“Congratulations!” everyone shouts.
And then the horde descends on us. My father-in-law hands me a bouquet of red roses, my sister-in-law Josie settles a bridal veil on my head, and my mother-in-law gives me a blue garter, which Brendan slides on me while I’m still standing in complete shock. Someone absconded with our suitcase and the beer.
I blink, confused. “Why am I wearing a veil and a garter? We got married two months ago.”
Brendan whispers in my ear, “They wanted to celebrate with us here, since we did the small courthouse ceremony. Most of them missed it.”
I turn back to my new family in awe that they’d do all this for us. A party for something they missed out on. “We didn’t mean to leave anyone out of our wedding. We were trying to save money because of med school and the honeymoon. Oh, now I feel so bad you all missed it.”
“Let’s recreate it,” Brendan says, peeling off his T-shirt.
My jaw gapes at my shirtless husband. “What’re you doing?”
He catches another T-shirt that Jack just tossed him, and pulls it on. It’s one of those shirts imprinted with a fake tux in front. It’s absolutely ridiculous and so fun. I giggle, and then I can’t stop laughing.
“I’m matron of honor!” a familiar feminine voice says.
My head whips around. “Sara! Oh my God, I didn’t know you’d be here!” My eyes fill, and I rush to hug my sister.
She pulls away and adjusts my veil in her motherly way, smiling. “I wanted to celebrate with you for wedding part two.”
“Thank you.” I hug her husband, Adrian, who appears at her side. “And thanks for your part in arranging this.” I know he’s the one behind the scenes arranging everything with the private jet, not to mention getting staff to cover for him and Sara in their absence from the casino.
“You’re family, Chloe,” Adrian says. “Anything for family.”
I wipe my tears, completely flabbergasted by the turn of events. I jab a finger at Brendan. “You should’ve warned me. Now I’ve got the waterworks going on.”
He takes my hand. “More fun this way.”
“Is that why you told me to wear my white sundress?”
“Yes, and that’s also why I bought you the white sundress.” He winks. “Plus you look so sexy in it.”
I laugh and look around. “Wait, where’s Henry?” My nephew is only a month shy of two years old. I can’t wait to see how big he got.
Sara smiles. “He’s your ring bearer, and Olivia is the flower girl. Ariana is getting them ready behind the island over there.” There’s an island separating the great room from the kitchen. Olivia is Dylan and Ariana’s adorable little girl.
Henry’s voice rings out. “Mama!”
“We’d better get started,” Sara says. “Places, everyone!”
The space is a large room that’s mostly cleared of furniture, just a few chairs against one wall on my far right. I look to my left and there’s an arch of pink flowers. I gasp. How did I not notice that before?
Josie pipes up in her loud theater voice. “Do you like it? The arch is from my Valentine’s Day wedding. Except we had a lot more pink decorations.”
“It’s beautiful,” I tell her. “Thank you for sharing it.”
She rushes over to me, beaming. “No problem. It works well for an indoor wedding with the silk flowers.” She kisses my cheek. “I’m so psyched we get to be at your wedding now.”
Adrian sets down a red carpet runner, and Garrett helps him roll it out. I’ve got an aisle to walk down. Unbelievable.
Next thing I know, everyone’s in place. This is so nuts. A bride who’s already married! Brendan’s standing by the arch of flowers, waiting for me with my father-in-law as the officiant. Garrett is the best man. Sara gathers Olivia and Henry at the other end of the carpet runner. Olivia is nineteen months old now. They’re growing up so fast!
Processional music starts playing through a speaker set on the island. I join Sara, Olivia, and Henry. I can’t stop smiling as I take everyone in. Our family gathers around either side of the red carpet runner. For so long I thought my only family was Sara and now look! So many people who love me and I love back with my whole heart.
Adrian appears at my side. “Would you do me the honor of letting me walk you down the aisle?”
