Page 174 of High Reward

“It’s real to me too,” Grace whispers. “Married or not. You’re not losing anything, Lili. If anything, we’re just making official the part of this that was always going to need paperwork.”

My chest finally unclenches, and I kiss her instead of answering, slow and deep, months of worry going out of both of us at once.

We end up on the bed, and for once neither of us is in any hurry.

I peel her dress off her shoulders and take my time mapping every inch of her with my mouth, murmuring against her skin how proud I am of the shop, and how much I admire the woman she’s become since the girl I met hiding behind a stack ofromance novels. Victor doesn’t know how lucky he is. Neither do I, most days.

“Lili.” Grace arches under me, breathless already. “Please.”

“Please what?” I trail my fingers down her stomach, teasing, watching her squirm. “Use your words, lover.”

“Touch me. I need you.”

I don’t make her wait. I part her thighs and put my mouth on her pussy, slow at first, savoring the way she gasps my name and fists a hand in my hair, then faster when her hips chase my mouth on their own. She comes with a cry she muffles against her own wrist, and I don’t let up until she’s shaking, oversensitive, pushing weakly at my head.

“Get up here,” she manages, tugging me up her body. “My turn.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” She flips us with more strength than I expect, straddling my hips, and the sight of her like this, flushed and unashamed, still gets me every time. “Let me take care of you too.”

She does, thoroughly, learning what makes my back arch and what makes me swear, until I’m the one shaking apart under her hands and her mouth, calling her name into the dark.

Afterward, tangled together under the hotel sheets, Grace props herself up on one elbow and grins down at me.

“You know this is objectively a terrible bachelorette party tradition. Sleeping with the maid of honor.”

“I’m not the maid of honor. I refused the title on principle.”

“Fine. Sleeping with the future live-in masochist plus-one to this whole family, then.”

I laugh so hard I nearly fall off the bed. “Absolutely not the title I would have chosen, but I’ll allow it.”

She curls into my side, already half asleep, and I stay awake a while longer just listening to her breathe, grateful, more than I know how to say, that I get to keep having nights like this one.

Chapter 48

Victor

“Congratulations,Victor,”HunterNovaksays as he extends his hand to me.

I give a firm handshake and then adjust the purple tie I’ve just put on.

“Thank you, Hunter. And thank you for giving us the use of your chapel.”

“It’s become a real treat for me to let my friends get married here. You’ll be the third wedding we’ve had.”

I smile. “It’s nice to hear you consider us friends.”

“You can thank Grace and Liliana for that.” Hunter’s mouth quirks, more calculation than warmth, the same look he gets right before he tells someone exactly what something is going to cost them. “I don’t make a habit of liking people, Serrano. Yours were exceptions I didn’t see coming.”

He claps me once on the shoulder and heads off to find his seat, leaving me alone in the small anteroom off the chapel’s entrance.

I check my reflection in the mirror one more time, the deep purple of my tie a stark, deliberate contrast against the black three-piece suit Grace helped pick out, back when this was still a hypothetical instead of forty minutes away.

Owen pokes his head in. “Five minutes. And for what it’s worth, everyone’s already crying and the bride hasn’t even walked in yet.”

“Lili?”