He chuckles and quickly takes her into his arms, threading his fingers through her rich locks and messing up her hair along with her already ruined makeup. “I love you, Emma Ford.”
“I love you, Greyson Ford,” she whispers through her tears, finally sealing her lips to his as cheers erupt around the room.
I wipe the tears from my eyes, clapping along with the others as the ceremony officially comes to an end. I stand in place, waiting for my brother and his new wife to leave and for my assigned groomsmen to walk me out. Cecilia leaves next with her husband, followed by Morgan with Clay, then Ronnie with Gabe, and finally Noah offers me his arm. He was kind enough to offer himself up for me.
As we begin walking down the path leading out of the ceremony room, I glance quickly in Shane’s direction and once again lock eyes with him. My entire body heats from the insideas the realization that he hasn’t looked away once since I entered the room hits me.
“You two really aren’t subtle,” Noah murmurs quietly with a chuckle.
“Sorry.” I quickly look away from Shane as my face feels like it’s on fire now.
“No reason to apologize. Maybe just wait until your brother’s had a few drinks in him before giving each other those big starstruck eyes in public.” He smirks down at me as we finally leave the room.
We wander over to our dressing rooms and quickly freshen up before heading to the reception hall once all guests have gotten there, and minutes later, the bride and groom make their big entrance. From there, the rest of the night goes as planned—we eat, we drink, and everyone is having fun—then the married couple have their first dance, followed by the father-daughter and mother-son.
The music is now upbeat, and everyone is up on the dance floor, jumping along to it. We’re all laughing and singing as Ronnie twirls me around, swaying my hips from side to side. Suddenly the music slows to a soft melody, and a hand settles on my lower back.
I don’t need to turn around to know whose it is. The way it warms my skin, making my blood fizzle within my veins and my heart beat just a little bit louder, I know exactly who’s standing right behind me. And with the look on Ronnie’s smiling face, I know I’m right.
He takes a step to the side as I turn to him. “May I have this dance?” Shane asks softly with an inviting hand.
“You may.” I place my hand in his as my other goes to his shoulder.
His hand at my back pulls me in, pressing our bodies together. Being this close, I have to tilt my head completely back to look athis handsome face—even with the added five inches of my heels, I’m still short compared to his tall frame.
“Have fun,” Ronnie whispers in my ear as she walks away to join her men.
I bite my lip, blushing at her comment, but mostly at the feeling of Shane’s body pressed up against me, holding me. I know if my brother looked, or anyone else for that matter, they would find us a little too cozy with each other. But with the two champagne glasses I’ve had, and all the fun dancing, I don’t care. I’ve waited all night for this moment, and anyway, my brother is way too distracted by his wife right now to even notice.
We begin to sway to the music, looking into each other’s eyes. “You look beautiful, Angel. You always do, but you’ve made it hard for me to breathe today,” he says quietly, just loud enough for me to hear.
My blush intensifies with every word. “Thank you, Shane. I think you look very handsome, too.”
He’s wearing a perfectly tailored, three-piece navy-blue suit that hugs his large body deliciously, with a white dress shirt underneath and a blue tie that’s a shade lighter. His hair is swept back with a bit of gel, except for those two strands that always fall forward near his temples and curl back toward his ears.
“I try my best.” He grins, those dimples I love seeing coming into view.
“You don’t need to try, you always do,” I tell him genuinely. Because it’s what I’ve always thought. I had never met a man as handsome as Shane.
A small pink hue appears over his cheekbones at my compliment. “I’ve missed you this week,” he says after a moment.
I bite my lip, loving that he missed me just as much as I missed him. “I missed you too, Shane.” I smile. “But you do know we have gone longer than a week without seeing each other.”
A soft chuckle leaves his lips that I desperately want to kiss. “I know, but this feels different.”
“It does,” I admit as my skin prickles with heat.
The song ends too quickly, coming back to one with more rhythm. We release each other reluctantly and take a step back, but not more than that. Neither one of us truly wants this moment to end.
“Are you… are you leaving tonight?” I ask, feeling red all over.
He shakes his head. “No, I leave tomorrow afternoon. I have a room here,” he says moments before his eyes widen. “That’s not… I didn’t mean anything… I’m not expecting—”
I place my hand on his arm, stopping him. “I know.”
He swallows nervously. “Okay.”
I look around and find a couple of my friends staring at us with excitement, making my blush worsen. “I should get back to my friends…”