I give him a watery smile and nod. “I’d love that.” Adrian has known me my entire life, from my baby days summering on Villroy with my family when we were all kids. He’s claimed me as family, and I didn’t quite accept that until now. I swallow over the lump in my throat. I have family on two continents. How did I get so lucky?
Henry slams into my leg, hugging me. I peel him off, crouch down, and give him a hug. “I heard you have an important job, big boy! You’re going to give Uncle Brendan that pretty pillow and ring.” It’s a giant red jeweled candy ring. Thankfully, they left the plastic on, or Henry would’ve tried to eat it. I point him in the right direction. “Go ahead. I’ll meet you down there.”
He takes two steps and then goes back for his mom. Sara takes his hand and starts down the aisle with him.
Olivia doesn’t need any prompting. She’s carrying a basket of rose petals and, for a toddler, she’s incredibly graceful, sort of dancing down the aisle, stretching her little arm out and flinging a petal, doing a twirl, taking a few steps, and then doing another long stretch and fling.
“Just like her mom,” Dylan says proudly. “Little ballerina.”
Ariana shrugs. “I didn’t teach her that.”
Everyone oohs and aahs over the adorable kids.
The music changes to the wedding march, and suddenly it all feels real. I didn’t have a wedding march or a procession for my practical courthouse wedding. Oh, I’m so glad I get the chance now!
Adrian offers me his arm, and I take it.
And then I walk down the aisle to my husband, prepared to marry him all over again.
Brendan
Welp, if she didn’t know it already, she does now—my family is nuts. They understood about our courthouse wedding, but they just couldn’t help themselves with the reenactment. Since Chloe got on board so easily, I’m going to declare tonight our wedding night part two. She was a wildcat that night.
I grin as she wipes a bit of icing from the corner of my mouth. Everyone’s eating wedding cake and drinking champagne. Someone let the toddlers have sugar, and now they’re racing circles around the room just for the hell of it.
Chloe spears another forkful of cake. “This was so amazing I think we should do it again. You know, a vow renewal on a cool anniversary, like for our twenty-fifth or something.”
“Or how about the tenth anniversary on a beach ceremony in Hawaii, huh?”
Her eyes widen. “I love that. You’re awesome at this planning stuff. You’re officially in charge of planning cool vacations and all future vow renewals.”
I kiss her cheek. It’s not that great an honor. She doesn’t enjoy planning, all of her focus on her studies. And me, of course. She’s only grown more loving and affectionate with each passing day. It’s like she had to learn to trust that I was really sticking around like I said I would. I understand. Losing both your parents at a young age can give you serious abandonment issues. It was tough on her.
Dylan guides his huge pregnant wife past us, heading to the patio door. Ariana’s due next month with twin girls. They both say three kids is plenty. Dylan is going to be so outnumbered in his house with three daughters and a wife.
“Everything okay?” I ask him.
He smiles. “Everything’s good. She just needs a little walk. Getting crowded in there with twins.”
“Congratulations again, you two,” Ariana says, holding her big belly and letting out a breath. “So happy for you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spy a blur of long dark hair barreling toward Ariana. I scoop my niece up before she can knock her mom off balance. I turn her upside down. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Olivia laughs
hysterically as I lift her up so we’re eye to eye.
“Careful, Bren,” Dylan says. “She just ate cake.”
I set her down again, and she grabs onto Dylan’s jeans, staring up at me with her big brown eyes and smiling shyly. She’s like a mini-Ariana. Dylan plucks his daughter off the ground and tucks her into the crook of his arm. She looks perfectly content, unfazed by the movement. He guides Ariana out. “See ya in a bit,” he says over his shoulder.
Chloe turns to me. “Do you ever look at your niece and all your pregnant sisters-in-laws and wish we were having babies sooner rather than later?”
“Nah. All these nieces and nephews will be our practice. Like when you get a puppy to make sure you can keep something alive before the human variety.”
She laughs.
