Shine Not Burn(101)

“And now for your vows,” said the priest looking at me.

“I … didn’t write any. I didn’t know …”

“Just say whatever you want,” said Mack. “Or you can use these.” He waved the napkin between us.

“No thanks,” I said, unable to keep the grin from my face. I cleared my throat. “I can do this.”

“I know you can.” He leaned over and kissed me tenderly.

“Hey, no kissing until after,” said Kelly, tapping me on the shoulder with her flowers.

I pushed Mack away gently and cleared my throat. “Okay. Vows. Take one.” I looked at Mack, trying to express with my eyes how much I loved him in that moment. “I promise to be faithful to you. To always listen to you when you want to talk. To have sex whenever you want, wherever you want.” His eyebrows went up at that, and I continued, a smile refusing to leave my face. “I promise to learn how to cook a mean beef brisket, to rope a calf, and ride a horse. I’ll stick around for as long as you’ll have me. And I promise to be as good a mom to your kids as I possibly can.”

A tear came out of each of Mack’s eyes and his lips quivered just the slightest bit. “Thank you.” He mouthed the words before turning to face the priest.

“Well, I guess that about does it then,” said the man in front of us. “Does someone have the ring?”

Ian leaned in and handed the gold bands to Mack. Mack gave me his and held out mine.

“Please place the bands on your future spouse’s finger.”

A wave of warmth washed over me when Mack slid the band over my knuckle and settled it onto my finger where I knew it would reside until the day I died.

He closed his fingers over mine as I finished pushing his ring onto his finger.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, cowboy.”

Mack grinned and bent down, blocking my view of the guests with the wide brim of his hat. “I love you, Andie MacKenzie,” he said, as he lips came up against mine.

“I love you too, Gavin MacKenzie,” I said, pressing my lips to his.





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ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Elle Casey is a prolific American writer who lives in Southern France with her husband (who sometimes wears a kilt), three kids (who never stop moving), Hercules the wonder poodle (who sleeps next to her side for every word typed), Monie the bouvier (who also never stops moving), and a few other furry creatures (don’t ask). Her favorite things are red wine, pretty much anything with sugar in it, and sexy books. If she has all three around her at the same time, please do not disturb … the writer is busy creating. In her spare time she writes new adult and young adult novels (you can find her Women’s Fiction work under the pen name Kat Lee.) She publishes at least one novel per month and has been accused of being a cyborg for her ability to consistently turn out captivating stories with characters that stay in readers’ heads long after the book is closed. She neither confirms nor denies this accusation.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


First, a shout out to the book bloggers who feature my books on their websites. Thank you! Without you, readers would have a really hard time finding me in the ginormous pile at the online retailers. To Sarah Welsh, Theresa Veraa, Craig, and Margaret … my beta readers and proofreaders … thank you! Your feedback was immensely helpful to me, especially with this being my first romance novel. A big hug to my husband who is such a great inspiration when it comes to writing sexy scenes. To my readers who are the reason I write. Thank you so much for investing your time and money in my work. I am grateful to you every day of my life! And last, not least, to my children who are very understanding with me when I tell them that Mommy has to write.