I kept the wedding small as I didn’t see why we should share our actual nuptials with business associates or mere acquaintances. Of course I invited most of them to the evening reception, but the wedding day itself I wanted to be more personal. Stacey agreed with me as she only cares about her nearest and dearest being here.
The only ones joining us for this part of the day are obviously Lydia, Paul, Amber and Martin, as well as Eric and his partner Grace, Bonnie, Susie, and Valerie. I suppose it may seem extravagant for me to have booked the Bowden Hall for such a small amount of people, but this place means something to Stacey and me, and I couldn’t picture anywhere else that either of us would want to get married.
The Great Ballroom has been transformed for the ceremony. The flowers that Stacey chose decorate the ends of the seating and run all the way up to where I am stood. There is a violinist playing by the doors, and each one of our guests keeps looking from me, to the doors, and back again.
I fidget on the spot, willing Stacey to get her ass in here so that I can marry her.
Stacey
I notice that I am now five minutes late for my own wedding. Lydia is faffing with last minute checks, but all I want to do is go and marry Jake.
Martin takes hold of my hand and gives it a squeeze as I take in a deep breath to keep my cool.
“Lydia, I think we need to be going now,” Martin says, clearly sensing my stress levels rising.
“I know, but we have to make sure that we are all looking nothing short of perfect.”
“Lyd,” Martin says, going over to her and placing a hand on her arm. “We all look great, but we are already late for the ceremony.” He speaks to her in a soft voice, but I see him out of the corner of my eye giving a slight nod towards me, so that Lydia takes notice.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry, Stace,” Lydia says as she comes over and gives me a gentle hug. “Here’s me fucking about and all you want to do is go and get married.” She smiles at me and I see her eyes fill with tears. “You really do look beautiful, Stace. Jake is going to be pinching himself when he sees you walk down that aisle.”
I smile at her words and blink a couple of times so that I don’t ruin my make-up by letting any tears fall just yet.
“She looks so good that she almost turned me when I first saw her in that dress,” Martin chimes in, making Lydia and I burst into laughter.
“Thanks, guys,” I say once I have stopped giggling. “You both look great too.”
Lydia looks stunning in her bridesmaid dress, with her hair pinned up and the odd ringlet hanging down. Martin looks very handsome in his grey suit and white shirt combo. I opted against the men wearing black suits. My favourite suit of Jake’s is grey, so I thought that it would be fitting to use the colour that I most like him in.
Martin picks up mine and Lydia’s bouquet of flowers and turns to us.
“Come on, ladies, let’s get out there and get Stacey married to that beautiful man, who is probably waiting and thinking she’s run out on him,” Martin says with a wink.
I give him a smile, take my bouquet and link my arm through his as he leads me to the double doors of the Great Ballroom.
Lydia follows behind, her bouquet in hand.
I take a couple of deep breaths as I hear the music begin to play, ready for me to walk down the aisle.
“Here we go, baby girl,” Martin says. “You ready?”
“Oh God, yes,” I say as the doors begin to open…
Jake
Just when I think that I am going to lose my shit if I have to wait any longer, the music starts to play for Stacey to walk down the aisle to. The few guests stand, and Paul and I turn to face the doors.
I can’t wait to see her in her wedding dress.
The doors begin to open, and I keep my eyes fixated, not wanting to miss a second.
As Stacey comes into view, her arm linked through Martin’s, I let the biggest grin grace my face. Her eyes find mine straight away, and they are sparkling. I let my eyes take in her dress as Martin starts to walk her forwards. The dress is perfect for her. She looks mind-blowing.
She isn’t wearing a veil which I am secretly pleased about. I didn’t want her to cover her face, but I never told her this as I wanted her to wear what she wanted, not what my preference was.
She sashays her way towards me and I let my eyes lock back with hers. Her hair has been pinned back from her face but left down, so it cascades in soft waves down her back.
It seems to take forever for her to walk down the aisle.
When she eventually reaches me, Martin gives her a kiss on the cheek and her smile for him is infectious. They have such a close bond and I know that Stacey classes her friends as her family.
As Martin unlinks her arm from his, I hear him whisper something to her and then I see Stacey’s eyes fill with unshed tears, and she frantically tries blinking them away. Martin gives her hand a kiss and then he goes to sit behind us, on one of the chairs. Lydia is behind Stacey and she walks around to take her place by Stacey’s side.
I hold my hand out for Stacey to take, and she does so without hesitation.
“Hi, handsome,” she whispers, her shoulder brushing my arm as she stands next to me.
All I want to do is grab her and devour her in that dress, but I restrain myself.
Before I can answer her, the registrar starts to speak and we both turn to face him. As the registrar speaks, I can feel myself getting more nervous about having to say my vows. We decided to write our own, and I hope that mine convey everything that I feel for the woman standing next to me.
I look out of the corner of my eye and see that Stacey is biting her bottom lip. She must be feeling nervous too. I give her hand a little squeeze as the registrar asks us to face one another and then gives me the go ahead to say my vows.
