Simply Austin

by Gina Robinson

  Connor fit right in with Lazer and the guys, laughing just as hard as the rest of them and pouring everyone a round from the bottle of whisky he'd brought to toast me before the ceremony. And to "ease the nerves," as he said while we got ready in the groom's room.

  "To a man who knows his own mind," Connor said. "May he always recognize good advice when he hears it."

  Connor helped me into my kilt, making sure it was perfectly pleated. Malcolm tied my cravat. Lazer gave me a slap on the back and showed me that he had the ring. Which brought us here to this moment, ready for our cue to enter the chapel. Lazer and Connor were right behind me, wearing red roses, Dylan, Cam, and Jeremy lined up in a row behind them, wearing Scottish thistles in their boutonnieres.

  Since I hadn't specified which order the groomsmen should stand in, other than the best men, the men had decided to line up by height, tallest to shortest. It had either been that or by IQ. Which was hotly debated, led to fights, and had been a source of contention since we met in college. All of us claimed to be the smartest, and each had different tests and assessments that backed up their opinion. No one really wanted to win this fight. But no one wanted to be marked the dumbest member of our crowd, either. Fortunately, saner heads prevailed and they went with height, as Dylan said, "Because it's MacDougall's wedding day and we don't want a fight to ruin it." Which was generous of him, considering he was the tallest and that put him at the end.

  You had to love my buddies for putting my needs first, at least this once. I didn't give a damn what order they were in, as long as they were all there.

  The need for secrecy would be over within the hour. As soon as we said, "I do," all need for it vanished. Once we were ensconced behind the fortress of the castle in our honeymoon suite, the more PR, the better. Let the whole damn world know—Blair Edwards is my wife!

  Speaking of secrecy, the venue had changed three times in the past two days as Flora tried to keep it a secret. She didn't want any unpleasant surprises that would ruin our day and their promo piece. The original place with the anvil that Blair and I had wanted was out—too small and too public. The outside venue with a water feature was too open, though they'd booked it for a while as a decoy. The decoy venue—there was a romantic comedy idea in their somewhere. Finally, Flora resorted to booking three venues simultaneously, and only shuffled us to the real location at the last minute.

  The venue where we ended up was a complete surprise to us—a historic stone building built in the era of Jamie. Not a lot to look at, architecturally speaking, from the outside. Anyone with half a brain would have looked for us there.

  I didn't argue with the decision and tried to give Flora points to cunning. It could be she was going for the old "that's too obvious" ploy to throw people off.

  The building had originally been a hall of some sort, but inside it had a cathedral vibe—high arches and tall overhead windows. The long, narrow shape of the building made for the perfect, and extravagant, carpeted aisle for the bride to walk. Suitably dramatic, and wide enough, for a bride costumed by the Jamie show. Plenty of time to get some good footage for promo.

  The Jamie set designers had decorated the hall with ribbons in vibrant Scottish colors and historically accurate local flowers, including Scottish thistle, from the Jamie period—I knew this only because one of them made a point of telling me, very proudly. I complimented them genuinely. They'd done a fantastic job blending the modern with the historical. Blair would be very happy. And that was all that mattered to me.

  The schedule was running a little late. Blair was running a little late. I glanced at my watch.

  Connor slapped me on the back and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Don't sweat it. Blair's here. I saw her with me own eyes. Sam won't let her sneak out. It's probably just a wee production delay. Huh. Common. Verra common in this biz. The crews have to get the lighting and sound just right. And it takes a wee bit of time, I'm guessing, to get Blair into that dress." He rolled his eyes. "You should have seen the to-do when we filmed the wedding scene between Jamie and Elinor. If they're putting half as much effort into Blair as they did Sam, we could be waiting a long time."

  It did take "a wee bit of time." About the time I thought I was going to get flat feet from standing so long, the minister stepped to the pulpit and motioned us in. I took a deep breath and walked to my spot on the steps in front of the altar, trying not to look as nervous and eager as I felt. Connor and Lazer followed. When we were in place, the bagpipers began playing the processional. The acoustics were beautiful inside the chamber. The emotional voice of the bagpipes surrounded us.

