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THE SUN WARMED my exposed shoulders. My pink sundress swished around my calves as I strolled along the sidewalk of the quaint Business District in St. Loren with Matt. Purple flowers had their petals pointed toward the sky, and I was so delighted to see them. It would be months before I had anything like this at home. It was freezing in New York but balmy here in the South. I loved it.
“Are you having a good time, Princess?” Matt asked, squeezing his arm around my middle. I sipped on the Southern sweet tea we’d gotten from a pretzel cart and nodded, tangling the fingers of my right hand in his beard for a few seconds before giving it a gentle tug.
“I can’t believe how beautiful and warm it is here. I don’t think I would be able to stand it in the summer, but right now it’s a dream.” I sighed and rested my head against his strong arm. His tank top showed off his tattoos, and he looked more like a criminal than ever right now. Was it wrong that I loved this as much as seeing him in suits? His jeans even had a small hole ripped in the left knee. I never would’ve guessed he would relax this much on vacation.
He hummed, uncharacteristically quiet as he smiled down at me. My face flushed with heat. God, this man. I glanced down at my flashy ring—which I loved more than anything I’d ever owned—and felt even hotter. For a moment my attention drifted. Part of the reason Matt had brought me on this trip was to get my mind off that horrible night when Mom had died. In the end, he was right, it was a tragedy that I didn’t cause to happen—at least, not on my own. There was no way of telling what would’ve happened if we’d involved the cops, either.
It was just a nightmare.
And not a single one of Mom’s old friends had called me to ask where she might be.
Matt jostled me and grinned when I blinked up at him.
“Are we going to start planning the wedding when we get home?” I smiled at Matt, excitement sweeping tingles across my arms.
With a shrug, he planted a kiss on my temple. “Sure. Whatever you want. Big, small, just us, the whole city. Anything.”
Happiness bloomed in my chest, and I finished my tea, then tossed the trash into a wrought iron garbage can as we passed it. There were flower baskets hanging on hooks from lampposts, and this part of the neighborhood was decidedly fancier.
“Where are we headed?”
Matt chuckled. “I told you, it’s a surprise.”
“Give me a hint!” I smacked his arm, and he tickled my side by digging his fingers in where he was holding me, which had me smiling all over again.
“Derek said a man here.... Well, he was very interesting. He made Derek some suits while he was visiting St. Loren, and since he already had Derek’s measurements on file, Derek has been ordering from him ever since. Derek said he would have exactly what we want.”
Biting my lip, I nodded. “You will need a new suit for the wedding. Oh, you’ll look nice! We haven’t decided on wedding colors, but you could get something classic. Maybe black? You look fantastic in black.” I patted his stomach.
“We’re here for you.” He tickled me again, and I elbowed him.
“But, Matt! I don’t want to wear a suit to our wedding.” I pouted at him.
He tapped the tip of my nose. “That’s not all he does.”
“Quin!”
I glanced up in surprise at the sound of Morgan’s voice, and she was waving at me with a frantic grin from her spot standing in front of a boutique with wedding dresses in the window. She had her dark hair up in a twist, and her short black skirt clung to her hips and upper thighs. The outfit was topped off by a frilly matching shirt that was perfect for the beautiful weather. I ran over to her and squeezed her, getting a nose full of Promenade Sur Le Rocher, her favorite perfume.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, baffled.
She smiled so wide I thought it might crack her face in two. “You’ll see! Come on. Colt said he thought you would want me here because the Maid of Honor should be around for this.” She opened the door and practically dragged me into the shop.
I stopped, stunned.
The boutique wasn’t huge, but the way the dresses were arranged around the room made it feel like a massive explosion of wedding finery. There were delicate stands of garter belts and lingerie near the door. On the walls, fancy opalescent mannequins caught the eye, draped in the most extravagant dresses I’d ever seen in my life. The rear was done up as a stage with white silky curtains on either side, and along the back floor-to-ceiling mirrors gleamed. In front of the stage were three long white couches, where the audience for the dress extravaganza would clearly sit.
It was something out of a dream.
I cupped my hands over my face and wobbled on my feet. “I’m getting a wedding dress, aren’t I?”
Morgan hugged me, and before I knew it, we were both jumping in place and squealing.
A man with neon purple hair strutted out from a hallway to the side of the stage, wrapped up in a turquoise suit that made him look like an adorable Easter egg. The fabric perfectly hugged his slender body.
“Oh, I’m glad you found the place all right! I’m so excited to do this for you. I love it when I get out-of-towners. It lets me brag about Sew Much Better Than the Rest! That’s my shop.” He wrinkled his nose, which was cute, and held out his hand as he came over to me. We shook, and I loved that he was every bit as enthusiastic as I was feeling. “I just don’t get to do enough wedding dresses for men! I’m Indy Yves. And you must be the beautiful Quin.” His soft smile was friendly and wonderful and such a different experience than what I’d gotten from a man the last time I was in a dress shop.
I wiped a couple of tears from my eyes. “Thank you,” I murmured. “This is really happening?” I asked, glancing at Matt.
