snorted a laugh.

“I think there’s a box of tissues on the table by our bags. Will you go get it? If I walk, it’s gonna be a fetish sex show. Thank God I’ve been doing Kegels.”

“I hope you have underwear,” I joked and kissed her shoulder, but she made that angry kitten sound. I should have felt bad, but I so didn’t. “I’ll be right back.”

I pulled out of her—woefully, so woefully—and hurried across the room with my pants half-undone, eyes scanning the room, suddenly aware that our time was borrowed. Someone would be walking in any second. And her naked ass was dripping while I rushed around the bridal suite with my sword drawn.

I didn’t see tissues, but I caught sight of her bag and rifled through it. “Can we use your sundress?”

She scoffed. “That is from Anthropologie.”

I frowned. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means no. No, we cannot use that.”

A case that looked like a girlie toolbox sat off to the side, and I opened it up to find more makeup than I’d ever seen in my life. But there were some makeup wipes and a couple packs of tissues in there, so I swiped them and hurried back to her.

“Will this work?”

She sighed, finally smiling. “The tissues, please. I don’t think Clinique makes wipes that are pH-balanced for lady parts.”

I pulled a couple for myself and gave the rest to her, and as we got ourselves right, she said something that would haunt us like those vengeful Native American souls in Poltergeist.

“God, West—I swear, if this brings us bad luck, I will never let you live it down.”

The door burst open, and the sound of our mothers talking turned us into a whirlwind of hands and fabric and zippers and tucking and adjustments. With the briefest, sweetest of smiles and a brush of our lips, I stepped out from behind the screen, towing Lily.

Our mothers stopped in their tracks, beaming and clasping their hands, blissfully unaware—thank God. Rose, Maggie, and Astrid stood behind them, their eyes wide and apologetic.

“Oh my goodness,” Lily’s mom breathed. “You’re both glowing!”

Astrid snickered, and Rose elbowed her.

“I didn’t know you two had a first look planned!” Mom said.

“We didn’t,” Lily noted, “but we were nervous.”

“Aw, honey,” Lily’s mom cooed, stepping toward us to clasp Lily’s upper arms. “Do you feel better?”

I stuffed the hand that had just been under her daughter’s wedding dress in my pocket.

Lily let out an awkward laugh. “Oh, much better. Thanks, Mom.”

“I should go,” I started, not at all wanting to leave her side. Everyone busied themselves in an effort to give us a modicum of privacy as I turned to her. “I love you, Lily,” I said so only she could hear, “and in a few minutes, I’m gonna make you mine forever.”

“I can’t wait.” Her eyes glistened with tears.

And then I kissed her one last time before drawing her into my arms and bringing my lips to her ear.

“Next time I kiss you, you’ll be my wife,” I whispered.

She sighed, melting into me. “Forever.”