  The door at the far end of the room opened.

  Blair and I had opted not to do any staged "first look" photos before the ceremony. I hadn't seen her since yesterday. I hadn't seen the dress at all, certainly not with her in it. We wanted my genuine reaction caught on camera. So much surrounding us was faked that we wanted as much about the ceremony and the emotion to be genuine as possible.

  Sam was the first bridesmaid, looking lovely and composed. Then Ashley, my matchmaker. Then Beth, who was both mother of the bride and maid of honor, looking almost as happy as I felt.

  My heart raced with anticipation as Beth took her place on the bride's side of the altar. All of the people who were important were standing up for us. The audience was made up mostly of crew from the show. All were focused on trying to get a glimpse of the bride and her escort. Because she had no father figure in her life, Blair had chosen Malcolm to walk her down the aisle.

  And then, there she was—the most beautiful woman in the world with her arm looped through Malcolm's. I broke out in a smile and hoped no one noticed the lift in my kilt. I had never seen a bride look so hot, or a wedding dress that was so sexy.

  Blair

  Malcolm patted my hand and whispered, "All brides are a wee bit nervous on their wedding day. No reason to be. Breathe, lass, just breathe."

  I nodded. It felt good to have a father figure walking me down the aisle. I'd always missed that masculine touch in my life. But it was times like this that I wished my parents were still alive. What would my dad think of this? Of me marrying Austin in Scotland?

  I took a deep breath and tried not to race down the aisle. I was that nervous, both wanting to be officially married and wanting this moment on the edge of my life together with Austin to last forever. I kept my head high as I walked the long aisle. Austin was watching me with a grin that couldn't help but make my heart soar. Yes, to be able to savor this level of happiness and joy for just a few minutes longer.

  Our eyes met. I focused on him and my case of nerves began to recede. There were just the two of us. I glided down the aisle, suddenly unafraid I'd trip on the hem of my dress, or twist an ankle in my delicate bridal shoes and fall flat on my face. You know, all the usual silly worries. There were none of the big ones. No question in my mind that I was doing the right thing.

  And then, as if I'd magically arrived there, I was at the altar and Malcolm was handing me off to Austin. I smiled shakily at my groom. He mouthed, I love you. I repeated it to him.

  We had opted for a simple, traditional wedding. A quick ceremony without frills. Austin repeated his vows first in a clear, strong voice as we stared into each other's eyes. I managed to repeat my vows in a surprisingly steady voice, given the case of nerves I'd had before starting down the aisle.

  The minister said, "May we have the rings?"

  As I turned to hand Beth my bouquet and take Austin's ring from her, a hidden door on the main level just to the left of the altar steps flew open with a bang and a crash.

  I jumped. Beth jumped. Everyone jumped.

  As I turned around to see what had caused the commotion, a wild-eyed man stepped out from a passageway brandishing a large, vicious-looking Highland sword.

  The man looked past me to Austin. "Austin MacDougall, I take my revenge." He lunged for me.

  Chapter 14

  Blair

  For a moment, everything played out i
n painfully slow motion. I saw the wild man and took a step back, trying to move out of his reach, thinking, This can't be real. This has to be some weird act. Some demented cosplay.

  I screamed, hoping to attract security. Sam screamed and let loose a surprisingly bawdy string of curses, sounding like Elinor in battle.

  Beth screamed, "Run, Blair, run!"

  In this dress?

  We all screamed for various reasons. But none of us screamed for ice cream. The ridiculous thoughts you have when a madman comes at you with a sword.

  Austin grabbed me and shoved me behind him. "Back off, dickless."

  Randy Dixon. Cam, Dylan, Jeremy, and Lazer pulled knives from their boots and brandished them. Connor pressed my wedding ring in Lazer's hand and drew his ceremonial sword. He came up next to Austin, his expression hard and as menacing as Jamie's in battle mode.

  I peered over Austin's shoulder.