I take a deep breath and begin to speak.
Stacey
As I face Jake, I find myself holding my breath as he begins to recite his vows.
“Stacey,” he begins after clearing this throat. “I wrote my vows out a hundred times trying to get them word perfect, but now, standing here before you, I am just going to speak from my heart.”
At this point, he takes a piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his jacket and tears it up into little pieces before letting the pieces flutter to the floor. I watch the pieces of paper fall to the floor, and Jake’s hand comes under my chin, tilting my head back, so that I am looking at him. He then takes my hands in his and gives me a small smile.
“I never thought that I would be lucky enough to find the woman that would capture my heart. I never thought that I would find the one that I was meant to be with for the rest of my life.” Jake pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing.
“But one fateful night, just over a year ago, I had the fortune of meeting you. You captivated me from the moment that I laid my eyes on you. You’re smart, funny, beautiful, and you challenge me in every way possible. We have faced our ups and downs, but each one has made us stronger.
“I promise that I will spend the rest of my life making you happy. The day that you walked into my life, you made me complete. I love you, Stacey Marie Paris, and nothing and no one will ever change that.
“I thought that the day that you agreed to be my wife was the best day of my life, but I was wrong. Today is the best day of my life, because today you actually become my wife.” Jake moves closer to me and places a light kiss on the end of my nose.
“I love you,” he whispers before standing back and giving me his heart-stopping grin. I feel a few tears fall down my cheeks, but I don’t try to stop them. Jake’s vows were beautiful.
I hear a couple of sniffles coming from behind me and I know that Jake’s words have touched my heart as well as our guests. The registrar then speaks, indicating that it is my turn to say my vows. I take a few deep breaths as I try to regain my composure, so that I can speak.
“Jake,” I start, hearing a slight wobble in my voice. “The day tha
t you came into my life, I knew that I was a goner.” Jake chuckles quietly at this. “I tried to fight my feelings for you, but it was hopeless. And I am so glad that it was hopeless.
“Meeting you has proved to me that dreams really do come true. I couldn’t imagine my life without you, and I don’t ever want to.” I feel my lip start to tremble as I struggle to control my emotions. Jake gives my hand another squeeze and I see that his eyes have glazed over.
“I have never been interested in your money, or your businesses. The only thing that held my interest was you. Just you. Your personality and your kind heart. Of course it also helps that you are insanely good-looking.” This comment causes everyone to laugh, which is what I was hoping for.
“I love you, Waters, and that will never change. I look forward to sharing my life with you, and I will try to make you as happy as you make me. Here’s to making more perfect memories,” I say, finishing my vows off with a cheeky wink at Jake. His laugh rumbles deep in his chest, making me want to do all sorts of naughty things to him. I don’t have time to do anything yet though as the registrar starts to speak again and then we come to exchanging rings. Neither of us saw the other one’s ring choices.
Paul steps up and hands Jake the ring, which he places on my finger. It is gorgeous. It’s simple, elegant and very similar to the design that I chose for his ring. It just shows how in tune we are with one another. I also had Jake’s inscribed on the inside to simply say, ‘Hi, handsome.’ Not very imaginative I know, but I know that Jake will love it.
When I take Jake’s ring off of Lydia and show him the inscription, he grins and then takes my ring back off of my finger. I frown as I wonder what the hell he is doing, but then he shows me that he has also had mine inscribed. I read the words and feel myself laughing at his choice. It says, ‘Perfect Stranger,’ which would only mean something to him and me.
It takes me back to the moment that we were dancing together, and I accidentally called him my perfect stranger. At that moment in my life, I wanted the ground to swallow me up, but I don’t feel any embarrassment now. I smile as Jake puts the ring back on my finger. I proceed to put his ring on his wedding band finger, and then we face the registrar for the last time.
“I am now pleased to announce that you are husband and wife. Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Waters. You may now kiss the bride.” The registrar is smiling, and I turn back to face Jake. He looks so happy and content.
He pulls me towards him until there is no space left between our bodies. He lowers his head and lets his lips hover over mine for a few seconds. I link my arms around his neck and await the anticipation of his lips touching mine.
“I love you, Mrs Waters,” he whispers, making me giddy with excitement.
“I love you too, handsome.” Jake’s lips then lightly brush against mine before he picks me up and makes our kiss more urgent. I hear our guests cheering and clapping in the background and I know that nothing will ever top this moment.
This is our new beginning.
This is us confirming to everyone our love for one another.
This is us kissing goodbye to the bad and embracing only the good, and I can’t wait to see where this chapter of our lives takes us.
Chapter Eighteen
Stacey
As I stand by Jake’s side and greet our guests, I am overwhelmed with the amount of people that have shown up. The wedding was such short notice that I imagined only a handful of people would be able to accept our wedding invitation. How wrong was I? It just shows that if you are Jake Waters, then you are very much in demand. I know that a lot of these people are just business acquaintances, but it still shows how powerful Jake actually is.
