by Saying Yes to the Millionaire [HR-4031, MNR-129, A Bride for All Seasons 02] (lit)
She was gorgeous, stunning, everything he could have fantasised about and more. Her golden hair wasn’t swept up and tidy, but tumbling in loose waves around her shoulders, a single over-sized hibiscus bloom above one ear.
The dress was simple—white, long—any more than that he didn’t register, only the fact that the soft layers fluttered around her legs, tickling the tops of her bare feet. He started to smile, so wide his face muscles hurt. This truly was the biggest rush of his life, standing here, watching Fern walk towards him, a sweet smile on her lips and the blaze of love for him in her eyes.
He had been the stupidest man on the planet. Truly. Thankfully, she’d agreed to make him the luckiest.
Hardly aware that music had been playing while she’d walked down the beach towards him, he only noticed it now as the last strains died away. She handed her bouquet to the bridesmaid and he took her hands in his, not caring if it wasn’t the proper time yet, and they turned to face the minister.
The simple service started immediately. Neither of them had wanted anything long and drawn-out; they’d waited too long for this moment already. She smiled cheekily as he promised to love, comfort and protect her, but it was okay because a few seconds later she promised to do exactly the same for him.
Then it was time to taste her sweet lips, although it was a little short for his liking, and walk back up the beach together, joined for always.
As the wedding reception got underway, he drew her into a quiet corner and kissed the band of gold on her left hand. ‘Inside here there’s another promise. An inscription.’
Fern’s eyes widened. He hadn’t said anything! This was typical Josh. Every day was a surprise with this incredible man. Better than anything she could ever have dreamed up. ‘Inside the ring? I didn’t see it.’
He grinned at her. ‘Always read the small print, remember?’
She whacked him on the arm for being cheeky. ‘It all happened so quickly I didn’t have a chance to see and I don’t want to take it off now.’ She twiddled it on her finger. ‘What does it say?’
He sobered. ‘In my heart for eternity.’
She felt her eyes go misty. ‘That’s beautiful. I’m in your heart from this day forward.’
‘No.’ He took her face in his hands and kissed her.
‘No?’ she breathed against his lips.
‘Eternity means past and present too, not just the future. It was always you, Fern. You were always in my heart; I just wasn’t brave enough to admit it.’
She didn’t care if people were watching, she pulled him to her and kissed him in a way that left him in no doubt as to how lucky he was going to get later that night.
Only Josh swung her into his arms and headed for the honeymoon suite a little earlier than planned. ‘They’ll understand,’ he whispered into her ear. And from the cheers and whistles she could hear as they left the room, she reckoned they just might. ‘Save us some cake!’ he yelled over his shoulder.
And, as he laid her gently down on the vast white bed, he smiled that sexy smile that always did crazy things to her insides. ‘So, Mrs Adams, are you ready to embark on the biggest adventure of our lives?’
She threw her head back and laughed before pulling him down on top of her. There was only one thing she could say to that, wasn’t there?
‘Yes.’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1812-7
SAYING YES TO THE MILLIONAIRE
First North American Publication 2008.
Copyright © 2008 by Fiona Harper.
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