“No, wait!” A woman shouted so loud, the entire congregation jumped. He looked back to see Melody reaching toward him, a panicked expression on her face. She glanced from him to Laura and back again. “Brent Michaels, don’t you dare walk out that door.”
“Melody,” Greg said, looking as mortified as Brent felt.
“Greg, please.” Melody sent her groom a look filled with silent meaning, then turned back to Brent. “As long as you’ve interrupted my wedding, the least you can do is tell us why.”
“I, eh…” Brent looked about the church, at the sea of familiar faces. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Laura. “I heard Greg Smith was getting married,” he began, in a hollow impersonation of his well-trained voice. “And I thought…” He closed his eyes, reliving that gut-wrenching moment when he’d thought Laura was marrying another man. He’d driven halfway across the country to stop her, to tell her he loved her, to beg her to marry him. Now that he was here, was he just going to slink off to nurse his embarrassment? Or was he going to do what he’d come here to do: win Laura back—at any cost?
He raised his head and looked straight at her. All he could see was her eyes above the hand she held over her mouth. “I thought you were marrying another man,” he said in a resonant voice that carried through the church. “I couldn’t let you do that.”
She blinked rapidly but made no move to encourage him. Taking his courage in hand, he walked slowly, steadily down the aisle. “I couldn’t let you do that, Laura, because I happen to be in love with you.”
She made a tiny sound he prayed was joy as the tears tumbled down her cheeks. Reaching her, he held out one hand, needing to see all of her face as much as he needed to touch her. She slipped her hand into his, and he saw, to his relief, that she was smiling. A bright, dazzling smile.
The sight filled him with a dizzy relief. He’d had three days to agonize over what to say when he saw her, but now that he stood before her, fear of her rejection nearly closed his throat.
“Laura…” His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. “Laura, these last weeks without you have been the worst of my life. I need you too much to go on alone. I can’t promise what kind of husband I’ll make, but I can promise this: If you’ll marry me, if you’ll be my wife, I promise to honor you and cherish you, to hold you in my heart every day of our lives.”
For a moment, she simply stared up at him as more tears tumbled down her cheeks. Sheer determination pushed the last few words from him. “I love you, Laura Beth Morgan … Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” She laughed through her tears as she leapt into his arms, clinging to his neck as he spun her about. “I’ll marry you, and love you, and cherish you, and all the rest forever and ever! I love you, Brent Michael Zartlich. I love you with all my heart.”
He held her against him, absorbing the feel of her in his arms. Slowly, though, he remembered where they were and looked up. Melody had a smug grin on her face, though her groom and the minister looked anything but pleased. Glancing at the rest of their audience, he saw a blend of amusement, approval, and delighted titillation.
For once he didn’t care if he was the subject of town gossip. Then his gaze fell on Laura’s father, who had his arm wrapped about the shoulders of Miss Miller. Dr. Morgan gave him a subtle nod of approval. No accolade or gesture of acceptance had ever meant so much.
“Excuse me,” the minister said, clearing his throat. “But if it’s all the same to you, we were in the middle of a wedding here.”
“Oh, yes,” Brent said, surprised he no longer felt the least bit embarrassed. “By all means, continue.”
“Well, thank you.” The minister bowed his head mockingly. Brent didn’t care. Laura was leaning against him with her arm about his waist as if she’d never let go. As the ceremony continued, he almost felt like they were the ones being pronounced husband and wife.
So perhaps it was only natural that, as they left the church in the wake of the newly married couple, he scooped Laura into his arms and kissed her right there on the steps.
When the kiss ended, the wedding guests cheered. He spared them a smile before turning back to his future wife. “So, Squirt, is this what you had in mind when you invited me home to be a bachelor in your dating game?”
“Maybe,” she laughed. Sunlight danced in her eyes and hair as she placed one hand against his cheek. “I’ve always thought that any game worth playing was worth playing for keeps.”
For keeps. Brent decided he rather liked the sound of that as he lowered his lips back to hers, for he definitely planned to keep Laura. Forever.
Drive Me Wild Page 29