I lean down to her ear and whisper, “It does seem like something’s in the water around here, doesn’t it?” Not only is Ariana pregnant, but Jack’s wife, Riley, is seven months along, and we just found out today that Connor’s wife, Becca, is three months pregnant. My parents are thrilled. They love being grandparents. Josie and Sean are waiting. She’s young and her acting career is taking off. She just landed a sitcom that she stars in. The nice thing is they’re filming in New York.
Chloe nudges my shoulder. “It’s not the water. It’s too much testosterone. All that virility.”
“I think it’s the women. They can’t resist a Rourke.”
She smiles up at me. “I’m a Rourke now, so that means you can’t resist me.”
“And vice versa.” I kiss her tenderly. I didn’t ask her to, but she took my name. She said she did it so our future kids would share the same name as us. Family is important to her. Still, I can’t help but marvel at her willingness to do that. It’s such an honor. One day they’ll say Dr. Chloe Rourke discovered the cure for cancer. A Rourke will go down in history for something amazing. My woman is going to shake up the world and for the better.
We finish up our cake and head to the kitchen with our dishes. Beast is in there, grabbing a beer from the refrigerator. He straightens, pops the top with a bottle opener, and offers it to me.
“I’m good, thanks,” I say. “And thanks for stepping in as my best man again.” He was there as a witness/best man at our courthouse ceremony. Chloe’s sister, Sara, was the other witness/matron of honor. My parents were there too. I knew they’d never forgive me if they missed it.
He takes a pull on his beer. “You owe me one.”
“Sure, sure, when you get married, I’ll do the best man gig. Hey, that means I get to plan a bachelor party too.”
“Yeah,” he says, leaning against the counter. “Just need the bride.”
Chloe gives his arm a squeeze. “You’re a catch. The right woman will come along.”
He grunts. “The right one. Now that’s the sticking point.”
I sock his shoulder. “You’re twenty-six. Relax, play the field.”
Chloe turns to me. “You were twenty-six when we met.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t get engaged until I was twenty-seven. And by the time we married, I was twenty-eight.”
“By less than a week.”
I send her a warning look. Beast is sensitive. She’s making him feel bad, being the only single guy here. He’s had girlfriends, but nothing that lasted.
Understanding dawns, and she turns to him. “Relationships aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”
“Hey!” I protest. She didn’t have to implicate me in that one.
He chuckles and raises his brows at me. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Chloe.”
Chloe sends me a pointed look that says she was just trying to make him feel better.
“You guys have a whole language made of looks,” Beast says. “It’s freaky.”
“Hey, guys!” Josie carols as she walks in and helps herself to a glass of water. “Living Gold uses a live studio audience on taping days. You should come. Your parents saw it last week and said they enjoyed it.” That’s her new sitcom.
“Thanks, but we’re heading back tomorrow,” I say. “We’ll catch it once it airs.”
“Do you ever tape late?” Beast asks.
“Sometimes,” Josie says. “Call time is anywhere from three to seven.”
“Cool. Let me know if you’re running on the late side one week and I’ll go.”
Josie beams. “Awesome! You’ll love it. I’ll get you on the list with a special reserved seat in the front row. I have to warn you, though, sometimes tapings can take hours.”
“No problem. After all, you let me stay at your place rent-free.”
“Oh, you!” She turns to us. “He’s legit house-sitting for us when we’re away and refuses to let me pay him. And he leaves dinner for us the night we get back.” She gives Beast’s massive shoulder a squeeze. “Such a sweetheart.”
She congratulates us again and heads out in search of Sean, her husband. He’s over by the floral arch, where they got married almost two years ago now.
Chloe, Beast and I head out to the deck to take in the view. Jack calls for Beast to help with the grill a few minutes later, so then it’s just me and my wife, standing by the deck rail, taking in the sparkling lake surrounded by a canopy of leafy green trees.
I slide an arm around her shoulders. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
She looks up at me, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Reenact our wedding night?”
I bend her over my arm for a kiss, and she yelps in surprise. I grin and kiss her before letting her back up. “I knew there was a reason I let you lure me into a committed relationship. You’ve got a similar dirty mind.”