  Randy's hair was unkempt and stood up at angles. Dirty. He hadn't shaved. His clothes were rumpled and wrinkled, as if he'd been hiding in that passageway a long time. Days, maybe. The distinctly sour smell of body odor and nerves wafted to us. I'd smelled that same rankness too many times in the emergency room.

  Damn it, man. If you're going to attack us, don't let us smell your fear.

  My heart raced. My hands shook. My voice trembled with anger as I leaned over Austin's shoulder. "Get out! Get the hell out of here. Get back into that priest hole, or whatever it is you've been hiding in, and leave us alone."

  For a fraction of a second, Dixon appeared stunned by my boldness and anger.

  "Do as the lass says," Malcolm said. "And no one will get hurt. Least of all you, mate."

  Unfortunately, Malcolm's well-meaning interference broke the spell. Randy snapped out of his surprise. "Shut up, old man. Or I'll gut you first." He glared past Malcolm at Austin and Connor, looking almost confused as he glanced between them, as if he was seeing double.

  While Randy was distracted, I pulled my skirts up, slid my self-defense knife from my garter, and pressed it into Austin's hand. "If you're going to play hero, you need this," I whispered. "And please, be careful. I don't want to be widowed halfway through my wedding."

  Austin pressed the knife back into my hand. "Keep it and defend yourself." He drew his sword just as Connor lunged toward Dixon.

  "Take this, ye fucker!" Connor engaged Dixon, expertly parrying as he caught Dixon off guard. Dixon stumbled back.

  "Damn. Connor beat me to him." Austin charged into the mix, clanking swords with Dixon.

  Jeremy and Dylan closed ranks around my bridal attendants and me as Cam moved in to back up Connor and Austin. Lazer look amused by the proceedings and ready to jump in where needed. The camera crew moved in to catch it all on camera.

  Flora was busily calling emergency services and the security detail outside guarding the doors. "Security! Where the bloody hell is security?"

  Dixon was outmanned, out-skilled, and out-sworded. His only advantages were rage and desperation. And they weren't to be discounted. They made him unpredictable, irrational, and dangerous.

  With swords flashing and coming out at him rapid-fire from all around, at times Dixon seemed confused at who was who and which was which as Connor and Austin backed him away from the altar. He didn't appear to have an appetite to hurt Connor, but he sure as hell wanted to kill Austin.

  I still couldn't believe Austin and Connor had been wearing real swords.

  Dixon got a blunt blow on Austin's left hand. I screamed as the sword hit flesh, and relaxed when I didn't see any blood or severed fingers. So apparently Dixon's sword wasn't real or, at least, sharp. He went into battle with a prop? The man is deranged. Well, obviously.

  "What are ye doing out here fighting, mate?" Connor yelled to Austin over the din as he clanked swords with Dixon. "Get back over there to the altar and marry yer woman. Ye don't want to leave her unmarried. Give her yer name while ye have the chance and let me and your mate deal with this bugger."

  Fortunately, Connor was used to acting and projecting his voice. He emoted and sounded almost Shakespearean over the clink of the swords. He was handy with a sword, too, as he backed Dixon away from us. All that sword training for Jamie had paid off.

  "Listen to Connor," Cam called. "I'll back him up. Do as he says and say I do."

  Austin shrugged, shook out his left hand, which had to be stinging, and returned to the altar. He leaned his sword against the steps, took my hands in his, and nodded to the minister. "Let's do this."

  The minister was so rattled that he didn't argue, though he must have thought we were crazy. "Rings?"

  Lazer handed my ring to Austin. I took Austin's ring from Beth. We put them in a silver blessing plate. The minister blessed them. And the rest of the ceremony was, well, to the point. No fancy extras.

  "Slip the ring on Blair's finger, Austin, and repeat after me." The minister held the ring out to Austin as swords clanged in the background. "With this ring, I thee wed."

  Austin took the ring, looked into my eyes, and grinned. "With this ring, I thee wed. If it's the last thing I do."

  "No ad-libbing," I said. "And you'd better be around a long time. When I said 'until death us do part,' I meant a little longer than a few minutes later."

  "Blair?" The minister held Austin's ring out to me.

  Behind us, Connor whooped. "Take that, ye bastard!"

