by Romy Sommer
Her hand fluttered to her throat. Her left hand. He caught the glint of gold and his heart shattered.
Tessa looked straight into Christian’s eyes, those mesmerising eyes that blinded her to everything else.
Stefan’s voice broke the expectant silence. “You’re too late because she already stopped the wedding. Though I’d really like to know why.”
With huge effort she dragged her gaze from Christian and turned on her high, spiky heels to face her groom.
His brow was furrowed. “I thought we agreed this sentimental nonsense about love was a bad basis for any marriage. Why are you changing your mind?”
She looked down at their clasped hands, then back up at him. “I’m not changing my mind because of Christian.” At least, not entirely. “I’m changing my mind because I’m marrying you for all the wrong reasons. I’m marrying you out of fear and that has to be the worst basis for a marriage ever.”
“You couldn’t have told me this a little earlier?”
She bit her lip. “I am so sorry.”
She didn’t need to see Christian to feel his strength at her back. She didn’t have to do this alone, after all.
She smiled at Stefan, willing him to understand. “I’ve only just started to realise who I am and what I want for my life and it’s not what I thought it would be. If I married you, I’d be living your life, pursuing your dreams. I need to follow mine.”
He nodded stiffly. “I think you’re making a big mistake, but I won’t force you into anything you don’t want to do.”
The fact that there was no shock or dismay or regret in his eyes made her decision easier. They were so much alike, too much alike. Stefan also needed to open his heart and learn to feel. But she wasn’t the woman who could do that for him.
“I really hope one day you meet someone who makes you feel the way I do right now.”
Alight. Alive. As if the world that had been painted in shades of grey a moment ago was now lit up in beautiful, bright technicolor.
She unhooked the earrings from her ears then slid the engagement ring off her finger, the gold band with its large diamond that still felt as if it didn’t belong on her hand. She held them out to Stefan and he took them.
Then she turned back to face Christian. His smile wrapped around her, warmer than sunshine, warm enough to melt the last of the frost in her heart. Who cared if the ice cracked? Beneath it lay a river desperate to break free and plunge headlong towards the sea.
Careful of her long train, she descended the shallow stone steps to stand in front of him. “You don’t need to change the world. You changed me, and that’s enough.”
And then in front of everyone, in front of the cameras and the stunned guests, she kissed him.
Epilogue – Tortuga
“I thought we’d decided on a small wedding?” Christian looked around at the crowd assembled in the clearing.
Teresa had to lean close for him to catch her words over the roar of the waterfall. “This is a small wedding.”
He’d visualized them alone with the minister on a beach. Instead, ten of their closest friends sat on picnic blankets on the grass, sipping champagne and looking for all the world as if a picnic in the middle of the jungle on a cursed Caribbean island was an everyday thing.
Dominic, his best man.
Anna, now assistant to them both and not a whoopee cushion in sight.
Lee, hand in hand with Anton.
Robbie and his friend the screenwriter, whose script Christian had agreed to produce. Though he still wasn’t sure why the hell he’d signed on so quickly when he’d barely decompressed from his role in Pirate’s Revenge. So much for taking a break to re-evaluate his career.
Max and Phoenix. Rik and Kenzie. His new-found family.
Emotion clogged his throat. He and Rik weren’t related by blood, yet Rik had accepted him as a brother. They were even going to produce this new movie together. Heaven help them and the poor investors who’d agreed to back them.
The minister cleared his throat. “I’ll keep this simple. Do you, Christian Hewitt Taylor, take Teresa Amalia Charlotte Clara Adler d’Arelat as your wife?”
Christian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He really needed to get over this aversion to all things aristocratic. Not only was he marrying one, but Max had insisted on giving him a title too. Apparently it was a time-honoured tradition for royal bastards. Margrave of Neustria. It sounded like something out of a history book.
He looked at his bride. Not in white today, or grey or brown or beige, but in a summery halter-neck dress the same Arctic blue as her eyes. Radiant and shimmering. He’d never seen her so happy or so relaxed.
He’d never loved her as much as he did right now. Every day he loved her more. “I do.”
“And do you, Teresa…”
“I do.”
Their audience laughed.
‘What’s the hurry?’ he mouthed.
She arched an elegant eyebrow. No shit, it said.
No shit indeed. He couldn’t wait to get back to the privacy of their cabin on the yacht either. He doubted they’d be seeing much of the Caribbean during their honeymoon.
“Then I now pronounce you man and wife.”
It started as a tremble beneath their feet. Tessa grabbed his arm for support and Anna shrieked.
The tremble became a roar that overshadowed the thunder of the waterfall cascading into the rocky pool beside them. The ground shook, and it was all Christian could do to keep them both standing.
A champagne glass crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
A boulder tumbled from its perch on the bank, splashing into the river and sending a mini slide of smaller rocks and pebbles after it.
The earth’s vibration rocked through him, up through the soles of his sneaker-clad feet, through his very bones. He grasped Tessa’s hand and held it tight.
Then just as suddenly, the tremor stopped.
“What the…?” this from Max.
The minister was white-faced. “I’ve never heard of an earthquake in Los Pajaros before.”
Rik stood, dusting off his jeans, his smile broad. Every face turned to him, most of them perplexed, all still more than a little shaken.
“It’s the end of the curse.”
Stunned silence.
Then Kenzie rose, slipping her hand into her fiancé’s. “Of course. The pirate and his princess have returned to Tortuga.” She sent Christian and Teresa an impish smile. “You’ve broken the curse.”
Christian turned to his bride. His wife. The daughter of the Count of Arelat, betrothed to another man, swept away from the altar by her pirate lover. He laughed.
And he kissed her.
Don’t miss the first two books in Romy’s gorgeously romantic Westerwald series,
Waking Up in Vegas
The Trouble with Mojitos
‘A fun, sexy romance filled with every emotion… a well written modern day fairy tale that will leave you with a smile on your face.’ ~ Harlequin Junkie
Also by Romy Sommer …
Tap the cover to download now.
Romy Sommer
By day I dress in cargo pants and boots for my not-so-glamorous job of making movies. But at night I come home to my two little Princesses, and we dress up in tiaras and pink tulle … and I get to write Happy Ever Afters. Since I believe every girl is a princess, and every princess deserves a happy ending, what could be more perfect?
Follow me on Twitter @romy_s.
About HarperImpulse
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