Kissing the Maid of Honor (15 page)

Sela took quick strides to reach Vanessa. Hayden gave out handled dark wooden cases—poker chips she guessed from the size and shape—and Vanessa handed out small blue Tiffany bags.

“Thank you,” she said, hugging Vanessa.

“Open them,” Vanessa said.

A collective sigh sounded from Sela and the other girls when they pulled out small silver heart pendant necklaces.

“I hope you’ll wear them tomorrow.” Vanessa clasped her hands and brought her elbows to her sides. “Thank you for being the best bridesmaids ever.

“Lastly, we want to thank you, Mom and Dad.” Vanessa raised her flute. “You have made this dream of mine come true, and I love you so very much. Cheers.”

“Cheers!” Sela and the rest of the room shouted.

After one more sip of her champagne, Sela put it down. She ran her fingers over the pendant and lifted the chain so she could wear it.

“Allow me.” Luke brushed her hair to the side and over one shoulder. His fingertips left a trail of tingles and she shivered. His hands, big and strong but gentle, lifted the necklace. Without thinking, she tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck.

His front made contact with her back. His mouth hovered at her earlobe. Her body melted against his. “Do you know how hard it is for me not to kiss you right here? Or here?” His words scorched her skin as his lips moved from her ear to her collarbone.

He draped the necklace around her neck. She held the pendant in place on her chest while he worked on the clasp. He seemed to be having difficulty, so she tilted her head forward.

“You’ve got me shaking like a schoolboy, Sela Sullivan. I think about you every second of every day. I want to strip you out of this dress so badly it hurts.”

Oh, God. She wanted that, too. But it didn’t change anything. The simple fact remained he was leaving town after the wedding and who knew when he’d be back. He let go of the clasp.

She tugged slightly on the pendant to be sure it was secure and spun around. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He angled his chin down and damn if she didn’t forget she stood in a room with seventy-five other people when she looked into his emerald eyes. “Can we go somewhere private and talk?” he asked.

“I…I can’t.” She stepped back, her nerves scattering in a hundred different directions.

“Look, I—”

“Sela!” Paula approached with lines etched around her eyes and mouth. “We need you. Dan’s brother Jim is having difficulty breathing.” She took Sela’s arm.

“Did you call 911?” she asked, following right behind Paula.

“We did. An ambulance is on its way, but he looks… He looks…”

“Like he’s about to burst,” Sela said, finding Jim sitting in a wooden chair against the front wall of Crem’s. One hand pulled at the collar of his dress shirt, itching his neck, the other was braced on his knee. His wife stood beside him, her eyes wide with fear.

Too many people were huddled around Jim. “Luke?” Sela said, and he immediately knew what she wanted because he cleared people away.

She knelt in front of Jim. “It looks like you’re having an allergic reaction to something.” His face was beet red and swollen.

“I’m habbing dithiculty beething,” Jim said between gasps.

“Can you open your mouth for me?” she asked.

Sure enough, Jim’s tongue had swelled. She undid the top buttons of his shirt. His chest was red, too. “This has never happened to you before?”

Jim shook his head.

“Okay, Jim, just relax as much as possible. You’re having an anaphylactic response, probably to something you ate.” She looked up at Paula. “Can you find out if anyone has an EpiPen on him or her?”

“EpiPen,” Paula repeated.

“Yes.” Sela took in Jim again. “Any abdominal pain?”

He nodded.

“These are all normal symptoms of anaphylaxis and once the paramedics get here and give you epinephrine, you’ll start to feel better. Hang in there just a little while longer, okay?” She squeezed his arm. “This isn’t a life-threatening reaction, and you’ll be breathing easier soon, I promise.”

He blinked through puffy eyes. Sela glanced around. Luke had engaged most of the onlookers in quiet conversation. She couldn’t find Vanessa and Hayden and closed her eyes in thanks. Better that they enjoyed the end of their party than be worried about Jim.

“How is this possible?” Jim’s wife asked, wringing her hands.

Sela cast what she hoped were sympathetic eyes at Jim’s wife. “Allergies can happen at any time. There’s often no rhyme or reason. Food allergies aren’t as common in older adults, but it happens. Did he take any new medication this evening? That’s also a trigger.”

“Not that I know of.”

Jim shook his head. He scratched his upper arm.

“No EpiPens,” Paula said, rushing back.

“That’s okay,” she said. “The ambulance is here.” Red lights flashed outside the window. “You did great, Jim.”

The paramedics hurried into Crem’s and took over. Jim’s wife gave her a big hug. “Thank you,” she said. And damn, that felt good. To be the person to help, to keep Jim calm and breathing, to put the smile back on his wife’s worried face.

Sela backed away and bumped into someone. She didn’t have to turn around to know who. The magnetism between them wouldn’t let up no matter how hard she tried.

