Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(74)

For some reason, Cade was sweaty, red-faced, and shouting in front of the altar. Everyone in the crowd looked somewhere between stunned, shocked, and amused.

“He told me to look down the barrel,” Cade said. “‘Tell me if you can see a spark,’ he says!”

Nobody, including Cade, even saw us coming. To my surprise, many of them looked engrossed in his story.

“And when he flicked the igniter, all I saw was a fireball,” Cade continued, his volume increasing with every sentence. “Eyebrows gone. Eyelashes melted together. It was horrible. Oh. Hi, Kira.”

Two hundred wooden chairs creaked in unison when everyone turned to face me. I didn’t pay attention to them. I saw Rich standing there at the altar. An irrational, jealous part of me leaped up in my throat when I saw Stella too. She was wearing a wedding dress, and for a split second I wanted to deck her. But she must have had to come out when I didn’t show up on time. And Cade. Cade must have been stalling for time.

Rich signaled to the piano player, who had been adding a kind of dramatic soundtrack to Cade’s story a moment ago. He switched the song to the classic “Here Comes the Bride” tune.

I’d taken about two steps down the aisle before Rich’s parents stood up. I kept walking, but braced myself for an outburst. The driver admitted they’d been the ones to send him, after all. They knew what was coming, and they hadn’t expected me to actually arrive in time.

My parents were only a few seats from Edna and Harper King. They were staring in openmouthed shock.

“What the hell are you doing, Kira?” my father asked. He had rushed to the edge of the aisle. When he tried to grab my arm, Iris slid between us and pushed his hand away.

“She’s getting married to a guy she loves. And I bet they’re going to have amazing sex tonight,” she added.

Holding back a smile took monumental effort. Iris and my dad had never gotten along. I could only imagine how much she enjoyed that. I expected my dad to shake her off and make some proclamation about how he was the mayor and would do what he wanted. Instead, he gave me a funny, searching look. It was such a different expression than I’d ever seen on his face that it nearly took my breath away. I realized it was because for the first time I could remember, it felt like he was seeing me—actually seeing me and not just the chess piece he’d drag around to parties to make himself look like a family man.

“Well, if you’re not going to ask me to walk you down the aisle, I’m going to invite myself.” He pushed his way into the aisle and took my arm in his, then gave me a familiar nudge. “This doesn’t mean I approve, you know,” he whispered to me.

“Good. This would feel a lot less exciting if I knew my dad was okay with it.”

To my surprise, nobody else said a word as we made our way up to the altar. My dad kissed me on the forehead, which he hadn’t done since I was a little girl, and gave my back a quick pat before he moved away to leave me standing in front of Rich and Stella.

I was finally able to tune the rest of them out and really look at Rich for the first time. He wasn’t smiling. It actually looked like he was thinking about having a repeat of our encounter in the closet at the rehearsal.

Stella dipped her chin at me. “Be good to him. He’s actually not such a bad guy.”

“Thank you.” I hugged her before she left.

I stole a glance at the crowd and saw more excitement than I’d expected. When I imagined how everyone would react, I thought the most likely possibility was outrage. Apparently, people just liked a good show. Almost everyone had a cell phone out and was recording. So much for Edna and Harper King covering this one up.

Miranda and Iris took their places behind us, and Cade reluctantly gave up his microphone before going to stand back by Nick.

“You can continue,” Rich said to the pastor.

The pastor threw his hands up, as if to say, Why not?

I barely heard anything he said. Rich’s hands were in mine, and we were in front of everyone for the first time in what felt like forever. I didn’t have to hide the fact that I loved him.

“Sorry I’m late,” I mouthed to him.

“You will be,” he mouthed back.

The pastor walked us through our vows, had us say our I do’s, and then asked if anyone had any reason we shouldn’t be wed.

“Actually,” Cade said loudly.

Nick put him in a headlock from behind and signaled for the pastor to continue. Cade was choking out something that sounded like I was kidding, but Nick didn’t let him go.

“Then you may kiss the bride.”

I may not have remembered much of what the pastor said or even all the decorations I’d spent so much mental effort deciding on. But as soon as his lips touched mine, I knew I’d remember that kiss for the rest of my life.





Chapter 30





RICH


I carried a slightly drunken Kira into our hotel room that night. I had her under the legs and arms in the traditional over-the-threshold position. I paused once I saw the inside of the room.

“Jesus. You’re sure this is where you want to stay tonight? We could use the plane and go to a five-star hotel, get checked in, and be in our beds in less than an hour.”

“I’m sure,” she said. “Throw me on the bed, big boy.” She giggled at herself and blushed a beautiful shade of red.