“I lured you? More like you teased and tempted until I had no choice but to give in because you were so head over heels for me.”
I shift her in front of me and wrap my arms around her waist from behind. “Rewriting history, are we?”
She relaxes against me. “Problem is…” She turns around, goes up on tiptoe, and whispers in my ear, “I didn’t pack the handcuffs.” She’s right back to the important thing—wedding night part two.
“How’s this?” I manacle both her wrists in one hand and lift them over her head. Then I kiss her roughly.
“That works,” she says when I finally let her up for air.
I keep my grip on her, taking in her dilated eyes and flushed cheeks. “I can’t wait for tonight.”
“Me too,” she says in a breathy voice.
“What in the world are you doing to her, Brendan?” my mom asks.
I turn to see my parents standing behind us on the deck. My dad arches a brow in question. Chloe’s cheeks are bright pink. I guide her in a slow twirl, keeping her wrists in one hand. “Dancing.”
“Interpretive dance,” she says with a straight face. It’s an inside joke with us. I nearly bust a gut, trying to hold in my laughter.
I take her hand and guide her off the deck, waving to my parents as we go.
We’re both dying, trying to hold in the laughter. When we’re a safe distance away, she asks, “How red is my face?”
“Better now.”
“You think they know?”
“Nah.” Yes. I’m sure they filled in the blanks. “Jack says any of the rowboats out front are for us. Wanna go out on the lake?”
“Okay.”
We make our way to the bank just beyond a copse of trees.
“You row. I’ll sit,” she says.
“That’s not how a rowboat works.”
She fondles my biceps. “But you’re the one with the spectacular muscles.” Then she pins me against a tree, her mouth crashing into mine. Raw lust spikes through me instantly.
She pulls away and smiles, a sweet angelic smile. “Okay?”
“Sure.” I can’t even remember the question.
A few minutes later, we’re in the rowboat, powered by my spectacular muscles while she’s sitting pretty up front, facing me and admiring my muscles at work. I wait until we’re in the center of the lake before yell
ing, “Tidal wave!” I rock the boat side to side.
She grabs the sides. “I swear if this boat capsizes, you’re going with me.”
“Careful, I heard those trout love a light snack.”
“Payback!” she yells.
I stop. “Sexy payback? That’s the only kind that’s worth it.”
She crooks her finger at me. I stand and take a careful step toward her. She rocks the boat, and I go flying overboard. Devil woman! The water is refreshingly cold. Of course I can’t enjoy it alone. I grab the side of the boat and tip her out.
“Ahh!” she screams.
She pops up a moment later and splashes me in the face. Then she swims to the boat. I give her a boost back in—she’s a lightweight—but before I can get in, she grabs a paddle and starts rowing away. I spot the other paddle floating away and retrieve it, treading water.
She looks like she’s having a blast, suddenly paddling on her own, switching sides on either side of the boat. She’s going extremely slow, though, because her muscles can’t compare to mine. She doesn’t even lift baby dumbbells.
“I can see right through that white dress of yours,” I call.
She stops and looks down at herself. “Oh crap. I might as well be naked.”
I take that opportunity to swim up, toss the other paddle in, and haul myself into the boat. Then I peel off my soaking wet fake tux shirt and put it on her. Which is not easy, with it being wet, but she helps me as best she can. The black of the tux markings hide the most important bits.
She pushes her wet hair out of her eyes. “I look ridiculous.”
“You’ve never looked more beautiful.” And I mean it. There’s not a single way I’ve seen her where I haven’t thought she was beautiful.
Her eyes go soft. I drop to my knees in front of her, and she wraps her arms around my neck, pressing her lips to mine.
A long while later, she breaks the kiss. “You see the kind of predicaments you get me into?” she asks, stroking my jaw.
“Here’s to many more. Let’s get a hot shower together to warm up and take the edge off.” I waggle my brows at her.
She smiles, her green eyes gleaming. “We have to be very quiet in there.”
Rogue Devil Page 18