“Nice work,” Luke whispered.

“Thanks.”

“He’ll be okay?”

Touched by the concern in Luke’s voice, she turned around. Everything he’d told her about his accident, and the unspoken things she’d figured out for herself, flitted through her mind. Her stomach clenched. Every time she thought about his injury, or possible future injuries on the job, her insides buckled and her heart physically ached. If anything ever happened to him…

“Hey.” He lifted her chin. “Are
you
okay?”

She blinked away her worries. “I’m fine. And Jim will be fine. I have to go.” She twisted and dashed out of Crem’s.

“Sela, wait.” Luke followed, but she didn’t stop.

Her heels click-clacked along the sidewalk. The sounds of people and emergency instruments and fun and life quieted until she rounded the corner and all she heard was the pounding of her heart on the empty side street. She stood still.

Luke’s warm hands landed on her shoulders. She leaned back against his chest and felt the tempo of
his
heart.

“I came to a realization tonight,” she said. “I love being a nurse more than I love being anything else.”

He wrapped his arms around her and stayed quiet. Her body softened, dissolved into his. In this position, his front to her back, she could tell him.

“I’m Jane. I’m the single girl living in Cascade writing about love and life, and I thought I wanted to write for a national publication one day, but I don’t. I don’t want to hide behind a persona anymore. I don’t want to be this girl and that girl. I want to be me.”

Luke’s breathing hitched. “I love you.”

She spun around.
“What?”

His eyes shone with the kind of sparkle reserved only for fairy tales. “I love you.”

“But how can you? You said you didn’t want to settle down with me.”

“That was taken out of context. What I meant was, with you, I’m not settling. I’m on the greatest adventure of my life.”

Her legs shook. “You can’t love me. Your job is dangerous and you don’t live here and you have women all over the sidelines.”

One corner of his mouth lifted into a sexy smirk. “Again. Taken out of context. I never said anything about me. Although when I mentioned Cascade, I meant
you
. Athletes have accidents all the time, too, you know, and trust me, a woman would much rather give some TLC to a professional athlete than a professional photographer.”

I wouldn’t.

But this was too much. She started to hyperventilate.

“Sela?”

She waved her hands in front of her and took a few very deep breaths in. Out. God, how she loved him back. But could she stay behind when the chance always loomed that he might not come back? Could she live like that? Wondering and waiting to hear his voice?

“I’m sorry, Luke.”

He regarded her with such intensity it took everything she had to add, “Please, just let me go.”

Chapter Fourteen

“You may kiss the bride.”

Luke clicked his camera. Under the large white canopy, the ocean in the backdrop, greenery with white, red, and pink roses decorating the platform, the unscripted ceremony pictures might be some of his best work yet. Over the past few weeks he’d discovered he enjoyed taking static photos as much as he did those in motion. Athletes on the go gave him an adrenaline rush, but the challenge of catching that one precious moment in a person’s expression gave him something more—fulfillment.

Vanessa and Hayden broke apart, guests rose to their feet, the piano player hit the keys. Luke put his camera back around his neck and watched Hayden tuck Vanessa’s arm in his for their walk down the aisle.

He took a step forward and came face to face with Sela. He smiled, turned, and gave her his arm.

She looked stunning in a pale pink strapless chiffon gown with a, what did Erin call it, sweetheart neckline. He didn’t care what it was called. It accentuated her curves beautifully.

They’d been civil to each other all day, putting Vanessa and the wedding before their relationship. And it was a relationship. The most passionate, interesting, important relationship Luke had ever been in, and he planned to prove it to her later despite what she’d said to him last night.

They walked down the white runner, sparks skittering on his arm where they touched. The cool ocean breeze picked up her floral scent and filled the air with her fragrance. He took a deep inhale through his nose. Guests smiled at them, lightly touched their arm or shoulder. Sela seemed relaxed in his hold, her body content to be next to his. Gratitude filled him.

Sand stretched on either side of them when they reached the end of the aisle. To their left was the giant reception tent, to their right the guests who’d started to mingle after rising from their ceremony seats. They went straight, through the French doors of his parents’ house to gather with the rest of the wedding party.

Sela flew at Vanessa the moment they were inside and embraced her with the kind of affection that made Luke’s heart swell. “Congratulations, Mrs. Foster.” Then Sela hugged Hayden before turning back to him.

Her twinkling eyes and slightly parted pink lips made his pulse leap. The urge to kiss her threatened every ounce of control he had left. Even though it had been days since they’d kissed, he could still taste her. And he wanted more. So much more.

Screw it. With Vanessa and Hayden distracted, he stepped forward, brought her flush against him, and kissed her.

She kissed him back before pushing him away. Her eyes wide now, the twinkle turned to flames. Her chest rose and fell, matching his own ragged breathing. Her eyelashes fluttered as she composed herself. She looked like she was about to say something when the rest of the wedding party filed into the living room.

