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“Yes,” she says, snapping out of her haze. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Jack. I want nothing more than to be with you, forevermore.”
My heart lifts up, relieved, and overwhelmed with joy. I slip Sarah’s ring on to her finger. It’s a bit big, but it’s only a temporary fit. With it in place, I stand up, grab her, and place the biggest, sloppiest kiss I can manage right upon her lips, and hold her so tight.
Clapping erupts around us, and lots of cheering and shouts of congratulations flow our way.
“It’s beautiful,” Sarah says. “Way more romantic than how Jack proposed to me.”
Lily laughs. “How did he propose to you anyway?”
“Over a bottle of scotch and a bunch of paperwork. Just how I always imagined it’d be as a little girl.”
I squeeze Lily tighter. I can’t believe it. But I’ve never been happier. For her, for me, and even for Sarah. We all have such a bright future ahead of us.
11
LILY
ONE YEAR LATER
We didn’t rush the wedding. There was still a lot of work to do around the ranch, especially with the expected acquisition of the Perry lands coming soon.
The two of us also wanted to make sure that our love was real. I was young and passionate, and he was the first man I ever fell in love with. He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t just a passing fancy for me, and that my youthful hormones would soon lead me astray to the next hot guy to catch my eye.
He didn’t understand that to me, no one could be hotter than him. That the fact he was mine made him all the sexier, not to mention that he’s handsome, caring, and more than giving in the bedroom. I couldn’t possibly imagine someone sexier than he is.
I guess he wanted to be sure himself. He wasn’t wrong to have doubts. It’s just basic common sense to realize you just don’t make a lifelong commitment out of a few weeks of lust.
What you do make it out of is a year of continued passion for one another, when it still burns as fiercely as when you first laid eyes on one another.
And this is still undoubtedly the case as I begin my walk down the aisle.
Sarah had been with me all along in planning my own wedding. She was so into it, I should have guessed how passionate she was about these sorts of things when I first met her.
We were outside, a beautiful summer day, and thankfully a cooler one to boot, aided by a gentle breeze blowing over the gathering. It’s as if nature itself were blessing our union.
Both our families had gathered together, Jack paying for everything. My mother was very surprised when I told her that I was getting married, because she expected to hear I was at least dating first. After hearing how passionately I talked about Jack, though, she told me that she knew he was the one, because I only talked that long about things I truly did care about.
I’m surprised about how much family Jack had too. I had met a few of them before the ceremony, and most of them were just glad to hear that the old Thomas-Perry ranch feud was finally going to end, with a few being especially glad that their family “won.” I guess that made them forgive any misgivings they had about his previous engagements. Jack, to his credit, always said it wasn’t about winning or losing, just getting his dreams for the Desert Sky Ranch and Greenbluff as a whole moving-forward.
The organ music plays as I start down the aisle, my gown light but traditional. The butterflies in my stomach are out of control as I take small steps toward the altar. Jack is waiting for me, a local priest by him. Sarah is off to the side, grinning from ear to ear, happy to be serving as my maid of honor.
Seeing him stand there, waiting for me is almost too much to believe, but it’s real. It’s all for me. I walk to the pulpit. He’s there for me.
The actual vows and all of that feel like a blur. My heart races a million miles a minute as I stand next to him. I say “I do” and he does as well. It’s made official, and I kiss Jack in front of all of them. Tender, passionate, powerful.
“You’re mine. And I’m yours. We’re in this together now, Lily,” he whispers to me during the kiss.
“And there’s no way I’d want it any differently.”
As the cheering ends, the real music starts. All of Sarah’s planning is ready to make sure that people remember the night Jack and I came together as husband and wife truly special. The pounding bass fills the air of the night sky as the whole lot of the wedding’s attendees hit the dance floor. I giggle as I see something brewing for some of the couples there. While tonight is an important chapter in Jack’s and my story, this is going to be the beginning for a few other romances tonight. I can only hope that they are all as passionate and loving as the one Jack and I have.
My new husband and I join them on the dance floor. I’ve always been surprised at his range of talents despite being so outwardly a cowboy through and through. He could throw himself into that club music just as much as the line dance, and use both as perfectly valid excuses to get closer to me.
He kisses me again and again, each more sensual than the last, starting to border on the indecency I worried about before. He pulls me closer as his hips sway so rhythmically, so close that I can feel that he’s fighting himself not to turn this into acts of wild debauchery. The time for that will come, and the anticipation is killing me.
For now, though, I follow his every move. I grind my hips against him, simultaneously enthralling and torturing him. He runs his hands up my body, feeling and savoring every curve I have. Another kiss, and even more tongue, he’s damn near making out with me on the dance floor.
As the music shifts to something more traditionally cowboy, he doesn’t let up, which surprises me. His hands close around mine as he leads me with some swings; he keeps my body so tightly against his as he struts across the dance floor. We’re the center of attention, people giving way to our rhythmic movements, proving that in spite of the lack of passion in Jack’s first engagement, he’s more than making up for it with his second.
