NICE GIRL TO LOVE (THE COMPLETE THREE-BOOK COLLECTION)(118)

Victoria cleared her throat loudly. “Yes, yes. And the whole crowd sighed. We’ve got a wedding to carry out, people!” She quickly directed the guys back up to the front and ushered Abby and her father back up the beach, while she stayed behind and gave Skylar instructions about the procession.

As they waited once again for the soft music of Pachelbel to play over the speakers, Abby hooked her arm back through her father’s and looked down the way at the two other most important men in her life. Her soul mate and her kindred spirit…her groom and her best friend.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw a swirling bundle of lilac come rushing toward her.

With an annoyed Victoria chasing after her.

“Abby,” Skylar smiled through her huffs and puffs, “You know that photo of me at my mom and dad’s wedding? The one I love so much?”

Abby nodded, smiling as she always did when she thought of that photo sitting in its place of honor on Brian and Skylar’s shelf of treasured memories amongst other photos of Beth, a few family trips, and a dozen or so photos of Skylar and Becky over the years.

“I’m going to put the photo from this wedding right next to that one,” she whispered, hugging Abby fiercely. “I love you so much. And I’m so happy that I get to call you Aunt Abby from now on.”

A flood of fresh tears ran down Abby’s face and her heart swelled to a thousand times over capacity. That feeling Brian often referenced of things just clicking into place? She felt it now in an almost overwhelming tidal wave of emotion.

After thirteen long years, she now had a true and permanent place in this amazing little girl’s life that just…fit.

“I love you too, kiddo—your entire life, every day more than the last.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE


About an hour after that...



CONNOR WATCHED Brian and Victoria talk, civilly, and actually laugh together as they made their way over to the reception site.

So miracles do happen.

Who would’ve thought? Victoria, the woman he would’ve voted least likely to become a romantic, the woman who used to think his one-month rule was generous, was now a diehard convert. Seeing her light up when her date for the evening joined her and Brian over at the refreshment table, Connor smiled.

Jay was the last person he would’ve paired Victoria with, but quite frankly, those two were a match made in heaven.

After being given a slight run for her money during his mom’s divorce proceedings—thanks to all the investigative info Jay had managed to dig up for Marcus—Victoria had sought Jay out with the express purpose of stealing him over to her firm, offering nearly double his current investigator salary. He’d played hardball of course and had her wine and dine him for three nights in a row. On the day following, he’d told her he had no intention of leaving his firm but he would be at her house that night at seven sharp to pick her up for their fourth date.

Connor was glad to see his two friends so happy.

“If she weren’t the official guardian angel/doberman of this wedding, I might take offense to you looking at another woman right now.”

Connor smiled when he felt his wife’s arms snake around his waist.

His wife. He’d never get tired of that. Gathering her in his arms, he simply stared at her, loving her so much he couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Okay, never mind,” she whispered breathlessly, in that sweet and sexy as sin voice of hers. “You can stare at however many women you want as long as you save that look right there just for me.”

“You promise you’ll only ever sound like that around me and you’ve got yourself a deal, honey.”

She smiled. “Do you want to head to our room for a bit to ‘seal’ this deal?”

Who needed air quotes with a sex kitten purr like that?

Groaning, he pulled her in close and growled in her ear, “Behave, woman. These tuxedo pants don’t exactly have a whole lot of give.”

“I know,” she said appreciatively, brushing up against him in that completely feline, utterly feminine way that always drove him nuts.

His fingers flexed involuntarily into her lush hips. “Might I remind you that waiting until tonight was your bright idea.” He nipped at her earlobe gruffly. Whoever first suggested the insane idea of engaged couples taking a break from sex before their wedding ceremony was a masochist.

“You’re right,” she sighed, looking not in the least bit contrite. “But I really do need to head up to our room. According to the doberman, I only have about thirty minutes to change before the reception.”

That was news to him. “You have another dress for the reception? I didn’t know that.”

“It’ll be a quick change. Can you come help me?”

“Sure.”

Up in their honeymoon suite, Connor sank back onto the couch and kicked his legs up for a bit. Thirty minutes, huh? He might be able sneak in a quick nap.

Or a quick something else.

God knows he needed it.

Since his bride had insisted on a whole month of celibacy before the wedding, he was riding a fine edge. Hell, a strong enough breeze off Lake Powell was probably all it’d take to get him going right about now. And the seductive imp had darn well guaranteed he’d be this strung out too, what with the way she’d basically tortured him daily for the past few weeks—hang-drying more new pairs of barely-qualified-to-be panties in their bathroom, and other equally fiendish things like that.