Everyone we knew attended, champagne flowed freely, and the dance floor never got a moment of rest. I grudgingly let others sneak a few dances with Ellie, but she was in my arms for most of the night.
A chocolate croissant tower took center stage on the desserts table. Twinkly lights were strung along the deck everywhere welooked, and we’d gone far enough out into the water to see the real stars, too.
Whiskey had his own mini pillow throne at the head table—right between me and Ellie. I wasn’t told about that choice ahead of time, but my wife couldn’t stop cooing over the setup and how princely our cat looked.
The hellion spent most of the night swatting at the twinkly lights and sticking his paws into guests’ purses.
I leaned back in my seat at the head table—where I’d been assigned the very important job of protecting Ellie’s third slice of wedding cake—sipping a scotch and watching my gorgeous wife have fun on the dance floor with her bridesmaids.
I’d never seen a group of friends with such colorful hair before.
When Ellie first told us she was good friends with Davian Reed’s wife, I thought Mac would have a stroke. Ellie was tied to the mafia and even had weekly dinners at their compound. How hadthatslipped through the background report?
Reed and I had an understanding. My area of town—the part with Westbrook Capital and the Nightingale—was outside his purview, and I played dumb if any bigwigs asked about his underground gambling dens. We’d always stayed out of each other’s way.
Yet now he was providing a dark, intimidating presence at my wedding while his wife danced with mine.
Calling it unexpected was an understatement.
I idly twisted my new wedding ring around my finger, liking its weight a little too much.
Harrison dropped into the chair next to me, out of breath from dancing. “That stupid grin hasn’t left your face since the ceremony ended.”
“I don’t remember smiling when you told the balloon game story in vivid detail during your best man speech,” I said dryly, raising my glass in a mock salute. “Thanks for that, by the way. I’m sure it wasn’t enough that Mother already saw it with her own eyes. Now she had to relive it.”
He laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Consider it payback for fooling us last summer.”
I grunted and went back to my drink. We sat and talked for a while, watching Ellie and Madison do a weird line dance that had nothing to do with the current song, but the other bridesmaids quickly joined in, too.
“I’m really happy for you,” Harrison said out of the blue, looking at the dance floor instead of me. “Seriously. This even beats how happy I was for you when you broke Tristan Rothchild’s nose in sixth grade.”
I snorted. “Thanks, Harry.”
“Anytime. That punk had it coming,” he muttered.
When the song ended, Ellie bounded over—pink-faced and out of breath—in her floofy, cupcake-style wedding dress. She dropped into my lap, grabbed my face, and smacked a kiss to my lips, beaming at me. “Hello, husband.”
Ignoring my brother snickering next to us, I grinned back. “Having fun, wife?”
“The most fun,” she assured me, pulling on the big white bow in her hair but only skewing it more. “But it’d be even better if you’d join me on the dance floor again.”
“I’m guarding your cake.” Taking a fork, I cut off a bite and fed it to her, making Ellie hum happily.
Harrison wrapped both hands around his neck and pretended to gag. “You two are nauseating. I need a drink.”
I barely noticed him leave as I fed a grinning Ellie until she finished the slice and pressed an icing-covered kiss to my lips.
I barely got a taste of her before she pulled back.
“Isn’t Sadie’s baby just too cute for words?” she asked, wrapping her arms loosely around my neck. “You saw those cheeks, right? The chubbiest, most scrumptious baby cheeks I’ve ever seen.”
I glanced over at the baby Reed was holding—more of a toddler now, with a head of messy dark hair, but Ellie wasn’t exaggerating his cheeks.
Reed and the boy even wore matching tuxes.
Hearing the longing in Ellie’s voice, I grinned at her. “Is someone catching baby fever?”
A delightful blush flooded her cheeks as she lifted a shoulder. “Maybe a little.”