For the next hour they posed for pictures with one of the hired photographers. Being on the other side of the lens wasn’t his favorite place, but he carried on.

Not too difficult when Sela stood in the same shot.

The wedding coordinator, a tall, dark-haired woman who had the uncanny ability to be scarce one moment and then present the second she was needed, clapped her hands and announced it was time to head into the reception.

As planned, they assembled outside the tent and waited for the band to announce their entrance. Sela stood quietly beside him with her hands at her sides. He touched his pinkie finger to hers. She darted a sideways glance at his torso and returned the gesture.

Baby steps
, Luke told himself.

Each coupled bridesmaid and groomsman entered the tent one at a time in front of them. “You ready?” he asked, just before it was their turn.

“I’m ready.”

The bandleader announced their names through his microphone.

Luke took her hand. He wanted everyone to notice them and continue to speculate as they strode to the perimeter of the dance floor to join the others.

Both sets of parents were invited inside next. With the wedding party in place, the bandleader mentioned something about marriages made in heaven and then said, “And now for the first time, I’d like to present Mr. and Mrs. Hayden Foster!”

Vanessa and Hayden entered the room to cheers and applause. They took to the dance floor for their first dance.

Large crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Strings of tiny white lights fanned out from each one, lighting up the room with a warm and festive glow. Luke lifted his camera from around his neck and took pictures of Vanessa and Hayden as they started the waltz.

“Those dance lessons really paid off,” Luke said to Sela.

“They did,” she answered, a dreamy tone in her voice.

When the waltz music died down and the percussive rhythm of the rumba started, that was the wedding party’s cue to join the bride and groom on the dance floor. Luke put his camera down on the nearest table and took Sela in his arms.

They didn’t immediately fall into an easy routine. Luke sensed Sela holding herself back, not giving in to the music. Or him. He brought her close, whispered, “Relax,” and finally they fell into the sensual moves, their hips rotating in perfect sync, their steps fluid. Luke stared deep into her eyes. She stared back, and he forgot himself to the music and the coupling. He lost track of the other dancers on the floor, the hundreds of guests sitting at round tables. His only consideration was the most beautiful woman in the room.

Forward and back, side to side, he took her with him. When he guided her from the closed to open position and then twirled her, her surprised smile took his breath away.

“What was that?” she said, a little breathless.

Damn he was happy he wasn’t the only one affected. “A little move I thought I’d throw in there. Nice spin on your part.”

“Thanks. Throw in a dip next time and I might be impressed.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be.” Her wiggle took on a spicier flair and heat spread up his body.

He flicked his wrist and spun her to his right. “Why, Miss Sullivan, are you flirting with me again?”

“Again?” She almost grazed his chest on the return to the neutral position. “I’ve been doing my best to keep you at arm’s length, Mr. Watters.”

“And why is that? A little communication and we could resume all the fun we’ve been having.”

She kept up as he quickened the pace just a beat. “Fun isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Her shoulder blade tensed under his fingers, and he regretted his choice of words.

Sela was much more than just fun—hell, she knew that. He’d told her he loved her. But today he meant to keep things light. He didn’t want to scare her away again. “Ah, but it’s a great start.”

“To what?”

“More.” He twirled her again, brought her back to his chest, and then because he never could resist a challenge, least of all from her, dipped her.

Her eyes widened, her lips parted, the tiny heart necklace Vanessa had given her slipped around her neck.

Applause sounded from behind him. He scooped her up with ease and launched right back into the one-two-three-four steps they’d learned together.

“Looks like we’ve got some fans,” he said.

She chuckled. “Show-off.”

“Wait until we do the chicken dance. Then you’ll really see some moves.”

Her full-blown laughter made his heart smile.

“We invite everyone to come on up to the dance floor,” the bandleader said, the music changing to a Top Forty beat.

Within a minute the dance floor filled with young and old alike. Given his family’s history with Cascade, everyone who had been invited had shown up. The entire town had probably shut down in honor of today.

“Mind if I cut in?” Shane said, coming up beside them and winking at Luke. Shane stole Sela away, moving into the crowd with their arms raised and bodies swaying. They joined Erin, Teague, and a couple of Hayden’s friends.

Luke stepped back off the dance floor and retrieved his camera. He surveyed the room to be sure he wasn’t missing an important photo op. And to maybe catch sight of Sela.

“I couldn’t help but notice that dance just now.” His mom bumped his shoulder.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I take back my original hesitance with dance lessons.”

“That’s not at all what I was thinking.”

“You and Dad looked pretty damn good out there. Don’t think I didn’t notice you two.”

His mom exhaled and chuckled at the same time. “You are so full of it. The only person you noticed was Sela.”

Luke stayed quiet. Since their conversation about Sela weeks ago, he hadn’t mentioned anything.

