“Oh, my love…” He touches his forehead to mine, only thin gauze separating our skin. “Whoever said I was after anything other than your heart?”
He’s actually too good at this.
“Your answer?” he prods, and the entire cast looks on, breaths bated, roles forgotten.
“I…” I shiver, even in the warmth of this tepid August night. “…do.”
December jumps, clapping her hands together. “You may kiss the bride! For eight entire pages! If you’d be so kind.”
I laugh. Alister dips me as my brother begins untying guests, who cheer like their lives weren’t just narrowly saved by my saintly sacrifice.
Clutching my unlawful husband, I say, “This is nuts.”
He unveils me and kisses my freckled nose. “It sure is.”
I glance at his lips. “Are you actually going to…”
He smiles. “Sure. Just this once I won’t even make you beg. But first…”
There’s more?
“Will you marry me tomorrow, August Winslow? In a courthouse. Preferably, with a license involved.”
Humming, I consider that one. It sounds ratherboringif you ask me. Unless… “I’ll marry you next week.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve got to order a corset first. And…” I run my fingers through the dark, dark strands of his hair. “I think you’ll need a top hat.”
His thumb caresses my cheek. “As my author wishes.”
“Also,” I say, breathless, “I think….I’d like a little time between these stories. With just you. Just Ali.”
He laughs. “How much anime are we going to watch?”
“Somuch.”
Sighing, he murmurs, “Yare yare,” and then?
Then, he leans all the way in, and—
Fin.
Epilogue
?
Happily Ever After
Alister
Later that evening…
“August,” I murmur as I carry my sleepy not-quite-legal wife over the threshold and into her bright yellow house.
Softly, she snuggles in, a small breath leaving her as she mumbleswhatin Japanese.
It must be past three in the morning. Which means…it’s the perfect time to get whatever I want out of her.