Jake’s arm is around my waist and it brings me comfort. I love that he wants to tell the whole world that I am his wife.
Wife!
I am a wife!
I manage to stop myself jumping up and down with complete and utter joy. As I look around the Great Ballroom, I see people laughing and enjoying themselves. Lydia and Paul are cooing over Amber and Martin is making sure that the evening reception is running smoothly.
As I hear the band doing their last-minute checks, I know that it won’t be long until Jake and I have our first dance as man and wife. I chose the music for our first dance. Jake doesn’t know what it is for definite, but I am sure that he has a pretty good idea. There is only one song that I would want to have our wedding dance with him to.
“Would you like a drink?” Jake asks me after we greet the final guest.
“Yes, please,” I say as Jake leads me to the bar that has been set up at the back of the ballroom. He orders us both a glass of champagne, and the bar staff don’t keep us waiting long, seeing as we are the guests of honour today.
Jake hands me my glass and I clink it against his.
“To us,” I say as Jake moves his body closer to mine.
“To us, baby.” We both take a sip of our drinks and then I hear the lead singer of the band begin to speak.
“Good evening,” he says into the microphone. Everyone stops what they are doing and turns to face the stage. “It is a pleasure to be here with you all tonight to celebrate the union of Jake and Stacey.”
The whole room begins to clap as everyone turns to look at us. “I would like to invite the bride and groom onto the dance floor for their first dance as man and wife.” There are a few cheers as Jake takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor that has been set up in front of the stage.
The opening lines of the song starts to play, and Jake takes me in his arms, holding me close to his body. I chose the song that we danced to all of those months ago, when Jake came back into my life. It’s significant to us, and I couldn’t have imagined any other song for us to dance to as man and wife.
“Great song choice,” he says into my ear.
“I thought that you might like it.” I rest my arms on his shoulders and we begin to dance.
I close my eyes and block everything else out, except for Jake. We dance in silence for the first half of the song, just soaking up the memories.
When I open my eyes, I see that a couple of others have joined us on the dance floor. I smile at the happy faces around us and I pull my head back, so that I can look at my husband. He places his forehead against mine and I feel his breath feathering over my face.
“So, considering we only had a week to plan everything, do you think we did good?” Jake asks me.
“Yes, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
“Me either.” I place a light kiss on his lips and feel my sex begin to stir. “And just so you know, I am very much looking forward to our first night together as a married couple.” I waggle my eyebrows at him, making him laugh.
“Oh, babe, you have no idea how much I have been fighting the urge to carry you out of here like some kind of caveman.” Jake’s eyes burn with desire.
“How long do you think we need to stay before we can be by ourselves?” I ask, eager to see what he has planned for me. Before Jake can answer me, Martin appears at my side.
“Sorry to interrupt, guys, but may I have the pleasure of dancing with the bride for this next song?” Martin asks.
As the band begin to play the next song, I start to laugh. Martin has clearly asked for this song to be played. The opening lines of Will Smith, “Gettin’ Jiggy With It” starts to play and I burst out laughing.
“Come on, baby girl,” Martin says, taking my hands in his. “Time to show these lot how we really do it.”
I watch Jake back away as Martin leads me to the front of the dance floor, clearly wanting everyone to see our moves. We dance away in tune with one another, not caring what we might look like. There’s us dressed up, me in my wedding dress and Martin in his smart suit, and we’re jumping up and down like a couple of excited teenagers.
I look for Jake and see him laughing along with Paul and Lydia at mine and Martin’s display of madness. Martin and I sing the words of the song to one another, and then I beckon fo
r others to join us. Some guests look positively astounded to see us letting go and having fun, and others clearly can’t wait to join in.
Lydia is beside me moments later and she soon gets into the swing of things. As the song comes to an end, Martin pulls me into a bear hug. I hug him tightly around his waist and then I feel Lydia throw her arms around the pair of us.
“I love you guys,” she says as we stay in our little bubble for a few moments longer.
I am so glad that these two played such important roles in my wedding. They have been there for me through thick and thin. We may have had our disagreements in the past, but nothing can break the bond that we all share.
Jake
We have now been at the reception for a couple of hours, and I am more than ready to get out of here and have Stacey all to myself. I have watched her dance animatedly with her friends, I have watched her politely talk to guests that are complete strangers to her, and I have watched her beam from ear to ear all night long.
I make my way over to her as she talks to Eric. When I reach her side, she puts one finger up to stop me from interrupting them. I raise one eyebrow at her in question, but she continues to speak to Eric. I place my hands in my trouser pockets and wait as patiently as I can for her to finish.
A few moments later, she pulls Eric into a hug and then places a kiss on his cheek. Eric smiles and then turns to me to shake my hand.
“Congratulations again, Jake. Today was lovely, and I thank you for inviting Grace and I to be a part of it.”
“My pleasure,” I reply.
“I wish you both all the happiness in the world. And I know that I don’t need to say this but look after her. She is the best thing that has ever happened to you,” Eric says, nodding towards Stacey.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 71