“She’s not sure what to do with you, you know.”

“I know.” He saw the struggle in Sela’s cheeky expression one moment and elation the next. But tonight he’d put an end to that. Tonight everyone would know the truth about his feelings for her. He pushed aside the possibility that she would refuse him a second time.

“Vanessa told me you’ve got a plan to remedy that. It was nice of you to ask for her approval.”

“It is her day.”

“And your last chance.”

He turned to his mom. She’d always been able to read him, always called him on his crap when he was younger. This time, though, she wasn’t reprimanding him but rooting for him. Her warm tone and bright eyes didn’t doubt he could pull this off.

“Think she’ll go for it?” he asked.

“That all depends.” His mom brushed his tuxedo jacket, straightened his vest.

“On?”

“On how well you sell it. But if what I saw on the dance floor is any indication, I predict you’ll land right where you want to be.” His mom kissed his cheek. “She’s a lucky girl to have you. And you’re a lucky man to have her.”

“Luke!” Erin shouted from the dance floor.

His mom walked away with a smile on her face as he gave his attention to his sister.

“Get your ass out here and bring that camera. Shane tried to break dance and just split his pants!”

…

Sela rubbed the blister on her foot and cursed her occupation. She never wore anything but scrubs and athletic shoes so it was no wonder her heels had rubbed her skin raw.

Vanessa had told her to wear the pink satin pumps around her apartment to break them in, but she’d forgotten. She’d also told her to wear waterproof mascara and she’d forgotten that, too. As of late, she’d only had one thing on her mind—Luke.

He loves me.

Her knees had wobbled when she’d first laid eyes on him today. He was incredibly handsome in his tuxedo. The crisp black suit, silver vest, white shirt—her very own 007. His hair had gotten longer over the past few weeks but was
GQ
combed, his face clean-shaven. She’d wanted to crawl inside him and stay forever.

Maybe the blister was a blessing in disguise. It gave her a chance to sit by herself and think. The room smelled like a flower shop and looked like a castle ballroom. Tall, gorgeous topiaries made of silver urns filled with red roses and stephanotis stood on all the tables. Hundreds of tiny white lights twinkled, and giant sandstone planters overflowing with ivy and pink and white roses decorated the outer edges of the tent.

The salmon and filet mignon dinner had melted in her mouth like butter. Conversation among the wedding party had flowed. Luke’s knee had brushed hers on more than one occasion, and every time her pulse romped through her veins.

He’d told funny stories about his travels while they ate. Reminisced with his sisters about their childhood. Sela hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him. He might be a rock star in the photography world, but at home his humbleness and affection for his family proved him to be a man of depth and gratitude. She had never realized until tonight that behind his stoicism was someone who lived to make a difference in other people’s lives.

She’d never acted on impulse until the past few weeks. Never been bold enough to jump on a motorcycle or skinny-dip in the ocean. He’d gifted her with these things, and she’d never forget it.

“Maid of honors are not allowed to sit alone,” Vanessa said, plopping down beside her and shaking Sela from her thoughts.

“And brides are not supposed to be without their grooms. Where’s Hayden?”

“Bathroom. I was just there by the way, and I really could have used your help. Do you know how hard it is to pee when you’ve got to hold up all this material?”

Sela laughed. “Sorry. Find me next time.”

Vanessa let out a deep breath and looked over the sea of tables and people and lights and flowers. “You know, this is the first time I’m able to look around and take it all in.”

“It’s pretty spectacular,” Sela said.

“Yeah.” Vanessa put her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands. “It is.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes and gladness filled Sela. She loved that after all the planning and hours spent together getting ready for today, the two of them could enjoy some peace and quiet together. This might be the moment she remembered best of all.

“It’s almost time to cut the cake,” Vanessa said. “Smoosh or no smoosh?”

“Well, I suggest you let Hayden feed you first so that he can’t retaliate, and I say smoosh. Then you can kiss it off him.”

“Oh, I like that idea. Have I told you lately what an awesome maid of honor you are?”

“You could tell me one more time if you really need to.”

Vanessa turned, put her hands on Sela’s shoulders, and said, “Thank you for being the best friend a girl could ask for and a maid of honor to put all other maids of honor to shame.”

Sela hugged her. That’s all she’d wanted, wasn’t it? To be the best maid of honor possible.

“Come on.” Vanessa stood and led her toward dessert. “Let’s get this cake business out of the way so I can toss the bouquet and then get out of here with my husband.”

Sela took one look at the cake and her mind raced back to the tasting with Luke at Crem’s. The playfulness, the tingles that shot up her arm when his mouth grazed her fingertips.

“I’m thinking maybe I could feed you your piece.”

Startled by the husky sound of Luke’s voice in her ear, Sela jumped, but kept her attention on Vanessa and Hayden. “Luke. Do not sneak up on me.”