  I took the ring and attempted to slip it onto Austin's swelling ring finger, getting stuck at the knuckle. It was already puffy and turning purple from the blow Dixon had dealt it.

  "It's not going on any farther." I looked into his eyes. "This reminds me of the first time we met and I relocated your finger. I'll ice this later and give you something for the pain."

  He grinned. "What I want from you later isn't a painkiller, believe me."

  I grinned back at him.

  He leaned into me. "You want it too." He wiggled his wounded finger. "I don't feel a thing."

  "Yet," I said. "But you will. That poor finger is still in shock."

  "That's what you said at Comicon."

  "I did, didn't I?" I wanted to kiss him.

  There was a loud noise behind us. I glanced over my shoulder to look at the carnage. In the course of the fighting, chairs were being overturned, and a stand of flowers had toppled over. I turned back and smiled serenely. Nothing was going to ruin this moment for me. I wouldn't let that douche upset me and give him what he wanted.

  If the minister had any doubts before, he was now completely convinced we were crazy. He cleared his throat. "Repeat after me—with this ring, I thee wed."

  "Oh, sorry." I looked seriously into Austin's eyes. "With this ring, stuck at your knuckle, I thee wed."

  The minister did the heavenward gaze. Personally, I didn't think the Almighty minded a little humor now and then.

  The minister continued, "Do you, Austin, take this woman, Blair, as your wedded wife?"

  "I do." Austin beamed.

  "Do you, Blair, take this man as your wedded husband?"

  "I do." I couldn't stop smiling either.

  "By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife." The minister looked over our heads at the action in the chapel.

  Another tall flower stand hit the ground. I recognized the sound of wicker and water hitting stone floors. Connor whooped another Scottish war cry. And security, finally, broke through the door.

  Dixon let out a cry like that of a wounded beast. We, the entire bridal party, turned to look. His right arm was bleeding where Cam had slashed it. Randy dropped his sword. Connor moved in and pressed him against the wall. Security moved in behind him.

  Austin turned to the minister. "Do I get to kiss my bride?"

  The minister had been momentarily diverted by the action. He looked startled by Austin's question. "Oh, aye. By all means. Kiss your bonny bride."

  Austin took my face in one hand and pulled me close with the other. I tilted my head and closed my eyes. His lips came down
on mine. He kissed me thoroughly—and indecently, given the setting.

  The guys cheered.

  When the kiss ended and I opened my eyes, Connor stood next to Austin. "Let me be the first to kiss the new bride."

  All right, who could say that kissing Connor Reid wasn't thrilling? Even if it was just a quick brush of lips.

  Austin looked around. With Cam's help, security had Dixon subdued. The sound of sirens grew louder as the police arrived.

  "Looks like everything's under control." Austin slapped Connor on the back. "Good job, man. Thanks."

  "My pleasure." Connor brushed his auburn curls out of his face. "I have to say, mate, this is the best wedding ever."

  Austin nodded. "Agreed. Except for one thing…" He caught the minister's attention. "Aren't you going to announce us the newly married couple?"

  "Oh, aye! Ladies and gents, I present to you Mr. and Dr. MacDougall."

  The guys cheered and surrounded us. Beth pulled me into a hug, crying and mumbling what a beautiful bride I was. Lazer hugged Austin. Then all the guys mobbed him for a hug and got in line to kiss me. Ashley congratulated us and kissed the groom, beaming with pride for a matchmaking job well done.

  Lazer stepped forward. "Everyone's invited to the reception at the hotel just down the way. The Anvil…the Smithy…the Blacksmith… Oh, hell, everything in this town is named one of those. You all know the one!"

  As we walked out of the chapel, we walked past Randy. The gash on his arm was deep and nasty and bleeding profusely. I wasn't about to sully my dress with the blood of that man. And besides, I was off duty. I handed my blue handkerchief to one of the security guards subduing Dixon. "Someone needs to stop that bleeding. He'll need stitching up. Press this against the wound until the medics arrive."

  I hated to give up my something blue, but as a physician, I couldn't stand by and not offer some help.